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Research: WEIGER and co-workers,
Listed in Issue 93
Abstract
WEIGER and co-workers, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, wendy_weiger@hms.harvard.edu, analyze the problem of advising patients who seek complementary and alternative medical therapies for cancer.
Background
Background: Many patients with cancer use complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies. Physicians need authoritative information on CAM therapies in order to be able to advise patients who seek these interventions.
Methodology
Methods: Meta-analysis of current evidence on the efficacy and safety of selected CAM therapies, covering dietary modification and supplementation, herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage, exercise and psychological mind-body therapies. Possible effects on disease progression and survival are considered, and also possible palliative effects. Risks for direct adverse effects as well as risks of interactions with conventional treatments are evaluated.
Results
Results and conclusions: For each therapy, the current balance of evidence on efficacy and safety points to whether the therapy is to be recommended, accepted or discouraged. An example of the latter is high-dose vitamin A supplementation. The strategy allows the development of provision of responsible, evidence-based, patient-centred advice to persons with cancer who seek CAM therapies.
Conclusion
References
Weiger WA, Smith M, Boon H, Richardson MA, Kaptchuk TJ, Eisenberg DM. Advising patients who seek complementary and alternative medical therapies for cancer. Annals of Internal Medicine 137 (11): 889-903, Dec 2002.
