Hollywood celebrities are seeking alternative therapies for treating diseases like breast cancer, Lyme disease and more. Many have found that alternative therapies, when combined with traditional therapies, can yield better results.
When Suzanne Somers was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, she decided to forgo chemotherapy, had a lumpectomy and followed it up with radiation therapy and alternative treatments.
Actress Parker Posey, diagnosed with Lyme disease earlier this year, used not just antibiotics but homeopathic remedies and supplements to help her recover.
Stars aren’t the only ones who are trying alternative therapies to get better.
“More than 30 percent of cancer patients will try some kind of alternative therapy,” says Dr. Roberta Lee, vice chair of the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center and medical director of the Continuum Center for Health and Healing. “As at treatment on its own, alternative therapy is complicated and risky. But when it is supportive, it is a good strategy.”
Some 3,000 patients a month are seen at her program, Lee explains. They may make use of everything from acupuncture and ginger tea for nausea to acupuncture for dry mouth caused by chemotherapy.
