Maz55
Well-Known Member
Anyone successfully used any of the above for melanomas? How did you use it? What were results? Thanks
Melanomas - boswellia/frankincense and/or turmeric
- Thread starter Maz55
- Start date
Nari
Well-Known Member
Just get the vet.
Bernster
Well-Known Member
Following - vet didn’t recommend any of them. We have just completed the vaccine course (expensive and limited success rate but felt it was worth a try as there seem to be few successful treatment options available). No noticeable difference yet and will be catching up with vet to discuss any other viable options to try.
Goldenstar
Well-Known Member
I despair .
Elf On A Shelf
...
Would you use them yourself for cancer?
Maz55
Well-Known Member
I have taken advice from the vet and having some removed but for those that arent removable my vet has advised to do nothing. I have read some reports that turmeric etc has helped in some cases hence curious to know if anyone had any success with this thats all!!!
Littlefloof
Well-Known Member
Tragically, some people do.
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
none of those will work on melanoma-very little (ie nothing) does. There's no harm in trying turmeric if you have run out of options and if it had been popular when I had my horse I'd have tried it (I'd have tried anything). My horse had cisplatin and cimetidine-one was painful, expensive and useless the other was expensive and useless. If you havent already I would try and speak to Prof Knottenbelt.
Chinchilla
...
I have realised for the millionth time how glad I am to not be a horse.
Sorry OP we understand you're probably desperate to help your horse but honestly, a vet is best placed to help you do that - not a bunch of strangers on the internet. Save your money for proper medical care rather than wasting it on supplements and things.
Sorry OP we understand you're probably desperate to help your horse but honestly, a vet is best placed to help you do that - not a bunch of strangers on the internet. Save your money for proper medical care rather than wasting it on supplements and things.
SpringArising
Well-Known Member
1. OP has already had the vet out
2. The horse is receiving professional treatment
3. The vet has said some aren't removable, so OP is looking for things that might help make the horse more comfortable
I'd rather be a horse and have an owner like the OP than be a horse with an owner who has no capacity to think outside the box.
2. The horse is receiving professional treatment
3. The vet has said some aren't removable, so OP is looking for things that might help make the horse more comfortable
I'd rather be a horse and have an owner like the OP than be a horse with an owner who has no capacity to think outside the box.
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
they've had vet treatment, horse has had the 'best' treatment avaialble for melanoma. trust me, if you have a horse with melanoma you are really stuck wrt treatment as nothing works and you will try pretty much anything to help your horse as you feel so helpless. read the thread.
ester
Not slacking multitasking
Me too, an everyone knows how much of a science geek I am!
The OP isn't suggesting something that is completely unresearched albeit afaik in human cell lines.
The OP isn't suggesting something that is completely unresearched albeit afaik in human cell lines.
Chinchilla
...
Those comments went up as I was writing mine.
Very Sorry OP didn't realise what had been done!
Still vet could better advise which would be most likely to work surely?
ester
Not slacking multitasking
Not really, if the research isn't veterinary they don't really pay much attention to alternative stuff.
Chinchilla
...
Won't there be papers on it OP could show their vet though if it actually works?
ester
Not slacking multitasking
There are plenty of papers on boswellia an 'anti-cancer' action, though the OP might have limited access but I've yet to find a vet that would be keen on reading them all, especially if they were expected to give advice as a result because you'd be extrapolating from the results.
TheOldTrout
Completely Unknown Member
There's evidence that turmeric has anti-cancer properties in humans. Also boswellia I believe though (from memory - always dodgy) not all cancers, just some.
Would either do any harm, even if it didn't help?
Would either do any harm, even if it didn't help?
Littlefloof
Well-Known Member
This page refers specifically to human medicine but the attitudes to how we manage medical issues in companion animals are probably similar: https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/whats-the-harm/
Annagain
Well-Known Member
One of mine is riddled - in an area where they can't be removed (inside his sheath - he'd have to have the whole thing removed and his bits re-plumbed whcih is major surgery with GA). I've looked into all sorts of treatment, including having chemotherapy injections directly into the growths. In the end, we decided to leave them well alone, other than to keep them clean and him comfortable. At 12, I was told I'd be lucky to get him to 20. He's now 22 and still going strong. Yes they've grown, yes they look terrible but they don't seem to bother him particularly.
He had turmeric a while back in a "he's old, has a few niggles and it's cheap enough to give it a try" sort of way and it didn't seem to have an effect on anything - not on his stiffness or his melanomas.
He had turmeric a while back in a "he's old, has a few niggles and it's cheap enough to give it a try" sort of way and it didn't seem to have an effect on anything - not on his stiffness or his melanomas.
ester
Not slacking multitasking
I have to say I don't quite see the relevance to this thread, I don't think anyone has said 'there is no harm in trying' or similar? Other than I'd happily add a few more things to their list!
Rowreach
👀
Well here's the thing. I had a mare who was riddled with melanoma from the age of just two years. She had veterinary treatment on some. She had one large melanoma on the inside of her hock, which had been there for years. I had read about the use of frankincense on melanoma, and with the agreement of my vet, we decided to do an experiment - we used a mix of frankincense and tea tree oil in a sweet almond oil base, and applied once a day. The melanoma reduced, and eventually disappeared.
