The article talk about
acupuncture, more specifically about how the acupuncture can help the silks of
cancer. The article doesn’t say that the acupunture is the new cure of cancer,
because, as we already know, the best cure of cancer is a timely diagnosis and
early surgery to remove the tumor. But the article says something very
interesting and it is that the acupuncture can relieve the secundary symptoms
to the treatments for the malignant tumors.
The acupucnture is a very
old technique that originated in China and is used to treat a lot of disorders,
such as headaches, migraines or bronchil asthma. One
of its biggest benefits is that it provides drug-free
pain relief. That fact is the reason for which it is one good candidate
to treat the secundary effects of palliative
therapies. This therapies have a lot of secundary effects like pain, nauseas
and vomits. The role of acupucture is to reduce the symptoms. This allows to
reduce narcotic use and thereby minimizing the side effects confusion,
disturbed mentation, behavioral changes, nausea and severe constipation.
All of us have heard about
alternative medicine and all the varieties that exist. But its effects are
questionable, because the improvement is often due to the placebo effect. So I
do not think that should be used as an alternative medicine. But, could it be
used as complementary medicine? If improvement is shown in patients who subject
it, even if only be for the placebo effect, we should consider the use of it to
reduce the doses of the drugs.
I want to know what is
your opinion about the acupuncture and its benefits.
This is my article:
http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/For-Patients/Articles-By-Physicians-About-Acupuncture/Acupuncture-in-Cancer-Treatment
I have
extracted my article of a acupuncture page, so they always say that it is good
alternative of drugs. That is why I look for another article for if you wanted
to compare the information:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156488.php
Well, in my opinion this is not a type of medicine just a pseudo-medicine but if it doesn't affect negatively at the person who receives acupunture, and it has a good results just for the placebo effect, it's a good idea to do it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Isa for bring us this controversial and interesting issue.
ReplyDeleteI don't know a lot about acupuncture, but I agree with Gemma: Acupuncture is not a kind of medicina, it's a pseudo-medicine, a form of alternative medicine. But I also believe that if this practice isn't bad for our patient's health, it is okay if he or she wants to visit a person specializes in traditional Chinese medicine. But we must inform our patients about the possible consequences that they could suffer (e.g: accidents and infections associated with infractions of sterile technique) if the acupuncture hasn't been done by an appropriately trained practitioner using clean needle technique and single-use needles.
In the other hand, an overview of high-quality reviews from many clinical trials suggest that acupuncture may alleviate certain kinds of pain, but many of these trials affirm that acupuncture effects are mainly due to placebo.
In conclusion, I think acupuncture can help some patients because of his placebo effect, but this practice also need some regulation from the government or even have professional associations for acupuncturist.
I agree with Gemma and Carlota. For me, the main reason for this technique to work may rely solely on the placebo effect. But I don’t deny that an ancient form of medicine surely must have proven its value and should be taken into consideration. I heard a lot of doctors recommend it to their patients for the same positive aspects you refer on your post. As long as it is credited as an auxiliary measure and not a treatment itself I don’t see why people should not try it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Isa, for the very interesting topic you chose.
Thank you Isa for bring us this interesting topic to debate.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a place for acupuncture in medicine. As this article says the “role of acupuncture in curative groups is its adjunctive use in anaesthesia, in pain control and in helping recovery from the side effects of the various therapies ”. Obviously, cancer can’t be treated only with alternative medicine but if we use acupuncture and others therapies together with allopathic medicine, we will be able to control the pain or solve the secondary effects.
I do not agree with my colleagues when they use the term of pseudo-medicine because I believe that it is an alternative medicine and its effects may help us to improve the state of many patients. Acupuncture is a very old therapy but it is a very unknown for the scientific community, so from my point of view it is important to learn more about it.
In conclusion, I am convinced that acupuncture can be an useful and powerful tool to treat cancer patients but we have to know its limitations and how to use it.
I do not rely on lowering the dosage of the drugs for the cancer treatments as you suggested. I think these therapies should only be complementary, not interferring with the effects of the main therapy.
ReplyDeleteThere are many oriental therapies, but if we focus on acupuncture The Cochrane Collaboration summarised that there was some evidence, not only placebo effect. It shows positive effects on: chronic lower back pain, tension-type headaches, migraines, nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy (so it would be useful for cancers), osteoarthritis, neck pain and irritable bowel syndrome.
Oriental medicine? Yes, but with evidence, complementary and not interferring with the effects of the main therapy.
I totally agree with Jordi's answer when he says that these therapies should be complementary and we mustn't reduce the dose of the drugs, which have confirmed their effect.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think it should be always this ways with any other non evidence-based medicine: they should be always complementary, not alternative.
It is widely believed that alternative medicine techniques are more harmless than conventional medicine but is not always true. In acupuncture, some reports have shown severe side effects such as pneumothorax and infections. So, if you want that type of treatment, make sure to take it additionally to those who have proved their effectiveness.
Hi Isa!
ReplyDeleteI've read your article and I must say that it is a really controversial issue.
On the one hand, there are people who believe in this kind of "medicine" and it works for them. Personally, I don't believe that it biologically works at all, but if I had apatient who says that it works for him/her, I wouldn't tell him/her to stop it.
However, as scientists, we must believe just in that medicine which can be proved, so I would never suggest to a patient any kind of alternative.
Finally, I should remark that it seems frustating to me when some patients who use alternative medicine in combination to occidental medicine with good results say that the succes in their treatment is due to the alternative. We have been studying for long terms, trying to find the best way to treat our patients and, although we don't expect any kind of thankful, it is a bit sad when our work is not recognised at all.
Thanks all of you for your opinions, it have been of great help.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I would like to clarify certain aspects that I think were not totally clear when I uploaded the post:
-Acupuncture is not a type of medicine, I think that there is not much difference between pseudo- medicine and alternative medicine so I would also include acupuncture treatments in this group.
-Acupuncture can not be used as the sole treatment for treating a disease, it can be used in a complementary way to try to relieve chronic pain. In the case of cancer patients it would be a possibility that side effects of this treatment could see reduced. When I told that the dose of the drug could be reduced, of course was not the dose of cancer treatment, but yes for the palliative drugs for the secondary effects.
I would also add that acupuncture has no positive effects at all and some patients do not do them any improvement. I think this would also have to explain to patients.
On the other hand I can say that we all agree that if acupunture can help our patients we can not ban its use. I totally agree that we must inform patients very well what is acupuncture and that acupunture is not a type of treatment for the disease. Our patient will not be cured by acupuncture, but if we can improve their quality of life I think that we have to inform them about it. I think it is good, as a last resort, patients be informed of complementary "treatments". We must also inform that acupuncture can have secondary effects, as some of you have commented, and I think it is important for patients to know them and they have to take it into account when they look for who do it.
We also agree that this should have control over the realization of this alternative medicine. The effects of most of it are the placebo effect, but if not properly done, it could have serious consequences, so I agree with you that there should be a control over them.
In conclusion we all agree that we would not suggest acupuncture as a first treatment but yes as a complementary treatment for cases of chronic pain. We also have to explain very well the patient that acupunture is not a treatment for the disease. It is to try to relieve some of the symptoms.
Thank you very much to all for contributing.
Yeah, acupuncture is an ancient technique that originated in China and now it is being used worldwide. When I had back pain I had tried it from Mississauga acupuncture clinic. It worked amazingly in just a few days.
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