FIGURING DOSES
Studies done with both human and canine cancer patients indicate that, you can buy quality time by providing optimum nutrition. Run everything by your vet for his/her review.
Use Mega-C Plus (NOTE: Do NOT use this if the cancer dog also has a kidney problem as you do not want to give kidney dogs a lot of Vitamin C. If this dog has renal problems, give a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement that contain only a small amount of Vitamin C.)
To find the Mega-C Plus, go to www.belfield.com and click on Products.
Give the Mega C Plus per instructions on the bottle. (I'd start lower than recommended and gradually increase to the amount indicated (over a 2 week period) to avoid loose stools or diarrhea from the vitamin C).Also give Beta Plex (from Belfield's site) It's loaded with B vitamins which in nutritional studies on cancer dogs have been shown to be important. Give per instructions on the bottle.
I would supplement with additional vitamin E once in 10 days if you are using the MaxEPA Omega-3 (see below). You want to keep the vitamin E DOWN as much as possible in order for the MaxEPA Omega-3 to work, but in the process that takes place with the MaxEPA Omega-3 in the dog's body (lipid peroxidation), vitamin E is used up, and you don't want the dog's body to be completely without vitamin E, so once in 10 days is a fair compromise.
Vitamin E is given at the following rate for dogs up to 99 pounds:
If the dog is under 7 years of age, you will supplement with 200 I.U. of vitamin E once in 10 days.
If the dog is 7 years of age or older, you will supplement with 400 I.U. of vitamin E once in 10 days.
NOTE: If the dog is VERY TINY (up to 7 pounds) and is under 7 years of age, you will supplement with only 100 I.U. of vitamin E once in 10 days.
Vitamin E is given at the following rate for dogs 100 pounds or heavier:
If the dog is under 7 years of age, you will supplement with 400 I.U. of vitamin E once in 10 days.
If the dog is 7 years of age or older, you will supplement with 800 I.U. of vitamin E once in 10 days.
_____________________________________________________MaxEPA Omega-3 (Buy from a health food store ) -
Brand to get is Natures Life or Solgar- Please try to NOT USE A SUBSTITUTE BRAND even if the readout on the label is identical - Can also buy Nature's Life - probably cheaper from: www.dhi.com/natlife2.html The one listed as MaxEPA #75-469 is the regular dose (1,000 mg per gel cap) but it will be easier with a big dog if you get the 3,000 mg gelcaps which is listed as Omega III #75-523 because you'll have to open fewer gel caps.
Alternatively, if you own a Giant Breed, you may want to contact one of the places that supply researchers. The ones I was given by a researcher are: Martek Biosciences Corporation in Columbia, MD and Zapata-Haynie Corporation in Reedville, VA. Be careful to ask how to keep the oil from going bad because I believe it is sold in liquid form rather than inside gelcaps.DO NOT USE GNC BRAND - - IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!
The only thing you should not give with MaxEPA Omega-3 is a Warfarin based drug (a particular type of blood thinner) as it may promote bleeding in the dog. IF YOU EVER DO SURGERY on this dog, cut the amount of MaxEPA given in half one week before and do not resume at full strength until after stitch removal. Cancer dogs do not heal as rapidly and MaxEPA Omega-3 may slow healing a little.
The amount of MaxEPA Omega-3 fish oil you give is 600 mg/kg. To figure the amount for a 47 lb dog, for example, you multiply 47 X 0.45 to convert the weight to kg. So, 47 X 0.45 = 21.15 kg. Next multiply 21.15 kg X 600 mg = 12,690 mg. That means the dog would get 13,000 mg MaxEPA Omega-3 fish oil per day (some will go on your fingers and some will stay inside the gelcap).
Do not heat the gel caps to make the oil come out easier!!
