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posted by martyb on Sunday July 22 2018, @10:16AM   Printer-friendly
from the best-to-use-what-works dept.

Alternative cancer therapies linked to reduced survival

Cancer patients who use alternative therapies may be more likely to shun conventional treatments and risk their chances of survival, research suggests.

A study of 1,290 patients in the US found people who received such therapies often refused life-saving care such as chemotherapy or surgery.

Fewer of them survived five years after starting treatment compared to those on standard care, researchers found.

Experts urged patients not to ditch proven cancer medicines.

Tell that to Steve Jobs.

Complementary Medicine, Refusal of Conventional Cancer Therapy, and Survival Among Patients With Curable Cancers (open, DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2018.2487) (DX)


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 22 2018, @09:28PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 22 2018, @09:28PM (#710893)

    My stepdad has prostrate cancer. It was diagnosed early while he was still quite healthy - he lived a life of sports and good food. However, from the beginning, he refused chemo, even though he got told the expert opinion not just by the docs, but also by his sister in law (my aunt) who's a nurse working in palliative care. She has seen lots of cancer patients through to the end and provided not just her experience, but also graphic details of what's gonna happen when left untreated properly.

    He's a stubborn naturalist type and doesn't "believe" in the "school of conventional medicine", sticking with an alternative practitioner he's gone to for most of his adult life - which worked up till now because apart from some small ailments, he was always as vital as a horse.

    A year since diagnosis, hormone therapy slowed down the cancer, but he's been living with a bladder catheter ever since. But despite this and growing pains he refuses to let go of his belief in alternative medicine. It's pretty agonizing to have to watch, unable to do anything.

    How would you try to convince someone like this that his lifelong "observation" of "alternative medicine works" is wrong and that he should not place his faith in it if he wants to live?

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday July 22 2018, @09:47PM (1 child)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Sunday July 22 2018, @09:47PM (#710901)

    First: most men die with prostate cancer, not of prostate cancer.

    It sounds like your dad has a bad case, there are some very targeted therapies (thermal ablation comes to mind, there are others), which can dramatically reduce the symptoms with very little collateral damage.

    Of course, with our cat, she just hates the vet, so we have decided that rather than making her periodically miserable dragging her to the vet for regular checkups, we'll let her take her chances with the world of disease and health problems. She turns 14 this year.

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23 2018, @06:50AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 23 2018, @06:50AM (#711086)

      Had the same situation with my cat. She did not like the change in scenery and overriding her will at all. When I got her back home, she would remind me how much she hated the place. She wasn't the same loving animal I had, now she was scared, untrusting, considered me a threat, and would tense up into very obvious unease whenever I picked her up.

      I, like you, could not bear to force her to go through this again. Rather take my chances, and let her live in peace... even if it meant getting sick and dying in peace.

      Thankfully, the law around here considers a cat to be a wild animal, and does not have to have tracking chips implanted into them or licensed. If she were a dog, I'd have no choice... too many snoops make it their business to pry into my business... they see my animal as a guaranteed moneymaker as long as they keep law in place to guarantee I have to jump through hoops for licensing.

  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday July 23 2018, @03:41AM (3 children)

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday July 23 2018, @03:41AM (#711048)

    There's nothing you can do. This stuff is a religion. My ex-wife believes in this stuff too; it's one of the reasons we divorced. There's just no point in talking about alternative vs. conventional medicine with these people; you can't change their mind, just like you can't change the mind of a devout religious person about their religion of choice.

  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday July 23 2018, @05:39PM

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday July 23 2018, @05:39PM (#711336) Journal

    How would you try to convince someone like this that his lifelong "observation" of "alternative medicine works" is wrong and that he should not place his faith in it if he wants to live?

    First, recognize that it is that person's choice and you might be wrong yourself. Alternative therapies do work for many things, and can also be very complementary to an allopathic regimen as well. The real sin is in forcing treatment against somebody's will, of either type. You're not talking forcing here, just convincing, just showing that there are worse alternative that have in fact been done in medical history. And in that first recognition also realize that you most likely will not convince him of anything - be prepared that he will continue to disagree with you.

    Aside from that, you can - in love - ask why the person doesn't believe that conventional treatment may help. Or if they, for your sake, would see an oncologist to get information - not necessarily treatment. (Finding the right oncologist or physician is a key here, as many will just want to treat with their knowledge and not address whether their treatment is "right" for the patient.) You can point out your feelings that you believe that seeking conventional treatment (or conventional treatment alongside the alternative) has a better chance at having your stepdad in your life for longer, and that you want him to have the best chance for recovery.

    And then let him decide.

    (And this isn't just academic. I have a relative whom I love dearly in exactly the same situation, except that she is now considering surgery after having tried natural methods. And yes, I find that it breaks my heart that she didn't agree to this a year ago because usually the prognosis only gets worse the longer you wait. But I had to do the same above.)

    --
    This sig for rent.