food store for breast cancer patients

food store for breast cancer patients

Background: Many breast cancer patients use complementary
and alternative medicine (CAM). We aimed to determine what
advice health food store employees present to individuals
seeking treatment options for breast cancer.

Methods: Eight data gatherers asked employees of all retail
health food stores in a major Canadian city, what they
recommended for a patient with breast cancer. The data
gatherers inquired about product safety, potential drug
interactions, costs and efficacy. They also enquired about
employee training related to the products.

Results: Thirty-four stores were examined. A total of
33 different products were recommended, none of which are
supported by sufficient evidence of efficacy. The average cost
of the products they recommended was $58.09 (CAD)
(minimum $5.28, median $32.99, maximum $600) per month.
Twenty-three employees (68%) did not ask whether the patient
took prescription medications. Fifteen employees (44%)
recommended visiting a healthcare professional (naturopaths
(9), physicians (5), nutritionists (1)). Three employees (8.8%)
discussed potential adverse effects of the products. Eight
employees (23.5%) discussed the potential for drug
interactions. Two employees (5.9%) suggested a possible cure
with the products and one employee (2.9%) suggested
discontinuing Tamoxifen. Four employees (11.8%)
recommended lifestyle changes and three employees (8.8%)
recommended books for further reading on the products.

Conclusion: This study draws attention to the heterogeneity of
advice provided by natural health food stores to individuals
seeking treatments for breast cancer, and the safety and cost
implications of some of the products recommended. Physicians
should enquire carefully about the use of natural health food
products by patients with breast cancer. Regulators need to
consider regulations to protect vulnerable patients from incurring
significant costs in their purchasing of natural health food
products lacking evidence of benefit and of questionable safety.

Introduction
The use of natural health products (NHPs) is increasing
[1]. Reasons for the increased public use of NHPs vary
from individual involvement in health decisions to distrust
in medical organisations [2,3]. With increasing research in
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) comes an
increase in public health awareness of social and safety
concerns [4,5]. This is particularly true in terminal diseases,
in which patients may seek out marketed cures and
treatments based on folklore [6].
Breast cancer patients might be particularly vulnerable to
the use of NHPs because women are large consumers of
them [7]. Several public health concerns arise about the
use of NHPs. The potential for drug interactions with
chemotherapy might reduce or exacerbate the effectiveness
of prescription drugs [8,9]. The potential for harm
increases when large doses of products are used chronically
and when multiple NHPs are used simultaneously
[10]. Additionally, patients might delay or discontinue
orthodox treatment at the advice of a CAM practitioner