Medical studies and quotes are included in this page for your doctor. Please print out this document through your web browser for doctor consultation. Nothing contained in this article advocates self medication while going through treatment. YOUR DOCTOR WILL NOT APPROVE OF ANY SUPPLEMENTS UNLESS YOU PROVIDE MEDICAL STUDIES WHICH VALIDATE THEIR USE. This is why the study quotes are included here.

BackGround Information

When my seven-year-old daughter, Kayla was diagnosed with leukemia I had no idea or previous experience regarding side effects and what could be done about them. Weight loss due to lack of appetite became a matter of grave concern in Kayla’s sixth month of treatment. The only medical option offered to us was a feeding tube placed into the stomach. I did not consider this as a good option, having seen infections around the entrance point of a feeding tube and bluntly it was gross. I had to find other answers. A retired oncology nurse told me to research the mineral zinc. When I did, what I found was very uplifting. This seemed to be an inexpensive answer. When Kayla started taking this vitamin it worked right away by increasing her appetite and improving her ability to taste and enjoy foods. For a cancer patient this was very crucial to quality of life and being able to have the strength to continue treatment. Below is all the information that you need about this vitamin. The medical quotes are listed for your doctor. If you are interested in taking this supplement then you must get your doctor’s approval by printing out this page through your web browser or copying and pasting the medical facts and quotes and putting them into a printable document for medical approval. Our oncolgist approved of our use of this supplement based upon these medical quotes.

WHY ANYONE WOULD NOT BE INTERESTED IN A SUPPLEMENT LIKE ZINC THAT COSTS ABOUT THREE DOLLARS AT ANY DRUG STORE IS BEYOND ME. MY VIEW IS THAT ANY SIMPLE SOLUTION SHOULD BE AT LEAST TRIED TO SEE IF IT WORKS FOR YOU.

Zinc Facts

Zinc plays a role in immune function [3,4] and cellular metabolism. It helps 100 enzymes function. [1,2] Zinc aids protein synthesis [4], wound healing [5], DNA synthesis [2,4], and cell division [4]. Zinc also supports normal growth and development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence [6–8] and is required for proper sense of taste and smell [9]. A daily intake of zinc is required to maintain a steady state because the body has no specialized zinc storage system [10].

For full information regarding this supplement go to http://ods.od.nih.gov/FactSheets/Zinc.asp

Zinc is a trace element that is essential for human health. When people absorb too little zinc they can experience a loss of appetite, decreased sense of taste and smell, slow wound healing and skin sores. Zinc-shortages can even cause birth defects. Although humans can handle proportionally large concentrations of zinc, too much zinc can still cause eminent health problems, such as stomach cramps, skin irritations, vomiting, nausea and anaemia.  [12]

Zinc Tip from an Oncology Nurse

Here is a tip from a retired oncology nurse, regarding zinc and its effects for cancer patients. “Ask her physician about giving your daughter zinc as a potential appetite stimulant. Chemotherapy tends to lower zinc levels in the body, which is what helps us to appreciate the taste of food. We had noticed that with adult patients, the sense of taste had actually improved, (from taking a zinc supplement) but sometimes fatigue would still lower overall interest in eating.”

I decided to try this for my daughter, Kayla because she has lost about five pounds since she started treatment ten months ago. She has also grown several inches and looks very thin to me. The day she took this supplement her appetite increased markedly. She also had better taste and I did not have to throw away any food because of not eating! What a dramatic improvement in a short amount of time. The dose given was 10 milligrams twice day during the heavy phase of chemo. Kayla’s dose has been reduced by half of that since she has been on maintenance chemo. Her weight and appetite are now back to normal.

Leukemia Study Using Zinc

Recently I was going through Leukemia studies and found a study that was done using zinc supplementation for a little girl (3 years old) with leukemia. Here is the complete medical abstract. Please not that this is also here for your doctor to see, should you want to take this supplement during treatment. Just print off this page through your web browser.

Treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia using zinc adjuvant with chemotherapy and radiation – a case history and hypothesis.

