Oncology is a terrible disease that has long ceased to be rare in modern life. To ensure the absence of relapses and long-term remission, or to reduce the tumor, you can use chemotherapy. Such treatment involves the use of poisons and toxins that affect malignant tumors, but at the same time it harms he althy cells of the body, therefore it is not without side effects, in the first place among which is the fall of leukocytes responsible for immunity. But there are many ways to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy appointment
Measures to be taken to recover from chemotherapy largely depend on the following factors:
- which organs were affected by cancer;
- what were the goals of the treatment;
- what drugs were used.
Efficiency of applicationtoxins to affect cancer cells depends on which organ the tumor has formed. The sympathetic nervous system or uterus can be completely cured. For the prostate or bladder, chemotherapy provides long-term remission. The stomach or kidneys can be controlled in 50-70% of cases. And tumors of the liver and pancreas are not very susceptible to toxins, they need to be operated on or irradiated.
Classification
By goals, chemotherapy is divided into the following categories:
- preoperative for tumor reduction and more gentle surgery;
- post-surgery to remove the remainder of cancer cells;
- palliative to slow tumor progression in incurable cases.
Drugs are selected so that there are more positive effects on the body than side effects. To this end, new drugs are being developed:
- targeted, affecting not all systems and organs, but targeted at cancer cells;
- immune drugs to activate the body's own defenses;
- hormonal, affecting the tumor with synthesized hormones.
However, for the treatment to be successful, the tumor must have certain characteristics or be hormone-sensitive. This is not always the case, and besides, new drugs affect tumor mutations rather than the tumor itself, so their use is very limited.
And traditional medicines lead to a fallblood indicators. Most often they affect white blood cells, but some inhibit platelets or red blood cells. This manifests itself already 1-2 weeks after the start of the course, when the poisons have already acted on all blood cells, and the bone marrow has not yet had time to produce new ones.
The next course is prescribed after a certain time (usually several weeks), during which the body must have time to restore strength. During rest, the patient's condition is monitored: the absence of damage to the liver and mucous membranes is checked, neurological symptoms are eliminated (nausea, headache, depression, and so on), blood tests are done. If platelets drop too low, there is a risk of bleeding, so the patient will receive a platelet transfusion. Antibiotics are prescribed in case of a fall in leukocytes with simultaneous infection of a person with an infection.
Leukocytes
So, toxins and poisons have a very strong effect on blood counts, but in order to decide how to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy, you need to find out what they are and what functions they perform.
Leukocytes are white blood cells with a nucleus. They protect the body from external and internal harmful agents. They do this by absorbing and digesting foreign particles, as well as releasing antibodies. In order to fulfill their function, leukocytes can penetrate the walls of blood vessels and enter the intercellular space.
The number of these cells in the body is not constant. On average, they are 4-9 billion per liter, but the content canrise in the evening, after eating, physical and emotional stress, exposure to temperature changes. If their number is greatly reduced, leukopenia is diagnosed.
Thus, white blood cells are indispensable and very important for the body, so it is imperative to raise the level of leukocytes after chemotherapy.
Medical advice
After chemotherapy, it is necessary to undergo rehabilitation. Recommendations regarding it are given by the doctor, taking into account the characteristics of the course of the disease and the treatment of the patient. But in general, rehabilitation measures include the elimination of side effects. To do this, prescribed drugs, diet.
All this is aimed at restoring those organs that were hit hardest by chemotherapy. First, they take care of the internal he alth of the body and only then about eliminating external shortcomings (deteriorated condition of hair, nails).
If there is a suspicion that the patient is developing depression, a visit to a psychotherapist is necessary, since mental balance strongly affects the processes of physical balance.
Drug list
How to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy? The best option is medicines selected by a doctor. It is not worth taking medications on your own and without consulting an oncologist, even if they are available without a prescription. But it is useful to know what specialists usually prescribe to their patients and on what principle these drugs work.
At different stages of leukopenia, they use their own drugs that raise leukocytes after chemotherapy. On the first one they are:
- "Methyluracil" in tablets stimulates the immune system, restores bone marrow tissue, which allows for the maturation of leukocytes and their release into the circulatory system.
- "Pentoxyl" relieves inflammation, stimulates the work of leukocytes, increases the overall resistance of the body.
- "Leucovorin" in injections improves hematopoiesis, selectively acts on he althy cells.
- "Imunofan" has an immunoregulatory effect and overcomes the drug resistance of tumor cells.
- "Polyoxidonium" exhibits immunomodulating and anti-inflammatory effects.
In the second stage, these drugs can also be used, but in addition to raising leukocytes after chemotherapy, the following remedies will help:
- "Sodium nucleinate" stimulates bone marrow and leukocyte activity;
- "Remaxol" regulates the activity of the liver, restores antioxidant protection;
- "Betaleukin" restores bone marrow hematopoiesis, is discharged in advanced cases.
The extreme stage of leukopenia requires treatment in a hospital under the supervision of specialists. The patient will be given "Betaleukin" without fail, in addition to it, the following strong drugs can be prescribed:
- "Batilol" inhibits the decrease in the number of leukocytes,contributes to their rapid recovery.
- "Leukogen" stimulates the production of white blood cells.
- "Pyridoxine" stimulates metabolic processes.
The treatment is not limited to these drugs. In addition to them, other colony-stimulating agents from a number of analogues can be prescribed. Taking pills in a hospital is combined with procedures for introducing drugs with donor erythrocytes into the circulatory system.
