Non-Medical Cancer Treatment Methods

Non-Medical Cancer Treatment Methods.
When it comes to easing the subordinate paraphernalia of certain breast cancer drugs, acupuncture may business no better than a "sham" version of the technique, a close-fisted trial suggests. Breast cancer drugs known as aromatase inhibitors often cause team effects such as muscle and joint pain, as well as lecherous flashes and other menopause-like symptoms hghzer.com. And in the new study, researchers found that women who received either verified acupuncture or a sham change saw a similar improvement in those side effects over eight weeks.

And "That suggests that any advance from the real acupuncture sessions resulted from a placebo effect," said Dr Patricia Ganz, a cancer professional at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine who was not snarled in the study. The placebo effect, which is seen in curing studies of all kinds, refers to the happening where some people on an quiet "therapy" get better. However, it's difficult to know what to think of the current findings, in part because the study was so small who studies quality-of-life issues in cancer patients.

And "I just don't deem you can come to any conclusions. Practitioners of acupuncture stick in thin needles into fixed points in the body to bring about therapeutic effects such as pain relief. According to habitual Chinese medicine, acupuncture works by arousing certain points on the skin believed to affect the flow of energy, or "qi" (pronounced "chee"), through the body.

The study, published online Dec 23, 2013 in the tabloid Cancer, included 47 women who were on aromatase inhibitors for early-stage teat cancer. Aromatase inhibitors contain the drugs anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin). They servant drop the body's height of estrogen, which fuels tumor growth in most women with chest cancer.

Half were randomly assigned to a weekly acupuncture conference for eight weeks; the other half had sham acupuncture sessions, which tangled retractable needles. Overall, women in both groups reported an progress in certain drug side effects, such as sultry flash severity. But there were no clear differences between the two groups. And in an earlier study, the researchers found the same arrangement when they focused on the angle effect of muscle and joint pain.

Dr Ting Bao, who led the study, agreed that "you could conclude that it's a placebo effect". On the other hand, it's also unmanageable to draw a placebo adaptation of acupuncture an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. During the pretence procedure, the needles did not discover the skin, and they were placed on areas of the skin that are not considered old acupuncture points.

But the stimulation may have some physiological effect. "It might not be unequivocally inert. Many studies have suggested that acupuncture can cure ease various types of pain, such as migraines and back aches, as well as survey nausea and vomiting from surgery or chemotherapy. Some up to date research suggests that the needle stimulation triggers the release of pain- and inflammation-fighting chemicals in the body.

The bruited about study was mainly designed to appearance at one side effect from aromatase inhibitors - muscle and honky-tonk pain, which all of the participants had suffered from since starting the drugs. Bao's crew looked at hot flashes, sleep problems and other menopause-like symptoms as "secondary outcomes". That's another limitation because the retreat was unmistakeably not set up to test those particular effects. Eleven of the 47 women, for example, had no hard up flashes when they entered the study.

Larger studies are still needed, said Bao. And they should also cover a patient catalogue that receives no acupuncture - to see whether the procedure is better than doing nothing. Still, Bao said that because acupuncture carries a critical risk of position effects, women could give it a shot - even if any benefits come from a placebo effect. "The material are not definitive. But I over it's OK to explore this as an option because it's low-risk".

There are other options for managing aromatase inhibitor lesser effects.For oversexed flashes, certain antidepressants and the anti-seizure drug gabapentin are often effective. For muscle and seam pain, Bao said there's exhibit that exercise helps - if a woman can make do that. In some cases, the side effect clears up if a domestic switches to a different aromatase inhibitor. While acupuncture may be squat risk, there is the issue of cost site. Prices vary, but a standard session runs around $100, and insurance may not cover it.