The 40 per cent of breast cancer patients who suffer from extreme fatigue may benefit from acupuncture, new research suggests.
This was the first clinical trial using acupuncture to treat this particular symptom of the disease.
Hundreds of thousands of patients overcoming the disease battle with fatigue.
But the three-year British trial showed acupuncture had across-the-board benefits, alleviating both mental and physical fatigue and improving overall quality of life.
The three-year British trial showed acupuncture alleviated both mental and physical fatigue and improved overall quality of life
Previously, few treatments were recognised for the up-to-40 per cent of patients needing help for fatigue, devastating their quality of life.
Professor Alex Molassiotis, from the University of Manchester, which led the trial said: 'Fatigue is a blight on the lives of thousands of former cancer patients and this trial proves acupuncture can help them.
'We were delighted to see so many patients getting substantial benefit from this treatment, particularly as they currently have limited options available.
'We now need to carry out further work to understand the costs and benefits of delivering acupuncture before it can be made available on the NHS.'
Up to 40 per cent of breast cancer patients suffer from fatigue
Julie Wray, 55, a mother-of-two from Cheadle, Cheshire, benefited from the acupuncture treatment after suffering fatigue as a result of her breast cancer treatment in 2006.
Mrs Wray, a nursing lecturer at the University of Salford, said: 'The fatigue from my breast cancer treatment was so bad, simply driving to work left me exhausted.
'It got to the point that I thought I would have to give up my job. But receiving acupuncture treatment allowed me to get my old life back.
'Now I hope other women can benefit from acupuncture following this research.'
More than 300 patients took part in the trial which was funded by Breakthrough Breast Cancer and conducted at 10 hospitals across the country including Manchester’s Christie Hospital and the Royal Marsden in London.
The results are published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Acupuncture use in mainstream UK healthcare is in its infancy - it is only used on the NHS to treat lower back pain.
The trial authors called for tests to be set up looking at the cost-effectiveness of acupuncture with special focus on the benefits for other cancers.
Dr Julia Wilson, Breakthrough Breast Cancer’s research chief, said: 'More people are surviving breast cancer than ever before which means quality of life after treatment is becoming increasingly important.
'These are very promising results which suggest acupuncture could reduce fatigue symptoms and improve the quality of life of many former breast cancer patients.
'It raises the possibility that acupuncture could become a standard treatment for fatigue, although we are still some years from that becoming a reality.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2226402/Acupuncture-relieve-extreme-tiredness-suffered-breast-cancer-patients.html#ixzz2B10pe6zO
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