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ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE FOR CANCER TREATMENT :
If you have cancer
or know someone who does, then you know that sometimes the treatment
can be as disheartening as the disease. The effects of chemotherapy
can reduce cancerous cells, but the side effects are nausea, loss
of appetite, and hair loss, just to name a few.
It's no wonder that cancer victims look for alternative forms of treatment,
and alternative medicine has come up with some options that are meant
to be complimentary to the more "modern" forms of treatment.
However, there appears to be no middle ground here; while the alternative
medicine community is accused of overstating the validity of alternative
medicine, the "conventional" treatment provider's tend to
understate the effects of alternative therapies for cancer sufferers.
While there is no cure for cancer, the NCCAM (National Center for
complimentary and Alternative Medicine has conducted studies showing
that acupuncture relieves the fatigue, nausea, and pain symptoms associated
with both colon and breast cancer, as well as headaches and neck pain
associated with surgery for brain tumors or throat cancer. Ginger
is a good tasting treatment for the nausea and vomiting side effects
of chemotherapy. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is currently being studied
as a relief for larynx cancer patients. (Hyperbaric oxygen therapy
consists of breathing oxygen which is at an atmospheric pressure greater
than sea level. It is being studied to compliment radiation therapy.)
Massage is used to relieve fatigue for all forms of cancer.
Another form of alternative therapy used for fighting the symptoms
of cancer is coupling pancreatic enzymes with chemotherapy for the
use in pancreatic cancer treatment. Pancreatic enzymes are proteins
secreted from the pancreas that help in food digestion.
There is a distinction between complimentary medicine and alternative
medicine. Complimentary medicine is used along with conventional medicine;
whereas alternative is used instead of. Studies show that better long
term results were achieved with complimentary medicine on advanced
stages of cancer, while alternative medicine seemed to help early
stage cancers. The study is called CAM, (complimentary alternative
medicine) and statistics show that 36% of adults with various stages
of cancer use both therapies. If you include megavitamin therapy in
this statistic the numbers almost double to 62%. 79% out of almost
500 cancer patients use some form of complimentary or alternative
therapy for cancer symptoms. (Statistics taken from www.cam.com)
Possibly the most beneficial part of CAM therapy is that patients
can feel as if they are taking some form of control over their cancer,
and that increases the quality of life and chances for survival. Bringing
relief of pain and increasing hope for cancer patients is reason enough
for these foundations to continue to receive grants and continue their
studies.
If you are considering CAM therapy, there are some questions that
you should ask the health provider before you begin treatment. One
of the most important is will the treatment be covered under your
health insurance and if so, are there any clauses you should know
about? If the therapy is being sponsored as part of a clinical trial,
find out who is sponsoring it so you will know if the trial is being
conducted by an unbiased company with no marketing credits to be gained
by the outcome.
You'll also want to ask if the therapy will interfere with any conventional
treatment you might be receiving at the same time. Usually the answer
is no-that's the nature of alternative and complimentary medicine-but
you should have all the information before agreeing to any type of
treatment. Ask also if there will be any side effects, or if the documented
benefits outweigh the risks, if any, involved.
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