Tagged with “nausea”

Colorectal Cancer News in Brief: August 31

Clinical features of colon tumors can predict survival, acupressure bands reduce nausea during radiation therapy, and there was no connection between the amount of fish a person ate and risk for colorectal cancer. Although blacks have an increased risk for colon and breast cancer, hospitals matter. All patients — white or black — did worse in hospitals that treated a majority of black patients.

Surgical robots are being developed with a light touch that can tell the difference between normal and tumor tissue. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on August 31st, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: acupressure, disparities, nausea, robotic surgery, survival

Ginger for Pain, Fever, Nausea, and Your Heart

For centuries, ginger has been used for its antispasmodic, anti-nausea action and its ability to relieve nausea, vomiting, indigestion, and to calm an upset stomach. There are also reports that ginger can decrease dizziness and vertigo and some studies report that it improves the heart’s overall functioning.

Studies report that ginger can reduce blood pressure and reduce cholesterol which all help to decrease risk of coronary artery disease. One study showed that ginger is as effective as prescription drugs such as Reglan to treat nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy.

Last week there was a big write-up in the Los Angeles Times, so most of my patients cut out the article and asked me if it is okay to take ginger. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on May 26th, 2009
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 2 Comments »
Tags: ginger, Managing Symptoms and Side Effects, nausea

Ginger Helps Relieve Chemo Nausea

Adding ginger capsules to standard treatment for chemotherapy nausea reduced nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.

Patients who got ginger (Zingiber Officinale) in capsules twice a day for three days before chemo and three days after reported significantly less nausea that those who were treated with placebo. All patients in the study also received standard anti-nausea therapy on the day of chemo.

Almost 650 patients, mostly women, were randomly assigned to ginger supplements or a placebo in a blinded trial that will be reported at the 2009 ASCO annual meeting. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on May 25th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: ASCO 2009, chemotherapy, ginger, nausea

Acupressure Wristbands Reduce Nausea from Radiation Therapy

Patients who wore an acupressure wristband during radiation treatment had less nausea. However, it made no difference if they received a leaflet telling them that previous research showed that the bands reduced nausea or not.

The patients in the study were receiving radiation to the intestinal tract and had already experienced some nausea during treatment. Wearing the bands reduced nausea scores by about 24 percent.

To test the theory that the reduction was caused by patient expectations or a placebo effect, half of the group who wore wristbands received a positive handout saying that research showed wristbands reduced nausea. The other half had a neutral handout. There was no difference between the two groups. Both had less nausea.

Another group who didn’t have wristbands, had a very small reduction in nausea of about 5 percent.

Posted by Kate Murphy on April 9th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 2 Comments »
Tags: acupressure, nausea, placebo effect

Ginger Capsules Don’t Boost Nausea Medicines During Chemotherapy

Ginger root

Although ginger is often recommended as a simple remedy for chemotherapy nausea, ginger capsules don’t seem to work any better than a sugar pill to improve the effects of standard nausea drugs.

In a randomized study, 162 patients received either ginger capsules or a placebo for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Neither the patients or their doctors knew which they were getting. All patients were already receiving an 5-HT₃ inhibitor such as Zofran® or Kytril®. Some were also being treated with Emend® (aprepitant).

Posted by Kate Murphy on December 9th, 2008
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | 1 Comment »
Tags: chemotherapy, ginger, nausea