Female tumors, acupuncture as a tool in integrated therapy
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Acupuncture helps to soothe disorders related to female tumors (uterus, ovary, breast) and traditional treatments. We are not talking about alternative medicine, it is not used to cure the disease itself, but about integrated therapy. There are now several scientific studies that support that acupuncture also has beneficial effects in counteracting the side effects of oncological therapies, from chemotherapy to hormonal therapy. That it is, in short, one more tool. For this reason, for its ten years of activity, the Loto Foundation has decided to offer a free acupuncture service to women undergoing treatment at the medical and gynecological oncology, breast surgery, anesthesia and pain therapy units of the Sant’Orsola Polyclinic in Bologna .
Integrated oncology, increasingly based on scientific evidence
by Tiziana Moriconi
The benefits of acupuncture
“Oncological therapies can have side effects, more or less intense, with which patients have to live with during their course of treatment – explained Claudio Zamagni, Director of Medical Oncology of Sant’Orsola and member of the scientific committee of Loto Odv – The studies currently available in the literature show that acupuncture in oncology is useful for counteracting nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy drugs, as well as peripheral neuropathies, ie pain in the nerve endings, and vasomotor symptoms such as hot flashes. It is also useful for reducing post-chemotherapy tiredness and fatigue and relieving anxiety and insomnia. Relieving treatment problems often means improving adherence to cancer therapy. Furthermore, acupuncture is not based on biochemical mechanisms (the needles are inert, devoid of active ingredients), so it has no contraindications in terms of interaction with other therapies. This – specified Zamagni – is an advantage above all for the patients who follow polypharmacological treatments.
How the acupuncture service works
The possibility of accessing the acupuncture service as a tool to alleviate the ailments related to the oncological path will be offered to patients by the oncologist or by the referring doctor, and during the first session the acupuncturist will discuss the most suitable therapeutic plan with the patient. establishing the number of acupuncture sessions foreseen. “This number varies according to the particular situation of each patient – specified Carlo Maria Giovanardi, President of the Association of Acupuncturists of Bologna (AMAB) which collaborates with the Loto initiative – In the case of women who undergo chemotherapy, even if the treatment is not started strictly concurrently with the beginning of the anticancer therapy, it is in any case able to carry out a positive and therapeutic action both on the collateral symptoms, which develop over time, and on the quality of life”.
Each session has an average duration of about 20-30 minutes. The frequency of sessions varies according to the pathology being treated, the individual sensitivity of the patient and the result to be achieved.
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“The Medical Oncology Day Hospital of the Policlinico Sant’Orsola in Bologna hosts about 50 patients every day, for cycles of chemotherapy whose duration varies from a few weeks to whole months, during which, also on the basis of the type of medicines used, the side effects represent a perennial and painful daily constant – concluded Sandra Balboni, president of Loto Odv – We want to offer these women one more tool to cope with some of these symptoms without resorting to additional drugs. And this objective sums up the purpose of our association for 10 years now: to be close to patients and improve their quality of life”.
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