Posted on 01/21/2023 1:50:10 PM PST by ConservativeMind
High doses of vitamin D alleviated symptoms for patients with toxic erythema of chemotherapy (TEC) significantly faster than current treatments, according to a study.
TEC is a common side effect of chemotherapy in which patients develop severe redness, blistering and swelling, often affecting the hands, feet or areas on the body with skin folds.
For some patients, TEC symptoms are mild and eventually fades away on its own following cessation of chemotherapy, but for others, the condition persists and may worsen with subsequent chemotherapy treatment. High-potency topical steroids are generally prescribed to treat TEC, but can take up to four weeks for symptoms to significantly improve. Investigators have therefore continued to search for alternative treatment options with minimal side effects and faster results.
Previous work demonstrated that high doses of vitamin D improved erythema in patients with severe sunburn and chemotherapy-related skin injuries, suggesting that the same results might apply in the case of TEC.
Nguyen's team evaluated six patients between the ages of 36 and 38 years with TEC who received high doses of vitamin D at an academic medical center.
Four of the patients were diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and one with aplastic anemia, all of whom required chemotherapy before undergoing a stem cell transplant. One patient developed TEC after receiving chemotherapy for glioblastoma.
The onset of TEC occurred about one week after patients received chemotherapy treatment, who were then given varying dosages of vitamin D.
All patients experienced improvements in pain, itchiness or swelling after one day of treatment and improvement in redness within one to four days of treatment.
"Right now, we only know that it helps improve things temporarily in the acute setting. But we don't know if vitamin D on a more long-term basis would also be beneficial," Nguyen said.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
I am currently on chemotherapy. Each night I take an eyedrop of vitamin D my condition is good.
As a chemo patient with TEC, this is very welcome news!!! One thing to consider: in high enough doses, vitamin D can be toxic as it’s fat-soluble and excess doses are not excreted by the kidneys. This is definitely something to check with your doctor about and have a vitamin D level drawn before starting and after a few weeks of high doses. I will definitely be emailing my medical team asking about this...TEC and HFS are miserable. :(. Thanks for the info!
I learned recently—maybe from you—that one of the things that covid and the flu do is suppress the body’s ability to use vitamin d. that if you raise your glutathione levels via glycine and nac—the raised levels of glutathione will restore your body’s ability to use vitamin d.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.