Nettle, turmeric and camel’s milk are just some of the herbs and foods that have been used to promote health in the Middle East throughout history. But cancer patients may be putting their health at risk by supplementing their chemotherapy with herbs and spices, says a new report published in the journal Cancer Research. cancer.
Herbal medicine has been used for a long time in the Middle East and remains a popular part of traditional medicine, dating back thousands of years to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
Assistant Professor Eran Ben Arieh of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, and his colleagues surveyed cancer care providers from Turkey to Tunisia about the types of herbal medicines their patients use.
The research team distributed a 17-item questionnaire to oncology healthcare professionals in 16 Middle Eastern countries, asking them to list five herbal products used by cancer patients.
The 339 providers who completed the survey identified 44 herbal and 3 non-herbal dietary supplements.
Survey results showed that 57% of providers worked with patients who used at least one herbal remedy, and female and Muslim providers were more likely to report that their patients used herbs.
Turkey, the Palestinian Authority and Qatar reported the highest rates of herbal medicine use.
The most commonly used ingredients are nettle, garlic, black cumin and turmeric, but camel’s milk and honey are also popular.
However, 29 of the 44 most commonly used herbal medicines are considered to pose one or more health risks to patients undergoing cancer treatment: 15 common herbs may cause herb-drug interactions, 18 may have direct toxic effects, and seven have been suggested in test-tube studies to have the potential to enhance response to chemotherapy.
Turmeric may increase the toxic effects of certain chemotherapy treatments, ginkgo biloba and green tea may increase the chance of bleeding in some cancer patients, and some, such as black cumin and turmeric, may alter how well chemotherapy works.
The researchers in this study specifically focused on professionals working with cancer patients who were aware of their patients’ use of herbal supplements.
Cancer care professionals in the Middle East tend to be skeptical of these alternative medicines, and patients tend not to consult with their doctors about the herbs they use.
However, the study suggests that there is support among health care providers for including a physician consultant on a patient’s cancer care team who can discuss the effectiveness and safety of herbal therapies when used in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments.
Ben-Arie suggests that patients will be pleased with this, too.
He says.
“In most cases, patients are looking to combine the best of two worlds and do not perceive herbal medicine as a real alternative to modern oncology treatments.”
The researchers note that patients tend to use herbs not in the hope of curing cancer, but to improve their quality of life and cope better with the effects of treatment.
The researchers hope that the new study will help cancer care providers offer “open and unbiased” advice about the safe and effective use of herbal medicines.
“The majority of patients want to share their experiences and questions about herbal options with their healthcare providers ‘at home’ within their oncology department, rather than ‘out there’ where non-experts and sometimes charlatans are pushing miracle pills,” Ben-Arie said.
Today’s Medical News Recently, it has been reported that acupuncture, another alternative treatment, can provide pain relief to fibromyalgia patients.
