Wednesday, January 3, 2018
ARTICLE - What Most Doctors REALLY Think About Alternative Cancer Treatments
How receptive are most oncologists to using alternative
cancer therapies for their patients?
Not surprisingly, most medical practitioners are
apprehensive to their patients utilizing cancer treatments that are not
considered “standard of care.”
But not for the reasons you may think…which will be
explained later in this article.
Most physicians interviewed in Dr. Ivy Lynn Bourgeault’s (from
the Canada Medical Association) research said they opposed the use of
alternative cancer therapies for their patients.
Yet, according to Dr. Bourgeault, “54% of people with cancer
use alternative therapies and up to half of those patients completely abandon
standard medical treatments in exchange for alternative methods.”
Some alternative cancer treatments include:
·
Acupuncture
·
Traditional
Chinese medicine
·
Homeopathy
·
Naturopathic
medicine
·
Specific
diets (such as low-fat or juicing diets)
·
Vitamins
·
Energy
therapies
·
Dietary
supplements and herbal remedies
But the question remains… if standard medical methods were
working, why are more than HALF of cancer patients turning to alternative
medicine for healing? It has to be due to the failure of conventional cancer
treatments, or at least ineffective in the eyes of the patients. [Cassileth BR,
Brown H. Unorthodox cancer medicine. CA Cancer J Clin 1988; 38:176-86]
In a survey of cancer patients, 39% reported that their
doctors reacted with disapproval concerning their request for alternative
therapy and 4% refused to continue as their physician because they chose
natural medicine.
Still, in that same survey, it was reported that 30% of
oncologists supported the use of alternative cancer treatments, while 12% were
neutral.
It is unnerving to discover that some doctors refuse to
consider alternative cancer treatments when their patients clearly want to
discuss and pursue those options.
Interestingly enough, most physicians report being opposed
to the alternatives by reason of insufficient knowledge, not because
they’re ineffective.
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