Ice cream used in post-chemotherapy patients with damaged mucosa reduces patient suffering and the risk of complications, says Dr. Emilian Snarski, a hematologist at the Medical University of Warsaw. He added that he would like such therapy to become widespread.
In cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, ice cream is used as a means to cool damaged mucous membranes. - In such situations, ice cream relieves pain and ensures the consumption of at least a minimum amount of liquid or food. Most often, ice cubes or ice chips are used in this area, said Dr. Emilian Snarski, a hematologist at the Medical University of Warsaw, co-author of the Ig Nobel-winning publication.
What about the Ig Nobel Prize?
The Ig Nobel Prizes are the humorous equivalent of the Nobel Prizes, awarded for research that “first causes laughter and then makes you think” and for discoveries that “cannot or should not be repeated.”
This year’s Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to a Polish team of researchers: Marcin Jasinski, Martina Maciejewska, Anna Brodziak, Michal Gorka, Kamila Skwierawska, prof. Wiesław Jedrzejczak, Agnieszka Tomaszewska, Grzegorz Basak and Emilian Snarski from the Medical University of Warsaw for publishing studies on the use of ice cream during chemotherapy. The researchers’ study was published in November 2021 in Scientific Reports.
“Looking at the complications of autologous bone marrow transplantation, I asked myself a simple question: what can be done at each stage of this treatment to improve outcomes and reduce the risk of complications. Ice cream, which the world learned about thanks to the Ig Nobel Prize, was only part of a wider initiative in this regard. Our goal was to reduce the suffering of patients during these procedures,” explained Snarsky.
What was the ice cream experiment?
He added that initially, the patients participating in the study received ice drops. - When they were not in the hospital restaurant, seeing the very good results of their use, we tried other types of ice cream. In the end, it turned out that it was important to cool the mucous membranes, and not the type of ice cream. That’s why the ice cubes worked just like regular ice cream, even though regular ice cream tasted better, he estimated.
The reaction of patients treated with ice cream was very positive. - For most, neither the taste nor the texture of the ice cream mattered - just eating the ice cream was a good memory. But there were also patients who associated ice cream with the enormous stress of the transplant and stopped liking it after the transplant, he said. “I’m glad someone noticed our research — although eating ice cream is only part of the whole procedure. I did not expect that this particular work would be noticed in such a way, - he stressed.
In order for ice therapy to be widely implemented in patients during chemotherapy, Snarsky says, it is necessary to understand and see how it changes the course of treatment. - Instead of treating mucositis, it can be prevented. Instead of administering narcotic painkillers and then parenteral nutrition, it is worth spending a few zlotys on ice cream and preventing the patient from developing such severe complications, he stressed. Of course, cooling the mucous membranes in this way is not suitable for all types of chemotherapy and will not help with all types of cancer. This works best with highly toxic, short-acting chemotherapy,” Dr. Snarsky concluded.
Source: Wprost
