No dietary guidelines for treating MDS
DEAR DOCTOR: I am a 62-year-old woman diagnosed last year with a myelodysplastic syndrome. Most days, I feel fine, but my white count keeps dropping and I retired from teaching because of fatigue. What foods and drinks should I avoid? Should I eat only organic produce?
DEAR READER: Myelodysplastic syndrome is a bone marrow disorder. Bone marrow contains a type of stem cell that produces the body’s red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. When these stem cells acquire multiple mutations, which can happen with various cancers, their ability to produce the other cells is compromised.
In myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a slowly developing form of cancer that can devolve into acute leukemia, abnormal stem cells reproduce within the bone marrow, where they die prematurely, decreasing their ability to produce red and white blood cells and platelets. MDS often causes fatigue (caused by anemia) and a drop in white blood cells, putting people at greater risk of infection.
As for diet, in a study in Greece, those who ate meat more than five days per week had three times the odds of developing the disease compared to those who ate it less frequently, while those who ate more
than two eggs a week had twice the odds compared to those who ate fewer eggs. Eating fruits more than five days per week decreased the likelihood of illness by nearly half. And drinking more than 15 alcoholic drinks nearly doubled the odds of developing MDS. Of course, this was a small and retrospective study, meaning it relied on participants to recall their chemical exposure and dietary habits.
While I would like to provide dietary guidance, there are no studies specifically about diet for MDS patients. That said, you might want to consider organic food to avoid pesticides that could increase the risk of future stem cell mutations. If you smoke, you should stop, and if you have more than two drinks per day, you should decrease your intake. Increasing your fruit intake may also be helpful, as might weight loss and exercise.
Robert Ashley, M.D., is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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