Daily Archives: August 20, 2017

Patients who chose alternative therapies to treat a common, curable cancer instead of opting for the recommended medical treatment double their risk of death, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Conventional medical treatments include surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, while any other unproven cancer treatment administered by non-medical personnel would be considered an alternative therapy.

Yale School of Medicines Dr. Skyler Johnson, lead author of the study, said that based on what hes seen as a practicing doctor, patients are increasingly refusing or delaying conventional cancer treatment in favor of alternative therapies.

As a result of that, their cancer is advancing: either getting larger or spreading to lymph nodes or spreading to distant sites, Johnson said. This is concerning, because your chance of cure decreases as the cancer grows and spreads.

A breast cancer patient with stage I cancer, for example, has almost 100% chance of surviving five years, he explained. However, stage IV breast cancer in which it has spread to lymph nodes or a distant part of the body reduces a patients chances of surviving five years to 25% or even 20%.

Delaying recommended medical treatment may allow cancer to spread and reach an advanced stage, which decreases a patients ability to survive, said Johnson, who reported no conflicts of interest, though two of his three co-authors have received research funding from the pharmaceutical companies 21st Century Oncology, Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic and Pfizer.

With no scientific evidence to support a choice in favor of alternative therapy, Johnson and his co-authors at Yale Cancer Center believed it would be worthwhile to examine the issue so we could have an informed discussion based on the evidence of what the risk might be if patients chose to move forward with alternative therapies, he said.

The researchers began their investigation by gathering information from 840 patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2013 and listed in the National Cancer Database in the US, a joint project of the American Cancer Society and the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons.

They looked at the most common cancers in the US: breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancer, Johnson said.

He and his co-researchers compared and analyzed survival data on 280 patients who had chosen alternative medicine, as well as data on 560 patients who had received conventional cancer treatment.

Of all the patients choosing alternative therapies, about 44% had breast cancer, nearly one-quarter had prostate cancer, just over 18% had lung cancer, and nearly 12% had colorectal cancer.

Patients who received alternative medicine instead of chemotherapy, surgery and/or radiation had a 2-times greater risk of dying during the 5-year followup period than those who opted for conventional treatment, the team discovered.

Broken down by type, breast cancer patients who chose alternative instead of conventional treatment had a fivefold greater death risk, while colon cancer patients increased their risk fourfold and lung cancer patients twofold. Prostate cancer patients showed no increased risk by choosing alternative medication.

Commenting on the new study, Dr. David Gorski, a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, wrote that There are other studies showing similar results, but unfortunately they are relatively few.

Alternative medicine kills cancer patients, Gorski, who was not involved in the research, wrote on the website Science-Based Medicine. It is basically no different than refusing treatment altogether and much more expensive and troublesome.

The new study has limitations, he wrote, including the possibility that the use of conventional medicine is likely to have been undercounted since some patients who choose alternative medicine ultimately come back to conventional medicine.

However, if such a bias occurred, it would have tended to make the differences in survival between the alternative medicine group and the conventional treatment group smaller, not larger, Gorski wrote. If such a bias occurred in this study the harm caused by choosing alternative medicine is likely to be significantly worse than reported.

There is no good evidence of specific anticancer effects from close to all (if not all) alternative medicines, Gorski noted, adding that many alternative medicine patients arent receiving effective supportive care, resulting in inadequate (or nonexistent) relief of cancer-related symptoms and unnecessary suffering.

The reasons for choosing alternative instead of conventional medicine are pretty broad, Johnson said, adding that patients are hesitant sometimes to discuss their thoughts with their physicians.

Anecdotally, theres this belief that alternative therapies are as effective and nontoxic, so in their minds, why not do something just as good but have no side effects associated with that?

The caveat is that patients will hear success stories about someone who has chosen alternative therapy but wont realize that those people often received some or all of the recommended conventional treatment as well, Johnson said.

Other people may have a distrust of medical institutions as a whole or maybe physicians, he said. Theres a concern that maybe theres a cure thats being hidden. Theres a small conspiracy theory to it, as well.

We identified people who were more likely to choose alternative medicines, Johnson said. And its usually people who have a higher income, who are more well-educated, who are healthier and who live in the West and Pacific regions of the US. We have this group of people we know who are doing this; we dont know why.

Youd assume that someone who is more well-educated, they have an understanding of science and medicine, theyd be less likely to make a choice like this, but thats clearly not true, based on this data, he said.

Theres a path now, when weve achieved the goal which is to cure cancer where we kind of ramp down the aggressiveness of the treatment, Johnson said. Doctors ask themselves, Can we still obtain this cure rate and reduce the doses of the medication or reduce the doses of radiation or maybe not do such a huge surgery?

