Complementary Therapy Essay

Because there are so much drugs out there that are effective, complementary and alternative therapies are often overlooked. Nonetheless, many people realize that those a lot of those drugs contain major side effects and some of them can be very dangerous. To avoid the adverse reactions from happening, complementary and alternative therapies are available. Even though the therapies are not fully confirmed that they will successfully treat or cure the conditions; however, they have been around for thousands of years and, it is proven that controversy exists when surveys include the complementary therapy as the rate of use of therapies increases dramatically and at times even doubles (Cassileth & Deng, 2003). This article is based on complementary and alternative therapy, and it is mainly focused these therapies used by cancer patients. After reading this paper, the reader will able to describe the difference between complementary and alternative

However, there is an importance difference. A complementary therapy can be used alongside the conventional medical treatment. It may help the patient to feel better and cope better with the cancer and treatment. Examples of complementary therapies for cancer patients are aromatherapy, acupuncture, herbal medicine, massage therapy, visualisation, and yoga. On the other hand, An alternative therapy is generally used instead of conventional medical treatment. All conventional cancer treatments have to go through rigorous testing by law in order to prove that they work. Examples of alternative cancer therapies are laetrile, gerson therapy, and shark cartilage supplements. Most alternative therapies have not been through such testing and there is no scientific evidence that they work. Also, some alternative therapies may not be completely safe and possibly harmful to the patient (Cassileth & Deng,