Low blood levels of zinc are often noted in acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), but zinc is not administered as part of any modern chemotherapy program in the treatment of ALL. Upon noting low blood levels of zinc in a 3-year-old 11.3 kg girl, zinc at the rate of 3.18 mgs a day was administered from the start of chemotherapy through the full 3 years of maintenance therapy. Dosage was split with 18 mg given at breakfast and 18 mg zinc with supper. The result was a bone marrow remission from 95+% blast cells to an observed zero blast cell count in both hips within the first 14 days of treatment which never relapsed. In addition to the reduction of blast cells to an observed count of zero (not a single leukemic or normal blast), red blood cell production and other hemopoietic functions [ formation of blood or blood cells] returned to normal at a clinically remarkable rate. There were no side effects from zinc or chemotherapy at any time, and zinc is hypothesized to have improved the patient’s overall ability to withstand toxic effects of chemotherapy. This report identifies zinc treatment as being vital to rapid and permanent recovery from ALL. (Bolded print is my emphasis not the author’s.) The extremely broad role of zinc in pre-leukemic adverse health conditions, viral, fungal and tumoral immunity, hemopoietics, cell growth, division and differentiation, genetics and chemotherapy interactions are considered. If a nutrient such as zinc could be shown to strengthen the function of chemotherapy and immune function, then it could be hypothesized that the relapse rate would be lessened since the relapse rate is related to both the rate at which a remission is obtained and the thoroughness of the elimination leukemic blasts. Identical results also occurred in 13 other children with ALL whose parents chose to treat with zinc adjuvant. [The Latin “adjuvans” means to help, particularly to reach a goal.] Since treatment with zinc and other identified deficient nutrients, particularly magnesium, did not appear unjurious in ALL and they appear to be highly beneficial, controlled clinical studies of zinc (3.18 mg/kg body weight/day) with magnesium (8.0 mg/kg body weight/day) as adjuvants to chemotherapy in the treatment of childhood ALL are suggested. Treatment with zinc adjuvant is hypothesized to accelerate recovery from ALL, and in conjunction with chemotherapy, cure ALL. [11] Eby GA. For more information go to: http://george-eby-research.com/

Where to Purchase Zinc

Zinc can be purchased at health food stores, online, and also at grocery stores. The National Institutes of Health has a fact sheet regarding this vitamin along with a dosage chart. Do not take mega dosages of ANY supplements, especially if you are currently undergoing treatment. If your body is deficient of this and other nutrients, it is far better to take a standard dose or even a lower than standard dose than a high dose. Think of it as giving the body what it needs on a slow ongoing basis. This is far more therapeutic than overwhelming and ill body with large amounts of nutrients that will cause physical distress such as stomach cramping, vomiting, nausea, etc. Cancer patients already experience nausea and other discomforts, do not add to these in any way. In my opinion a 10 mg dose would be a good starting point. Another option would be to lookj for a multi-mineral supplement that contains zinc. You would have to get the label off the internet and bring it to your doctor for approval.

Puritans Pride has several different zinc products. A word of warning – a local pharmacist warned that zinc tastes terrible in the chewable. Liquid and capsules are fine. Here is a link to affordably priced zinc supplements http://www.puritan.com/zinc-166

Most drug stores like CVS and Wallgreens sell zinc supplements. Purchase the lowest dose available and cut this amount in half to play it safe and test for yourself.

Do not take any supplement with out your doctors approval!

Please promote this information to any cancer patients that you know.

Good Luck.

~

References

1. Sandstead HH. Understanding zinc: recent observations and interpretations. J Lab Clin Med 1994;124:322-7. [PubMed abstract]

2. Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium, and Zinc. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001.

3. Solomons NW. Mild human zinc deficiency produces an imbalance between cell-mediated and humoral immunity. Nutr Rev 1998;56:27-8. [PubMed abstract]

4. Prasad AS. Zinc: an overview. Nutrition 1995;11:93-9. [PubMed abstract]

5. Heyneman CA. Zinc deficiency and taste disorders. Ann Pharmacother 1996;30:186-7. [PubMed abstract]

6. Simmer K, Thompson RP. Zinc in the fetus and newborn. Acta Paediatr Scand Suppl 1985;319:158-63. [PubMed abstract]

7. Fabris N, Mocchegiani E. Zinc, human diseases and aging. Aging (Milano) 1995;7:77-93. [PubMed abstract]

8. Maret W, Sandstead HH. Zinc requirements and the risks and benefits of zinc supplementation. J Trace Elem Med Biol 2006;20:3-18. [PubMed abstract]

9. Prasad AS, Beck FW, Grabowski SM, Kaplan J, Mathog RH. Zinc deficiency: changes in cytokine production and T-cell subpopulations in patients with head and neck cancer and in noncancer subjects. Proc Assoc Am Physicians 1997;109:68-77. [PubMed abstract]

10. Rink L, Gabriel P. Zinc and the immune system. Proc Nutr Soc 2000; 59:541-52. [PubMed abstract]

11. Treatment of acute lymphocytic leukemia using zinc adjuvant with chemotherapy and radiation-a case history and hypothesis. Eby GA Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(6):1124-6.

A MUST SEE – Zinc