Cancer Symptoms
A cancer patient on high dosage of medicine often feels helpless with symptoms such as nausea, fatigue, stress, anxiety, pain, sleep disorder and depression.
For such symptoms alternative medicines are the best cure. It should be noted that these alternative medicines do not have any role in curing cancer; they only help the patient to overcome symptoms caused by cancer treatment. Alternative medicine cannot be replaced by medical care for cancer.
What is Alternative Medicine?
Alternative medicine is not a part of the mainstream cure. We call such treatment as alternative because they are used instead of more medicines taken for the symptoms caused by cancer.
Along with acupuncture and hypnosis, many types of detoxification diets are also practised to reduce the agony of cancer symptoms.
But all these alternate therapies should be practised with the help of trained experts.
Kinds of Treatment and Medicine
There are very few clinically proven alternate medicines or therapy, but still some of these therapies work wonders for some patients and help them release stress and anxiety. Meditation under the guidance of a teacher reduces stress to a great extent as the patient becomes calm and accepts the fact of life.
- Peppermint or ginger tea has been found to reduce nausea as both peppermint and ginger have therapeutic values and hold a high place in Ayurveda.
- Massage therapy is another popular alternative cure as it relaxes the muscles and puts the patients to sleep. Many naturopathy clinics offer natural substances as alternative medicines.
- Hypnosis is another form of alternative care, as practitioners believe that all ailments are related to the subconscious mind.
There are many dietary supplements also to cope with cancer symptoms but none should be taken without consulting a doctor, as it is not clinically proven that these dietary alternatives are effective. Many herbs and roots have been found to relax a person and control signs of nausea and vomiting but these should also be taken in specific dosage and correct preparation.
The dietary medicines may also include vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids. These are easily available across the counter but again these should not be consumed without proper guidance.
Herbal Medication as Alternate Medicine
Herbal medicines are made from plants and their extracts. There are two popularly known herbal practices, one of which is western herbal medicine and the other is Chinese herbal medicine. The western herbal medicines are made from plants. They help the body to heal itself by reducing the side effects of medical treatment.
The Chinese herbal medicine use herbal remedies, acupuncture, massage therapy, breathing exercises called Qi gong and movement exercises called Tai chi. The Chinese practitioners have faith in the fact that Qi is the flow of energy which is good for health. The herbs they use can be mixed with other substances as per the requirement of the patient. It has been found that Chinese alternate treatment has helped reduce cancer symptoms, but a detailed study is required into it.
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