Cancer patients using (also) alternative therapies are twice as likely to die

Evil does not do it This is the argument of many advocates of homeopathy, acupuncture, reiki, magic crystals and other alternative therapies, not recognized as drugs by the scientific community . Homeopathic products, for example, do not have a single molecule of the original active substance (the dilutions are so numerous that there is only water, usually sugar), so even if they do not heal, they do not kill either. The same goes for methods like acupuncture – although the theory of meridians lacks scientific support, the needles are too thin to cause deep damage.

But a group of researchers from Yale University in the United States came to a different conclusion: cancer patients who, in addition to conventional treatments, also treat so-called "complementary" drugs are twice more likely to die of the disease. The study was published this week in the scientific journal of the American Medical Association Oncology (Journal of the American Medical Association Oncology).

The reason is not directly related to the substances and techniques themselves. The problem is that many followers of these therapies tend to deny methods validated by science. Of the 258 patients who underwent alternative treatments, analyzed by the group of researchers, 7% refused surgery, 34% refused to undergo chemotherapy, 53% did not wish to receive radiation therapy and 34% refused hormone therapy (against, but it only followed conventional cancer treatments).

In contrast, among patients who were on alternative therapies but did not refuse medical treatment, the mortality rate was similar to those who underwent, exclusively, modern medicine. "The increased risk of death from complementary drugs is therefore linked to the refusal of treatment," says the report. In other words, technically, alternative methods are harmless, provided that patients follow exactly the instructions of the doctors responsible. But, since they do not increase the survival rate, they are also useless.

Despite many doubts about their results, alternative therapies have gained popularity, at least in the United States, note the authors of the research. "It is estimated that the use of complementary and alternative medicine is a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States. Growth has been attributed to its greater availability and marketing, as well as to a link with the beliefs, values ​​and philosophies of patients, health, especially their desire for greater autonomy. "