The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point
  • About this web log

    This blog ran from 2006 to 2016 and was intended as an objective and dispassionate source of information on the latest CAM research. Since my background is in pharmacy and allopathic medicine, I view all CAM as advancing through the development pipeline to eventually become integrated into mainstream medical practice. Some will succeed while others fail. But all are treated fairly here.

  • About the author

    John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.

  • Common sense considerations

    The material on this weblog is for informational purposes. It is not medical advice or counsel. Be smart, consult your health professional before using CAM.

  • Recent Posts

  • Recent Comments

    Putting arnica to the test to reduce inflammation after surgery

    Arnica (Arnica montana) is used in herbal medicine for relief of bruises, stiffness, and muscle soreness.

    Here’s a study that looked at the potential for homeopathic arnica to reduce swelling and pain following 3 different operations in patients who required knee surgery.

    The details.

    • Prior to surgery, 300 patients were given a homeopathic dilution of arnica or placebo.
    • 300 patients received one of 3 operations (arthroscopy, artificial knee joint implantation, and cruciate ligament reconstruction).
    • More arnica (or placebo) was given after surgery.
    • The researchers used knee circumference as the measure of arnica’s effectiveness.
    • When measured 2 days following surgery, significantly less swelling was seen only in the 57 patients who had the cruciate ligament reconstruction.

    It’s not clear to me why it worked in one group but not in the other two.

    But we’ll accept it for what it is.

    2/8/07 23:03 JR

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