Evaluation Of Cam Therapies
It is important that the same scientific methods used to test conventional therapies are used to test CAM therapies. The National Cancer Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health are sponsoring a number of clinical trials at medical centers to test CAM therapies for use in cancer.
Conventional approaches to cancer treatment have generally been studied for safety and effectiveness through a scientific process that includes clinical trials with large numbers of patients. Less is known about the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative methods. Few CAM therapies have been tested using demanding scientific methods. A small number of CAM therapies that were thought to be purely alternative approaches are now being used in cancer treatmentnot as cures, but as complementary therapies that may help patients feel better and recover faster. One example is acupuncture. According to a panel of experts at a National Institutes of Health meeting in November 1997, acupuncture has been found to help control nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and pain related to surgery. However, some approaches, such as the use of laetrile, have been studied and found not to work and to possibly cause harm.
Additional Sources Of Vitamin C For Dogs
A raw natural dog food diet is ideal for dogs with Vitamin C deficiencies. If the raw diet is not helping enough, then introducing a Vitamin C supplement makes sense.
If your veterinarian says that your dog needs supplementation, we highly recommend the Mega C Powder from Orthomolecular Specialties, developed by Wendell O. Belfield, DVM.
If you are interested in a more in depth review of supplements, see our Dog Dietary Supplements page or pick up Dr. Pitcairns book, Natural Health for Dogs and Cats. In addition to supplements, it contains information about almost any issue you can think of related to dog care.
Do you believe in holistic pet care? If so, please tell your friends about us. Thank you for supporting our efforts!
Vitamin C Supplementation For Pets
Because Vitamin C is not required in the cat or dog diet, not all pet vitamin supplements contain Vitamin C. Owners of pets with medical conditions that benefit from vitamin C often use human supplements. Although the RDA for Vitamin C in humans is 60mg, typical human Vitamin C-only supplements contain 500-1000mg. Part of this is owing to the work of Linus Pauling in the 60s and other subsequent work that suggested that mega-doses of Vitamin C in humans provided many preventative and positive health benefits. Because there is no established recommended dose of vitamin C for pets there are few established therapeutic doses.
Doses of 30mg, 60mg, and 100mg have been proposed by some researchers. Childrens Vitamin C only supplements range in dosages from 25-100mg per serving and are ideal for pets. Ask your veterinarian for the appropriate dose for your pet. For the normal pet the childrens doses and even the mega-doses may not be harmful. But any dose might be a problem for the oxalate stone formers.
Vitamin C is a great therapeutic addition to veterinary treatment. It just may not be right for all pets.
Dr. Ken Tudor
Don’t Miss: What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin D Supplements
Holistic Vets Evaluate Dog Cancer Supplements
When we talked to six leading holistic veterinarians about cancer treatment options, every one of them emphasized the tremendous importance of nutrition to support the bodys healing process.
If your dog has cancer, no matter what kind of cancer he has and what kind of treatment you choose, you can strengthen his immune system through food and supplements.
So we asked two holistic veterinarians, Dr Marty Goldstein and Dr Charles Loops, to tell us about their favorite supplements for dogs with cancer.
Both these vets are leading experts in animal cancers and both have many years of experience in treating cancer in pets.
Cytotoxicity Of Vitamin C
Prior work has shown that vitamin C can produce cytotoxic levels of hydrogen peroxide at sufficient concentrations. Tumor cells have leaky membranes that allow vitamin C to flood into such cells and cancer cells are generally catalase and superoxide-dismutasedeficient, making them more sensitive to the killing effect of hydrogen peroxide.Vitamin C has enhanced the anti- tumor activity of doxorubicin, cisplatin, and paclitaxel in human breast-cancer cells in culture. Vitamin C also increased drug accumulation and reversed vincristine resistance of human nonsmall-cell lung carcinoma cells. Pretreatment with antioxidants, such as vitamin C, beta-carotene, alphatocopherol succinate, and retinoic acid significantly enhanced the growth inhibitory effects of cisplatin, dacarbazine, tamoxifen, and several other anticancer agents on human melanoma and parotid carcinoma cells.Experiments with rodents demonstrated that vitamin C increases host survival times and inhibits tumor growth. Studies using high dose oral vitamin C along with other antioxidants adjuvantly with chemotherapy and radiation have shown decreased toxicity and increased tumor response, improved quality of life, and improved survival time.
Also Check: How Much Vitamin D Per Day For Infants
Compatibility With Other Treatments
Its important that your dogs supplements are compatible with the primary treatment option youve chosen, whether homeopathic, Chinese medicine or other holistic therapies or conventional.
The best person to advise you on supplements for your dog is a holistic veterinarian managing your pets primary therapy.
Unfortunately, if youve chosen conventional options like chemotherapy or radiation, an oncologist is not likely to be well informed about which supplements will benefit your dog.
Ask your holistic veterinarian to advise you on dosages for the supplements she recommends for your dog.
Vitamin D And Dog Cancer
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as the dog cancer vet because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include Ask the Vet segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dogs Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE . He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Many times the effort helps, and other times it may not.
