St. George slewing the beast (dragon)
Raphael's St. George and the Dragon, 1504-06, oil on wood, The National Gallery of Art at Washington D.C.

This is not the happy go lucky topic of the day, and yet in some ways I’m ecstatic about this news. Some of you have seen my previous posts those heroes who fight the beast called cancer. Anything that can make the suffering of heroes more bearable is great news, and so this is great news.

A randomized clinical trial has confirmed what many people suspect — that ginger can decrease nausea caused by chemotherapy. The effect goes beyond that provided by standard anti-vomiting drugs.

The trial, financed by the National Cancer Institute, involved 644 patients, mostly women with breast cancer, who were undergoing chemotherapy at 23 oncology practices in the United States.

All patients took a standard anti-vomiting drug on each day of chemotherapy. They also took specially made capsules containing either extracts of ginger root or a placebo for six days, starting three days before each round of chemotherapy.

They then rated the severity of their nausea four times a day. Those taking the ginger had a reduction of about 45 percent in severity compared with a previous round of chemotherapy in which they did not take the ginger. Those on the placebo had almost no change, said Julie L. Ryan of the University of Rochester, the lead author of the study

Previous studies have yielded inconsistent results. Dr. Ryan said the new study might have succeeded because the ginger was given before chemotherapy.

The best results corresponded to a quarter to a half teaspoon of ground ginger, she said. She added that either the ginger that comes in spice bottles or the ginger capsules sold in health food stores would probably work.

Please see more about this study and other news about the treatment of cancer here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/health/15cancer.html

Folks, this is huge. The nausea prevents many patients from eating, or from being able to hold their food down. Chemotherapy is all about flooding your body with poisons in the hopes that the poison will kill the cancer before it kills you. If your primary way of putting nutrients into your body is taken away, that makes the body’s fight all that much more difficult. I have to believe this simple “cure” will lead to far greater rates of success. I have to believe and pray that it will.

God bless you if you are fighting the beast today. My prayers are for you and your family.