Scent Of Warm Cookies Can Ease Stress Of Chemo

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Anxiety / Stress
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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If you've ever been treated for cancer with chemotherapy or know someone who has, you know how challenging it can be. Some patients spend several hours a week in the hospital undergoing treatment, and they can feel sick or tired when they do. That's why some health care providers are trying something new. When it comes to finding ways to ease the stress of chemo, some experts are following their nose.

While nurses prepare the medicines that may help cancer patients get better, others prepare something that's sure to help them feel better. In a unique pilot program, experts at Ohio State University's James Cancer Hospital are making treats like cookies part of cancer treatment. But they're not just taking them to the patients, they're baking them right outside their rooms.

"We thought it would be a really good idea to bring a piece of home into the hospital and nothing really says home like fresh-baked cookies," says Mike Folino at James Cancer Hospital.

It's an idea that didn't take long for patients to warm up to. Daniel Laughlin says he might spend hours in the hospital taking his treatment, but the smell of these treats can take his mind someplace else.

"It makes it more like home. At home, my wife bakes a lot of cookies, like chocolate chip & stuff. It makes it nice - a personal touch," says Laughlin.

Because chemotherapy can affect a patient's sense of taste and smell, nutritionists met with doctors and nurses to find out which foods would be best. So far, patients are gobbling up the idea, although they aren't the only ones who benefit.

"I think one of the biggest benefits is that the spouse or the caregiver doesn't have to leave the bedside and they can actually stay up there and have a snack with them," says Folino.

Right now, the portable oven only makes its rounds once a week. But if patients and their families continue to be sweet on the idea, it may soon become a more permanent way to keep the treat in cancer treatment.

Experts say the treats help ease the stress of treatment because the sense of smell is strongly tied to memory. Most patients say that smelling fresh-baked cookies often sparks pleasant memories.

Ohio State University