You may have seen an ad in the Sunday paper or on TV that says, “Try this natural remedy! Thousands have already tried it!”
Some of these ads attract attention with the headline, “What your doctor doesn’t want you to know.” I highly doubt your doctor would be interested in keeping it a secret from you, especially if there was something safe and effective that could improve your health. Additionally, the treatments promoted in these advertisements are typically untested, unproven, and largely unregulated.
Although I rarely object to patients seeking “alternative treatments” that seem safe, I do not object to patients seeking “alternative treatments” that are considered safe, but I do not recommend “throw away all medications” recommended by your doctor because the advertised treatment eliminates the need for drugs. I get worried when I see advertisements that say, “. That always seemed like a dangerous claim. New research suggests there are risks in relying on unproven treatments rather than well-tested ones.
New research on alternative cancer treatments
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 2 million cancer patients treated at accredited medical centers across the United States. Only patients with breast, lung, colon, or prostate cancer that had not spread to other parts of the body were eligible.
Compared to patients who received only conventional cancer treatments (such as surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy), patients who received at least one conventional cancer treatment along with “complementary” cancer treatments (such as herbs and acupuncture) Patients who selected the following are:
- They tend to be younger, female, have higher socio-economic status and education levels, and live in the Pacific or Intermountain West regions of the United States.
- They often refused additional conventional treatments. For example, chemotherapy was refused by 34% of the unproven treatment group, compared to just 3% of the conventional treatment-only group.
- He couldn’t live that long. Five-year survival rates were 82% in the unproven treatment group and 87% in the conventional treatment group.
- Mortality was high, likely due to delay or refusal of conventional treatment.
The difference in 5-year survival was small but statistically significant. If this were to compare her two new treatments, a 5% difference would be considered significant.
Notes regarding this study
This study was not designed to directly compare non-conventional and conventional treatments, and its results do not mean that all unproven treatments are useless. . In fact, unproven treatments can become conventional if rigorous research proves their value. There are many alternative treatments (herbals, vitamins, homeopathy, yoga, acupuncture, etc.) that may have different effects and have not yet been fully studied. Importantly, this study did not examine interactions between conventional and alternative treatments (which can cause problems in some cases).
Additionally, this study did not actually find that complementary treatments used in conjunction with conventional treatments were harmful. However, he suggested that patients may rely on unproven treatments rather than traditional treatments.
Finally, this study did not examine all types of cancer, all types of treatments, or the effects of treatments on quality of life. Different results may have been observed if other outcomes of interest (such as quality of life) were included.
conclusion
If you have cancer and are interested in herbs, acupuncture, or other alternative treatments, talk to your doctor. Think twice before declining conventional treatment. However, if you decide to refuse recommended treatment, be sure to understand the benefits and drawbacks of doing so, including the potential for shorter survival.
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