Page 12 - Time Special Edition Alternative Medicine (January 2020)
P. 12
Healing the
Whole Cancer
Patient
Comprehensive treatment programs now aim to not
just save lives but also ease stress, relieve pain and
promote a sense of well-being among patients
BY ALICE PARK AND AMANDA MACMILLAN
Tunnel vision can seT in wiTh a new cancer into their patients’ treatment plans. That’s begin-
diagnosis. Everyone–the doctor, the patient, the ning to change, in part thanks to mounting research
patient’s loved ones–focuses almost exclusively on suggesting that a healthy mental state can play a part
treatment: the chemotherapy, surgery and radiation not only in quality-of-life improvements but also
that aim to keep a patient alive for as long as pos- in a person’s prognosis. This emerging field, called
sible. But now some forward-thinking doctors are psychosocial oncology, is about everything but the
realizing that a single-minded focus on treatment actual medical interventions.
puts cancer, and not the person with it, at the core of Research shows that the mental toll of a new ill-
the patient’s care. In an effort to change that, some ness can drain a person’s physical resources and that
hospitals across the country are launching innova- social support can help patients cope with painful
tive programs that aim not just to keep patients alive treatment regimens and improve recovery. A grow-
but also to keep them well. ing number of studies also show that social support,
“Medicine alone is not enough,” says Anne Cos- mindfulness meditation and exercise, among other
carelli, founding director of the Simms/Mann Uni- holistic strategies, can reduce the depression that
versity of California, Los Angeles, Center for Inte- so often accompanies cancer while also improving
grative Oncology, one of several cancer centers to people’s ability to complete their treatment plans
adopt a comprehensive view of patient care. “For without interruption.
every physical effect of a cancer treatment, there is That includes getting a good night’s sleep. Insom-
an equal psychological effect.” nia is a common concern for people who have cancer
Obvious as that seems, most cancer centers do as well as cancer survivors, according to Jun Mao,
not incorporate psychological care or social support chief of the integrative-medicine service at Memo-
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