Alternative Treatments Overseas

[Gpinkk]

Several people have mentioned alternative or integrative treatment centers in Germany, Switzerland and Mexico that offer regional hyperthermia , IV treatments, etc. Has anyone had an experience or heard anything they’d like to share.

[Hidden]

Hi, sorry I haven't heard of "Alternative" or "Integrative" treatment centres for prostate cancer specifically anywhere. I know of some of what might be called "Alternative " cancer centres in the UK, but a better name for them would be "Complementary".

I hope you don't find this patronising, but "Alternative" therapies are therapies that are given INSTEAD of standard accepted therapies. Alternative therapists will NOT treat you if you're having standard medical treatment.

"Complementary" therapies can be given at the same time as standard medical treatments.

I hope you can see that the issue with alternative therapies is that more often than not, they don't work and if they don't you have no back up. They are wide open for any unqualified "therapist" to exploit peoples vulnerabilities and fears. There is often no real evidence that these therapies work and when they do appear to work, it's usually either a placebo effect or natural remission (rarely with cancer).

Alternative therapists might persuade you wth testimonials from satisfied patients. This is not evidence of it working. The efficacy of standard medical treatments is demonstarted by clincial trials or statistics gathered over a period of years.

People seem to often turn to alternative therapies when all the standard medical treatments have failed or the effects of the treatment they're offered reduces their quality of life so significantly it's not worth prolonging

Luckily there are more complementary therapists than alternative therapists these days. Some complementary therapies have some evidence of working , but what they do is usually different than what medical treatment does. I would imagine few complementary therapists claim they can cure cancer. I can recommend these, there are lots of them around, I would guess in any developed country.

"Integrative" therapy however is a form of psychotherapy which uses the theory and practices of different schools of psychotherapy in combination.

As far as treating prostate cancer goes it will have no effect on the cancer itself. It might help the sufferer more able to deal with the psycho-social consequences of cancer and its treatment.

Hope this helps

[Hidden]

When you said hyperthermia I thought of HIFU -- high intensity focused ultrasound. It roasts the tumor one little blip at a time.

[MelbourneDavid]

Germany is a complete wild west for unproven therapies. You can get totally fake treatment at a very high price there. Germany and Switzerland have a lot of homeopathy therapists, despite it being torally ineffective. Mexico is a lower cost option for fake treatment, but if you have a bad outcome it can still cost you $1000 per day all out of pocket.

[Hidden]

If you are doing it on your own and local head to a big medical center (Mayo ,Md Anderson or others recommended here and get their opinion. You will go crazy trying to decide.