Chemotherapy | Philadelphia Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine | Sharon Sherman L.OM. - Empirical Point Acupuncture

Posts Tagged ‘chemotherapy’

Ovarian Cancer & Acupuncture

Monday, November 21st, 2011

acupuncture for ovarian cancer

Many people don’t know that ovarian cancer is the ninth most common cancer in women and that about 22,000 new cases of ovarian cancer that will be diagnosed this year. While doctors are working to develop promising new treatments for ovarian cancer, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be more than 15,000 deaths in 2011 due to ovarian cancer.

Traditional treatments for ovarian cancer include surgery to remove ovarian tumors, chemotherapy and radiation. Increasingly, alternative and Chinese medicine approaches, including herbal treatments and acupuncture are being used to help relieve the pain, nausea and digestive side effects of cancer treatment.

The National Cancer Institute provides a great online resource and information portal for cancer patients. In fact, the NCI talks about acupuncture as a means to “control pain, including cancer pain, and to help control nausea and vomiting.” The NCI also outlines helpful information for patients about the “strong evidence from clinical trials that acupuncture relieves nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy.”

Specifically, a study that evaluated patients’ use of acupuncture, vitamin B6 injections or both for nausea and vomiting after chemotherapy treatment for ovarian cancer found that acupuncture and vitamin B6 together gave more relief from vomiting that acupuncture or vitamin B6 alone.

Today, there are clinical trials ongoing that continue to gauge the effectiveness of acupuncture for cancer patients. If you are interested in learning more about these trials, or perhaps enrolling, you can find more information here.

As cancer patients continue to turn to acupuncture for pain and nausea relief, some of the most prestigious medical centers and hospitals are taking note and integrating alternative medicine into their traditional oncology treatments. Mass General offers acupuncture as part of its oncology practice and MD Anderson not only offers acupuncture for ovarian cancer patients, but also has highlighted one woman’s very positive story of treatment and overcoming painful neuropathy.

As ovarian cancer treatment success rates continue to rise and new, promising treatments enter development, doctors and patients are taking heart. They are also taking an alternative approach to surviving treatment and living with the disease – one that continues to show that acupuncture can have a dramatically positive impact on a patients’ we

Tags: cancer, chemotherapy, digestive pain, nausea, neuropathy, ovarian cancer, pain, radiation, surgery
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Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

acupuncture and Chinese medicine in conjunction for breast cancer treatment

As you all probably know, October is breast cancer awareness month. What you may not know is that according to the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) latest statistics, Pennsylvania women have a slightly higher chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer than the U.S. average and more than 1,100 Philadelphia women are diagnosed with the disease each year. More sobering is the fact that the NCI data shows that Philadelphia county has our state’s highest age-adjusted death rate for breast cancer at approximately 29-34 women per 100,000 residents. The good news is that these rates have actually been improving for Philadelphia, so there’s hope for further progress.

Breast cancer is a serious and significant disease and I’ve worked with many brave women to battle against it. Recently, I’ve seen more and more women and their families working with their doctors to take an integrated approach to battling their cancer. Today, doctors and hospitals across our region and the U.S. are, more than ever, working to treat each patient using a personalized approach and one that blends western or “traditional” medicine with eastern or “alternative” treatments. Using this east-meets-west strategy, I’ve had the privilege of helping several patients successfully battle their disease and help treat some of the most uncomfortable aspects of cancer – pain, nausea, fatigue and depression.

If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you know that I like to cite recent studies and researchers to illustrate some new treatment trends. I think the best “expert” in this regard is a brave patient that has lived through this battle. One of my patients recently summed up what Oriental Medicine has helped her achieve like this:

I first met Sharon as a result of my search for additional therapies as I started my fight against breast cancer. She helped me with the side effects first from chemotherapy. I did not take any of my anti-nausea medications or any other pharmaceuticals to help with side effects. I then moved onto surgery and radiation. I did not experience the fatigue to the extent that most talk about with radiation and the results from treating the surgical scar tissue have been truly amazing and I am so happy.

There is no better reward than knowing my acupuncture and Oriental Medicine services have had an impact on a patient’s life. Here’s to our continued, collective success in melding old and new and traditional and alternative to triumph over breast cancer.

Tags: breast cancer awareness month, breat cancer, cancer therapy, chemotherapy, depression, fatigue, nausea, pain, radiation
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Oriental Medicine & Prostate Cancer

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Acupuncture and Oriental medicine can help side effects of prostate cancer treatment

With more than 2 million survivors of prostate cancer in the U.S., it’s important to recognize that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness month. It’s even more important when you realize that 1 out of every 6 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.

Thankfully, prostate cancer can be successfully treated for many patients with care ranging from “watchful waiting” to surgery and chemotherapy to hormone therapy. In addition to these approaches, many doctors are increasingly seeing the benefits of Oriental Medicine, including acupuncture, to help patients manage their overall health and treat some of the common side effects associated with their treatments.

