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Most patients are advised that aspirin therapy for heart health should be discontinued well before surgery to minimize bleeding.
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In addition to dietary supplements, any over-the-counter medications need to be scrutinized before surgery as well – especially aspirin.
DR. ALLAN SPREEN SENIOR PANELIST HEALTH SCIENCES INSTITUTE FULL
“However, the instant I could hold something down I’d be right back at them (and tons of other supplements) full force – C, A, E, B-complex, NAC, alpha lipoic acid, milk thistle extract, zinc, essential fatty acids, and others.” Vitamin C, and probably NAC should be discontinued (my sister-in-law required half-again as much medication to put her under as she was pumping the vitamin C heavily as ‘insurance’the anesthesiologist even commented on it). “Surgery is a major stress, and for that you want the maximum dose of nutrients for the body to choose from for the repair function. Returning to the subject of non-herbal supplements, Dr. I’d certainly never stop my saw palmetto weeks before surgery (or the day before, or ever).” You should seek advice from someone educated in the agent’s effects to know whether to stop it and when (or whether to increase it and how much!). “As to when, and whether, to quit an herb, the situation is much the same as with prescription drugs. Of course, the drug company will admit neither detail.
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It is a derivative of the herb Serenoa repens (saw palmetto), which does work against benign enlargement of the prostate (better than Proscar), and with no side effects. “The developers are good, however, at picking good herbs. Pharmaceutical developers get their ideas from herbal effects, then try to alter the molecule enough to patent the thing (and cause all sorts of toxic side effects), hoping it’ll still do what the herb did, without killing you first. The simple reason is that no drug companies design their drugs using mere brilliance. Spreen about the herbal issue, and he agreed with Dr. Joseph Mercola stated his opinion that herbal supplements should be discontinued prior to surgery, noting that some of these supplements are powerful enough to function like drugs. In one of the commentaries I found on the immunonutrients report that appeared in the British Medical Journal, osteopathic physician Dr. BUT, the absolute INSTANT you tolerate oral intake, you jack the C back up to heroic levels.” This is because such high doses are good enough detoxifiers that more anesthetic drugs may be necessary for the anesthesiologist to keep you under. “For those people I tell them to TAPER the C over time, reaching nearly zero just before surgery (not weeks before). If it didn’t it would too rapidly empty the body’s ‘C pipeline’ and you’d be constantly deficient. If you take low doses, the body shuts these pathways down for your benefit.
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Very high doses of C over time cause the body to ‘awaken’ dormant enzyme systems that more fully utilize high doses of the nutrient. “The specifics of vitamin C apply to the mega-vitamin takers. Spreen told us in the e-Alert “C Saw,” (5/28/03), high levels of vitamin C can complicate the anesthesia process. But if you regularly take a host of dietary supplements, there are some important adjustments you’ll need to make prior to any surgical procedure that requires anesthesia.Īs Dr. Spreen shared his insights on five immunonutrients that have been shown to improve immune system function after surgery. In last week’s e-Alert “Answering the Call” (4/7/05), Dr. The stress that HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., refers to in the above quote concerns the demands that surgery puts on the immune system. The mental stress that goes hand in hand with surgery is a given. “Surgery is one of the biggest stresses the body can endure.”