Most courses of treatment for breast cancer can be very stressful to the patients. Surgery, hormone therapy, radiation treatment, chemotherapy – all are effective in destroying cancer, but their side effects can be physically and emotionally draining to the patient.
There are now doctors who recommend natural therapy as auxiliary treatments for breast cancer. They want to make sure their patients’ physical and emotional states are taken care of, to help make them continue with their treatment regimens and obtain optimal recovery.
Studies show that Chinese herbs taken by patients under chemotherapy reduced the degree of side effects experienced by the patients. Other research found that treating breast cancer patients with electro-acupuncture reduced the severity of the joint pain and stiffness experienced from estrogen withdrawal in hormone therapy.
Raising the levels of the anti-stress hormones serotonin and dopamine in the system also contributed to reducing depression and anxiety levels during treatments; this was done by giving full-body massages three times a week.
Patients with benign cancer cells also benefited from natural therapy. Vitamins C and E and melatonin have shown in animal studies that they can reduce the negative side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
Selenium, glutamine, vitamin A and other similar substances have shown that they can work synergistically with chemotherapy drugs to destroy cancer cells.
More and more patients are now looking at natural therapy in combination with their conventional cancer treatment regimens. With natural therapy, breast cancer patients need not suffer during treatments; quality of life will definitely improve.
