Are the antioxidants in green tea effective in fighting cancer?

 Diagnosis  4 Responses »
Dec 222009
 

There is all sorts of information in various print media and on the internet about the positive effects of the antioxidants, particularly Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), in green tea.

But can you believe everything you read in print media, and/or on the internet?

There are certainly plenty of people around making claims about the efficacy of green tea and EGCG, while at the same time trying to capitalize on the supposed efficacy by selling vitamins and supplements containing EGCG. The supposed reasoning being, if a little is good, then a lot is better.

I for one don’t subscribe to that theory, preferring to believe if you can’t get it naturally, it’s not worth getting. In fact I believe it was my mega-dosing on vitamin C, D, E and calcium which contributed to my contracting MCL in the first place. Now I refuse to take any medication, vitamin or supplement, even as benign as an aspirin, although I will admit to having taken an Advil or two, but that is about it.

So in order to get my dose of EGCG, I go to the Japanese supermarket and purchase Japanese (loose leaf) green tea, mostly Sencha, which is reported to be the highest in EGCG, but on rare occasions I do purchase Gyokura, which is a higher quality and better tasting green tea.

I will admit to having been drinking a considerable amount of green tea for many years since my diagnosis with little change in the progression of my disease, but during that time, I had been purchasing the least expensive green tea available in bags (40 bags for $2 at Fresh and Easy, or comparably priced green tea at Trader Joe’s).

But in May of this year, spurred on by research a friend who was diagnosed with bladder cancer performed, I switched to purchasing the real stuff, that is loose leaf Japanese green tea, which I alluded to previously is reported to be the highest in EGCG [plus I have little faith in the quality of the green tea coming out of China].

And that’s when I started to see some results.

Since April, I have seen a steady decline in my lymphocyte count, from approximately 100 thou/cumm (where they had been for about the past one to two years) to around 84 thou/cumm (reference range 4 – 11 thou/cumm) currently, which when you have a lymphoproliferative disease, could be taken as a good sign.

These numbers are based on a six month moving average in order to reduce the influence of everyday fluctuations, and errors which are inherent in the testing procedure.

However, it’s not all joy here in Mudville, as one not so great side effect appears to be a reduction in platelets [one of the first indications of bone marrow failure, so I watch it closely], which have dropped from around 200 in April to 172 (reference range 130 – 400) yesterday. [Also based on a 6 month moving average.]

I started noticing a very gradual downward trend in both the lymphocytes and platelets starting in July, but it wasn’t until September that I realized something was happening. My lymphocyte count dropped dramatically to 62 thou/cumm, and platelets dropped to 158 thou/cumm.

At that point I started to get concerned, first thinking my spleen was malfunctioning (hoarding lymphocytes and platelets), but then I realized maybe it’s the green tea.

So I decided to cut back on my green tea consumption, from about 4 to 5 cups per day to 3 to 4 cups per day, to see if there was a “green tea” effect.

Well, at first glance there appears to be a direct correlation. The next month my platelets climbed back up to 179 thou/cumm, and my lymphocytes climbed back up to 93 thou/cumm. I became a lot less concerned, knowing the drop in platelets wasn’t likely the result of bone marrow failure, or my spleen malfunctioning, even despite the fact my lymphocytes did go back up.

The numbers did drop again slightly in November (lymphocytes down to 86 thou/cumm, and platelets to 171 thou/cumm), but I wasn’t overly concerned. You can’t put too much faith in one test, which is why I try to smooth out the results using a 6 month moving average.

Anywaze, after the blood test results in November, I gradually started increasing my consumption of green again, to an even greater amount than when I started. Instead of 4 to 5 cups a day, for the past couple of weeks I was drinking as much as 6 and even 7 cups a day.

And guess what?

My platelets dropped to their lowest level ever, 151 thou/cumm (172 using a 6 month moving average), and my lymphocytes dropped to 73 thou/cumm (84 thou/cumm based on a 6 month moving average), which excluding September of this year, hasn’t been this low since March ’06.

