University of Virginia researchers surveyed nearly 200 men with prostate cancer and found that 43% use some form of alternative medicine — most commonly vitamins, herbs, and prayer. Younger patients and those with aggressive cancers were more likely to use alternative therapies, yet only one in four told their doctors about it. Researchers stressed the need for patients to tell their physicians about their alternative practices, and for doctors to ask, in case of any drug-nutrient interactions.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Cancer 1999;86:2642-2648
