News > Grape molasses improved swallowing and appetite and reduced pain and fatigue in chemotherapy.

Patients with head and neck cancer who used molasses from grapes during chemotherapy and radiotherapy, opened their mouths better and lost less weight than the control group, according to a study.

Also, patients had better scores on functionality, emotional and social parameters, fatigue, appetite, and pain during chemotherapy and radiotherapy compared to the control group, which did not drink petimezi.

According to the instructions, the patients gargled the grape molasses, twice a day, and then swallowed it, from the beginning of the radiotherapy to the end. They were told not eat anything for the next 15-20 minutes so as not to disrupt the coverage of the mucous membrane in the mouth by the grape molasses.

The study evaluated 94 patients who received chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck. Nasopharyngeal cancer was the most common, followed by laryngeal and oral cancer and other types of tumors. Mucositis (stomatitis), mouth pain and weight loss were measured weekly.

Sari SY et al. Do grapes and black mulberry molasses have an effect on oral mucositis and quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer? Supportive Care in Cancer 2022;30:327-336.