Today, the Simplyhealth website published an article entitled 'Acupuncture helps with cancer treatment side-effects'. It is refreshing to see a medical insurance company looking supportive to complementary therapies.
The article is mainly about a cancer patient reporting beneficial effects from receiving acupuncture treatment by reducing bouts of nausea, relieving fatigue/anxiety, improving appetite/mobility, etc.
In fact, there is plenty of evidence showing acupuncture helpful combating side-effects from cancer treatment. For example, Cancer Research UK publishes lots of relevant information on their website.
Acupuncture has its unique position in complementing conventional cancer treatment as it does not seem to 'interact' or 'cancel out' cancer treatment patients are receiving, whilst relieving the side-effects.
Most cancer treatment is about a blanket elimination of body's ability to reproduce and replicate. The body needs be strong enough to withstand the 'treatment' (or 'elimination'). Acupuncture aims to stimulate body's own recovering process, to help the body out-live cancer cells during the cancer treatment.
In clinic, I see cancer patients benefit from the acupuncture treatment. A middle-aged lady reported that nurses were impressed by her level of energy during radiotherapy. Another came off anti-nausea medication after a course of acupuncture treatment. A long term patient with cancer in many parts of the body surprised her oncology consultant by looking/feeling so much better than her case history implies.
Many cancer patients may not be able afford regular private acupuncture treatment. Many may receive treatment within the NHS but from practitioners trained during a few weekends. I truly recommend patients seek out and receive treatment from practitioners who are properly trained (generally for 3-4 years) in the discipline of acupuncture (just like any other treatment you may receive).
The Community Acupuncture model aims to make acupuncture accessible to a wider community by providing lower cost treatment, making long term regular treatment a possibility. Many patients enjoy receiving treatment in a community setting. Some consider it a nice outing during the week.
We hope there will be more acupuncture clinics working with this model so that more people can benefit from acupuncture treatment at the level they can afford.
0 comments:
Post a Comment