My OH is currently having treatment under Professor Axel Heidenreich in Germany, who is a world renowned cancer specialist, and whose main aim is to successfully treat cancer using the least amount of conventional treatment (surgery, radio, chemo) possible. Having had spectacular results myself with wearing a Vitality bracelet for my own ailments, I got one for my OH, who discussed it with the Professor. He is more than happy for him to wear it (except for a few hours before and after chemo) and has added it into his notes - they are convinced he has more energy than they would expect, given the treatment he is getting.
So I am pretty open-minded about this stuff, and I see no reason why it is not possible to use a mixture of conventional (vet/doctor) treatments alongside non-conventional ones, provided one doesn't counteract the other.
My OH is currently having treatment under Professor Axel Heidenreich in Germany, who is a world renowned cancer specialist, and whose main aim is to successfully treat cancer using the least amount of conventional treatment (surgery, radio, chemo) possible. Having had spectacular results myself with wearing a Vitality bracelet for my own ailments, I got one for my OH, who discussed it with the Professor. He is more than happy for him to wear it (except for a few hours before and after chemo) and has added it into his notes - they are convinced he has more energy than they would expect, given the treatment he is getting.
So I am pretty open-minded about this stuff, and I see no reason why it is not possible to use a mixture of conventional (vet/doctor) treatments alongside non-conventional ones, provided one doesn't counteract the other.
tatty_v
Well-Known Member
Like Bernster my boy is also on the trial vaccine, which is expensive and doesn't guarantee results, but my vet has had some real successes with it. For my boy, we seem to have got them into a stasis (there are too many clustered together to remove surgically under his tail) so whilst not reducing, they have stopped growing. He also has them in his sheath so we just have regular vet sheath cleans to make sure he doesn't get an infection. Apart from that, we leave them alone! I have asked about supplements/alternative treatments before and nothing in particular was indicated or recommended.
RhossT
Well-Known Member
Pretty negative to say nothing works. You have obviously been unlucky. My pony is responding to vaccine. He would probably have been put down last year without it. Vet says it seems to be effective in roughly half of the cases given it. Although it is still pretty experimental, the insurance paid for it.
MotherOfChickens
MotherDucker
the vaccine wasn't available when I lost my horse to melanoma (2013) I was referring to all the other 'treatments' available for melanoma-the OP said themself that the vaccine has limited success. I am very glad it worked for your pony. I will continue to be negative though because there's still not much in the way of effective treatment.
alexomahony
Well-Known Member
My Connie had the vaccine about a year ago - his melanoma is behind his jaw and inoperable. It's not too big at all and really doesn't affect him - it's about the size of normal grass glands.
I had the treatment knowing that if there's a melanoma showing externally, there are no doubt plenty more inside - and I wanted to try slow down the growth of them. He's 11 and still has plenty of life left in him so even if they halt/slow the growth this is good enough for me. I haven't seen any sign of it going down.
I'd probably not think of using the supplements the OP mentioned, although I do give Bosweila to my arthritic Welsh D with good results. If I were to try anything for the melanoma away from vetinary treatment, Id be looking to CBD oil - if it was cheaper. ATM it's too expensive to attempt on a horse sized mammal!
I had the treatment knowing that if there's a melanoma showing externally, there are no doubt plenty more inside - and I wanted to try slow down the growth of them. He's 11 and still has plenty of life left in him so even if they halt/slow the growth this is good enough for me. I haven't seen any sign of it going down.
I'd probably not think of using the supplements the OP mentioned, although I do give Bosweila to my arthritic Welsh D with good results. If I were to try anything for the melanoma away from vetinary treatment, Id be looking to CBD oil - if it was cheaper. ATM it's too expensive to attempt on a horse sized mammal!
Annagain
Well-Known Member
I was unaware of the vaccine until now. I suspect my boy's melanomas are too advanced now (he's had them at least 10 years - probably a lot longer as they're inside his sheath so were hidden until they were big enough to start poking out) but would welcome any info if anyone can point me in the right direction (google hasn't told me much) please?
alexomahony
Well-Known Member
Best off discussing with your vet about the vaccine... If I remember rightly, it's actually a dog vaccine, but has shown to work well in some equines. It's super expensive so I'd only do it with an insured horse and sometimes does show any changes at all. x
Annagain
Well-Known Member
Thanks was just after some background info before talking to him if there's any out there. He's not insured as such, but I do have a hefty emergency fund as I started it 5 years ago when I stopped insurance and haven't had to dip into it much. As I said, I suspect they're too big to respond now but worth an ask!
Bernster
Well-Known Member
that's right - it's a dog vaccine and not yet licensed in the UK, so mine got flown in from the US. Vet said it was 50/50 although I did find some online research that suggested a higher success rate but a small sample. Early days so limited info available. Like others, I've not seen a reduction but equally it's not seemed to have grown either so fingers crossed. I also did it for prevention in case of internal ones to try and give as much help as poss.
Maz55
Well-Known Member
Rowreach can you recall what products you used and the ratio of each please?