If you’re undergoing cancer treatment, you may have been suggested chemotherapy or radiation therapy. And if you’ve never experienced much when it comes to cancer, you may be confused. After all, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are sometimes used interchangeably by the general public.
But they are two distinct treatments used for different things.
What’s The Difference Between Chemotherapy Vs. Radiation Therapy?
Chemotherapy is a drug-based treatment method used to treat cancer. It works through the entire body to prevent the spread of cancer, and may have different drugs involved depending on the type of cancer, the stage it has reached, and your age and overall state of health.
It may be administered by a doctor or nurse, via injection, orally, or through direct application to the skin.
Radiation therapy, meanwhile, uses radiation to attack the cancer cells in your body. It sends high doses of radiation to a localized area and is often used to treat tumours.
Radiation will damage your normal cells as well as your cancer cells, but the difference is that cancer cells are unable to repair themselves like your normal cells can.
It can be administered either via an external beam, similar to an X-ray machine, or through an implant placed inside your body near the tumour.
Radiation and chemotherapy can be used separately or combined to provide a more comprehensive treatment.
Adjunctive Naturopathic Treatment during Radiation Therapy
When it comes to radiation, your radiation oncologist may ask you to avoid antioxidants, each case varies.
Oral supplements of antioxidants can minimize some of the side effects of radiation. If antioxidants are to be omitted, non-antioxidant nutrients may also be used to support your body during your treatments.
Prior to radiation treatment, Dr. JJ will focus on building your nutrient reserves, since these will likely be depleted if you are moving to radiation post-chemotherapy. After your radiation therapy is complete, the focus will be on repairing your body and managing side effects if any.
The Cancer Vitamin C IV or Cancer Cachexia IV may be used, or even the Standard Nutrient (Myer’s cocktail) IV may also be used along with mistletoe therapy and oral supplementation of vitamins, minerals, herbs and other treatments.
