Have cancer and thinking about trying an alternative cancer treatment? NewScientist (19 August 2017) notes this appears to be a mistake:
Among those with breast cancer, people taking alternative remedies were 5.7 times more likely to die within five years. While 41 per cent of those receiving conventional treatment for lung cancer survived for at least five years, only 20 per cent of those who opted out did. And only 33 per cent of people using alternative medicine for colorectal cancer survived the next five years, compared with 79 per cent of those on conventional treatments (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, doi.org/cbsg).
The surprise in the box?
Those who opted for alternative treatments tended to be wealthier and better educated. In the US, medical insurance doesn’t cover unproven treatments, so only richer people can afford the most expensive alternative treatments, says Johnson.
Who would have thought the predominant group in the informal guinea pig category would have been the wealthy?
