Humanity is needed for cancer treatment to be complete
Australian cancer care is among the best provided in the world. Yet, many cancer patients choose to either forgo aspects of conventional treatment or seek unproven complementary therapies.1,2 My own recent cancer treatment prompted me to wonder whether these choices may, at least in part, be due to the failure of Western medicine to address the psychological and emotional needs of cancer patients. Cancer patients suffer from a greatly increased incidence of psychological disorders.3-5 Does the emotional trauma inflicted by an insensitive health system contribute to this?
The full article is accessible to AMA
members and paid subscribers.
Login to MJA or subscribe now.
- 1. Nahleh Z, Tabbara IA. Complementary and alternative medicine in breast cancer patients [review]. Palliat Support Care 2003; 1: 267-733.
- 2. Richardson MA, Sanders T, Palmer JL, et al. Complementary/alternative medicine use in a comprehensive cancer center and the implications for oncology. J Clin Oncol 2000; 18: 2505-2514.
- 3. Fang F, Fall K, Mittleman MA, et al. Suicide and cardiovascular death after a cancer diagnosis. N Engl J Med 2012; 366: 1310-1318.
- 4. Kissane DW, Clarke DM, Ikin J, et al. Psychological morbidity and quality of life in Australian women with early-stage breast cancer: a cross-sectional survey. Med J Aust 1998; 169: 192-196.
- 5. Spiegel D. Cancer and depression [review]. Br J Psychiatry Suppl 1996; 30: 109-116.
- 6. Hall TL. Healed, or hungry? A personal perspective on the Gawler program. Med J Aust 2012; 196: 598-599. <MJA full text>
- 7. Ledesma D. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and cancer: a meta-analysis. Psychooncology 2009; 18: 571-579.
Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.
I would like to thank Alicia Hall, Brendan Flynn and Marina Vamos for assistance in revising my article.