A diagnosis of breast cancer turns your world upside down, and the medical procedures used to combat the disease can produce difficult and painful side effects. In fact, some women discontinue treatment because of the side effects.
Increasingly, researchers are studying acupuncture’s effectiveness at providing relief from various symptoms related to breast cancer and its treatment, including joint pain and stiffness, which is one common side effect of breast cancer treatment.
A study published in the European Journal of Cancer provided additional evidence that acupuncture can be very beneficial to women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. At the University of Pennsylvania, researchers conducted a randomized controlled eight-week study using electro-acupuncture with postmenopausal breast cancer patients who were taking Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) and, as a result, experiencing joint pain.
Aromatase inhibitors are a common hormonal therapy used to treat certain types of breast cancer. Unfortunately, as many as half of the patients taking AIs experience joint pain and about 20 percent will stop the treatment due to the painful side effects.
After 10 acupuncture treatments, patients had a 43 percent decrease in their pain.
Modern treatment of breast cancer offers the best combination of Eastern and Western medicine. These partnerships raise the standard of care for women who must use their resources to cope with their disease and its treatment.
