Insomnia research studies for holistic treatments

Fatigue is a common, often debilitating, side effect of cancer chemotherapy. Pharmacologic vitamin C has been used as an alternative treatment for the itself but its effects on fatigue have not often been documented. Here we report on the case of a woman with recurrent breast cancer, undergoing weekly chemotherapy, with lethargy as a major symptom. Vitamin C (50 g/session) was administered twice weekly and quality of life and multidimensional fatigue symptomology questionnaires were undertaken. Dramatic decreases in fatigue and insomnia were observed, as well as increased cognitive functioning. There were no adverse side effects of i.v. vitamin C.

Dietary Laminaria and Porphyra sp. have been reported to reduce the risk of intestinal or mammary cancer in animal studies. Algal anticarcinogenicity may involve effects on cell proliferation and antioxidant activity. Thus, in the present study, we evaluated the effect of red alga, dulse (Palmaria palmata) and three kelp (Laminaria setchellii, Macrocystis integrifolia, Nereocystis leutkeana) extracts on human cervical adenocarcinoma cell line (HeLa cells) proliferation using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. The 1-butanol soluble fractions from the methanol extracts of these algae were also evaluated for reducing activity and total polyphenol content. After 72 h incubation, HeLa cell proliferation was inhibited (pM. integrifolia>L. setchellii>N. leutkeana; and total polyphenol contents were: P. palmata>M. integrifolia=N. leutkeana>L. setchellii. The antiproliferative efficacy of these algal extracts were positively correlated with the total polyphenol contents (p