Do antioxidant vitamin supplements really help cancer
patients?
Alternate healing methods using complementary
treatment -- not alternate healing -- have been gaining more
and more approval among doctors and patients. It is currently
believed that proper nutrition and the intake of certain
vitamins and minerals are likely to help cancer patients cope
with their difficulties. However until recently, these
methods were not scientifically tested.
A study which appeared in Cancer, a journal for
scientific research, examined whether cancer patients
undergoing chemotherapy had been helped by vitamins,
especially antioxidants such as vitamins E and A. Since it is
known that free radicals are liable to cause cancer growths,
it seems logical that antioxidants should be of benefit to
patients receiving aggressive treatments such as
chemotherapy.
A team of researchers from the University of South
Carolina examined the influence of these vitamins on cancer
patients receiving chemotherapy. It has become clear that
these two vitamins counteract the effects of chemotherapeutic
medicines. The researchers conclude that the ingestion of
these vitamins by someone undergoing chemotherapy may have
harmful effects.
