Can Eastern,Traditional or Alternative medicine/cures be as effective as Western!
Question:
Can Eastern,Traditional or Alternative medicine/cures be as effective as Western medicine for cancers?
Think acupuncture, moxibustion, ayurveda, Chi healing, etc? Just heard of all these and wish to know some truths, real personal experience, etc.?
Thanks!
Answers:
Probably not better. I say probably because in some cases the effectiveness is still being studied. And, that's the problem . . lack of documentation. People can make claims about certain medicine, but those claims are based on opinions. I once heard that there is no wrong or right medicine (which is why this issue should be non-political) . . medicine either works or it does not work and that effect can be documented.
Another of the problems between the Tradional medicine and other medicines mentioned is that Tradional medicine requires extensive research and documentation about safety and effectiveness. Tradional medicines journal reports document success, but also failure. Whereas other types of medicine rarely if ever document treatment and when asked to do so can never seem to duplicate the results satisfactorily. In other words claims about effectiveness are often highly exaggerated. Testimonials are basically given by people who survive something . . you never really know if they had cancer or not because there is no independent verification . .you also never hear the testimonial from the person who died undergoing the treatment. There is an inherent vagueness in all this type of treatment.
Recently however there are dedicated individuals who seek to find the answers to these types of questions. They are providing documented evidence into the efficacy of eastern and alternative medicines. They are conducting methodical Clinical Trials, but at the moment there is little evidence being found that these treatments are 'better'. Their role in the treatment of a cancer patient remains to be seen. It may be that these medicines can offer Integrative support depending on the type and stage of the cancer.
In the US there is a National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine investigating and conducting research into these issues:
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
http://nccam.nih.gov/
Major cancer institutions are also conducting studies:
MD Anderson Cancer Center: Complementary/Integrative Medicine Education Resources
http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/ci...
Memorial Sloan Kettering: The Benefits and Risks of Complementary Therapies
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/75485.cf...
Memorial Sloan Kettering: Integrative Medicine
http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/1979.cfm...
National Cancer Institute: Thinking about CAM
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/think...
The truth is . . that no one really knows yet what role or non-role all these various medicines will play.