You will give half in the a.m. (contents of 7 gel caps of the 1,000 mg size) and half in the p.m.(contents of 6 gel caps of the 1,000 mg size). You do not need to give food with this. I DO NOT give the dog the entire gelcap. I puncture the end and squeeze the fish oil into the dog's mouth or onto room temp. food. The reason is that some dogs get sick from the gel cap material and vomit it up. Also, this way you are sure that the dog is getting the oil. You don't have to wonder how much he actually got if and when the gel cap dissolved. However, some dogs hate the taste and will vomit the oil back up. If your dog is one of these, give the gel caps without puncturing them and smear cream cheese on them so the dog will take them easily.
Each gel cap contains:
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) - - 180 mg
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) - - 120 mg
Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) - 0 I.U.NOTE: On the MaxEPA Omega-3, you can increase it if necessary.
GIANT DOG OWNERS NOTE: DO NOT GO OVER 50,000 mg per day regardless of your dog's weight!
A very few dogs have developed diarrhea from MaxEPA Omega-3. If this should happen, switch to emulsified Omega.
_______________________________________________________See the 2 studies below on how MaxEPA Omega-3 works. It is a heavy duty anti-inflammatory that in some cancers can shrink/slow the cancer by up to 62% and can stop cachexia (loss of muscle mass/drop in weight/drop in appetite). There's a lot of inflammation with cancer. MaxEPA Omega-3 and Dr. Belfield's supplementation program can usually buy quality of life.
MaxEPA can also protect liver, kidneys, bladder and lungs longer in a cancer dog. It is also used for renal failure dogs to slow kidney deterioration and in heart dogs to buy quality of life and longer life (see the Tufts study below). _______________________________________________________________________
Aside from the above, I'd put the dog on CoQ-10 (Enzymatic Therapy brand - DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BRAND), Bio Beta Glucan Maitake liquid (Nature's Answer is the brand - DO NOT USE ANY OTHER BRAND), and Immunocal for People - NOT Immunocal for Animals. The reasons will become obvious when you read the study abstracts and research.
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My vet at Cornell gave us an educated guess as to dosage of CoQ-10 based on studies he'd seen. He felt that the studies looked good. Susan's dog was 11 years old and weighed 50 lbs and the vet recommended she give 150-200 mg. This dog was on 225 mg with no side effects. There is a 24 lb dog on 100 mg per day and doing well, i.e., no side effects. However, this is not given per body weight as adult humans are given an upper limit of 390 mg. If it were my 47 lb dog, I'd give an upper limit of 200 mg.
NOTE: EVEN IF YOU HAVE A GIANT BREED, DO NOT GIVE MORE THAN 275 mg per day regardless of the dog's weight UNLESS the dog is 150 pounds or heavier in which case I'd go to 300 mg BUT NEVER GIVE MORE THAN THAT EVEN IF THE DOG IS 200 LBS!
Brand to use is "Enzymatic Therapy" as they make a thick orange colored oil inside a gel cap and the oil based product works better.
Cut a line in the top of the gelcap with strong scissors and squeeze the thick oil into the dog's mouth or onto the dog's room temperature food. Buy at health food store. Does not need to be refrigerated. Does not need to be given with food.
If your local health food store does not have this brand, go to www.enzy.com and find the store nearest to you that sells this brand.
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On the Bio Beta Glucan Maitake liquid, I know someone at Linus Pauling Institute who very kindly checked out studies and sent his best guess on the amount to give. The rat dose in the study he quoted was 1 mg/kg, BUT researchers gave 5 and 10 times that amount to animals and got no toxic effects. If you stick with 1 mg/kg and use Nature's Answer brand, every 2 drops equal 1 mg. So, for a 21.15 kg dog, you add 21.15 twice because 2 drops = 1 mg and you would have to give 42 drops per day divided into either 2 or 3 doses to equal 42 per day total.
