FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE BLOG 

Includes over 800 monographs reporting on emerging studies in the medical and scientific literature of practical clinical importance, easily searched for content.

Oncology Oncology

Ketone supplementation and the ketogenic diet for cancer

"The emerging role of metabolism in many types of cancers provides a novel target for new therapeutics. A possibility is dietary therapies that are designed to take advantage of the unique energetic needs of tumor cells. One such option is the use of a very high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet (90%:5%, respectively) called the Ketogenic Diet (KD). This diet has been used to treat epilepsy for nearly 90 years, and recently its application as a cancer therapeutic has been explored. Although preclinical studies demonstrate its efficacy and clinical case reports support its feasibility, the KD is difficult to implement due to its stringent nature. Here, we report the development of an sHFLC, which mimics the main physiologic effects of the KD, namely reduced glucose and increased ketones. In addition, the sHFLC diet is able to reduce glioblastoma (GB) tumor cell proliferation and extend lifespan in GB animal models."

Read More

Hormone replacement in menopause and ovarian cancer risk

Hormone replacement in menopause must be evaluated thoroughly on an individual basis with careful attention to the important benefits and risks. This includes of course objective measurements of bioactive hormone levels before and during hormone replacement at appropriate intervals, including analysis of benign versus troublesome estrogen metabolites. Regarding adverse effects that must be weighed, an important study just published in The Lancet brings to light a significant risk for ovarian cancer in current and past users of hormone replacement.

Read More
Oncology Oncology

Lung cancer, inflammation, and tumor microenvironment

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. As with all other cancers, untangling the role of systemic inflammation (cancer promoting) versus inflammation in the tumor microenvironment (cancer fighting) is of fundamental clinical importance. A welcome study just published in PLOS One (Public Library of Science) sheds light on this critical conundrum while including the aspect of nutritional status.

Read More

Nigella sativa, a true 'wonder medicine'?

Nigella sativa, also known as black cumin, produces seeds with a mind-boggling wealth of medicinal virtues. For colleagues and others who may not be familiar with the abundance of scientific evidence for the use of Nigella sativa seed extract in clinical practice, this selection of citations serves as an introduction to its wide range of indications.

Read More

Breast cancer survival is enhanced by higher serum levels of vitamin D

Breast cancer survival is linked to higher serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] according to evidence presented in a meta-analysis just published in the journal Anti-Cancer Research...Higher serum 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with lower fatality rates in patients with breast cancer. Patients with the highest concentration of 25(OH)D had approximately half the fatality rate compared to those with the lowest concentration

Read More