Europeans are increasingly turning to Homoeopathy, especially in dealing with the adverse effects of chemo-therapy
Homeopathic medicines may play a role in preventing and treating the adverse effects of cancer treatment, new research has found.
A UK review of eight studies with a total of 664 participants found preliminary data in support of the efficacy of topical calendula and a homeopathic mouthwash for chemotherapy and radiotherapy adverse effects.
A study of 254 patients demonstrated the superiority of calendula ointment over trolamine (a topical agent not containing corticosteroids) for the prevention of acute dermatitis in women undergoing radiotherapy for breast cancer.
However, the calendula ointment used in this study was prepared according to the German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia and so the results may not apply to topical preparations of calendula extracts prepared by different methods, the authors cautioned.
A trial of 32 patients found that Traumeel S (a proprietary complex homeopathic medicine) demonstrated superiority over placebo as a mouthwash for chemotherapy-induced stomatitis.
The review found no convincing evidence for the efficacy of homeopathic medicines for other adverse symptoms and skin reactions related to cancer treatment.
Homeopathy is used widely by cancer patients to treat the often very unpleasant side effects of their treatment. A 1998 review found that complementary therapies were used by up to 64 per cent of patients with cancer at some stage of their illness and a 2005 study found that homeopathy was in the top five most commonly used complementary therapies by patients with cancer in seven out of 14 European countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment