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Fish Oil Seems to Help Cancer Patients Preserve Muscle
Posted 28 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Feb. 28 – Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may be able to avoid the accompanying muscle loss and malnutrition by taking fish oil supplements that contain omega-3 fatty acids, new research suggests. The finding is based on a small study involving just 40 lung cancer patients. Nevertheless, it raises hope that a simple, noninvasive intervention might go a long way towards countering the fatigue, poorer prognosis and impaired quality of life that can result from chemo-induced muscle mass loss. "Fish oil may prevent loss of weight and muscle by interfering with some of the pathways that are altered in advanced cancer," study author Dr. Vera Mazurak, of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, said in a news release. "This holds great promise, because currently there is no effective treatment for cancer-related malnutrition." Mazurak and her colleagues report their ... Read more
Related support groups: Lovaza, Fish Oil, Omacor, MaxEPA, Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Cachexia, Animi-3, Marine Lipid Concentrate, Omega-500, Sea-Omega, EPA Fish Oil, Sea-Omega 70, TheraTears Nutrition, Proepa, Sea-Omega 30
Heart Damage Seen in Mice With Cancer-Related Disease
Posted 14 Sep 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Sept. 14 – The heart can suffer serious damage because of a cancer-related muscle wasting disease called cachexia, a new study has found. It had been believed that cachexia didn't damage the heart, but Ohio State University researchers found that the disease reduced heart function and changed heart muscle structure in mice with colon cancer. Cachexia is most common in patients with colon cancer and other gastrointestinal tumors, as well as some lung cancers, the study authors noted. "The fatigue and weakness of cachexia have been attributed to skeletal muscle wasting. But our results support the idea that insufficient heart performance might also be responsible for fatigue symptoms, leading to less exercise and more severe muscle wasting. It's a vicious cycle that contributes to the complications of cancer cachexia," lead author Martha Belury, a professor of human nutrition at ... Read more
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