Questions to Ask About Alternative and Complementary Therapies For Mesothelioma

If you have a mesothelioma diagnosis, you want all the help you can get. It is a difficult disease to fight, and like any cancer, you need to address not only the symptoms of the disease, but also the side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments. People with mesothelioma often find alternative or complementary treatments to help them through the struggle.

Alternative treatments are non-standard treatments that patients can use from recommended medical treatments. Complementary treatment is the approach used in conjunction with conventional treatment.

If you look at other treatments besides what your treatment team offers, you will definitely make sure that you are bringing in an affiliate, not an enemy. Here are five important questions to ask when you look at treatments other than those treated by your mesothelioma treatment team.

Will I pursue this alternative treatment delay or replace my doctor's mesothelioma therapy? In all cancer treatments, and especially with mesothelioma, as it is often not diagnosed until it is advanced enough, time is of the essence. Any delay in treatment can cause cancer to develop. Alternative therapies may give you valuable time that you cannot return.

Does anyone recommend this alternative treatment with my doctor? Doctors in charge of established methods of treatment and research are eager to consult with other doctors about patient care. If the person who advocates alternative treatment does not consult with a regular doctor, you should be very careful.

How safe is this treatment? Cancer treatment is a powerful drug, and it has strong side effects. No work for everyone. People who recommend alternative therapies should be prepared to discuss side effects and possible complications, and your statistics may have this weakness. If they can't give you a solid number, and if it's too good to be true, then maybe.

Do the drugs, herbs, hormones, or supplements used in this treatment interfere with my mesothelioma therapy? Some substances can actually overcome the effects of chemotherapy, and can undo its benefits. Mesothelioma patients should be aware of the high risk of folic acid, a widely used nutritional supplement. The only FDA to approve a chemotherapy agent for mesothelioma, Alimta, could have the effect of being undone by excessive use of folic acid.

Have you ever talked about alternative treatments with your mesothelioma treatment team? A good doctor will want to help you use any treatment that will help you with the illness and side effects of the treatment. They need to be aware of all the medications and supplements you are taking, and the dosage, to ensure that the effects of treatment are not interrupted.

There are powerful and effective allies for the treatment of your mesothelioma, a complementary approach that can help you tolerate chemotherapy cruelty and improve your quality of life. Doctors treating mesothelioma place great value on the use of complementary therapies and approaches to improve their patients' well-being.

Two of your best allies are simple, inexpensive, and available to everyone. Regular moderate exercise has been shown in several large-scale studies to improve cancer survival rates. No food can cure cancer (beware of any diet that promises to do so!), But a low-fat, high-fat diet in plant-based foods, also known as the Mediterranean diet, has been shown to increase survival rates for cancer and disease cardiovascular. Plant-based exercises and diets generally make people feel better, too.

Massage therapy has shown remarkable results in reducing pain, fatigue, nausea, stress, and depression in patients undergoing cancer treatment. Patients are asked to rate themselves on this condition before the massage sequence, and again after the massage. The ratings dropped dramatically immediately after the massage, and the ratings dropped for more than 48 hours. No medication, no invasive treatment; just massage.

Meditation and yoga also reduce pain, fatigue, insomnia, and depression. Both techniques show a clear causal relationship: the more patients practice it, the less symptoms they experience.

If you are interested in using any of these approaches to help you get your mesothelioma, be sure to talk to your treatment team about it.

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