Hi all, I was diax in My 2003, remission in 2005 and currently taking 600mg of Glivec a day - but I have had 5 colds and the novovirus all since September so am feeling fairly sorry for myself. Just wondering if anyone takes Echinacea and does this do any good, or does it react with the Glivec?
Many thanks,
I don't think this would react with Glivec. It does boost your immune system though.
Sandy
I've always been told to avoid Echinacea by my Dr, there were worries that it could affect the liver & the concentration of Glivec in the blood.
I had a look on internet & came up with this, I hope it helps :
A review published by the American Journal of Clinical Oncology found that some common herbal remedies such as garlic, ginkgo, echinacea, ginseng, kava and St John’s Wort can interact with cancer treatments. They may affect the way drugs are broken down by your body, or the way drugs are carried around your body. For example, information published by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) suggests that St John’s Wort can speed up the time that your body takes to get rid of the anti-cancer treatment, imatinib (Glivec) by 44%. This could potentially mean that the treatment is less effective at fighting your cancer. Until more research is done, we won’t know fully how St John’s Wort interacts with cancer treatments.
Here is an article from the Journal of Clinical Oncology and the National Cancer
Institute on the combination of taking herbs and cancer drugs.
www.healthmonitor.com (winter 2008 edition)
Herbs have the reputation of being natural and gentle, but they contain
compounds that can profoundly affect the body. Research continues on how to
harness their bioactivity to make more effective or more tolerable cancer
treatments. The strength that herbals may have for positive effects could
significantly interfere with treatments if the wrong products are used at the
wrong times.
There is another misconception about herbal products, and all supplements for
that matter, which everyone should be aware of. Consumers may not always attain
the same benefits observed in research studies, because supplements may differ
from what was used in research. Independent tests on a variety of herbal
products have shown that some are missing significant levels of important
compounds, or are contaminated with unlisted ingredients. One safeguard against
this problem is to check the label for a mark by the United States Pharmacopeia
(USP) that says "dietary supplement verified" in a circle. For a partial list of
supplements verified by USP for quality you can visit www.uspverified.org.
Another organization that independently tests the quality of supplements is
ConsumerLab.com.Its website is www.consumerlab.com.
Individuals on chemotherapy should avoid grape seed; those who have blood
clotting problems or are taking anticlotting drugs should avoid bilberry.
Garlic may increase bleeding when used together with aspirin, warfarin, or
deipyridamole.
CYTOCHROME P450 Enzymes:
http://www.uky.edu/Pharmacy/ps/porter/CPR.htm
Ginkgo may affect the metabolism of certain cancer medications.
Echinacea may interact with cancer drugs metabolized by one of the P450 enzymes.
Soy can stimulate the growth of breast and endometrial tumors as well as
neutralize the ability of the drug tamoxifen to slow breast cancer growth.
Women with estrogen-dependent tumors should avoid soy.
St. John's wort appears to afffect several drug-metabolizing enzymes and
interacts with drugs from a variety of therapeutic classes.
Saw palmetto should be avoided by women taking oral contraceptives and estrogen
replacement. The reasoning is because of possible additive effects.
Ginseng can affect estrogen levels, so it should not be taken by women with
breast or endometrial cancer.
Blackcohosh may increase the effect of tamoxifen for women with breast cancer.
