As more and more attention and research is turned towards palliative care and improving the quality of life in terminal cancer patients, researchers are looking for gaps in the treatments and services provided.
According to a study of 120 cancer patients who had been given no more than six months to live, researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center explored the value of psychotherapy in helping these patients improve quality of life and psychological well-being. A control group received massage therapy only.
What researchers determined was that massage had no ostensible effect on quality of life or psychological well-being, but that the talk sessions-- the psychotherapy-- did appear to offer patients some help.
Unfortunately, the benefits were extremely short-term; the sessions tended to help patients in the time prior to the session and some time following the session, but over weeks and months there had been no extensive improvement.
Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology
The information provided on CancerTreatment.net is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her health professional. This information is solely for informational purposes and does not constitute the practice of medicine. We encourage all visitors to see a licensed physician or nutritionist if they have any concerns regarding health issues related to diet, personal image and any other topics discussed on this site. Neither the owners or employees of CancerTreatment.net nor the author(s) of site content take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading this site. Always speak with your primary health care provider before engaging in any form of self treatment. Please see our Legal Statement for further information.
