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Nausea and Vomiting
Published in Margaret O’Connor, Sanchia Aranda, Susie Wilkinson, Palliative Care Nursing, 2018
Complementary therapy has been defined as ‘the diagnostic and therapeutic practices, which are separate from and in contrast to, conventional scientific medicine. The term complementary infers use of these therapies in conjunction with orthodox medicine’ (Fulder 1988).
The patient is requesting complementary therapy
Published in Wesley C Finegan, Being a Cancer Patient’s Carer, 2018
The older term ‘alternative medicine’ implied that you had a choice of ‘either this or that’. The modern name ‘complementary therapy’ reminds us those orthodox medicines and treatments can sometimes be used in combination with complementary therapy. Because many of the agents used in complementary therapy can interfere with prescribed medications, it is essential that a suitably qualified practitioner is consulted.
Understanding medicine taking in context
Published in Jon Dowell, Brian Williams, David Snadden, Patient-Centered Prescribing, 2018
Estimates of the numbers of people who consult CAM practitioners depend on the definitions used, but suggest that there are significant levels of use in Australia, the USA, Canada and the UK. Studies conducted in the UK and the USA suggest that between a quarter and half of the people in these countries have consulted a complementary practitioner at some time in their life (Thomas, 2003). Estimates for visits in the previous year vary from 13% to 20% in the last year, which rises to 30–40% if over-the-counter CAM products are included. By 1997, the number of visits to complementary practitioners in the USA had probably exceeded those to primary care physicians. In the UK, some complementary therapy is available free of charge within the National Health Service, but provision is dependent on the prevailing policy and funding climate. In most countries, CAM represents a form of private healthcare, and access to care depends on the ability to pay.
Nanodesigning of multifunctional quantum dots and nanoparticles for the treatment of fibrosarcoma
Published in Journal of Microencapsulation, 2022
Gulen Melike Demirbolat, Levent Altintas, Sukran Yilmaz, Taibe Arsoy, Mahmut Sözmen, Ismail Tuncer Degim
Fibrosarcoma, which stems from fibroblasts (fibrous connective tissue) predominantly found in the area around bones or the soft tissues, is one type of malignant tumour of mesenchymal cell origin. Fibrosarcoma tends to recur frequently and quickly metastasise. The primary treatment option for fibrosarcoma is surgical removal, but recurrence may occur years after the treatment. Therefore, the necessity of complementary therapy, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, has been increasing in popularity (Behzadi et al. 2017, Zielichowska et al. 2016). Chemotherapy is one of the frontline strategies employed in the treatment of many types of tumour (Zhu et al. 2017). The main aim of anticancer chemotherapy is the eradication of tumours and metastatic malignant cells at the first stage. The conventional anticancer drugs, administered through the parenteral route at the maximum tolerated dose, in practice cause suffering in patients (Beretta et al. 2017). The efficacy of the vast majority of cancer therapeutics is often limited for such reasons as non-specific biodistribution, insufficient accumulation in tumour tissue, or undesirable side effects (Guven et al. 2017). Hence, researchers have been continuously striving to develop a more efficient way to administer anticancer drugs, to selectively target tumour tissues and improve efficacy while minimising undesirable side effects and the aforementioned limitations (Gao et al. 2014, Birhanu et al. 2017).
Overview of Morin and Its Complementary Role as an Adjuvant for Anticancer Agents
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2021
Solaipriya Solairaja, Mohammad Qasim Andrabi, Nageswara Rao Dunna, Sivaramakrishnan Venkatabalasubramanian
MN and its derivatives are amongst the well-examined phytochemicals due to their pharmacological and therapeutic activities against cancer. Their ability to enhance anticancer agents has resulted in the emergence of a newer strategy with a broader spectrum of pharmacological roles for effective promiscuous targeting of cancerous cells. However, the biological significance of this combinatorial complementary therapy is yet to be explored. This review attempts to provide a snapshot of the various pharmacological properties reported for MN and their derivatives. Also, MN and its derivatives in combination with anticancer agents and their potential as therapeutic agents against different cancer is also discussed with strong supportive evidence. Understanding their combinatorial mechanism of action and further ascertaining their biological function will provide a strong basis to design a novel drug regimen of therapeutic and translational significance.
The maintenance effect of acupuncture on breast cancer-related menopause symptoms: a systematic review
Published in Climacteric, 2020
T.-J. Chien, C.-Y. Liu, C.-J. Fang, C.-Y. Kuo
Acupuncture, although increasing in popularity, is still viewed as a kind of complementary therapy. Whether its effect is maintained over time is in doubt. Actually, patients report immediate symptom relief for pain-related problems, such as arthralgia, muscle strain, or anxiety; however, how long the effect can be maintained is still uncertain. Most acupuncture-related trials investigate the effect of acupuncture over the short term. In terms of hot flush and menopause symptoms after breast cancer treatment, most studies show that acupuncture is effective, yet the optimal length of treatment still lacks consensus. Because insurance may not cover acupuncture therapy or may limit its use, knowing how long acupuncture treatment will be effective is important in the design of cost-effective acupuncture treatment regimens. We therefore noted among the included trials that the follow-up time to test the treatment, namely, the post-acupuncture intervention, varied from 3 months to 2 years. The systematic review in our study collected data for 3 months after completing the acupuncture intervention for analysis. Although some trials provided data from 6 months following treatment, some patients are lost in following a much longer period and there are still other reasons affecting the results, such as that patients might adopt other methods to relieve their menopause symptoms after the study was completed or menopause symptoms would also be spontaneously resolved after a period of time of adapting to the menopause. Nevertheless, these results demonstrate that the effect of acupuncture indeed relieves menopause symptoms other than hot flushes for at least 3 months.