Introduction: In Hungary there are as many as 300 children diagnosed with malignant tumor each year. Along with the traditional treatments, alternative remedies have been increasingly applied in the past two decades despite the availability of the more complex and more effective malignant tumor treatments.
Aims: The authors attempted to find out about the applied alternative remedies for childhood cancer outside the traditional treatments, to determine how frequently they were applied and to examine what psychological factors had lead to their application.
Patients: Children's parents, getting active treatment and also the ones that have been rehabilitated at the II. Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University.
Results: 60 percent of the 34 children being examined were getting several kinds of therapy. The most frequently applied alternative remedies were the following: nature products, diet supplements, herbs, diet changes. The parents' choice was mainly influenced by other parents' opinions (42%), frequently appearing commercials in media (26%) and their current financial background (23%). The authors have found on the base of their research that the general aim of parents was: to help their own incapability to help (31%), to make sure about the efficiency of the treatment (45%).
Consequences: Independently of demographic or clinical facts the use of alternative remedies are excessively widespread and popular with children having tumor. Thus it is not advisable or reasonable to absolutely refuse them since they are quite widespread and people tend to strongly believe in them. As for doctors, they are to give professional advice and help with choosing the alternative remedies that are not harmful or even more, the ones that can make traditional treatments more effective.