Thats something thats new, he said, and new therapies are frequently found, such as immunotherapy, that can be less toxic for patients.

Every therapy offers a certain advantage and benefit, and some people kind of pick things a la carte, Johnson said. The assumption is thats not the best for survival. Thats something were looking at.

Read the rest here:

Choosing alternative cancer therapy doubles risk of death, study says - myfox8.com

I had to fight for my own health and fired many doctors

Conventional medicine refers to the health care system in which medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, or therapists treat symptoms using drugs, radiation, or surgery. Alternative or complementary medicine, on the other hand, references medical treatments that are not considered orthodox by general medicine, such as herbalism, homeopathy, or acupuncture.

Complementary medicine techniques are the future of medicine at this point as more insurance companies are recognizing the values of preventative medicine, said Anne Williams, physical therapy specialist at Mountainside Physical Therapy and one of many local practitioners in a brisk, thriving alternative medicine community.

Williams believes the biggest problem with traditional medicine is that doctors are under so much stress to see so many patients that some they care for fail to receive the attention they need. This phenomenon may eventually cause a turn toward alternative medicine. Indeed, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health estimates that around 38 percent of adults (4 in 10) use some form of alternative medicine.

You have to evaluate the whole person, and that doesnt get done in a regular medicine system, she continued. I always see my patients as an individual puzzle. I try to fix that puzzle.

At Mountainside, Williams makes it her mission to focus on total health and healing, focusing on only one patient per hour, and she espouses a variety of therapy techniques.

Williams practices manual physical therapy, a special type of physical therapy delivered with the hands not a device or machine, as is done in many physical therapy practices. Williams says this technique physically alters patients abilities to perform an exercise or stretch a specific body part. In addition, she often welcomes into her practice those who offer Pilates, dance, aquatics, animal-assisted healing, art healing or nutrition classes to her clients.

Molly Peterson of Heritage Hollow Farms turned to alternative practitioners and doctors outside of her insurance network in her own struggle for wellness.

I had to fight for my own health and fired many doctors, she said. I had to self-research and be fiercely determined to be heard. Most of my health need answers came from beyond traditional medicine and was all out of pocket.

Peterson, who has turned to doctors in Illinois and Arizona as well as local herbalists like Teresa Boardwine of Green Comfort School of Herbal Medicine, says that alternative medicine provides an opportunity for patients to be seen and heard, as well as giving them another route for healing when general medicine fails to provide the answers. At her first consultation with Boardwine, she spent nearly two and a half hours talking about her health history. Teresa knew that all of that matters, Peterson says. Im not saying that general practitioners dont care, because they do. But thinking beyond the norm when you only have seven and a half minutes [with a patient] is hard.

Boardwine, who has owned her business for around 23 years, says herbalism, the study or practice of the medicinal and therapeutic use of plants, is accessible, grounded in the wisdom of the ages, and that traditional medicine can leave one lacking in wellness. Most people in the world turn to whats outside their door first not pharmaceuticals.

Boardwine says clients seek her out for assistance with a variety of self-diagnosed issues, including menopausal balancing, nervous system issues, depression, anxiety, exhaustion, and autoimmune conditions.

Boardwine believes that the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the rural, agricultural lifestyle of Rappahannock County causes people to seek green ways of living and a holistic approach to healing. It has to be the willingness of an individual to go down that road [of herbalism], Boardwine explains. Clients seek me out because they want to not be overpowered by medication, and they want balance and nourishment.

Boardwine conducts both consultations with patients and hosts many different classes and programs to educate the community about the health benefits of herbs. Her students have included the likes of Colleen OBryant, who now sells her own herb-based products in Sperryvilles Wild Roots Apothecary, and Kathy Edwards, who focuses on naturopathic, or nutrition-based medicine, at her business located in Hearthstone School, Healing With Love and Nature.

Edwards first became interested in nutritional medicine after working at a health foods store and becoming certified by the American Naturopathic Medical Association. She, too, loves to help educate and empower people to take responsibility for their own health.

Holistic healing is not just about the physical. Its about body, mind, and spirit, Edwards explains.

In addition to helping her clients tailor their diets to their own particular medical needs, Edwards has also taught programs on raw food and practiced applied kinesiology, muscle response testing, and Reiki, an energy-based technique for stress reduction performed by laying the hands on or above the patient.

Edwards counsels her clients to eat organic: I always tell my clients to eat as close to nature as they can, she says.

