Antioxidants reduce side effects

A recent study suggests that children with leukaemia do not take enough antioxidant vitamins, which raises their risk of side effects during chemotherapy. Researchers from the Columbia University, New York, found that chemotherapy produces changes that stress the body's antioxidant defence system. In a 6-month study, the researchers examined antioxidant intake and chemotherapy side effects in 103 children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), the most common cancer in children. During the study period, the subjects took vitamin E, total carotenoid, beta-carotene, and vitamin A in amounts that were 66, 30, 59, and 29 per cent, respectively. The authors found that greater intake of vitamin C was associated with fewer therapy delays, less side effects, and fewer days spent in the hospital. Similarly, the risk of infection and side effects decreased as vitamin E and beta-carotene intake increased. Therefore, it's important that the diets of cancer patients contain adequate amounts of antioxidants. It would be prudent for children with ALL to receive nutritional counselling to ensure that they are meeting their antioxidant requirement.