Complementary medicine and alternative medicine are terms that may be familiar to mesothelioma patients. Integrative medicine is comparatively a new term. It combines the best conventional therapies like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy with appropriate complementary therapies that have been established as safe and effective. Another term for this is integrated medicine Due to the comparative shortage of thorough medical studies to support its use, some physicians do not encourage integrative medicine. However, some cancer centers have accepted some of the methods when treating mesothelioma patients, and some patients do find elements of it helpful. Some aspects of integrative and complementary medicine can be helpful to alleviate stress, and to overcome the adverse effects of treatment such as fatigue, pain and nausea.
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (a component of the National Institutes of Health) has classified complementary medicine into five categories:
Whole Medical Systems:
Whole medical systems are complete ways of looking at health and disease that have evolved separate from traditional Western medical practice. Examples would be homeopathic and naturopathic medicines found in Western countries, and Ayurveda and Chinese traditional medicine found in Asia.
Biologically Based Therapies focus on natural materials like food, herbs, vitamins, and other natural products. While they may be natural they have not been proven safe or effective scientifically.
Energy Therapies are based on various beliefs about energy systems that envelop and pervade the body, and that fields of this energy can be used to reach a state of recuperation. Reiki and Therapeutic Touch are some popular examples. There are also ideas about electromagnetic-based treatments using magnets and other pulsed devices to manipulate the field.
Body-Based and manipulative therapies involve the controlling or moving certain parts of the body, as in massage therapy, osteopathic or chiropractic manipulation.
Mind-Body Therapies are based on the thought that the mind affects the functions of the body, and thus can cause improvement in symptoms. A few examples are yoga, meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback, and guided imagery, all of which are becoming fairly-well accepted. Other techniques are still unproven, such as the use of dance, music and art for healing.
Dr. Kaplan