For example, acupuncture has been shown to help alleviate cancer pain and the nausea associated with chemotherapy treatments. Also, a recent study published in International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics showed that acupuncture helped relieve the hot flashes that can be associated with prostate cancer surgery or hormone treatment.

In addition to acupuncture, the University of Maryland Medical Center outlines on its website select herbal medicine treatments that have shown promise for prostate cancer patients. These include:

Green tea – green tea extract has been shown to provide a slight benefit in certain types of prostate cancer

Milk Thistle – in a lab test, milk thistle was shown to stop prostate cancer cells from growing; these results have not yet been confirmed in human patients

Garlic – taking garlic extract has been shown to help fight cancer cells

Remember, a licensed practitioner of Oriental Medicine will help develop a custom and comprehensive treatment regimen for each patient, including acupuncture and herbal remedies.

Please also remember those battling prostate cancer this month…

Tags: cancer, chemotherapy, men's health, prostate, prostate cancer, radiation
Posted in Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs, Food Therapy, Oriental Medicine | No Comments »

Acupuncture & Your Immune System

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

acupuncture can help strengthen the immune system

As you may know, acupuncture has been in use for more than 2,000 years – and over a decade here at Empirical Point in Philadelphia – and is more and more being used for the treatment of common conditions and ailments like stress, pain and immune system disorders. When the immune system is overstimulated, your body reacts (as in a seasonal allergy reaction) and can be calmed by acupuncture. At the other end of the immunity continuum, you have a weakened immune system. Several important recent studies show that acupuncture is an effective treatment for patients looking to address this weakened state and strengthen their immune systems.

When it comes to cancer and the immune system, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has cited numerous preclinical studies that suggest that acupuncture can reduce vomiting caused by chemotherapy and may help the immune system be stronger during chemotherapy. The NCI has also highlighted animal studies that support the use of electroacupuncture to relieve cancer pain and that additional preclinical research has examined how acupuncture works for cancer treatment, including the role of acupuncture in stimulating immune functions. The NCI also talks about human studies and the effect of acupuncture on cancer patients, saying that it has “shown that it changes immune system response” and “boosts immune system activity.”

BreastCancer.org also provides patients with information about managing their cancer and states that “researchers propose that acupuncture stimulates the nervous system to release natural painkillers and immune system cells. They then travel to weakened areas of the body and relieve symptoms.” In addition to this immune system response, BreastCancer.org outlines that recent studies show that acupuncture may help fight fatigue, control hot flashes, help decrease nausea, reduce vomiting and lessen pain.

Additionally, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports acupuncture research by neuroscientists at Harvard Medical School, that has shown “physiological effects – changes in the brain’s pain centers – with acupuncture…gene expression and molecular changes in the nervous and immune systems.”

There is a growing wealth of research and data pointing to the real and significant impact of acupuncture on the immune system. Here at my practice, I see patients from all over the Philadelphia region who are also seeing these benefits. This increase in measurable effect along with the growing use of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine could translate into broader acceptance of this centuries-old practice in the future.

Tags: breast cancer, cancer, chemotherapy, fatigue, hot flashes, immune system, immunity, national cancer institute, nausea, pain, vomiting
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Acupuncture Recommended for Lung Cancer Patients

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

acupuncture therapy for lung cancer chemotherapy side effects

In September of 2007, the American College of Chest Physicians published a list of well-researched guidelines recommending acupuncture as an effective treatment for symptoms that plague lung cancer patients, including pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and neuropathy resulting from chemotherapy.

The groundbreaking recommendation is the first official nod to acupuncture as a viable complimentary strategy in the treatment of lung cancer — the deadliest form of cancer in the United States. The guidelines are endorsed by a varied and widely respected assemblage of medical professionals and organizations, including the World Association of Bronchology, the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group, and the Oncology Nurses Society.

Tags: chemotherapy, lung cancer
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Acupuncture Relieves Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment as effectively as Conventional Drug Therapies…with Additional Benefits

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

breast cancer, acupuncture, chemotherapy side-effects

A recent study suggests that acupuncture is as effective as conventional drug therapies to relieve the burdensome side effects of breast cancer treatment. Uncomfortable symptoms such as hot flashes and excessive perspiration are common in women undergoing chemotherapy as well as certain hormone and drug therapies.

The randomized clinical trial showed not only a reduction of symptoms in women treated with acupuncture, but also longer-lasting relief compared to those women who went the conventional pharmaceutical route. The study also reports that those who had acupuncture experienced increased energy and vitality, a positive side effect not once reported
by those treated with drugs.

Dr. Eleanor Walker MD, radiation oncologist and key author of the
study, had this to say:

“Our study shows that physicians and patients have an additional therapy for something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors and actually has benefits, as opposed to more side effects. The effect is more durable than a drug commonly used to treat these vasomotor symptoms and, ultimately, is more cost-effective for insurance companies.”

Acupuncture Reduces Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatments

Tags: breast cancer, chemotherapy
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