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Grant to determine if laughter's the best medicine for pediatric cancer patients

Physician Practice Advisor, March 9, 2004

St. Jude's Children Research Hospital has been awarded a five-year, $2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to study the effects of optional therapies like massage, laughter, and relaxation on pain-relief in 282 stem-cell transplant patients ages 6-18. These therapies will be tested alongside traditional drug therapies, according to the Associated Press.

Researchers have demonstrated that these strategies ease pain, boost energy, and elevate the moods in adult patients, but the test on pediatric patients in Toronto, Philadelphia, and Columbus, OH is a first. Researchers will pay particularly close attention to whether the groups getting regular massages and laughing at silly games have less nausea, and whether they're able to leave the hospital any sooner than patients in the control group.

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