What are the methods to stop nausea during chemotherapy?

Chemotherapy is a clinical treatment method. When surgery is not possible, many diseases usually require chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is relatively painful, and most chemotherapy treatments are accompanied by symptoms of nausea and vomiting. By using methods to stop vomiting during chemotherapy, patients can improve in many ways.

Acute vomiting pathway - dominated by "enterophil cells":

The intestinal "neurotropic cells" are the kind of guys who "get bored with the old and love the new". On average, after 3-5 days, they will end their current life and be reborn. This is also called cell renewal. They are renewed very quickly, which ensures their vibrant vitality; however, the new cells have a disadvantage: they are more sensitive, so they are more vulnerable to the toxicity of chemotherapy drugs than other cells.

When they are hurt, they need to ask for help. After being hurt by chemotherapy, they send a distress signal to the brain. This signal is transmitted by neurotransmitters, but before it can reach the brain, it is intercepted by a thief ("5-HT receptor") on the way. In order to prevent the brain from knowing its "theft" behavior, the "5-HT receptor" merges with the neurotransmitter, changes the distress signal into a vomiting signal, and sends it to the vomiting center of the brain. The brain is in control, and the vomiting reaction occurs. This type of vomiting caused by "neurotropic cells" is mostly an acute attack, usually occurring within 5-6 hours after chemotherapy, and is quite severe.

Chronic vomiting pathway - mediated by "substance P":

"Substance P" is a messenger responsible for transmitting body pain to the brain. Wherever there is pain in the body, the number of "substance P" messengers will increase. The trauma caused by chemotherapy causes pain in the body, and the level of "Substance P" naturally increases. But it is lustful all its life and cannot resist the temptation of "beauties" (neurokinin 1 "NK-1"). When it encounters NK-1 in the body, it will automatically activate its endogenous ligand function for vomiting in order to bind with NK-1. Once activated, it will bind to NK-1, initiate vomiting signals, transmit them to the brain, and cause vomiting. However, this reaction takes a long time to initiate and only occurs one or two days after chemotherapy, and usually lasts for a week or even a month.

The double attack of acute and chronic pathways brings great pain to patients. They finally eat something, but then vomit it out. Gradually, they don't want to eat anymore. The body cannot absorb nutrients and their condition gradually goes downhill. It is a vicious cycle that gradually erodes the body's belief in survival until the fire of life is extinguished.

Therefore, many patients who are struggling to treat cancer are also trying their best to find a way to stop vomiting. In addition to the drug treatments recommended by doctors, ginger is gradually attracting people's attention.

Ginger enjoys the reputation of "the holy medicine for vomiting". According to traditional Chinese medicine, it belongs to the lung, spleen, and stomach meridians, and has a good effect of warming the middle and stopping vomiting. The occurrence of vomiting requires vigorous movement of the gastrointestinal tract as a driving force, so that the contents of the stomach can be vomited out of the body. Ginger contains a rich mixture of gingerol and shogaol, which can relax the intestinal tract and weaken the motility of the gastrointestinal tract, thereby reducing the driving force of vomiting and achieving the effect of stopping vomiting. In addition, these two components of ginger can directly act on the vagus afferent nerve and have a good peripheral antiemetic effect.

But ginger is like Zhang Fei, who has a fierce temperament. If used well, he can be a general among emperors and generals; if used poorly, he can be a bandit among the common people. This is a rough guy. Eating it directly will only make the gastrointestinal tract traumatized by chemotherapy worse. Therefore, for patients after chemotherapy, acupuncture point application of ginger is a better choice.

Before applying the patch, first find three acupoints that have an anti-emetic effect, "Shenjue Point" (navel), "Neiguan Point" - one on each hand (middle of the palm side of the forearm, 2 horizontal fingers above the transverse wrist crease). Wash these three acupoints with warm water and dry them. Then cut ginger slices into pieces, each about 1-2 cm thick, apply them on the above three acupoints and fix them with adhesive tape. The acupoint plasters were changed every 4 hours, starting from the first day of chemotherapy, and a course of treatment consisted of 5 consecutive days. For patients with longer chemotherapy cycles, the application time can be extended and the number of treatment courses can be increased. If vomiting is too severe and the patient vomits immediately after eating, the patient can put ginger slices in the mouth or apply ginger juice in the mouth before eating. This can not only reduce the vomiting reaction, but also avoid the irritation of the gastrointestinal tract by the spicy ginger. The so-called killing two birds with one stone.

However, it should be noted that the ginger skin should be retained when used to stop vomiting. The ginger skin has a stronger anti-vomiting effect, especially when used for holding ginger slices in the mouth or applying ginger juice, the ginger skin is indispensable. In addition, avoid rotten ginger, as rotten ginger contains Aspergillus, which will aggravate the development of cancer.

Therefore, there is a "method" to use ginger to stop vomiting. Only with a "method" can there be a "cure".