Thats a pretty long trip.
Recommended Reading: How To Supplement Vitamin D
Vitamin C For Numerous Cat And Dog Ailments
Dr. Goldstein also discusses how vitamin C can help deter hip dysplasia and other joint inflammation by enabling the immune system to properly mobilize calcium, which helps keep bones and joints from deteriorating. He also shares his protocol for cats diagnosed with leukemia and other cancers, as well as feline lower urinary tract disease , based on Dr. Wendell O. Belfields work. Dr. Belfield is a well-respected holistic vet known for treating pets with virtually every form of serious illness using massive doses of vitamin C intravenously.
In addition to helping deter hip dysplasia and joint inflammation, and fighting cancer in cats, vitamin C is also recommended and has been used for, protection against heart disease and respiratory issues. As the body is subjected to more and more stress, the more it needs help with vitamin C supplementation to restore the balance.
Stress can be emotional or physical, like relocation or getting vaccinated. Due to the stress, the vitamin C a dog normally produces on its own decreases. In younger dogs, common stressors include surgery, rapid growth, and vaccinations. With older dogs, it is more a need for antioxidants.
Vitamin C Benefits Sick And Stressed Dogs
This may be appropriate when dealing with healthy unstressed animals, but recent clinical observations indicate that when dogs are sick or stressed, they can rapidly deplete their bodies output of vitamin C. A 1942 study noted that dogs with skin diseases usually have very low amounts of vitamin C in their blood.
Other researchers have found the blood levels of vitamin C to be low and even non-existent in dogs with fevers and dogs who have exercised to their limits .
Stress is the best-known cause of vitamin C depletion in dogs. Physical stress comes in many forms: gestation, lactation, growth, hard work , vaccinations, injuries, tail-docking or ear cropping, or illness. Emotional stress, whether caused by relocation, weaning, or demanding training, can also deplete this reserve. In fact, researchers can measure the level of stress a dog experiences by measuring the degree of depletion of the vitamin in the dogs blood.
Conversely, many studies have found that dogs that are supplemented with vitamin C show greater resistance to disease, and a better ability to recover from injuries or illness.
Also Check: What Vitamins Do Pigs Need
Vitamin C Chemotherapy Debate
The question of whether vitamin C supplements help or harm cancer patients has been ongoing for more than a decade, Heaney says. Because vitamin C is an antioxidant, some researchers say it could help cancer patients by promoting general health and keeping cells healthy.
But some chemotherapy drugs produce “oxygen free radicals.” The oxygen free radicals produced by the chemo drugs are meant to kill the cancer cells.
Under this theory, the vitamin C could soak up these free radicals instead and allow the cancer cells to survive.
Other Factors At Play
Should we pay attention to the low levels of 25VitD we see in dogs today?
I think we should because human research is showing a similar association between vitamin D and cancer.
Theyre not yet finding a cause and effect relationship, but its worth paying attention to.
The low levels of 25VitD in our dogs also reflects the state of the world they live in .
Here are some other factors that are known to decrease the ability to convert dietary vitamin D to 25-VitD:
- Polyunsaturated fats can decrease the bioavailability of vitamin D
- Fluoride decreases magnesium, which is an essential cofactor for vitamin D
- Strong magnetic fields can reduce vitamin D levels
- PCBs increase the risk of deficiency by 3%
- Roundup decreases vitamin D
- Flame retardants inactivate vitamin D
- Low magnesium in foods
- Spay/Neuter
- Kidney disease
- Exposure to DDT and other pesticides
- Certain drugs can consume or block vitamin D
Most dogs today are going to be affected by at least two or three of these factors at minimum.
So what does this mean?
Don’t Miss: Is Vitamin C Hard On Your Kidneys
High Dose Vitamin C Infusions
How Does Vitamin C Destroy Cancer Cells?
Vitamin C works with metals in the body to create hydrogen peroxide. Whereas normal cells have the ability to reduce the effects of hydrogen peroxide, cancer cells do not. The high concentration of the resulting hydrogen peroxide damages the DNA of the cancer cells and cuts off their energy supply. Vitamin C, even in very high doses, is toxic only to the cancer cells without harming the healthy cells.
What Other Benefits Does High Dose IV Vitamin C Have?
In addition to its benefit as a non-toxic chemotherapeutic agent, intravenous vitamin C also boosts immunity. It can stimulate collagen formation to help the body wall off the tumor. It inhibits hyaluronidase, an enzyme that tumors use to metastasize and invade other organs throughout the body. It induces apoptosis to help program cancer cells into dying early.
Can Oral Vitamin C Help?
Unfortunately the answer is no. The only way to get the blood levels of Vitamin C high enough is to administer it intravenously. The intestinal tract limits the amount of Vitamin C that can be absorbed and is not tolerated by the digestive system at these levels. Even if 10 grams of vitamin C is ingested, approximately 5% would be absorbed and could cause a severe case of diarrhea. Vitamin C administered intravenously has the benefit of bypassing this control system and allows 100% absorbtion.
