Complementary and alternative medicine
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Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments are the diverse group of medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not part of conventional medicine. Oncology, the study of human cancer, has a long history of incorporating unconventional or botanical treatments into mainstream cancer therapy. Some examples of this phenomenon include the chemotherapy agent paclitaxel, which is derived from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree, and ATRA, all-trans retinoic acid, a derivative of Vitamin A that induces cures in an aggressive leukemia known as acute promyelocytic leukemia. |
Many "complementary" and "alternative" medicines for cancer have not been studied using the scientific method, such as in well-designed clinical trials, or they have only been studied in preclinical (animal or in-vitro) laboratory studies. Many times, "complementary" and "alternative" medicines are supported by marketing materials and "testimonials" from users of the substances.
Complementary and alternative medicines are not regulated by any government agency, so manufacturers are not under any guidelines about standardized doses from lot to lot of medication, or other substances present in the pills. An example of this problem was PC-SPES, marketed as an alternative treatment for prostate cancer. This medication was tested using sophisticated spectrometry techniques and found to have warfarin, the estrogenic compound DES, and other non-naturally occurring substances in the pills, along with tens of other compounds. As a result, the FDA banned PC-SPES from the United States marketplace in 2002. PC-SPES was effective treatment for prostate cancer in clinical trials, and efforts have been made to identify which of its many ingredients were responsible for the improved results.
"Complementary
medicine" refers to substances used along
with conventional medicine, while
"alternative medicine" refers to compounds
used instead of conventional medicine. A
study of CAM use in patients with cancer in
the July 2000 issue of the Journal of
Clinical Oncology found that 69 percent of
453 cancer patients had used at least one
CAM therapy as part of their cancer
treatment.
Some complementary measures include
botanical medicine, such as an NIH trial
currently underway testing mistletoe extract
combined with chemotherapy for the treatment
of solid tumors, acupuncture for managing
chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting
and in controlling pain associated with
surgery, prayer, psychological approaches
such as "imaging" or meditation to aid in
pain relief or improve mood.
A wide range of alternative treatments have
been offered for cancer over the last
century. The appeal of alternative cures
arises from the daunting risks, costs, or
potential side effects of many conventional
treatments, or in the limited prospect for
cure. No alternative therapies have been
shown in randomized controlled trials to
effectively cure cancer by themselves,
although the Journal of Urology published a
study in 2005 demonstrating that a
consuming plant based diet and making other
lifestyle changes was able to reduce cancer
markers in a group of men with prostate
cancer using no conventional treatments.
Other (unproven) anti-cancer diets include
the grape diet and the cabbage diet.
complementary and alternative medicine and cancer
A small number of CAM therapies, which were originally considered to be purely alternative approaches, are finding a place in cancer treatment--not as cures, but as complementary therapies that may help patients feel better and recover faster. One example is acupuncture. In 1997, a panel of experts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Conference found acupuncture to be effective in managing chemotherapy-associated nausea and vomiting and in controlling pain associated with surgery. In contrast, some approaches, such as the use of laetrile, have been studied and found ineffective or potentially harmful.
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Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine.
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Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine.
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Integrative medicine combines treatments from conventional medicine and CAM for which there is some high-quality evidence of safety and effectiveness. It is also called integrated medicine.
Reasons People with Cancer Choose CAM
People with cancer may use CAM to:
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Help cope with the side effects of cancer treatments, such as nausea, pain, and fatigue;
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Comfort themselves and ease the worries of cancer treatment and related stress;
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Feel that they are doing something more to help with their own care;
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Try to treat or cure their cancer.
When considering CAM, what questions should patients ask their health care providers?
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What benefits can be expected from this therapy?
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What are the risks associated with this therapy?
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Do the known benefits outweigh the risks?
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What are the potential side effects?
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Will the therapy interfere with conventional treatment?
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Is this therapy part of a clinical trial? If so, who is sponsoring the trial?
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Will the therapy be covered by health insurance?
List of branches of alternative and Complementary Medicine grouped in following categories
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Acupuncture
Somapractic |
Osteopathy
pulse diagnosis
Chromotherapy |
Mindfulness
Transcendental
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