Review Article: Influence of Viscum album L (European Mistletoe) Extracts on Quality of Life in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review of Controlled Clinical Studies
Gunver S. Kienle,Helmut Kiene +1 more
TLDR
VAEs seem to have an impact on QoL and reduction of side effects of conventional therapies (chemotherapy, radiation) in experimental trials as well as in routine daily application.Abstract:
Objective. To evaluate controlled clinical studies on the efficacy and effectiveness of Viscum album for quality of life (QoL) in cancer. Materials and methods. The authors conducted a search of 7 electronic databases and reference lists and had extensive consultations with experts. They carried out a criteria-based assessment of methodological study quality. Results. The authors identified 26 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and 10 non-RCTs that investigated the influence of V album extracts (VAEs) on QoL in malignant diseases; 26 studies assessed patient-reported QoL. Questionnaires were mostly well established and validated. Half of the studies investigated VAEs concomitant with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery. Some studies were well designed, whereas others had minor or major methodological weaknesses. Among the 26 RCTs, 22 reported a QoL benefit, 3 indicated no difference, and 1 did not report any result. All the non-RCTs reported a QoL benefit. Of the studies with higher methodological quality, most reported a benefit, whereas 1 found no difference. Improvements were mainly in regard to coping, fatigue, sleep, exhaustion, energy, nausea, vomiting, appetite, depression, anxiety, ability to work, and emotional and functional well-being in general and, less consistently, in regard to pain, diarrhea, general performance, and side effects of conventional treatments. VAEs were well tolerated. Conclusions. VAEs seem to have an impact on QoL and reduction of side effects of conventional therapies (chemotherapy, radiation) in experimental trials as well as in routine daily application. The influence on fatigue especially should be investigated further.read more
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S3-Leitlinie – Kolorektales Karzinom.
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Viscum album [L.] extract therapy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer: a randomised clinical trial on overall survival.
Wilfried Tröger,Danijel Galun,Marcus Reif,Agnes Schumann,Nikola Stankovic,Miroslav Milicevic +5 more
TL;DR: The study findings suggest VaL to be a non-toxic and effective second-line therapy that offers a prolongation of OS as well as less disease-related symptoms for patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer.
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Anthroposophic Medicine: An Integrative Medical System Originating in Europe
Gunver S. Kienle,Hans-Ulrich Albonico,Erik W. Baars,Harald J. Hamre,Peter Zimmermann,Helmut Kiene +5 more
TL;DR: Anthroposophic medicine is an integrative multimodal treatment system based on a holistic understanding of man and nature and of disease and treatment that is integrated with conventional medicine in large hospitals and medical practices.
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Evolution of the adaptogenic concept from traditional use to medical systems: Pharmacology of stress- and aging-related diseases.
Alexander Panossian,Thomas Efferth,A.N. Shikov,Olga N. Pozharitskaya,Kenny Kuchta,Pulok K. Mukherjee,Subhadip Banerjee,Michael Heinrich,Wanying Wu,De-An Guo,Hildebert Wagner +10 more
TL;DR: The evolution of the adaptogenic concept has led back to basics of TMS and a new level of understanding of holistic approach, which provides a rationale for their use in stress‐induced and aging‐related diseases.
References
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Book
Quality of Life: The assessment, analysis and interpretation of patient-reported outcomes
Peter Fayers,David Machin +1 more
TL;DR: The aim of this second edition is to provide a history of quality of life research in the context of clinical trials and to clarify the role of factor analysis in this research.
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Is the placebo powerless? An analysis of clinical trials comparing placebo with no treatment.
TL;DR: A systematic review of clinical trials in which patients were randomly assigned to either placebo or no treatment found that placebo had no significant effect on binary outcomes, regardless of whether these outcomes were subjective or objective.
Journal ArticleDOI
Quality of life measurement: bibliographic study of patient assessed health outcome measures
TL;DR: In some specialties there are numerous measures of quality of life and little standardisation, and Recommendations for the selection of patient assessed measures of health outcome are needed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Use of complementary and alternative medicine in cancer patients: a European survey
Alex Molassiotis,Paz Fernadez-Ortega,Dorit Pud,Gulten Ozden,Julia A. Scott,Vassiliki Panteli,Anita Margulies,Maria Browall,Miriam Magri,Sarka Selvekerova,Elin Madsen,Ljiljana Milovics,Ingrid Bruyns,Gudbjorg Gudmundsdottir,Sandra Hummerston,A. M.-A. Ahmad,Nurgun Platin,Nora Kearney,Elisabeth Patiraki +18 more
TL;DR: It is imperative that health professionals explore the use of CAM with their cancer patients, educate them about potentially beneficial therapies in light of the limited available evidence of effectiveness, and work towards an integrated model of health-care provision.