Traditional medicine use by cancer patients in Thailand

Cancer patients commonly use traditional medicines (TM) and in Thailand these are popular for both self-medication and as prescribed by TM practitioners, and are rarely monitored. A study was conducted at Wat Khampramong, a Thai Buddhist temple herbal medicine hospice, to document some of these prac...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of ethnopharmacology 2015-06, Vol.168 (NA), p.100-107
Main Authors: Poonthananiwatkul, Benjawan, Lim, Rosemary H M, Howard, Rachel L, Pibanpaknitee, Paponpatchara, Williamson, Elizabeth M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Arokhayasala
Herbal cancer hospice
Humans
Khampramong
Medicine, Traditional
Neoplasms - drug therapy
Phytotherapy
Plant Preparations - therapeutic use
Plants, Medicinal
Surveys and Questionnaires
Thai herbal medicine
Thailand
Traditional medicine
Yod-ya-mareng
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Summary:Cancer patients commonly use traditional medicines (TM) and in Thailand these are popular for both self-medication and as prescribed by TM practitioners, and are rarely monitored. A study was conducted at Wat Khampramong, a Thai Buddhist temple herbal medicine hospice, to document some of these practices as well as the hospice regime. Cancer patients (n=286) were surveyed shortly after admission as to which TMs they had previously taken and perceptions of effects experienced. They were also asked to describe their current symptoms. Treatment at the hospice is built upon an 11-herb anti-cancer formula, yod-ya-mareng, prescribed for all patients, and ideally, its effects would have been evaluated. However other herbal medicines and holistic practices are integral to the regime, so instead we attempted to assess the value of the patients׳ stay at the hospice by measuring any change in symptom burden, as they perceived it. Surviving patients (n=270) were therefore asked to describe their symptoms again just before leaving. 42% of patients (120/286; 95% CI 36.4%, 47.8%) had used herbal medicines before their arrival, with 31.7% (38/120; 95% CI 24%, 40.4%) using several at once. Mixed effects were reported for these products. After taking the herbal regime at Khampramong, 77% (208/270 95% CI; 71.7%, 81.7%) reported benefit, and a comparison of the incidence of the most common (pain, dyspepsia, abdominal or visceral pain, insomnia, fatigue) showed statistical significance (χ2 57.1, df 7, p
ISSN:0378-8741
1872-7573
DOI:10.1016/j.jep.2015.03.057