Cancer Patients Who Turn To Alternative Medicine Are 2.5 Times More Likely To Die!

Cancer is terrifying enough to deal; from chemotherapy to the unending list of medication it is a harrowing experience for any cancer patient. Non-invasive therapies offer a cure minus the unpleasant side effects of treatments like radiotherapy in the long run.

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Although it is tempting to choose unconventional treatments over conventional ones you do so at your own risk. The primary reason why they are called ‘alternative’ is that they aren’t proven yet and are at best advised to be used alongside conventional medicine.?

A recent study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reveals that you are more likely to die if you turn away from conventional medication and retreat to alternative therapies.?

The researchers from Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, led by lead scientist Skyler Johnson told AFP that people who choose alternative cures for common cancers are up to five times more likely to die compared to those opting for conventional treatments.?

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Here’s are the key highlights the study revealed:?

-The risk of death five years after diagnosis was highest for 5.6 times higher for breast cancer and 4.6 times for colon cancer.

-Lung cancer patients who spurned surgery, radiation or chemotherapy in favour of herbs and vitamin, homoeopathy, special diets or other unorthodox therapies were more than twice as likely to die over the same period.

-Five-year survival rates for prostate cancer remained high—around 90 percent —for both conventional and alternative treatments. "Prostate cancer usually grows very slowly in the early stages so few people die," Johnson explained by email.

-Faced with poor prognoses or painful courses of chemotherapy, which can cause severe nausea and weakness, many cancer patients place their faith in a wide range of treatments dismissed by most medical doctors as useless at best.

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Researchers led by Johnson identified 281 people in the United States with the four most common types of cancer—breast, prostate, lung and colon—who turned towards one or more of these unproven treatments when diagnosed.

The team compared their health outcomes with those of 560 other cancer patients of comparable age, also taking into account race and different health factors.

On average, the first group were 2.5 times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis.

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"For several reasons, I believe this may be an underestimate," Johnson told AFP.

To begin with, the data only covered only initial treatment, which means that some of the patients who first sought out alternative cures may have switched to standard treatments as their disease progressed, thus prolonging their lives.

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It is also likely, he added, that the non-conventional medicine cohort was healthier, younger and had higher income and education—attributes that translate into better survival rates.

"We don't know the exact number of people that make the decision to pursue alternative medicine instead of conventional cancer treatment," Johnson said.

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The researchers hope that this information helps patients make an informed decision while discussing the type of cancer treatments they need for survival and not blindly fall for the miracle cancer cures promised by multi-billion dollar businesses.?