Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
From a Naturopathic Point of View Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Throughout this series I will be reviewing certain health topics that I find tend to be the least well understood. I especially want to focus on a holistic point of view. The fist topic …
Stress and Anxiety Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND Before we move on to a different topic I felt it was important to talk about our mental health. Being diagnosed with cancer or any other chronic illness is much more than just the physical aspects of …
Hair and Skin Changes Due to Cancer Treatments
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Cancer treatments can have different side effects when it comes to our hair and skin. Let’s start with our skin, shall we? Certain cancer therapies can cause skin to become dry. They can also cause a skin rash and spots that look like acne. You may notice that your skin is more sensitive. It may even feel itchy. Certain types of cancer treatment can make your skin very sensitive to sunlight. Other types of cancer treatments can change the skin of your hands and feet so they appear red and feel sore. Due to skin changes you may find that your veins become more visible. Additionally they may start to look broke. (1)
In addition to being dry your skin may become rough and flaky. This dry skin may be itchy which can cause you to feel anxious and even restless. As you scratch the skin it can become damaged leading to sores and even an increased risk of infection. In addition to making your skin red other color changes that can occur include yellow (due to changes in your liver), blue (due to breathing troubles), and bruised (due to blood disorders). Depending on the treatment you are receiving you may be bed bound or even bound to a wheelchair. This can increase the risk of bed sores. (2) Certain types of cancer can directly affect your skin. For example breast cancer can change the skin on the surface of the breast so that it starts to looks swollen and red/purple. The skin changes can also make the skin of the affected breast look similar to an orange peel. (3)
In addition to affecting to your skin cancer treatments can affect your nails. Cancer treatments can cause your nails to become loose or even fall out. There may be ridges or white/dark lines on the nails. These changes can occur on both the fingers and toes. (1)
Hair loss is a well-known side effect to different cancer treatments. This hair loss includes not just the hair on your head but also the hair on your body. Approximately 2-6 months after treatment is finished you will notice your hair begin to grow back. As the hair grows back you may notice it is slightly different. For example it may become more straight or curly. It may even be a different color. Depending on the type of treatment you may notice that the hair that grows back is thinner than before. In some cases hair on the body that received direct intense treatment may not grow back. (4)
What can you do if you experience these changes?
During treatment:
After treatment:
Our product highlight will be our Hair Enhance formula!
Source:
Cancer Related Fatigue Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND I wanted to talk about cancer related fatigue because it’s so common in those who have cancer. It can also be difficult to work with because there can be a number of reasons why a person feels …
Green Tea, our most common questions!!!
Dr. Claire Arcidiacono, ND
Green Tea is probably one supplement that everyone has heard of! It’s probably been written about by almost everyone, including me! So why write about it again you ask? Well it’s recently come to my attention that even though green tea has been written about a million times before people still have unanswered questions. S o I figured this would be a great time to review some of these commonly asked questions!
Let’s start with the most common question, shall we? Is green tea safe to use? In a meta-analysis looking at the effects of green tea on the liver it was found that not only is green tea safe it “reduced the risk of liver disease”. (1) According to the cancer research UK website green tea is safe for humans to use. (2) So yes both studies and my own clinical experience show me that green tea is safe to use!
Another common question I get asked is about blood pressure. Many people call and ask if it’s safe to use green tea if they have high blood pressure. My first question would be do you have a sensitivity to caffeine? If the answer is no then great Invite has a form both with and without caffeine. If you are not sensitive then either form is fine for you. If you are sensitive then Invite’s liquid extract would be better choice since it’s caffeine free and studies show that caffeine free green tea is perfectly safe for those with high blood pressure. (3)
The next question I get asked about green tea is it safe if I’m on blood thinners? Well it’s a bit complicated. For this blog I’ll stick to Coumadin or warfarin. Remember if you have any questions you can always reach out to a qualified Invite nutritionist. But let’s get back to the topic, shall we? Green tea normally contains Vitamin K which can interfere with Coumadin. (4) Invite Health’s Green Tea Tx liquid extract is free of Vitamin K! So yes it is safe to use.
Moving on to one of my last questions. If I have cancer should I be using green tea alongside my conventional treatment? This is a complex question. Numerous studies have found green tea may have anti-cancer benefits. (5) Part of the reason that green tea has so many benefits is that it contains powerful antioxidants. While this is fantastic for our health before and even after cancer treatment it can be a concern if green tea is used during treatments. Studies have found that using antioxidants can protect cancer cells and render the treatments not as effective as they should be. (6) For anyone with a personal or family history of cancer adding green tea can be a great idea. (5) It is just better to use it after treatments are complete, not during them.
Last but not least how can you incorporate Invite’s green tea into your day? Invite’s Green Tea Hx capsules can be taken with your daily supplements. Green Tea Tx liquid can be added to many things! For example you can add it to plain water to increase your water intake. You can also mix it into juice, tea and even smoothies! As I always say be creative.
Our next topic will be how to deal with low energy during cancer and cancer treatments.
Sources
