Almost a third of cancer patients use complementary and alternative
medicines
Health care professionals need to be aware that many cancer patients are using complementary
and alternative medicines (CAMs) and they should help educate patients about these therapies.
So say the authors of a new report that surveyed 956 cancer patients
across 14 European countries and found that 35.9 per cent were using
CAMs. The figure for England was 29.4 per cent.
Herbal medicines were most commonly used and use of homoeopathy, vitamins,
medicinal teas, spiritual therapies and relaxation techniques was also
common. Patients said that they mainly obtained information about these
therapies from friends (56.5 per cent), family (29.1 per cent) or from
the media (28.4 per cent). Only 18.6 per cent of patients reported using
their doctors as an information source. Almost five per cent of patients
reported side effects from CAMs, mainly related to ingesting herbs or
minerals.
The authors say that, irrespective of what health professionals may believe
about CAMs, it is clear that patients will continue to use them and that
the provision of information about CAMs should be reviewed. They say
that CAM therapies that have been shown to be effective should be incorporated
into mainstream health services, and call for increased funding into
CAM research. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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