This is rather expensive. Cost is $34 to $39 per 2 fl oz bottle and $60 for a 4 fl ounce bottle (4 oz size has 1,600 drops and the 2 oz size has 800 drops). Make sure to shake the bottle and squish the dropper so that the concentration in the dropper is correct. This does not have to be refrigerated after opening. The brand you need to get is Nature's Answer, liquid from a health food store or off the internet. Nature's Answer is cheapest from Vitamins 4 Life at: 1-888-Vita-4Life - toll free number).
On the Bio Beta Glucan Maitake, you can increase it if necessary.
____________________________________________________________________________Again, if this were my dog, I'd also put it on Immunocal for People (NOT Immunocal for Animals).
Susan gave her 50 lb dog 1/3 packet (two teaspoons) per day. For a 47 lb dog, I'd give the dog two teaspoons per day. Cheapest if you order from the CA rep, Chantal, you can get a $40 reduction. She is at: chantal.brault@videotron.caNOTE: OWNERS OF GIANT BREEDS, I would not give more than 4 teaspoons per day even to a 150 pound dog.
____________________________________________________________________________NOTE:
Susan's 50 lb dog should have been taking 14,000 MaxEPA Omega-3 per day but was actually getting 30,600 mg.Susan's dog was supposed to be getting 45 drops of Bio Beta Glucan Maitake liquid per day, but was getting 105 drops.
Susan's dog experienced no side effects from these amounts and this dog managed to have perfect quality of life for 10 months despite a secondary tumor that should have killed the dog in 2-4 weeks 7 months before this dog was actually put down. This dog had bladder cancer originally diagnosed as inoperable - in the trigone region with a bladder the consistency of cottage cheese back in June of 1998. The dog was on the above program plus Piroxicam and had perfect quality of life. Every other bladder cancer dog I tracked - including my own died within 4 weeks of the diagnosis of the secondary tumor which is unstoppable except that one or a combination of the new things added to my basic program CoQ-10, D-Fraction Maitake and Immunocal dramatically slowed the tumor's growth in conjunction with the Basic Cancer Program. I know from surgery done on my own bladder cancer dog that 7-1/2 months after his diagnosis his liver, kidneys, and bladder were still being protected and he was only on the Basic Cancer Program because at that time I was not aware of the other things.
Also, a dog in WA who was diagnosed with cancer in the sinus cavity and had a large tumor above one eye was given only weeks to live (this was osteo sarcoma). I sent the owner my basic cancer program and she also used a holistic vet. Six months later the dog was still enjoying perfect quality of life and the owner reported that the tumor over the eye had diminished in size. Her dog got approximately 15 months of perfect quality of life using this program and a holistic diet.
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From The April 1998 issue of Nutrition Science News
Fish Oil Slows Cancer Cachexia By Richard N. Podell, M.D.
For cancer patients with a poor prognosis, good news, no matter how slim, is still good news. The American Cancer Society (ACS), nationally headquartered in Atlanta, estimates that 29,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1998. Of those patients, the ACS predicts 18 percent will survive at least one year after the diagnosis and only 4 percent will survive more than five years. The slim bit of good news comes from research that shows fish oil helps slow or reverse cachexia, a condition of physical wasting and malnutrition often developed by cancer patients.1
Cachexia is especially common to pancreatic cancer, where rapid weight loss is often the dominant symptom. Weight and muscle mass drop off rapidly and out of proportion to the accompanying loss of appetite. Neither more food nor intravenous nutrition reverses the problem. Cachexia directly accounts for an estimated 10 to 22 percent of all cancer deaths.
Many experts believe cachexia reflects an increased metabolic rate caused by inflammatory biochemical's that cancer triggers. The best way to reverse cachexia is to treat the cancer. However, pancreatic cancer does not have a safe, effective treatment. Pharmacological treatments such as hydrazine sulfate and ibuprofen may be helpful, but both have limitations, especially ibuprofen, which can cause gastrointestinal bleeding.2,3
The Fish Oil Alternative In test-tube experiments, fish oils and their omega-3 fatty acids inhibit the growth of several types of human cancer, including pancreatic. Fish oil also inhibits certain cancers in mice and, through a separate effect, can reverse their cachexia.
