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THREE-QUARTERS OF cancer patients who have developed “major” depression are not being in any way treated for that depression.
Papers published in The Lancet and associated journals analyse data from over 21,000 cancer patients in Scotland and the UK. The researchers found that – perhaps understandably – severe depression is more common in cancer patients than in the general public. Of cancer patients, those with lung cancer – who are likely to have a poor longterm prognosis – are most likely to become severely depressed (13%).
On top of that, those cancer patients suffering from severe depression do not find on the whole that their depression is considered a priority for treatment. Just one-quarter of those patients were receiving any treatment for their serious depression.
How to help?
A new treatment programme called ‘Depression Care for People with Cancer’ (DCPC) was trialled and the results reported on by The Lancet. This programme puts together a specialist team, consisting of oncology nurses and psychiatrists who work with the patient’s cancer team and GP, and treatment for depression is prioritised as all part of the patient’s cancer treatment.
The lead author on the paper, Professor Michael Sharpe at University of Oxford, said:
The huge benefit that DCPC delivers for patients with cancer and depression shows what we can achieve for patients if we take as much care with the treatment of their depression as we do with the treatment of their cancer.
There were two trials using this DCPC whole-team approach – one involving 500 patients with major depression and a cancer with a good prognosis; one with patients with a poor prognosis (142 patients were involved in this).
In both trials, the extra care for depression led to strikingly reduced rates of depression. In the first trial, around 62% of patients found their depression significantly reduced within six months (compared to 17% who only received the standard care).
In the second trial, it was found that the treatment improved anxiety levels, ability to function and quality of life. This was important, said study leader Dr Jane Walker from University of Oxford, because those patients with a poor prognosis can find that the depression they suffer “can blight the time they have left to live”.
It was also shown that using DCPC was cost-effective in improving patients’ quality of life.
If you want to read more, you can click through to three papers on the trials -
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People with cancer have a lot of hardship and should be given medical cards to help with expense and medication
Indeed. If you are just above the income threshold to get a medical card or even a GP visitors card you have to bear all the extra expense of prescriptions for treatments like chemotherapy and its aftermath, and at a time when you may be able to work less… feels like being kicked when you are down… and the emotional side is nearly the hardest bit of all… utterly devastating…
As a cancer survivor (3 years in remission) I’m completely in favour of whatever works for each individual. While I’m not sure about using cannabis oil or other natural substances the way I see it is if it works for you, use it. From my experience though every persons treatment and reaction to it is different. I was getting prescription anti nausea and vomitting drugs but found over the counter treatments worked better but that’s just me. In the fight against cancer it’s no holds barred. Cancer doesn’t play by the rules, maybe we shouldn’t either.
While people with a cancer diagnosis need support and help dealing with the psychological aspects, I just see this as another way of pushing “anti-depressant” drugs on vulnerable people. Sales of these drugs make at least $ 12 billion a year. There are 30 million in US on them and in UK there were 53 million prescriptions in 2013. Up 25% in 3 years.
In my experience “Depression” is not fixed by a pill. It is addressed by taking a holistic approach to physical/mental health on a daily basis. Diet, Yoga, meditation, watching alcohol, therapy etc
If some people feel they benefit from “anti-depressants” then good for them. Not forgetting the placebo effect. Many others like myself have been harmed or killed by these mind altering, psychoactive drugs (which I took for panic). For some these drugs can increase risk of mania, “psychosis”, suicide and/or violence.
Dr Peter Breggin ~ http://www.breggin.com/31-49.pdf
Yale study ~ Antidepressant-associated mania and psychosis resulting in psychiatric admissions ~ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11235925
{Never stop or change prescribed psychoactive drugs without talking to a good doctor, due to the dangers of withdrawal}
More drugs to fund pharmaceutical companies isn’t really the answer!! My lovely mum is in the final stages of terminal cancer. It started in the bowel but from chemo and the amount of pills she was given to take daily she also now has it in the liver- has jaundice and her liver is now failing. More tablets / drugs wouldn’t have helped. I also heard about cannabis oil and wish mum had tried it.
I’m really sorry to hear about your mum. I have had two very close people with diagnoses in the last year… I am surprised though that you think that her chemo and pills caused the spread of cancer to her liver. It is, sadly, much more likely that the cancer spread to her liver through micro-metastases – tiny cancer cells that broke away and travelled to another part of her body… I also researched cannabis oil and it is by no means a panacea – there really is no reliable evidence of it working in actual live human subjects… and even if it did, most substances only affect one stage of the development or spread of particular kinds of cancer, supposing that they are able to reach the cells… It’s just far more complex than it seems.
I wish there were more research into more alternative approaches as, for example, oncologists are now focusing for SOME cancers on immune-stimulant approaches. However, cancer cells can ‘hide’ from your immune system. Until there is proof though for any alternative approach, I would urge people to proceed with caution, as your life is at stake.
The need the cure and that is cannabis oil
An “ultracrepidarian” is somebody who gives opinions on subjects they know nothing about…..
Cannabis can be found in pharmacopia dating back as far as 2727 BC, so maybe we shouldn’t be so arrogant to dismiss the idea that it could be a cure for certain types of cancer, just because the U.S decided to ban it for all the wrong reasons, less than 100 years ago. Attitudes are slowly changing as we’re seeing more & more people having positive results with using cannabis oil as a treatment. And without question, cannabis is a useful (non-toxic) plant medicine which helps cancer patients with nausea caused by chemo, along with helping with people with their depression and aiding with their sleep – http://www.disabled-world.com/medical/pharmaceutical/marijuana/
Well said
“Cancer- Many side effects of the medication to stop cancer can be relieve with Marijuana, some studies suggest that Marijuana tends to slow down the progress of some types of cancer. – See more at: http://www.disabled-world.com/medical/pharmaceutical/marijuana/#nav”
I do not think I could consider this to be conclusive in the way you are suggesting
Clearly we have nothing against cannabis oil, and any alternative treatments that are proven to work would be embraced, but I have never seen any evidence for the effectiveness of cannabis oil in actual human subjects (many substances do have an effect on cancer cells in vitro or in animal subjects, but not in actual humans with cancer)… it is tempting to believe that there is a panacea out there, but having really studied this area, it is much more complex. I would be afraid of people believing that cannabis oil can cure their cancer and refusing other treatments (there are many novel approaches such as immune system stimulation that DO work for certain stages of some cancers)…
The Memorial Sloan Kettering Integrative Medicine Centre has an evidence-based list of herbs and all the actual real evidence for each in terms of their effectiveness (or not) against certain types of cancer… http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/about-herbs
Oh look, yet another piece if research appears saying that proper, actual medical care works. And up pop the loony brigade trumpeting the benefits of nonsense.
How do you all feel about legalizing medicinal marijuana for cancer patients and other people who need it …. ?
have your say