Related article: Cancer
In popular usage, chemotherapy refers to a chemical treatment used to kill or halt the replication and/or spread of cancerous cells in a patient. The use of chemotherapy is not limited to cancer. Chemotherapeutic agents have also been used, with marginal success, against inflammatory diseases such as sarcoidosis and against pathogenic infections infections such as hepatitis C.
There is no official recommendation on whether patients and their physicians should use chemotherapeutic agents against cancer. However, there are two primary concerns about chemotherapy:
Those patients who take a regimen of chemotherapy should explore with their physicians the option of using the Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. while on their chemotherapy.
The use of chemotherapeutic agents such as methotrexate (MTX) against sarcoidosis and other autoimmune diseases is not recommended.
There are variety of kinds of chemotherapy, but all chemotherapeutic regimens can cause depression of the immune system, often by paralyzing the bone marrow and leading to a decrease of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. While some of the human cells which die are infected by intracellular pathogens, many are not. Chemotherapy's immunosuppressive effects are especially problematic when one considers that patients with cancer are already in a state of immunosuppression. In fact, according to the Marshall PathogenesisA description for how chronic inflammatory diseases originate and develop., patients develop cancer because they are immunosuppressed.
When the body is immunosuppressed, there are a number of important genes that are not properly expressed including those transcribed by the Vitamin D ReceptorA nuclear receptor located throughout the body that plays a key role in the innate immune response. (VDRThe Vitamin D Receptor. A nuclear receptor located throughout the body that plays a key role in the innate immune response.). One such gene is tumor metastasis suppressor protein,1) a protein which acts to slow or prevent metastases (secondary tumors) from spreading in the body of an organism with cancer.2)
The additional immunosuppression caused by chemotherapy can cause symptoms over the long-term such as “chemo brain.”3)
Brain fogThe loss of intellectual functions such as reasoning; memory loss; and other neurological abilities that is severe enough to interfere with daily functioning. (also known as “chemo brain”) is a common side effect of chemotherapy. As demonstrated in a 2011 study, women with breast cancer, compared with healthy controls, had significantly reduced activation in several regions of the brain including the left middle dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, premotor cortex and left caudal lateral prefrontal cortex activation.4)
Main article: Methotrexate
Methotrexate (MTX) is an antibiotic, which interferes with bacteria's ability to synthesize folate. It is used to treat diseases with rapid cell growth such as cancer and some autoimmune diseases. A superior alternative to MTX is the Marshall Protocol antibiotic, Bactrim DS.
In 2011, a Norwegian study published in PLoS One studied the effect of Rituximab – a monoclonal antibody otherwise used in cancers and anti-rejection treatment for organ transplants – on patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. In the 25-week study period, fatigue improved significantly in 10 out of 15 patients versus 2 out of 15 controls.5) This positive result may be due to the fact that Rituximab is a strong immunosuppressant. It may be telling to see a follow up of the patients who received the drug ten or even fifteen years from now.
<html> <div class=“patientinterviews”>
<div class=“patientinterviewboxl”>
<div class=“patientinterviewimage”></html>
<html></div>
<div class=“patientinterviewtext”>
<div class=“patientinterviewname”></html>Gene Johnson<html></div></html>
sarcoidosis, bladder cancer
Read the interview
<html></div></div></html>
<html>
<br clear=“left” />
</div> </html>