Patients Using Alternative Therapy Desire Active Role in Treatment

Patients Using Alternative Therapy Desire Active Role in Treatment

ST. PAUL, MN (February 17, 1999) -- Brain tumor patients use alternative therapies such as herbal and vitamin supplements as a way to take an active role in their treatment and to be sure that "everything possible is being done," according to a study published in the current issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Of the 167 patients surveyed, 24 percent used alternative therapies, including shark cartilage supplements, beta carotene and echinacea. Those using alternative therapies were younger, more likely to be employed, and more likely to have already undergone the conventional treatments of radiation and chemotherapy.

"These alternative therapies seemed to provide comfort to patients who felt that every possible treatment was being used," said study author Marja Verhoef, PhD, of the University of Calgary.

The study involved all brain tumor patients who went to the Tom Baker Cancer Center in Calgary over one year. Patients were given a questionnaire asking about their alternative therapy use, reasons for use, cost and perceived benefits and side effects. Fifty-six percent of the patients also completed a follow-up questionnaire after six months.

Many of those using alternative therapies tried more than one therapy. Two-thirds of the patients thought the therapies were helpful in general, either by improving energy levels or improving physical or mental well-being. One-third of the patients thought the therapies made the tumor shrink or stop growing. "However, none of the patients had an objective response to the alternative therapy that could not be otherwise attributed to radiation or chemotherapy," Verhoef said.

No major adverse side effects of the therapies were reported.

Verhoef said doctors and patients need to communicate more about use of alternative therapies. "Doctors are reluctant to bring them up because there is little data that these therapies work," she said. "But patients need advice and support on these topics, and there is no one better qualified than the physician. Based on the study results, the doctors in the study are now more likely to ask their patients whether they are using alternative therapies."

Patients should communicate with doctors because some alternative therapies can be toxic, either on their own or in combination with other alternative or conventional treatments the patient is taking.

Verhoef said that because the use of alternative therapies was often motivated by patients' desires to be more involved in their treatment, the doctors involved in the study now are more sensitive to their patients' needs to discuss the use of these therapies in addition to conventional treatments.

The study was funded by a grant from the Alberta Cancer Board.

Improving care for patients with neurological disorders is the goal of the American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 15,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals.

-end-