Parents Use Complementary Medicine in Pediatric Cancer Treatments
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of Harvard Medical School’s teaching centers, reported that one out of three children battling cancer used
complementary therapy in addition to traditional treatments.
Christopher Recklitis, Ph.D., MPH, of Dana-Farber commented on the results of the study, which were published in the journal Psycho-Oncology, “…we found that parents who sought to take an active role in their own health care were more likely to choose complementary therapies for their children."
More than one third of the pediatric cancer patients included in the survey, who were one month to 24-years-old, suffered from leukemia, while the others were battling brain tumors, sarcomas and lymphomas.
In addition to the 33 percent of parents who had used complementary therapies in their child’s cancer treatments, the results also indicated that 46 percent of the parents previously employed complementary and alternative medicine techniques including acupuncture, guided imagery and aromatherapy.
The Harvard Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship Program and the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies supported Dr. Recklitis’ findings.