What To Do?

[RobinM]

Artemisinin is a herbal drug which is supposed to help fight cancer cells. That is the 2 second explainaton of it.

There is a group on Yahoo much like Circle of greys who have a lot of experience with this and say that Polli should be started on this NOW. With her chemo.

 

Dr. Couto's office responded to my email:

 

I will NOT recommend any of the herbal drugs during chemotherapy as we do not know how can they interact.

We are familiar with Artemisin but only after finishing standard chemo treatment

 

Hope it helps

 

When I mentioned this email to the board, they wrote:

 

" Dr. "C" is fairly new to the arte. PLEASE go with the "pro's" and start using the arte with the chemo. You DO NOT want to use arte at the same time ONLY if you are doing radiation therapy."

 

Needless to say, I am confused. I want to do everything I can to help Polli.

 

 

[ahicks51]

One group (Dr. C) has proof. The other group has a pile of anecdotes. They might be right, but they might not be. If you're going to follow a veterinarian's advice when it comes to amputation, chemotherapy, etc., it is best if you follow their instructions to prevent undesirable side-effects and potential interactions. There is, after all, the possibility that art. may undesirably impact the performance of the chemotherapy.

 

Best wishes.

[Madeara]

I JUST ordered this from Holley Pharmaceuticals since we are DONE with Asia's chemo. I got the same response from Dr C regarding the arte. Should I have started it sooner??? Dang!!! Although I do trust Dr C and we do not know for sure if it would affect the chemo treatments. I guess it is better to play it safe. What kind of statistics does this group have with using the arte during chemo?

 

Also this is very important:

 

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Thanks, Audrey;

 

We use artemisinin from Holley Pharmaceuticals (http://holleypharma.com/). I would use 100 mg once a day (no meat or meat products with it). Good luck!

 

We give the artemisinin at first time in the morning with peanut butter or other fatty (non-meat) treats, since artemisinin binds iron in the meat and it doesn't work as well.

 

 

Hope it helps and thanks so much for the donations!! it is so nice from you and all the Greyhound people.

 

 

Please let me know if any question

 

 

Paulo

 

 

Edited October 16, 2008 by Madeara

[Guest HersheysMom]

Please ask Dr. C specifically about Arte, don't just use the term "herbals" mention Arte specifically. I listened to him speak about three months ago and he talked at length about Arte and also about Chemo. I don't want to misquote him, though which is why I want you to check with him specifically about it.

 

It IS true that it's generally not advisable to give a whole potpourri of herbals along with chemo because you just don't know what will interact with what, but we are only talking about the Arte here.

 

I have read that it is compatible with chemo but not radiation, and I will try to dig up that reference for you. I can tell you firsthand that when I showed the Arte to Hershey's oncologist he okay'd it to use with chemo.

 

 

ETA - hmmm...just reread your post and seemed Dr. C did know you were referring only to Arte. I'm doublely confused now! Well, then I'll just have to go by my own experience that Hershey's oncologist okay'd it, we used in it conjunction, and he lived months past his prognosis.

Edited October 16, 2008 by HersheysMom

[RobinM]

Winslow's mom was told by OSU to use it during. I just sent OSU another emailing asking if they have found studies that prove it's not good to use during chemo since many people had been told to use it.

 

Talk about being confused.

 

 

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

I can't help from a canine point of view but I remember when my Mother was on chemo for her cancer, the doctors were very adamant that she not take any herbs at all during the course of treatment.

 

[Guest LadyChester]

I would certainly trust Dr. Couto and his team -- I'm sure their response is based on empirical, quantifiable evidence from all of the research articles they have read and in which they've likely participated. They are trained professionals who have an incredible amount of knowledge and a veterinary license. That is not to say that others don't have valuable info, but these folks are well trained and are giving you a professional opinion, not one based on anecdotal evidence. Interactions can be subtle or life threatening and the e-mail is pretty clear about their opinion.

[Burpdog]

Dr. Couto kindly replied to Glynis' email:

 

Hi Glynnis:

 

I am currently lecturing in Spain and will be back 10/27. We do not know that ART interacts with doxorubicin or any other chemo drugs, Although we have used them together in quite a few dogs, we don't have data ti support whether its a good (or a bad) thing…Hope this helps,

[TheFullHouse]

Personally I'd go with Dr. C but that's just me. I'd hate to do anything that would impede the progress of the chemo in any way, shape or form.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

From my own chemotherapy experience, oncologists say to avoid herbs and anti-oxidants during chemotherapy. While there haven't been substantial studies on it, it's a widely held belief by oncologists that they *may* interfere with chemotherapy so they advice against using them during.

 

Anecdotally, there have been some long-term survivors of Osteo using Arte.

[Guest longdogs]

It is highly likely the artemisinin will affect the way the chemo drugs are absorbed and metabolised, either making them less effective or possible enhancing their toxicity. I'm sure Dr. C. is giving the best advice available based on his leading expertise.