Cancer patients develop various therapy-related symptoms
such as nausea and vomiting, hot flashes, leukopenia, fatigue, dysponea and
xerostomia after either pharmacological, chemotherapy or radiotherapy
treatments. These symptoms affect the quality of life of cancer patients. Pharmacological
treatments have very limited effects on the symptoms and may cause adverse
effects. So many cancer patients seek alternative medications. Acupuncture is
one of the most commonly used treatments.
Clinical studies found that acupuncture treatment has beneficial
effects on many cancer therapy-related symptoms. Recent review study by Dr.
Towler and colleagues analysed the research data from 17 published
investigations and found acupuncture is widely used symptom management in
cancer supportive and palliative care. Acupuncture
can improve the quality of life of people with advanced diseases by alleviating
one or even multiple symptoms mentioned above during treatment.
Reference:
Towler P et al., What
is the evidence for the use of acupuncture as an intervention for symptom
management in cancer supportive and palliative care: an integrative overview of
reviews. Support Care Cancer. 2013 Oct; 21(10):2913-23. doi:
10.1007/s00520-013-1882-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23868190
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