Treatments are medical interventions that help alleviate, manage, or cure health conditions and diseases. They can be anything from medications to surgical procedures. Treatments are often tested in carefully controlled studies called clinical trials. These studies are the best way to test new treatments and learn how they work in people. But evidence from a single study rarely proves that one treatment works better than another, and it cannot guarantee that any particular patient will benefit or experience unwanted side effects.
Almost every health condition can be treated with medication or some other type of intervention. Examples include pain medicines like acetaminophen and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for musculoskeletal pain, and antipsychotic medications for mental illness. Behavioral therapies and peer support services have also been shown to be effective for many illnesses.
Some health problems have no known cure, such as diabetes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). But treatments can still be very helpful. For example, people with type 1 diabetes use insulin to keep their blood sugar levels in a healthy range. But the medication does not cure diabetes; people will need to take insulin for life.
Some cancer treatments aim to get rid of the tumor and stop its growth. Others focus on preventing the spread of cancer. This may involve surgery, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy. Newer treatments may be less invasive than traditional therapies. For example, targeted therapy zeroes in on specific cellular targets that play a role in how cancer cells grow and spread, and may cause less damage to normal cells. These therapies are usually given as a pill, capsule, or liquid that you swallow or through a vein (intravenous, or IV).
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