Second Nature Care Blog

Puppy love and Cancer - Ozone Therapy - Second Nature Care

[fa icon="calendar'] Feb 13, 2015 10:00:00 AM / by Dr. Isadora Guggenheim

Dogs are good medicine for kids with cancer - Second Nature Care cares.

If you're undergoing standard cancer care treatments - you'll need chemo, radiation and puppy love.

We are getting close to Valentine's Day and I thought this new study was a perfect blog about love and open hearts. 

The Canines and Childhood Cancer study found that emotional and social well-being scores were higher when patients with cancer interacted with dogs during their chemo and radiation therapy sessions.  What a great form of medicine at a time when physical well-being scores usually plummet due to the aggressive nature of standard cancer care.  

Even parents were helped by the "unconditional love" from the pets and the handlers who brought the pets to the hospital chemo suites, hospital rooms or radiation waiting areas.  Some patients completed their treatment because they wanted to see the dog again.    

Adults with head and neck cancers (oropharyngeal cancer, hypopharynx cancer and esophageal cancer) who suffered with extreme pain, fatigue, skin lesions and inability to swallow solid foods or could not speak related to the dogs with verbal and nonverbal communication. Most patients had stage IV or end stage disease.  Patients had an average of 18 clinic visits for chemo or radiation and social well-being and emotional scores increased significantly with the pet visits.  

We all know that animal bonding is great medicine, but there was little research to back up our intuition. This study is the first to see measured markers of improvement for quality of life. 

The certified therapy dogs were trained and provided by The Good Dog Foundation in NYC. You may want to make a tax-deductible donation to this group who is doing wonderful work.  thegooddogfoundation.org

A randomized trial is currently looking at the effect of dog visits on children with cancer. 30 dogs and 100 pediatric cancer patients from 5 hospitals in the USA are part of the next study. 

 

Dogs are part of cancer care for children. Second Nature Care cares.

It's good to have a buddy especially when you have a serious disease like cancer.  Dogs improve human health. 

Second Nature Care

Many of our patients with cancer are using ozone therapy and advanced I.V. therapies to enhance their cancer care treatment. Occasionally, you can see Dr. E.'s dogs in the office, Chip and Cody, who make patients feel at home.  If patients are interested in petting dogs during their treatment I can look into it.

Book Now  

Here is the original article. J Community Support Oncol. 2015;13:22-26. Abstract

Topics: Ozone and Prolozone therapies, Cancers

Isadora Guggenheim, ND, FNP, RN, MS, CNS, LMT, owner of Second Nature Naturopathic Care, LLC
For all appointments: Tel: 845 358-8385 Fax: 845 358-2963 drguggenheim@msn.com