Those diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma often ponder CAM, which stands for complementary and alternative medicine, when they weight their options for treatment. The traditional treatments for mesothelioma-chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy-have yet to cure or improve the survival rates for pleural mesothelioma patients. These traditional cancer treatments are oftentimes aggressive and cause some side impacts that some patients of mesothelioma want to prevent. For these motives, those who are diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma may take into account non-traditional therapies.
The terms alternative and complementary refer to the approach in which nontraditional therapy is used. In the complementary medicine, nontraditional therapies are applied in conjunction with the standard treatment. In an alternative medicine, such therapies are applied, rather than the standard treatment.
Another approach, which is called integrative medicine, combines the traditional and nontraditional therapies in multidisciplinary and tailored method which addresses the unique needs of every single patient. A number of cancer centers throughout the United States provide integrative oncology programs where a lot of specialists in traditional cancer treatment work hand in hand with the alternative medicine health specialists.
A number of pleural mesothelioma survivors have already integrated CAM therapies to their protocol of treatment, and they highlight the importance of working with licensed professionals. It is essential that you tell your main doctor about the CAM therapies that you want to use so as to ensure that they do not interfere with any other medication or treatment.
The Types of CAM
There are a number of CAM therapies and some have been applied for thousands of years by a massive number of practitioners. CAM therapies are classified into the following groups:
Alternative Medical Systems
This particular category comprises of some of the world’s oldest medical systems, such as the traditional Chinese medicine as well as Ayurveda. Many of such systems that are developed outside of and prior to traditional medicine development in the United States. Also, some other alternative medical systems include the followings.
First, there is acupuncture. This is actually touted as effective treatment for various forms of pain. WHO evaluated the clinical trials done on acupuncture and implied that it can be an effective treatment for adverse reactions to radiation therapy and chemotherapy, headache, depression, vomiting, and nausea. Also, there is aromatherapy. Aromatherapy includes altering patient’s mood and enhance one’s physical, spiritual, and emotional balance with the use of fragrant oils which are called essential oils, that are distilled from various plants. Common scents used include peppermint, lavender, lemon, chamomile, and jasmine. The fragrant oils are inhaled through a mixture of oils and water vapor that are spread throughout a room or applied gently to the skin through massage or simple added to bath water.
Health Coaching
Just as patients are able to determine main objectives for themselves, yet need certain extra motivation and support, they resort to health coaching. Licensed health coach is devoted to helping the patient to reach his own objectives to get healthier- emotionally, physically, and spiritually-whether these goals are exercising more or increasing the overall life quality.