This month's featured study is from the University of Edinburgh, Department of Surgery, Royal Infirmary in Scotland.4 Eighteen patients with inoperable pancreatic cancer received a daily dose of 12 1 g capsules of a fish-oil dietary supplement that contained 18 percent eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and 12 percent docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
All of the patients had been losing 3 pounds per month on average before taking fish oil. In the first three months of supplementation their average weight increased by about two-thirds of a pound per month. Eleven of the 18 patients gained weight, three remained stable and four continued to lose weight, but more slowly. Tests showed that the weight gain was not caused by fluid retention.
Both patients and doctors in the study were aware of the treatment. However, there are several reasons to believe the weight gain was not a placebo effect. First, the weight loss in previous months had been large and progressive with no reversal. Second, the fish-oil patients did much better than another group who were treated with intravenous gamma linolenic acid (GLA), a different type of oil. The intravenous treatments with GLA, given by the same doctors, were ineffective in reversing weight loss. Therefore, there was no significant placebo effect.
The authors concluded: "Oral fish-oil supplementation significantly altered the progression of cachexia in a group of pancreatic cancer patients. Before supplementation, all of the study group experienced progressive weight loss; however, following administration of fish oil, three-quarters of the group were either weight-stable or actually gained a small amount of weight. It is unlikely that the observed changes in weight were caused by a placebo effect since administration of GLA to a matched group of weight-losing pancreatic cancer patients had no significant influence on the overall pattern of weight loss. Limited Success.
The most important limitation of this study was its short duration. Three month's benefit is important, especially in an aggressive cancer like pancreatic. However, this brief reprieve should not give false hope. There is some reason to suspect that had the study continued, progressive weight loss would likely have resumed.
Why did researchers expect fish oil to help? Mainly because pancreatic cancer produces an inflammatory state in the body. This can be measured by a blood test called C-reactive protein. Typically, as the cancer progresses so does the C-reactive protein level. After one month on fish oil the C-reactive protein levels of test patients decreased by about one-third.
This fits, because fish oil is known for its anti-inflammatory effect. However, after three months of treatment the C-reactive protein levels had risen back to their high baseline levels. Therefore, we should not be surprised if weight loss resumed after four or five months.
The fish-oil treatment appeared to slow weight loss, however, we do not know from this study if it also affected the cancer. Unfortunately, no imaging studies were done to see if tumor volume decreased.
I know of only one other study that used fish oil to treat cancer in humans, and it measured tumor growth rather than weight loss. Among 12 patients with advanced breast cancer, tumor progression continued in 11. Only one showed a partial response to the fish oil. Animal studies using fish oil are encouraging. One study showed reduced cachexia in mice with cancer.5 Other studies showed fish oil decreased the subject's tendency to break down fat6 and increased the ability to preserve muscle mass.7
This month's clinical study builds on an increasing number of animal studies that find various foods and natural products valuable in cancer treatment. These include: soy protein,8 melatonin,9 vegetable mixes,10 modified citrus pectin,11 curcumin,12 Co-Q10,13 cow's milk whey14 and shark liver oil.15 Having said this I want to make one thing crystal clear: Self-treatment for cancer makes no sense. People with cancer should work with an oncologist, or a physician specializing in cancer treatment. While many, probably most, oncologists remain wary of "alternative medicine," a substantial number are recognizing that something important is brewing in the nutrition/cancer literature. I know several oncologists who are talking to nutritionists about how to help patients. My sense is that oncologists are among the most caring and open-minded physicians. So if a patient chooses to add natural therapies to cancer treatments, my advice is to ask both the oncologist and alternative advisors to discuss with each other how best to contribute to patient care. NSN Richard N. Podell, M.D., is clinical professor of family medicine at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J., and director of the Podell Center for Medical Treatment, Prevention and Natural Healing in New Providence, N.J.
