Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

Hi, most of the following information are from uptodate.com/patients .
Additional info.is available through cancer.gov/cancerinfo/treatment/cam.
Alternative medical systems such as:
1.Acupuncture with electrical stimulation has been found to be useful in treating nausea and vomiting from chemotheraphy.
2.Hypnosis -studies have suggested it may be useful for controlling pain;nausea and vomiting prior to chemotherapy(anticipatory emesis).
3.Spirituality-studies have shown that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better health outcomes,including long life and low anxiety.
4.Massage therapy-a study done by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of 1,290 patients found that pain,anxiety,fatigue and nausea decreased by 50% in patients who received massage,benefits lasting upto 48hours.
Alternative cancer treatments (ACTs)such as:
1..Dietary treatments such as Gerson regimen and Kelley-Gonzalez regimen etc did not show convincing evidence significantly prolong the life of cancer patients.
2.Selected vegetables -in 2 small studies,patients received traditional medical treatments as well as the Sun’s soup improved survival; but the studies were small and had weaknesses in study design,further studies is needed.
3.Herbal medicine such as green tea,essiac,ginseng,mistletoe and St.John’s wort.none of these herbals have proven to cure or improve cancer in reliable clinical studies;Survival was improved with sho-saiko-to (a chinese herbal mixture) in chronic hepatitis patients who are HBsAg negative.
4.Nonherbal supplements such as melatonin,shark and bovine cartilage, hydrazine,thymus extracts failed to demonstrate positive impact of survival.
In a double-blind study of breast cancer patients,there was no benefit from the use of coenzyme Q in self- reported cancer treatment-related fatigue.
the antitumor efficacy of shiitake mushroom extract was tested in an open-label study for 62 men with prostate cancer for 6 months and was concluded by the authors that the extract alone was ineffective.There was also no credible evidence to support lycopene intake may reduce the risk of cancer.
High dose of intravenous vitamin C is widely used by practitioners of CAM for the belief that antioxidant such as vitamin C can prevent cancer and retarding the oxidative damage done by free radicals; however there is little evidence to support an important role for vitamin C in cancer prevention.
General recommendations by uptodate.com are:
Get reliable information through your healthcare team(doctor,nurse, dietitian, pharmacist) and government-sponsored web-sites about the safety,risks and benefits of the CAM treatment and choose the person providing CAM with care;
The safety of CAM treatments should always be considered. And being “natural” does not mean that a product or treatment is safe.
I hope the info. helps.

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