Do Alternative Therapies Improve The Outlook For Cancer Patients?

Lack of research means that it is impossible to say with any authority whether or not any alternative therapies help cancer patients recover or live longer with the disease. New research projects are focusing much more carefully on particular alternative and complementary treatments but large scale studies are not currently available. Self-reporting from people with cancer suggests that many types of therapy are perceived as helpful. Indeed hospices often offer aromatherapy sessions to people with cancer. However it is possible that the improvements people report are more to do with the ways in which certain alternative treatments affect mood. This is not to say that how patients feel does not have bearing on their physical health but feeling positive is no guarantee of a remission in the cancer or of a longer survival rate.