{"id":551,"date":"2013-07-15T08:58:56","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T12:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/?p=551"},"modified":"2015-02-11T15:22:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-11T20:22:00","slug":"coming-back-from-cancer-treatment-boost-your-bodys-immunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/15\/coming-back-from-cancer-treatment-boost-your-bodys-immunity\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming Back from Cancer Treatment: Boost Your Body&#8217;s Immunity"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_37\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-37\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-37\" src=\"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MP9004090251-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Boost your immunity after chemotherapy\" width=\"200\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MP9004090251-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MP9004090251-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MP9004090251.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-37\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Boost your immunity after chemotherapy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Call it chemotherapy\u2019s double-edged sword: the same powerful drugs that kill malignant cancer cells also wreak havoc on the rest of your body\u2019s systems. The side effects go beyond hair loss, nausea and fatigue \u2013 you may be at risk for a compromised immune system.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, according to Harrison\u2019s Principles of Internal Medicine, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Harrisons-Principles-Internal-Medicine-Volume\/dp\/0070202923\">14<sup>th<\/sup> edition<\/a>, &#8220;Autopsy studies show that most deaths from acute leukemia and half of deaths from lymphoma are caused directly by infection. With more intensive chemotherapy, patients with solid tumors have become more likely to die of infection rather than underlying disease.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>If you are undergoing or have recently completed a course of chemotherapy and radiation, you can take two important steps to boost your immune system and aid recovery.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Diet<\/span>. A well-balanced diet rich in iron is a natural way to enrich your immune system. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.health.arizona.edu\/health_topics\/nutrition\/handouts\/Iron%20Rich%20Foods%20to%20Boost%20Your%20Energy.pdf\">Maximize iron absorption<\/a> \u00a0by drinking orange or\u00a0grapefruit juice and adding sliced tomatoes or salsa to your entr\u00e9e, and avoiding\u00a0coffee, tea and milk with your meals. Herbs that boost immunity include <a href=\"http:\/\/nccam.nih.gov\/health\/astragalus\">astragalus<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.webmd.com\/vitamins-supplements\/ingredientmono-973-ANDROGRAPHIS.aspx?activeIngredientId=973&amp;activeIngredientName=ANDROGRAPHIS\">andrographis<\/a> and ginseng. And a recent\u00a0study pointed to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/04\/05\/fish-oil-immune-system-dha_n_3000430.html\">fish oil<\/a> as possibly beneficial to people with compromised immune systems.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Exercise<\/span>. Getting your strength back\u00a0after cancer treatment is a long process, but exercise can help you feel\u00a0like your old self again. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.health.harvard.edu\/flu-resource-center\/how-to-boost-your-immune-system.htm\">Harvard Medical School<\/a> notes that \u201ceven though a direct beneficial link hasn\u2019t been established, it\u2019s reasonable to \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 consider moderate regular exercise to be a beneficial arrow in the quiver\u00a0of healthy living, a potentially important means for keeping your immune\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0system healthy along with the rest of your body.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Call it chemotherapy\u2019s double-edged sword: the same powerful drugs that kill malignant cancer cells also wreak havoc on the rest of your body\u2019s systems. The side effects go beyond hair loss, nausea and fatigue \u2013 you may be at risk for a compromised immune system. In fact, according to Harrison\u2019s Principles of Internal Medicine, 14th &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/15\/coming-back-from-cancer-treatment-boost-your-bodys-immunity\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Coming Back from Cancer Treatment: Boost Your Body&#8217;s Immunity<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[232,216],"tags":[359,318],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-after-cancer","category-immunotherapy","tag-building-your-immune-system","tag-defeating-cancer"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1702,"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551\/revisions\/1702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/issels.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}