Help--Alternative Treatment for 80 Year Old mum

[pinoy1960]

My mum is 80 years old and just had total hysterectomy and omentectomy.  They removed a large mass and we just saw the histopath report which indicates that she has ovarian cancer possibly Stage IIb. We are still scheduled to see the oncologist on the 25th yet for her to discuss next options.

There has been initial mention of radiation theraphy.  But nothing definite yet till we sit down with the oncologist.  I am terrified if my mum would still be able to take this.  She has other health issues - controlled hypertension, kidney stones, rhematoid athritis and I fear that the radiation theraphy will further weaken her.  She has not yet fully recovered from the recent surgery although she is able to move around to some extent  at home.  I was thinking of trying alternative treatment, aside from a lot of prayers.

Anyone here has experience with alternative theraphy?  

[jr1971]

Hi there

Thanks for posting this.

I like many others have been looking for good science associated with non-drug therapies and I have looked into a number of them. I am always confused as to why there is such little literature around.

I am sure that you will agree that what we are looking to achieve is to have evidence which reaches the highest standard of thoroughness and ethics; science that cannot be questioned. I am sure that you have read about studies that drug companies have done where they design the drug, develop the study and then they write up the results. This leaves many questions about bias and the quality of the research being undertaken.

I had expected that those who are trying to gain credibility for non drug based therapies would not fall into this way of working. I am surprised therefore that you chose to use this example. I was a little confused as to why the name of the therapy had been blanked out so I did a bit of my own research.

This study is into a diet system called "******", these are the letters that are ****** in the document. The study is written by 4 authors (Hildebrand, Hildebrand, Bradford and Cavin) who all work for an organisation called "****** Research Oganisation". The German Physician mentioned is "Max ******".

Would you trust a study into a drug called "Glaxo Smithkline Therapy" if it were published by an author who worked for "Glaxo Smithkline Research"?

This is what the American Cancer Society has to say about "******":
"Available scientific evidence does not support claims that ****** therapy is effective in treating cancer, and the principles behind it are not widely accepted by the medical community. It is not approved for use in the United States. ****** therapy can be dangerous. Coffee enemas have been associated with serious infections, dehydration, constipation, colitis (inflammation of the colon), electrolyte imbalances, and even death."

and

"In a recent review of the medical literature, researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center identified 7 human studies of ****** therapy that have been published or presented at medical conferences. None of them were randomized controlled studies. One study was a retrospective review conducted by the ****** Research Organization. They reported that survival rates were higher than would normally be expected for patients with melanoma, colorectal cancer and ovarian cancer who were treated with surgery and ****** therapy, but they did not provide statistics to support the results. Other studies have been small, had inconclusive results, or have been plagued by other problems (such as a large percentage of patients not completing the study), making it impossible to draw firm conclusions about the effectiveness of treatment."

Note that this is not a drug company saying this - it is the American Cancer Society. They have a page discussing the topic and listing some alternative approaches that have been found to be useful in Cancer therapy.

http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/complementary-and-alternative-methods-for-cancer-management

[marie3B]

Good answers, jr and nyc.

[jr1971]

Hi there healingparadigm

I am sure that you will agree that there are many approaches to dealing with disease. Many of the women who come to this site are dependent upon chemotherapy to extend their lives and to hopefully cure them. I hope that they continue to use these life extending drugs and perhaps augment their approach with other non-drug based therapies. My wife for example, combines her chemotherapy with a range of other approaches in the hope of a cure.

There is a great deal of evidence published by the drug industry that shows the cure rates and 5 year survival rates. These are not perfect, in some cases they are not very good at all, but they are published and available to anyone to read, to review and to criticize. In many cases the cure rate is not great, but the drugs to extend life.

I would love to see some similar, appropriately controlled studies that look at alternative approaches to healing in order to be able to compare. If you could direct the ladies here to a site on the web which describes these results, I am sure the ladies here would find this an invaluable resource.

In order to provide some balance to your case examples.

Case No 3:

My Father in Law was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer 9 years ago. He went through 4 months of Chemotherapy with 5FU and has been disease free since.

For many people Chemotherapy is the road to a cure but for many it is not. In the same way, alternative medicines are a route to a cure and for many it is not. The web is an open resource where anyone can post their comments, opinions, thoughts and feelings. There is not much the medical profession can do to prevent the publication of any studies that show the results of alternative approaches so I am not sure it has been suppressed.

At the clinic in London where my wife is treated they offer medical and non-medical approaches - I don't hear the oncologists there saying that non-drug based approaches are wrong - what I do hear them say is that they would like access to more evidence.

[nyc lady]

It is unusal to hear of radiation for Ovarian Cancer, usual treatment is chemotherapy, but, I have heard of people that have recieved radiation.  
Treatment is not easy, but, it does not mean she will not be able to handle it.  That is a discussion to have with her doctors.

I would have to disagree about alternative therapies, while they might make a person feel better, they rarely cure cancer.  If they did, they would not be alternative therapies, but rather first line treatments.  

This is all about your Mom...what she feels she can handle and what her doctors think her body can handle.

This is a very hard time for you and your family.  If there is anything we can do to help, please ask.

All the best
Pam