Integrative Medicine Enhances Quality of Life for Patients (Post 1 of 2)

Lorraine Gordon is a patient advocate for people with melanoma. Her family established the Roger A. Gordon Melanoma Research Fund in 2007 following her husband's diagnosis of stage 4 melanoma.  The Gordon family works in conjunction with Penn's Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) to increase melanoma awareness. In the first of two posts, she talks about the recent ACC-sponsored Focus On Integrative Medicine and Wellness Conference.

“The difference between traditional and integrative care is like rain versus the sun shining.”

— Joseph Carver, MD, chief of staff, Abramson Cancer Center

I didn't know a lot about integrative medicine and I was impressed and touched by this uplifting and supportive conference. Many patients said they feel they have greater control of their illness and develop new ways of coping with the distress and uncertainty of their illness using integrative medicine. Had we known about these therapies I think my family's experience would have been quite different.

Integrative medicine and complementary and alternative therapies focus on the whole person. Therapies are usually performed by practitioners outside the conventional system in combination with traditional treatments.

Attendees at the Abramson Cancer Center's
Focus On: Integrative Medicine and Wellness Conference

Based on a recent Penn study, an estimated 66.5 percent of cancer survivors have used integrative therapies to improve their quality of life during cancer treatment.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to the use of non-conventional therapies that complement conventional medicine, including:

• Acupuncture
• Yoga
• Nutrition
• Mindfulness-based stress management
• Reiki
• Massage

Jun Mao, MD, MSCE, assistant professor and director of integrative medicine at Penn, and the conference chair, is a licensed acupuncturist.  He told us that like all complementary therapies, acupuncture is not used as a primary cancer treatment.

"Acupuncture is used in combination with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy," Dr. Mao said.  "You need to have the courage to try something new and be comfortable with the concept.  After receiving chemo or radiation you can be very fatigued, but acupuncture can help you get more energy."

Kathryn Schmitz, PhD, MPH, associate professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Abramson Cancer Center’s Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, discussed the benefits of exercise. As an exercise interventionist who has led multiple trials, she told us exercise makes the journey very different.

Her research has shown:

• 180 minutes of walking each week reduces the reoccurrence of breast cancer.
• Survivor risk is cut in half by exercise.

She recommends patients try to exercise between treatments if they are not too tired or sick. Dr. Schmitz has performed extensive research into the benefits of exercise for breast cancer patients. Dr. Schmitz heads the Strength After Breast Cancer Program, a physical therapy program for breast cancer survivors.

Kimberly Fleisher, MSEd, RMT, founder and director of the Reiki School and Clinic in Philadelphia and leader of the Reiki volunteer program at Penn, said it is OK to be skeptical about complementary therapies. She said Reiki is a state of internal balance and harmony and does not involve manipulation, invasiveness or touching.  It encourages:

• Peace
• Nurturing
• Nourishing
• Balance

Gabriel Rocco, MA, is a staff instructor for  Penn's Program for Mindfulness and teaches classes based on the practice of mindfulness meditation. To help begin healing from within, he told us to find a comfortable position while finding the source of our own healing.  Letting go of unnecessary tensions allows us to connect with our own hearts and be at peace with our compassion. We must take care of ourselves as we would take care of a loved one, with the same compassion.

This conference really was an amazing experience for me. In the next post I will talk about two speakers and how they encouraged us to "live in the moment."

Penn's Integrative Medicine and Wellness Program educates and empowers patients to actively manage symptoms and side effects of conventional cancer treatments (such as nausea, vomiting, fatigue and joint pain) in order to maximize the benefits of conventional treatments while maintaining desirable quality of life. Integrative therapies and complementary and alternative medicine are not a replacement for conventional cancer treatment.

Visit the Abramson Cancer Center website for more information about Integrative Medicine and Wellness and the 2011 Focus On Integrative Medicine and Wellness conference.