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Cancer Patients Who Use Complementary Therapies May Be More Likely to Avoid Conventional Treatments and Risk Their Own Therapy chances of survival, according to a study. American researchers found that patients who received such therapies often refused vital care such as chemotherapy or surgery.
According to the researchers, fewer of them survived five years after the start of treatment compared to standard care.
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Researchers Reported the Use of Complementary Therapies, Ranging Diets, Minerals and vitamin infusions at Yoga and acupuncture were growing in the United States, but there was little research on their effectiveness.
Their study, published in JAMA Oncology, examined 258 patients who had used complementary therapies with at least one standard treatment, compared to 1,032 who received only conventional care.
The study found a smaller proportion of those who received the therapies had survived five years after the start of treatment – 82.2% compared to 86.6%.
Separately, they were found twice as likely to die at some point during the nine-year study, because of comparing people who received complementary therapies to those who did not. 39, have not received, the report states:
- 34% refused chemotherapy against 3.2%
- 53% refused radiotherapy against 2.3%
- 7% refused surgery compared to 0.1 %
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Experts said it was important not to replace conventional treatments with alternative therapies
The authors of the article said that it was likely that the results for those who used complementary therapies would have been worse if it was a group that had an excellent chance cancer survivor initially.
They were more likely to be younger, richer and healthier women, note the study's authors.
Although researchers have badociated low survival chances with refusal or delay of standard treatments, the lead author is Dr. Skyler Johnson of Yale School of Medicine. It has been said to the BBC that it is also possible that other treatments may interact with conventional treatment and make it less effective.
The study did not have data on the exact therapies used, but the available information suggested treatments such as vitamin infusions or mineral supplements, rather than things like yoga or mbadage.
"The reality is despite the fact that many patients believe that these types of unproven therapies will improve their survival and perhaps even improve their chances of recovery, there is really no evidence to supporting this badertion … "said Dr. Johnson.
"Although they can be used to support patients with symptoms of cancer treatment, it seems that they are marketed or considered as effective cancer treatments."
Martin Ledwick, Senior Nurse of Cancer Research UK therapies could help improve the well-being or quality of life of some patients. "But it's important that patients who are considering them do not see them as an alternative to conventional treatments that have been demonstrated by clinical trials to make a real difference to survival," he said.
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