How to cope with insomnia during cancer treatment
Insomnia is a sleep disorder that makes it difficult to fall or stay asleep. It’s common in the general population, but it can also affect you if you’re undergoing cancer treatment like chemotherapy and radiation therapy. That’s because pain and other physical side effects from cancer treatment can disrupt sleep. So can stress and anxiety.
Sleep allows your body and mind to recover from the previous day. If you don’t get enough...
7 questions about B vitamin supplements
If you follow professional or collegiate sports, you’ve probably heard at least a few athletes say they needed a B12 injection to boost their...
How sleep affects your health – and how to get more of it
‘Hygiene’ typically draws to mind examples such as hand washing, showering or brushing teeth. But did you know there is also sleep hygiene...
COVID-19 keeping you awake? Here’s how to get more sleep
Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many cancer patients and caregivers were already experiencing insomnia. And now, the added challenges of the coronavirus pandemic are taking worry to a whole new level – what some are calling coronasomnia.
“Cancer patients have been hit with a double whammy,” says Dave Balachandran, M.D., medical director of the MD Anderson Sleep Center. “They’re anxious and missing the lives they had...
Leukemia survivor finds second chance — and third wife — at MD Anderson
Two-time widower Paul Nielsen was in excellent health at age 67. So the former marathon runner knew something was wrong when he started feeling...
Radiation therapy side effects: 5 tips to cope
Like many types of cancer treatment, radiation therapy can cause side effects and have a profound impact on patients. Many of my patients...
How the right support helped me through breast cancer
After my double mastectomy in 2002, I vividly remember running on the beach and hearing some teenagers making fun of my child-like figure....
During ovarian cancer treatment, patient learns to cope with stress
As Barb White has learned, life’s other challenges don’t stop when you’re diagnosed with cancer.
In February 2014, Barb -- then age...
What I’ve gone through: Why I support the HPV vaccine
The HPV vaccine prevents several cancers, and it could have prevented mine. When I speak out in support of the HPV vaccine as a recurrent...
How to cope with insomnia during cancer treatment
"I just want a good night's sleep, doctor." This is something I hear very frequently from my cancer patients on our weekly visits...