Edwards also believes that people in Rappahannock may be more open to alternatives due to the environment surrounding the region. Its a very progressive area that is into gardening and health and is connected to nature. Its a wonderful community thats open to alternatives.

Cara Cutro, who owns Abracadabra Massage & Wellness in Sperryville, corroborated Edwards thoughts and lamented modern medicines disconnect with the spiritual part of each and every person. Clients come back to me because they get relaxed and connected to themselves [during their massage]. I would call that feeling of connection to life spirituality, and I bring that spirituality to clients through touch.

Teaching tarot card reading classes, specializing in energy healing, and administering massages that incorporate herbalism, Cutro says the concept of spirituality in medicine often gets a bad rap. However, she encourages her clients not to have contempt prior to investigation and to be open to alternative therapies that could bring them healing.

Cutro and many others are witness to the successes of alternative medicine: increased relaxation and self-knowledge of ones own health conditions. Moving forward, it may be a combination of both alternative and general medicine techniques that address the health needs of our community.

Do fight for your health. Do listen to your gut feelings. Do be OK with walking [away] from a doctor who doesnt hear you, see you, Peterson urges.

Williams hopes that all of us doctors, patients, and alternative practitioners and the like can capitalize upon Rappahannocks strong foundations in alternative medicine to fulfill her ultimate vision for the patient recovery process, prescribing: I dream of a community involved place where people could volunteer their time and efforts. Community involvement is important in the rehabilitative process, and people could benefit from rehabilitating others. There needs to be one central place where you can get your body cared for.

Read more:

Alternative medicine: An opportunity for patients to be seen and heard - Rappahannock News

By Randy Dotinga

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Aug. 17, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- People who choose alternative medicine over traditional cancer treatments for curable cancers have a higher risk of dying early, researchers report.

"We now have evidence to suggest that using alternative medicine in place of proven cancer therapies results in worse survival," said study lead author Dr. Skyler Johnson from Yale School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center.

"It is our hope that this information can be used by patients and physicians when discussing the impact of cancer treatment decisions on survival," Johnson said in a school news release.

Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple, is likely the most famous person who initially chose alternative medicine as a sole treatment. He eventually turned back to conventional medicine when the alternative medicine treatment didn't keep his pancreatic cancer at bay. But at that point, the cancer had advanced beyond the point when it was curable, according to published reports.

The authors behind the new study said there has been little research into how effective alternative medicine may be as a cancer treatment.

"We became interested in this topic after seeing too many patients present in our clinics with advanced cancers that were treated with ineffective and unproven alternative therapies alone," said senior author Dr. James Yu. He's an associate professor of therapeutic radiology at Yale Cancer Center.

The study included 840 patients with breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers. They were part of a national database that has information on people newly diagnosed with cancer in the United States.

The researchers compared 280 patients who chose alternative medicine alone to 560 patients who underwent conventional cancer treatment. The researchers followed the patients from 2004 to 2013.

Those patients who received alternative therapy instead of the usual treatments -- chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, or some combination of these -- were more likely to die during the study, the researchers found.

Study co-author Dr. Cary Gross is a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Yale School of Medicine. "It's important to note that when it comes to alternative cancer therapies, there is just so little known -- patients are making decisions in the dark," he said.

"We need to understand more about which treatments are effective, whether we're talking about a new type of immunotherapy or a high-dose vitamin, and which ones aren't, so that patients can make informed decisions," Gross said.

The study was published online recently in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

WebMD News from HealthDay

SOURCE: Yale University, press release, Aug. 10, 2017

Link:

Alternative Cancer Therapy Linked to Earlier Death - WebMD

Chiropractic, homeopathy, acupuncture, juice diets, and other forms of unproven alternative medicine cannot cure cancer, no matter what some quacks might claim.

[A]s a newstudypublished in theJournal of the National Cancer Institutemakes painfully clear, as a treatment for cancer, alternative medicine does not cure; it kills.

A team of scientists from Yale University perused theNational Cancer Database, a collection of 34 million records of cancer patients along with their treatments and outcomes, to identify patients who elected to forgo conventional cancer treatments like chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery in favor of alternative medicine.

After five years, 78.3% of subjects who received conventional treatments were still alive, compared to only 54.7% of subjects who used alternative medicine. Even more startling, breast cancer patients who used alternative medicine were five times more likely to die. Colorectal cancer patients were four times more likely to die. Lung cancer patients were twice as likely to die.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Alternative Medicine Kills Cancer Patients, Study Finds

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Alternative medicine can kill you | Genetic Literacy Project - Genetic Literacy Project