Chewing Gum can Enhance Patients’ Recovery after Cancer Surgery

According to studies, cancer patients who often chew chewing-gums after a surgery can leave the hospital 2 days faster compared to those who don’t chew any. Based on the study, Telegraph.co.uk reported that the doctors at a leading London hospital have been advising their patients to chew sugar-free gum after their surgery because it is believed to help getting their digestive systems back to normal.

Chewing gum has actually helped new mothers recovering from caesarean sections, therefore the method is also suggested for patients who undergo stomach surgery, such as those who have colon cancer, because they can suffer from painful cramps until their digestion returns to normal.

Surgeons at University College London Hospital are now asking their patients who booked for bowel cancer surgery to bring supplies of sugar-free gum to be chewed three times a day for an hour after the surgery. According to Alastair Windsor, a consultant colorectal surgeon, the trial method of chewing gums is a part of a programme to find new ways to help patients recover from treatment.

Windsor explained that after surgery, the bowels often experience a condition called ‘ileas’, a state where the bowel goes to sleep. As chewing gum can stimulate the saliva, which starts enzyme production in the pancreas that will stimulate the gastro-intestinal activity, the activity will technically awaken the bowel.

Although the patients seem to like the method and particularly experience the positive effect of chewing gum to their recovery, it is not yet known how far it is actually speeding up their recovery. The trial was only begun six months ago and no results regarding to it published yet.

By far, different studies from across the world have been trying to find out whether the act or chewing gum only works as a placebo or truly gives a physical impact. Because it is also suspected that chewing gum could give stress-reducing effect that would improve the patients’ sense of well-being and later could improve the bowel function.