Non-Medical Cancer Treatment Methods

Non-Medical Cancer Treatment Methods.
When it comes to easing the secondary gear of certain breast cancer drugs, acupuncture may work no better than a "sham" version of the technique, a diminutive trial suggests. Breast cancer drugs known as aromatase inhibitors often cause side things such as muscle and joint pain, as well as hot flashes and other menopause-like symptoms homepage here. And in the new study, researchers found that women who received either really acupuncture or a sham variation saw a similar gain in those side effects over eight weeks.

And "That suggests that any benefit from the real acupuncture sessions resulted from a placebo effect," said Dr Patricia Ganz, a cancer connoisseur at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine who was not labyrinthine in the study. The placebo effect, which is seen in care studies of all kinds, refers to the phenomenon where some people on an inactive "therapy" get better info. However, it's abstruse to know what to make 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 mark you can come to any conclusions. Practitioners of acupuncture interpolate thin needles into specific points in the body to bring about therapeutic effects such as pain relief. According to old Chinese medicine, acupuncture works by stimulating certain points on the overlay believed to affect the flow of energy, or "qi" (pronounced "chee"), through the body.

The study, published online Dec 23, 2013 in the memoir Cancer, included 47 women who were on aromatase inhibitors for early-stage titty cancer. Aromatase inhibitors include the drugs anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin). They better lower the body's level of estrogen, which fuels tumor tumour in most women with breast cancer.

Half were randomly assigned to a weekly acupuncture conference for eight weeks; the other half had sham acupuncture sessions, which involved retractable needles. Overall, women in both groups reported an rehabilitation in certain drug side effects, such as claptrap flash severity. But there were no clear differences between the two groups. And in an earlier study, the researchers found the same decoration when they focused on the side 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 hard to mean a placebo version of acupuncture an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. During the artificial procedure, the needles did not penetrate the skin, and they were placed on areas of the outside that are not considered traditional acupuncture points.

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

The fashionable study was mainly designed to look at one side effect from aromatase inhibitors - muscle and junction pain, which all of the participants had suffered from since starting the drugs. Bao's team looked at simmering flashes, sleep problems and other menopause-like symptoms as "secondary outcomes". That's another limitation because the think over was simply not set up to test those particular effects. Eleven of the 47 women, for example, had no hot flashes when they entered the study.

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

There are other options for managing aromatase inhibitor side effects.For sex-mad flashes, certain antidepressants and the anti-seizure drug gabapentin are often effective. For muscle and dump pain, Bao said there's evidence that exercise helps - if a woman can cope that. In some cases, the side effect clears up if a woman switches to a different aromatase inhibitor. While acupuncture may be ribald risk, there is the issue of cost click. Prices vary, but a regular session runs around $100, and insurance may not cover it.