Diet
In addition to taking medication, cancer patients need to adhere to the principles of a he althy diet. The necessary diet is usually prescribed by a doctor, but if he did not leave any strict recommendations, you can make your own diet.
Food should restore strength and energy. To do this, you need to consume 2600-2800 kcal per day daily, select meals that are balanced in terms of nutrient ratio, include vitamins and trace elements in your diet, eat often, but in small portions, do not forget to drink water. For such a diet to be a pleasure, you need to focus on your own preferences and do not forget that there should be variety on the table. This will help awaken the appetite of a body suffering from poisons and excessive amounts of medicines.
From processed foods, caffeine, alcohol, fatty and fried foods, artificial sweeteners should be avoided. Sugar-sweet foods can increase the nausea that often occurs after chemotherapy.
After every meal you should brush your teeth or at least just rinse your mouth. Casethat after chemotherapy the body is weakened, and harmful microorganisms attack it with double force.
Products after chemotherapy
After chemotherapy, your diet should include lean meat and fish, seafood, eggs, milk, cereals, fruits, vegetables, compotes and green tea.
You can suppress nausea by snacking on dried fruits, nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt or berries. Recovery also helps bananas, oranges, apricots, rich in potassium and magnesium. Vegetable salads are useful to season with olive oil.
Some foods can even help relieve complications from chemotherapy. So, tea and non-acidic juices reduce pain in the oropharynx, soft vegetables solve the problem of difficulty swallowing, and protein dishes eliminate dry mouth and reduce the viscosity of saliva. With a strong weight loss, you should include cheeses, sweet fruits, olive oil in your diet. If body weight is increasing, it is better to give preference to lean fish, skinless poultry, brown rice.
Foods that increase white blood cells
These are the general principles of nutrition, but in a specific case, when the question arises of how to raise leukocytes after chemotherapy, you need to choose foods that can increase the number of missing cells. These include:
- Buckwheat, rich in vitamins and substances that increase hemoglobin and leukocytes. In the form of cereals, you can cook cereals and side dishes from it, buckwheat flour is an excellent base for casseroles and pancakes.
- Red fish saturates the body with usefulacids, iodine and potassium. This is one of those products that can quickly raise white blood cells after chemotherapy. In addition, regular use twice a week reduces the number of cancer cells and prevents them from spreading throughout the organs.
- Raw beetroot, saturated with beneficial trace elements, acts as an antioxidant and helps to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy. In order not to irritate the gastric mucosa with the product in its pure form, you can make a mix of beet and carrot juices, and also eat salads with beets and other vegetables seasoned with olive oil.
- Pomegranate, useful for all components of the blood, can be included in the daily diet as an independent dish or a component of salads and mousses.
- Dry red wine, useful only in minimal dosages up to 150 ml. It is better to drink it at dinner, as it is well absorbed in the evening.
- Nuts that enhance mental work and the production of leukocytes. You can use them in any form, of all types of nuts, walnuts are the most useful.
It is also good to eat green apples and peppers, rice, chicken and red caviar. There is no better option than to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy with products that support the body.
Folk methods
Sometimes the desire to improve their condition leads people who have undergone chemotherapy to resort to folk remedies. It is possible to raise leukocytes after chemotherapy in this way, but the treatment must first of all be safe, so you must first consult with an observing oncologist. He shouldtell what kind of tinctures are supposed to be taken, and how often. If the specialist is not against alternative methods, you can use recipes using products that raise white blood cells in the blood after chemotherapy. They will be as follows:
- Effective walnut tincture. Fruits or internal partitions are cleaned, filled with alcohol, infused for 14 days. After this time, 1 tablespoon of tincture is taken 3 times a day.
- Decoction of oats. 2 tablespoons of raw materials are poured with 2 cups of boiled water and boiled for 20 minutes. After cooling, the mixture is passed through gauze, and then taken orally, 0.5 cups three times a day.
- Herbal collection. 10 g of bought root and currant leaves and 40 g of dandelion root are crushed, mixed, poured into 200 ml of hot water and boiled over low heat for 10 minutes. Then the mixture is infused for another 20 minutes, filtered and diluted with boiling water. The finished product is taken 3 times a day before meals.
Before using any of these recipes to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy, you need to make sure that you are not allergic to the components. The advantage of folk remedies is the gentle elimination of toxins, which does not disrupt the processes in the gastrointestinal tract. But you should not expect too fast results, you can raise leukocytes after chemotherapy with alternative methods no earlier than after a month of treatment. In addition, taking funds should become a habit and be regular.
Tipsand reviews
How to raise white blood cells after chemotherapy, say people who have faced cancer and defeated it. They say that it is difficult to get rid of the side effects of treatment with medication alone, the approach must be comprehensive. There are stories when not only the quality of blood improved, but also oncology was completely cured thanks to the following measures:
- transition to proper nutrition, in particular the rejection of animal products that burden the body;
- working with psychologists for internal mood and taking a course for recovery;
- reasonable and regular physical activity that accelerates metabolic processes;
- taking he althy tinctures that help the body cope with the disease on its own.
In addition, according to reviews, the following helped people raise white blood cells after chemotherapy:
- reception of a special tea that enhances immunity (for example, "PhytoGora");
- daily consumption of carrot, beetroot, cabbage, potato, apple and other freshly squeezed juices;
- drink plenty of clean water;
- use of folk remedies;
- compliance with the recommendations of the oncologist.
Thus, you should not sound the alarm if your white blood cells drop after chemotherapy. How to raise them, you can ask your doctor. He should also be consulted about which of the above treatment options are suitable in a particular case.
