Living with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) means coping with a number of side effects, including pain, swelling, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and hot flashes. Some of these symptoms come from the cancer itself, but many come from the treatments that are meant to keep you alive.
To help ease these uncomfortable side effects, many people with MBC turn to complementary treatments. “The primary purpose of complementary therapies in breast cancer care is to optimize quality of life, alleviate treatment-related side effects, and mitigate psychological distress,” says Naoki Umeda, MD, an integrative oncologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Importantly, these treatments, which include acupuncture, meditation, Reiki, and massage therapy, are integrative, not alternative medicines. They’re strictly designed to be used in addition to standard oncological treatments, such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, rather than replace them.
“By addressing the whole person — mind, body, and spirit — integrative oncology helps patients maintain physical resilience and emotional stability, empowering them to adhere more effectively to their conventional cancer treatment regimens,” Dr. Umeda says.
Read the full article here
