The rapid deterioration of health: weight loss, anemia, low energy, weakness,
poor appetite and emaciation, often seen in cancer patients, is responsible for
up to 50% of all cancer deaths.
This frightful condition occurs even when a patient receives adequate nutrition,
including blood transfusion and intravenous food supplementation. The syndrome
is called “Cachexia” in medical terminology.
The causes are poorly understood although in recent years, researchers have
found that the morbidity is due to malfunction of carbohydrate, protein and fat
metabolisms. It is postulated that if cancer cachexia could be blocked, the
disease itself might be brought under control. Unfortunately, modern medicine
has no effective treatment for this debilitating condition.
Researches have found that in cancer, the metabolic pathways are greatly altered
to the benefit of cancer cells at the expense of the patients’ healthy body
cells. These metabolic processes-Glycolysis and Gluconeogenesis‑under the
influence of cancer, take place in an anaerobic condition utilizing vast amounts
of energy.