Best Vitamins For Dogs With Cancer
Cancer is one of the most common diseases that cause death in dogs. No matter how good you care for a dog, the risk of cancer in your dog can happen. Therefore, every owner should know the knowledge of cancer in dogs. In particular, best vitamins for dogs with cancer needs to be more attentive by the owners because it is really necessary during the treatment of cancer.
These dog lovers will do anything to help dogs with cancer pass the disease. They also understood that one day his dog had been one of the most dangerous and threatening diseases of its life. This is the hardest time you have to overcome in order to help the dog survive. You have done everything to help the dog but if those help is not true, it only makes the dogs illness more bad. So you should know all the information about best vitamins for dogs with cancer extends the life of the dog.
Your pet needs to supplement various nutrients, minerals and vitamins to support and enhance the digestion of food during cancer treatment. Vitamin will help healthy bacteria perform its function to help intestinal tract is always healthy.
You May Like: What Vitamins Are Best For Bones
Some Dogs Can Benefit From Taking Vitamin C
The sodium ascorbate version makes sense when there is good reason to provide extra.
Oranges have plenty of vitamin-C as does kale, kiwi, grapefruit and many other fruits.
But for deficient dogs, we recommend Pet Organics Ester-C due to the antioxidant properties. It also wont irritate the GI tract.
Vitamin C Chemotherapy: Researchers’ Advice For Patients
“I think that patients should probably refrain from taking supplemental vitamin C during chemotherapy,” Heaney says.
“If you take an oral dose even as low as 100 milligrams a day you can get concentrations of vitamin C inside your white blood cells that are close to the concentrations that we used experimentally, and that could be harmful,” he says.
The recommended intake of vitamin C for healthy people is 75 milligrams daily for women and 90 milligrams daily for men.
Although a multivitamin with vitamin C “would probably be OK,” taking larger amounts should be avoided while on chemo, Heaney says.
Don’t Miss: What Benefits Does Vitamin B12 Have
Vitamin C And Bioflavonoids
Bioflavonoids are powerful phyto-compounds that, when taken together with vitamin C, can help with the uptake and absorption of the vitamin because they prevent the vitamin from being broken down in the body.
In other words, bioflavonoids increase the efficacy of vitamin C.
Even by themselves, bioflavonoids can help strengthen capillary walls. They are also beneficial to dogs with inflammatory conditions, such as IBD, and arthritis.
So, if you want to get the most out of a vitamin C supplement, get one that has bioflavonoids in it.
Here’s one natural vitamin C supplement with bioflavonoids:
The Benefits Of Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a ‘can do’ nutrient which helps the body run more smoothly. For example, it strengthens the immune system by:
- Increasing the activity of the white cells that fight infection
- Stimulating higher levels of antibodies that defend the body
- Increasing the amount of natural interferon in the bloodstream
- Improving the ability of platelets to clot blood
No one disputes the benefits of vitamin C, but why bother with a supplement?
Holistic vets argue that when the body is stressed, sick, or worn out it gobbles up its vitamin C stores as part of the repair process. This runs down the body’s reserves of vitamin C, and boosting levels is beneficial
You May Like: What Do Prenatal Vitamins Help With
Vitamin C For Peace Of Mind
Having the Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C on hand is also peace of mind knowing that in case of emergency, I have it on hand for one of the animals. My Solaray Vitamin C caplets are nearly out and Ive been researching affordable brands to start on my two seniors who are both around ten years old. I like this powder form, since Abby, my lab, isnt a fan of pills, but has no problem eating the powder inside them sprinkled over her food.
If you are interested in purchasing Dr. Goldsteins book, which overwhelmingly had more information than all of my other pet reference books combined on this subject, here is the link: The Nature of Animal Healing: The Path to Your Pets Health, Happiness, and Longevity. I also did a review of all of the holistic vet books I own recently, all of which at least touched on this vitamin C topic, here, if you are wanting to start or add to your own holistic pet care book collection.
If you have any experience with vitamin C, Id love to hear it in the comments below.
To see all the items Ive bought and/or researched for my cats and dogs and highly recommend, you can visit my Amazon store here, . Ive included notes next to the items. Any purchase you make through my links provides me a small percentage of the sale that goes toward keeping my blog online so I can continue to share what Ive learned to help others.
Vitamin C Chemotherapy Study Details
Concerned that vitamin C supplements might do more harm than good, Heaney’s team pretreated some cell lines of leukemia and lymphoma with dehydroascorbic acid, the form that vitamin C takes to enter cells, but did not treat other cell lines in the lab.
Then they treated the cell lines with a variety of chemo drugs, including Adriamycin, Platinol, Oncovin, methotrexate, and Gleevec.They measured the effects of pretreating with vitamin C or not pretreating on the cells and the effectiveness of the chemotherapy.
“It didn’t neutralize the effect, but it blunted it.” Heaney says, with the effect ranging from a 30% to 70% reduction in effectiveness.
Next, they implanted the cancer cells into mice and found that those tumors pretreated with vitamin C grew more rapidly than those lacking vitamin C.
The study findings appear in the journal Cancer Research.
Recommended Reading: What To Give Guinea Pigs For Vitamin C
