Posts Tagged ‘AIDS’

Cachexia treatment should be based on nutritional protocols. This is a condition of muscle wasting that is usually a by-product of a specific condition. This is the part that can do you in, especially if you depend on a medical fix for the problem. Heart Failure, cancer, and AIDS are known to produce Cachexia. This is the body’s attempt at getting what it needs to function.

This is the issue that needs to be address in a new way. So far the medical establishment has dismally failed at turning this condition around. When a patient succumbs to their disease, it usually is because of starvation. What the medical establishment does is hook a patient with cachexia to a feeding tube filled with a high glucose solution.

This is the wrong approach, if it was right it would solve the problem.  Extra calories alone will not fix this problem. However, good nutrition, the right enzymes, resistance exercise, good source of protein, and Omega 3 fish oil do help.  A study conducted in the UK shows that fish oil is helpful addressing cachexia. Researches at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh tested omega 3-fatty acids on advanced pancreatic cancer patients who displayed signs of cachexia. Cachexia symptoms include a general loss of vitality, poor appetite, weight loss, loss of muscle mass. This syndrome compromises the immune system.

The most amazing part to this study is what the results say about our approach to health. There were 200 patients divided into two groups, 95 received a daily-calorie protein supplement, enriched with vitamins C and E and about 2 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, and 105 received a similar supplement that didn’t include the additional vitamins or fatty acids.

At the beginning of the study, subjects were losing an average of approximately 7 pounds per month. But over the 8-week period of the study, subjects in both groups stopped losing weight. What researchers found that the omega-3 group showed significantly higher rate of weight gain, as well as increased lean body mass compared to the other group. Furthermore, weight gain was associated with improved quality of life only in the omega-3 group.

This is the part that amazes me, all these conditions respond to nutritional intervention. Heart Failure, cancer, and AIDS came about because the body was not getting the building blocks it needed. There a few studies that demonstrate how omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil improve cardiovascular health, and cut the risk of heart problems. Only fish Oil contains both eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docohexaenoic acid (DHA). When combined, these two fatty acids have been shown to help prevent many conditions.

Cachexia or wasting is a response to injury. It is a process that can occur with cancer, heart condition, or anything that causes tissue damage. When confronted with this the body does its job to try and clear the damage and repair it. To get the energy plus the amino acids which are the building blocks for this particular response, you get muscle wasting. It is using the muscles to supply what the body needs to heal. Cachexia Treatment as it is practiced today will not heal the patient. What is needed is a new medical model built on respect for the power of the body to heal given the right tools.