People that are diagnosed with mesothelioma resort to complementary and alternative therapies to aid in treating the cancer and its impacts on the body and mind, too. Those who integrate these methods, including nutritional therapy and also yoga, into plans of treatment oftentimes increase their rates of survival.
Complementary and alternative medicine, known as CAM, is the term which is mostly used to describe health care methods that originate outside of mainstream medication. You may have noticed this terminology before, yet may not be aware of what the words “alternative” and “complementary” mean in the realm of health care. In this regard, “complementary” refers to the methods that are used in conjunction with mainstream medication, while “alternative” relates to the approaches that are used in place in mainstream medicine. The latter medication is not common these days. Most people mix non-mainstream therapies with the conventional medicine. Such complementary approach is also termed integrative medicine.
The Integrative Programs
Integrative oncology programs have appeared all over the United States in recent years. The programs combine clinically approved complementary therapies with the conventional medicine to cure and treat the whole person, not only the disease.
Survival Rates
Even though complementary and alternative treatments do not promise the cure for mesothelioma, in certain cases they may increase survival rates when alleviating some of the occurring pain and suffering linked to the cancer. Ancient cultures have applied some of the following techniques as well as approaches for hundreds of years for treating illnesses and some other maladies. The use of modern-day palliatives devoted to disease like mesothelioma is commonly based on anecdotal or historical, instead of empirical evidence. And yet a lot of people swear by these natural alternatives and point to friends and also family members that, as they say, have enormously benefited from the uses of such method. This has also been corroborated by a fact report that that nearly seventy percent of people diagnosed with cancer resort to complementary therapies.
Body-Based Therapies
These particular therapies use a number of techniques to treat pain and heal discomfort all over the body. The main body-based therapies which are used in cancer care cover chiropractic care, TENS therapy, acupuncture, and therapeutic massage.
TENS therapy is a kind of therapy which relieves pain associated with low-voltage electrical current. This therapy, along with the so called therapeutic massage, is oftentimes done during the sessions of chiropractic care. All of these three therapies may be helpful to relieve pain and decrease stress in those diagnosed with cancer.
Studies on acupuncture indicate the therapy is helpful to those diagnosed with cancer. It can reduce pain effectively and detrimental reactions to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In addition, research have shown that acupuncture may reduce the emergence of chemotherapy-related vomiting.
The last yet not the least therapy is called acupressure. Although less generally known in the U.S., acupressure is a kind of self-massage which acupuncture is based off of. The same points throughout the body are used in both acupuncture and acupressure, yet no needless are included in acupressure. Medical and clinical trials indicate that it can relieve cancer symptom.
