Intelligence and Money May Not Be Enough to Find the Right Path in Cancer Treatment!

Cancer Patients Choosing Alternative Treatments Are Wealthier, Smarter, Younger and Healthier—But Have a Higher Risk of Death

Studies show that people choosing alternative treatments instead of proven cancer care have a risk of death five times higher. Today, the United States market for medicines used in alternative treatments exceeds 34 billion dollars. Studies explain how advantages such as money and more education can lead cancer patients in a deadly direction.

Happier, younger, wealthier and better-educated people are more inclined to choose alternative cancer treatments. However, those attempting to treat cancer through traditional-complementary and alternative practices [including energy medicine, herbal extracts (phytotherapy) and homeopathy ] have a 5,68-fold greater risk of death than those receiving evidence-based modern treatment.

Contrary to common belief, although only one-third of treatments in the alternative medicine market have been tested and the findings are negative, the industry continues growing daily in the United States and worldwide.

It is interesting that better-educated people, despite being intelligent, can sabotage themselves by believing not doctors but a success story about black seed oil .

One of the best-known examples is the man associated with Apple and Iphone, Steve Jobs' story.

The striking story we want to share concerns a doctor. While attending medical school, the wife of Dr. Skyler Johnson, a researcher studying cancer survival and alternative medicine, is diagnosed with advanced lymphoma . The couple's first action is to ignore all the advice he gives his patients and start searching online.

Dr. Johnson says: “There is so much misinformation online that reviewing it all is impossible, and even with a good medical education, identifying false information is very difficult.”

At Yale University, the director of the prostate and urinary tract cancer radiotherapy program, Dr. James Yu, says: “Being Better Educated May Make People More Inclined to Seek Alternative Treatments Because They Believe They Are Competent to Make Good Choices.”

Dr. Yu describes a kind of mirror effect: “The more worldly and better educated people are, the more they believe there is something they can do for cancer and begin researching. In a sense, it seems logical to them.” he says.

Feeling informed and competent through online learning can become a trap for the individual .

Dr. Yu and Dr. Johnson investigated survival rates among people diagnosed with breast, prostate and colorectal cancer. Those with education beyond high school were significantly more likely to receive alternative treatment than those with less education.

Dr. Johnson says: “Perhaps These People Are Educated Enough to Think They Know Better Than Their Doctor”. Having higher income also means these patients can pay out of pocket for alternative treatments not covered by insurance.

Complementary and alternative medicine is known to be a growing, multibillion-dollar industry, with patients paying doctors more money.

• Herbal Treatment, Phytotherapy: Sound Science or Big Business?

The traditional, complementary and alternative medicine industry has done nothing new in recent years apart from changing marketing tactics, but research reports that by 2025 this market will reach 200 billion dollars globally.

Dr. Johnson suggests that this growing popularity is driven by clever, ubiquitous online marketing campaigns, including compelling stories of miraculous recovery.

In reality, however, these alternative "cures," which may include special diets, cannabis oil and other approaches such as acupuncture, have no evidence supporting their use in cancer treatment.

Dr. Yu says: “It Is Not Ethical to Conduct a Study Randomly Dividing Patients Between a Proven Treatment and Quackery and Then Wait for the Results.”

Patients in the study said that acupuncture and massage / reflexology helped reduce unwanted effects of proven cancer treatments, side effects. These are already known and accepted by doctors as complementary medicine methods.

Modern treatments (chemotherapies, cancer surgeries, radiotherapy and immunotherapies ) can be challenging, and fearing them is natural. For a patient and family facing such a difficult process, believing a story about a treatment claimed to have no side effects but many benefits becomes easy. In such circumstances, falling into an illusion of denying reality is human nature.

The truth is that evidence-based medicine, which we call real science , differs from countless unproven quack cures online.

The Most Important Sign That a Miraculous Online “Cure” Is Unreliable Is a Claim Too Good to Be True.

After a cancer diagnosis, many people's first instinct is to go home and search online, because the shock makes many people, including physicians, seem untrustworthy.

As patients gather information, we recommend our article "how to become a charlatan," but cannot say “do not visit those websites,” because that would probably be almost everyone's first action.

Interactions between alternative treatments and existing cancer care are not uncommon. We see this particularly often with herbal experimentation. Patients should therefore always tell their physician about alternative approaches they want to try.

Doctors' Responsibilities Regarding “Alternative” Treatments and “Alternative Treatments Disguised as Complementary”

We doctors need to make greater efforts to understand what patients want to add to treatment. Physicians should give patients at least basic information on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional-complementary-alternative treatments, offering guidance rather than obstruction. It should also be remembered that one reason for seeking alternatives is not making use of adequate, appropriate second expert opinions . This could allow far more patients to benefit from proven, lifesaving modern treatments.