Free Radicals
Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli and Cabbage in Dog Cancer Diet?
Is it safe to give dogs brussels sprouts broccoli and cabbage in dog cancer diets? Demian Dressler, DVM explains why it’s both safe and necessary.
Read ArticlePrejudice in Chemo Side Effect Treatment for Dogs
Bias (prejudice) is an important issue in medical treatments being withheld. Some of these treatments may have benefit, and dog cancer is no exception. Managing the side effects of chemotherapy is an important part of cancer care. Chemotherapy is most commonly delivered at the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD). This means the highest doses that the…
Read ArticleThe Inflammatory Diet and Cancer
It turns out that modern changes in our dog’s diets may have a link to cancer development. It is now known that cancer needs inflammation to start, and to get worse. Inflammation is the process where body parts get red, swollen and painful. If we get an injury, inflammation happens as the first step in…
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Is Dog Cancer Treatment the Same as Prevention?
I’ve been thinking about a distinction that deserves way more attention from those who want to be their dogs’ primary health advocate. Why are distinctions important? One meaning of distinction is, “the act of making or keeping distinct”. So there is action implied in distinctions. Many time actions are built in to words because they…
Read ArticleDetoxification in Dog Cancer
One of the ways companies make money on cancer is by using words that sound great but mean little. “Detoxification” is one of them. Let’s take a closer look at this. On the surface, getting rid of “toxins‘ is a good idea, right? “Toxins” bad, “detox” good, correct? Well, sure, except nobody really knows what…
Read ArticleWhy Test For Heartworm But Not Cancer?
I was recently thinking about a little problem us veterinary professionals are faced with. We seem to have forgotten about relative risks. A relative risk is simply the risk of something in comparison to something else. Take the risk of cancer versus the risk of heartworm in a dog on heartworm preventative. Now, I am…
Read ArticleAnti-oxidants versus Pro-Oxidants
A reader asked an interesting question recently that I thought would make a good post. The question involved the use of antioxidants, either for dogs with cancer or to help prevent cancer. Lets get an overview to clarify this frequently-muddied picture. A free radical is a reactive molecule that tends to damage cell parts. When…
Read ArticleNasal Cancer, in memory of Max the Police Dog
A friend told me about this story. I have not been in the habit of writing about media news in this blog, but this story caught my attention and could be used to expound on nasal tumors in dogs. Max, a Springer spaniel, passed away in Britain due to nasal cancer. He spent his days…
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Dog Cancer and the Malaria Drug Artemisinin
Artemisinin for dogs with cancer? Yup. This herb can help make chemo more effective, and may also target cancer directly.
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Is The Cause of Cancer Really Not Known?
Conventional vets (and I count myself among this group) suggest that the cause of cancer is not known. Well, this statement rests on a faulty premise, because there is no single cause of cancer. Cancer is the product of many separate steps that all must occur before the disease happens. So of course the cause…
Read ArticleVitamin C for Canine Cancer Patients?
Many have heard of the Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. After winning the prize in chemistry in 1954, he went off on this tangent and decided to be the major proponent of vitamin C for health. Lots of people became pretty excited, and decided to see if Vitamin C did anything to cancer cells in…
Read ArticleWhat about Ozone Therapy and Dog Cancer?
Ozone therapy is one of those things that people ask about sometimes. Kind of an odd bird, ozone. What’s the deal with ozone therapy and dog cancer? First of all, what is ozone anyway? Ozone is a gas that can be administered after it is dissolved in liquid, most commonly either IV or as an…
Read ArticleDog Cancer and Antioxidants…Time to Clear Up Confusion!
Hi everyone, The use of “antioxidants” is a charged topic in cancer care these days. The holistic set tends to be “pro”, while the western vets and oncologists tend to be “anti”. Let’s take a look from my favorite viewpoint…Full Spectrum care ( where we try to avoid biases that exclude useful things but gear…
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