Acupuncture Helps Ease Pain and Improves Well Being For Lung Cancer Patients

Although the physical pain associated with lung cancer can be severe, the emotional symptoms can be just as bad, if not worse. Now, research shows that Acupuncture is very helpful in treating not just the physical symptoms of pain and nausea, but also the stressful emotional symptoms that often accompany lung cancer, such as anxiety and depression.

The new research was carried out at the Peter Brojde Lung Cancer Center, an investigative unit of the

Segal Cancer Center at Montreal’s famed Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital. The Peter Brojde Center investigates Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and other complementary therapies, in a holistic “blended approach” to achieve maximum results for all patients.

The researchers worked with 33 patients, 17 women and 16 men, with an average age of 62. Nine patients had early stage lung cancer and 24 were at the advanced stage. Thirty patients had non-small-cell lung cancer and three had the more aggressive small-cell lung cancer.

Acupuncture treatments were administered once or twice a week, in 45-minute sessions, for at least four treatments. More than half, 60 percent, of the participants receiving Acupuncture saw considerable relief from the pain, and 30 percent said their sense of well-being had improved. After six or more Acupuncture treatments, that 30 percent went up to 70 percent. In fact, the more treatments they got, the better they felt.

The researchers noted that Acupuncture was “safe, minimally invasive and demonstrates efficaciousness in the treatment of pain and in improving a sense of well-being for patients with lung cancer.” The Acupuncture treatments relieved pain, nausea, nervousness, shortness of breath, drowsiness and depression, and helped increase appetite, a sense of well-being and strength.

Cancer touches most people these days, if not directly, at least through the suffering of family members or friends. Many, if not most of the lung cancer related symptoms described above are very similar regardless of the type of cancer. It’s good to know that Acupuncture is widely available in urban centers across the country to help relieve those symptoms for all patients undergoing treatment.

If someone you know has cancer, get them to consult with your acupuncturist so they can work on helping them. Their increased sense of well-being is also important to their overall recovery.