REFERENCES
1. Tisdale, M. J Nat Cancer Inst, 89: 1763-73, Dec. 3, 1997.
2. Chlebowski, R.T., Heber, D., et al. Cancer Res, 44: 857-61, 1984.
3. Wigmore, S.J., Falconer, J.S., et al. Br J Cancer, 72: 185-88, 1995.
4. Wigmore, S., Ross, J., et al. Nutrition (Suppl.), 12(1): S27-S30, 1996.
5. Beck, S.A., Smith, K.L., et al. Cancer Res, 51: 6089-93, 1991.
6. Tinsdale, M.J. & Beck, S.A. Biochem Pharmacol, 41: 103-7, 1991.
7. Smith, K.L. & Tisdale, M.J. Br J Cancer, 68: 314-18, 1993.
8. Yan, L., Yee, J., et al. Cancer and Nutrition, 29: 1-6, 1997.
9. Lissoni, P. European Urology, 31: 178-81, 1997.
10. Rijnkels, J., et al. Nutrition and Cancer 29: 90-95, 1997.
11. Plenta, K.J. J Nat Cancer Inst, 87: 348-53, 1997.
12. Nagabthushan, M. J Am Col Nut, 11(2): 192-98, 1992.
13. Lockwood, K., et al. Molecular Aspects of Medicine, 15: s231-40, 1994.
14. Kennedy, R., et al. Anticancer Research, 15: 2643-50, 1995.
15. Storm, H., et al. Lipids, 28: 555-59, 1993.
Copyright 1995-1998, New Hope Communications. Any duplication of this document by electronic or other means is strictly prohibited. Email nsn@newhope.com with your magazine-specific questions. We do not offer medical advice. For questions related to the website, contact webmaster@newhope.comWELLPET KEEPER
Fish Oil and Heart Disease
"Fish oil supplements help thwart the loss of muscle mass in dogs suffering from heart disease, according to a study at Tufts Univ. School of Veterinary Medicine. "We are very excited about these results," said Dr. Lisa M. Freeman, a veterinary nutritionist at Tufts. "My hunch is that a higher dose of fish oil might have even more of an effect, but we need to do more studies in this area." Dogs with heart disease, like people, experience a phenomenon called cachexia, or loss of muscle mass, that decreases strength and immune function. When ill, the body produces elevated levels of hormone-like substances called cytokines, the major one being tumor necrosis factor, to help fight the offending pathogen. But at high levels and for prolonged periods, cytokines can suppress appetite and cause a loss of muscle mass.
"People with heart disease have increased levels of cytokines, probably as a compensatory response to the disease, but this eventually can have detrimental effects for the patient," Freeman said.
"We wanted to study this mechanism to determine if it could be managed nutritionally, and it turns out that fish oil does indeed reduce cytokine levels."
Although veterinarians have observed cachexia clinically in their patients for years, the precise mechanism of the condition had not been studied in dogs before. Freeman, who also is a researcher at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts, conducted the fish oil study in collaboation with colleagues from the veterinary school and the HNRCA.
In the eight-week study, 28 dogs with congestive heart failure caused by dilated cardiomyopathy, a naturally occurring disease that weakens the heart muscle in some middle-age dogs and is generally fatal within four to six months, were divided into two groups. One group was given fish oil, and the other received a placebo. Both groups were also given appropriate medical treatments for their condition.
Fish oil is not a magic bullet for treating canine heart disease, Freeman cautions, but the Tufts researchers found a reduction in cytokine levels and an improvement in muscle mass in these animals.
"But even more exciting was the finding that reductions in cytokine levels were associated with a longer survival time," Freeman said. "We'll need to study this further, certainly, but it looks promising."
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Hills Pet Products, the Mark Morris Institute and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
Reprinted with permission of Canine Times,, a publication of CFNA, Inc. 509-332-3956.
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