So now I’m faced with a dilemma. Do I maintain my current level of green tea consumption (5 to 6+ cups per day), and risk a further reduction in my platelets, or do I cut back again, and reduce the beneficial effects (a reduction in lymphocyte count) of the green tea?

Damn! I hate these kind of decisions, but at least it’s good to know, anecdotally in my case, there is some truth to the claims of the efficacy of green tea. That knowledge, however, still won’t make me change my mind about taking EGCG supplements.

Oh, and BTW, all my other counts have pretty much remained stable this entire time.

The saga continues

 Diagnosis, My MCL  4 Responses »
Sep 222009
 

Saw my hematologist today, and we decided the best thing to do is wait another month.

We talked about possible treatments, and I was glad to hear she (my hematologist) was amenable to using Rituximab as a single agent therapy instead of going for all out chemo. I was also interested to learn she was surprised my platelets were as high as they were, considering the size of my spleen. She has seen several others patients, with smaller spleens than mine, exhibiting much lower platelet counts.

Removal of the spleen is another possibility, and could provide several years of relief, but there are a few downsides to that approach. Not only would I be off the bike for a few months, it will require the taking of antibiotics for many years, or even the rest of my life, until other organs take up the spleens functions, and the lymphoma has been known to spread to those other organs, including the liver, which would not be desirable outcome.

She even mentioned the possibility of radiation to the spleen, but I’m not too keen on that idea.

But after 7½ years of not needing treatment, and even entertaining the thought I may never need treatment, the decision to wait at least another month wasn’t a difficult one to make. After all, except for an enlarged spleen, I feel [mostly] fine. Plus I’m still convinced the green tea is the cause of the rapid drop in platelets, rather than a change in my lymphoma or my greatest fear, bone marrow failure.

So in the mean time, I’m going to cut back my green tea intake [again] to about 3 cups of tea a day from 4 cups a day, and my hematologist ordered new cytogentic tests, AKA Flourescence in Situ Hybridization (FISH) to see if anything has changed in my chromosomal makeup, i.e. new translocations, deletions, additions etc.

Based on those results, and the results of next months blood test, we should have a better handle on what, if anything, is going on. Plus it will give me more time to do additional research, and consult with some of other lymphoma specialists, I have had contact with since my diagnosis, including a few at the lymphoma conference Edie and I will be attending in San Francisco next month.

It’s always something!

 General Health, My MCL  No Responses »
Jul 202009
 

Last night I got a nose bleed. It wasn’t very serious, nor did it last very long, but in 2001, I ended up in the emergency room, because I couldn’t stop a nose bleed, which resulted after a sneeze. So the fear of that happening again is always in the back of my mind.

The doctors attributed it to the low humidity, and the fact I took three aspirin (that was before my diagnosis) the night before, because of a bad headache.

But while the nose bleed in 2001 occurred after an episode of sneezing, last nights nose bleed was not the result of any trauma. I was just sitting down to dinner, when suddenly, my nose started bleeding.

Still, I wasn’t overly concerned because of the brevity of the occurrance, but when I got another nose bleed this morning, again without any trauma, I became a little alarmed.

So I immediately emailed my oncologist to ask if she would add some coagulation tests to my monthly blood work, which coincidentally was due today. (Platelet count alone is not an indication of the quality of the platelets.)

She obliged, and I immediately headed to the hospital to get the blood work.

Well, I just received all the test results, and there doesn’t appear to be anything in my blood work to indicate a cause for the two bloody noses. My CBC, hemoglobin, platelets, are not significantly different than what has been reported over the past 2 years (lymphocytes were even down 10% from last month), and the coagulation factors were all within the normal/average range.

So I am feeling a little better now, knowing there doesn’t seem to be anything too sinister going on, and hoping the recent nose bleeds are also a result of the low humidity (at 62% today).

I am, however, a little concerned green tea may be a contributor to the nose bleeds. Green tea does act as a blood thinner, and my recent switch to loose leaf green tea (from the cheapest green tea in bags), has no doubt resulted in an increase in the active ingredients in green tea that I am consuming.

