ice cream relieves a facet impact of chemo

Yearly, the ceremony of Ig Nobel rewards essentially the most uncommon scientific analysis. This yr, the winners within the drugs class have discovered an unsuspected use for ice cream!

On September 15, 2022, the 32^e ceremony of Ig Nobela prize that acknowledges issues that make you chuckle after which assume in ten fields starting from onerous sciences, economics or literature. The prize within the drugs class of this 2022 version was awarded to Polish researchers from the Medical College of Warsaw for his or her work on ice cream. Their research, revealed in November 2021 in Scientific studiesexhibits that consuming ice cream can forestall the onset of a quite common facet impact in individuals who have undergone preventive chemotherapy earlier than stem cell remedy to treatment their illness.

Ice cream or sorbet?

Autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells is a normal remedy for a number of pathologies together with a number of myeloma – a most cancers that impacts white blood cells –, amyloidosis and even systemic scleroderma. Earlier than the transplant takes place, sufferers should bear a number of high-dose melphalan-based chemotherapy regimens. This remedy induces a quite common facet impact, mucositis or oral mucositis, a painful irritation of the oral mucosa. To forestall its look, cryotherapy is obtainable to sufferers, however moderately than ice cubes or ice packs, Polish scientists have tried the experiment with sorbets and ice lotions out there within the hospital cafeteria.

The scientists established the next protocol for the 52 sufferers who agreed to do the experiment: an ice cream in the beginning of their chemo, then three others through the remedy, flavors of your selection. Sufferers may obtain extra ones at their request. Crucial factor for the scientists was that the sufferers let the ice soften gently of their mouths in order that the chilly may act as in typical cryotherapy. The prevalence of mucositis was in contrast in 22 sufferers who had been disadvantaged of ice.

Consequently, solely 15 out of 52 sufferers developed mucositis within the “ice” group, in contrast with 13 out of twenty-two within the different group. Statistical analyzes present that consuming ice cream and sorbets has a major protecting impact in opposition to mucositis. This research doesn’t intend to revolutionize the care of sufferers present process chemo with ice cream; it’s too modest to alter the protocols already in place, but it surely completely achieves the target of the Ig Nobel : make individuals chuckle after which assume.