Researchers at Deakin University, in Australia reviewed the evidence. (more…)

Prolonged physical exertion and environmental stress may depress immune cell function and increase the risk of an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI).

Researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia studied the response to vitamin C under these conditions. (more…)

National Pet Week is May 2-8.

Nurse Janet Eggiman reports a 10-year-old girl with post-traumatic stress disorder and a history of physical and sexual abuse. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) was used as part of a broader cognitive behavioral therapy, with a dramatic change in behavior.

Interesting, but of greater interest is the literature review of the history of AAT presented by Ms. Eggiman.

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Studies commonly report less stress among people who practice yoga. Examples are here in pregnancy, here among musicians, and here in healthy women and cancer survivors.

This study, by Ohio State University researchers searched for the mechanism underlying the benefit. (more…)

Millions of postmenopausal women use multivitamins.

Does it matter? (more…)

The effects of music therapy on stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnant women were studied by researchers at the National Tainan Institute of Nursing in Taiwan. (more…)

Dr. Darrell Hulisz from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio has written a continuing education article on herbals.

Here are the author’s take-away points, with additional references added. (more…)

In college students, meditation-based stress-management practices reduce stress and enhance forgiveness, according to this study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley. (more…)

Here’s a follow-up to earlier posts here and here on the use of CAM in the US.

The findings come from a survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (more…)

 It “could be an easy and inexpensive way to decrease aggression and abnormal behavior among preschool children,” according to researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden. (more…)