Endocrinological evaluations of brief hand massages in palliative care.

Background And Objectives: Some patients with advanced cancer make use of complementary therapies for the reduction of anxiety and stress. These patients can suffer distressing end-of-life symptoms, which conventional treatments might not relieve satisfactorily. Although previous studies have suggested that complementary therapies could be useful for reducing distress in patients with cancer, it has remained unclear whether these benefits are applicable at the end-of-life stage.

Attitudes toward and current practice of complementary and alternative medicine in Japanese palliative care units.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) might enhance the quality of life of patients with cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the current practice of CAM in Japanese palliative care units. A 17-item questionnaire was mailed to all 150 certified palliative care units in Japan, 80% of which responded.

[Palliative care complementing cancer treatment].

Palliative medicine had conventionally been initiated after all avenues of anticancer treatment were exhausted, and the treatment of other medical problems was considered inappropriate. However, it is increasingly being recognized that the palliative principles and interdisciplinary palliative care should be initiated when a patient becomes symptomatic with an incurable disease, and should never be withheld only after all modalities of anticancer treatment have failed. Palliative care should be regarded as being complementary to direct cancer treatment.