I’d sure hate to think I may have to go back to drinking green tea from bags. Besides the fact, I’m anticipating improved results from the loose leaf green tea, it tastes much better.

Oh well, tomorrow should be an exciting day. I’m not going to work, and instead going for a bike ride in the morning. That should be a real test.

The green tea phenomenon – Part II

 General Health, My MCL  No Responses »
Jun 062009
 

I’ve started writing 3 different posts on 3 different subjects this past week, but haven’t finished any of them. I just don’t seem to have any drive to inform the world of what is going on in my life.  And who really cares anywaze?

So instead today, while I sip a bit of green tea this morning, I thought I would discuss some of the things I’ve learned, during this past week or so, about drinking the good stuff, i.e “real” green tea, not the stuff from Trader Joe’s or Fresh and Easy, but the loose leaf variety, that actually looks green after brewing.

The best thing I’ve discovered so far is the extra caffeine, I’ve been getting, hasn’t resulted in any heart palpitations, and I’ve drank over 40 cups this week.

But more importantly I think I’ve finally come up with the perfect brewing technique to optimize flavor and EGCG intake.

  • I use two (2) grams of tea for every eight (8) oz of water, and I don’t reuse the tea leaves.
  • I use only filtered water. (The Brita water dispenser works great for that purpose.)
  • I heat the water to just below the boiling temperature, about 200°F. [Now boiling the water is supposed to optimize the extraction of EGCG, but for the best taste the water should be heated to between 175°F and 195°F, depending on the particular green tea you have chosen, so I decided to compromise.]
  • Next, I brew the tea for 5 to 7 minutes. [This is also another compromise, since the optimum brewing time for taste is 1 to 2 minutes, but to optimize EGCG extraction, brewing time should be 5 to 10 minutes. So to make up for the lower water temperature, I go a little longer on the brewing time, which seems about right, and I feel comfortable I'm getting the most EGCG, without compromising taste.]
  • And finally, I discovered it is important to use a good filtering (infusing) system for brewing the tea. [Contrary to the review I read, the ingenuiTEA (by Adaigio) just doesn't do the trick. The loose leaves clog up the filtering system, resulting in slow drainage into the cup, and lots of loose leaves entering into the cup as well (which results in a bitter taste after a while). So I went and bought two of these infuser cups (one for work and one for home), which were recommended by some one I consider very knowledgeable on the subject of brewing green tea.]

Ok, hopefully that was informative for everyone.

Now I can go have breakfast, and start gettiing ready for my morning bike ride, confident in the knowledge I have performed my self imposed requirement to post at least weekly to my blog, no matter how benign the post may be.

The green tea phenomenon

 Diagnosis, My MCL  10 Responses »
May 302009
 

Despite being a heavy drinker of green tea since my diagnosis, mainly for its cancer prevention, and hopefully cancer curing qualities, I recently have developed a new found enthusiasm for green tea.

Now whether it has been the green tea I have been drinking for the past 6+ years, my heavy exercise routine, or just pure chance that has kept my MCL stable, or at least [very] slow progressing, for the past 7+ years is certainly open to debate, but based on past research, I have chosen to believe green tea has at least helped to some degree.

So what has given me this new found enthusiasm?

Well, a friend of mine, and cycling buddy, was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer, and knowing my daily regimen called to ask my advice on green tea. He had already done a lot of research on the subject, so when I told him my obsession with green tea consisted principally of drinking the least expensive, decaffeinated green tea available (Trader Joe’s brand of 18 tea bags for $3, and more recently Fresh & Easy’s brand of 40 tea bags for $2), I felt like a neophyte on the subject.

I’ve always drank decaffeinated tea, because before my diagnosis I would get heart palpitations which I attributed to my drinking too much coffee. I knew that was the case, because after giving up coffee and caffeine completely, the palpitations stopped.

So in collaboration with my friend, Continue reading »

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