Sports Drinks And Breast Cancer
Sometimes the weirdest discoveries pop up on my news feed. In this case researchers found that a common dietary supplement called cyclocreatine could inhibit the growth of drug resistant HER2-positive breast cancer tumors in mice. These human tumors had been grafted onto the mice for testing of therapies against their drug resistance. When fed this dietary supplement, the tumor growth was inhibited. Our metabolic spider web of interdependency in which so many enzyme reactions interact never ceases to amaze me.
When considering the development and proliferation of cancer, the processes underlying this horrible disease are neither simple nor linear. The genetic changes which flip a cell from well-behaved into a growing, multiplying frenzy are more than on-off switches. Like a falling domino, they may start with one genetic change, but they create a cascade of changes from there like dominoes knocking over 2 or 3 more with each tipping. Sometimes, the very first change requires two or three dominoes to get the process rolling.
For these drug resistant breast cancer tumors, other therapies, even those normally successful, fail to slow tumor growth. This cyclocreatine amazingly does so where others have failed. It even synergizes with some of the failed therapies to work even better. This discovery also opens up a pathway for tumor therapy since the researchers pinpointed the mechanism of action where it effects change. Such discoveries also encourage me that medicine can overcome cancer, hopefully even prevent it in the first place.
As a functional MD I look forward to both natural and pharmaceutical discoveries that benefit my patients. While attempting to implement the latest research findings like this, I also keep a foot on the therapy brakes until we know enough about a therapy to begin its use. In this case, the amount of cyclocreatine fed to the mice was a good bit higher comparatively to what humans drink in sports drinks. We have some more research and study to do before I tell any cancer patients to start chugging a sports drink, especially the ones with artificial colors and lots of sweeteners. To live a healthier more abundant life free of cancer I already have a long list of well-studied and successful recommendations for my patients.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.