But only if you remember to take it.

That’s the conclusion from researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. (more…)

NaturalNews.com reports that the BBC discontinued the complementary medicine section of its Health Website. (more…)

Researchers from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia evaluated a milk product containing probiotics and prebiotics (Cupday Milk) on the incidence of diarrhea in children in daycare centers. (more…)

A recent review of the medical literature concluded that calcium supplementation is unlikely to reduce the risk of fracture, either in childhood or later life.

Now, researchers from the University of Sheffield in the UK take another look at the effects of calcium supplementation on bone growth in adolescent girls. (more…)

Researchers from no fewer than 11 centers in the US report that music therapy helps with coping-related behaviors in hospitalized children receiving cancer treatment. (more…)

Black cohosh is an alternative to hormonal therapy to treat hot flashes, mood disturbances, sweating, heart palpitations, and vaginal dryness.

Apparently, this is accomplished in the absence of any “systemic or breast-specific estrogenic effects.” According to researchers from the University of Missouri in Columbia. (more…)

A large-scale study of elderly people reports that training to improve reasoning results in less functional decline in activities of daily living over 5 years of follow-up.

Here are the details from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study.
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Dr. Paul White from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas has reviewed the medical literature and published a summary of the state of the art of acupuncture to manage pain. (more…)

Yoga instructor Janette Scott wrote in Yoga Magazine, “Yoga has been shown to give many positive benefits to people with the disease for maintaining balance and harmony in their lives.” She also knew, “there needs to be a lot of further research and verification of the effects and benefits of yoga for this condition.”

Now, 10 years later, here’s a study from the National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences in Bangalore, India. (more…)

Hochu-ekki-to (TJ-41) is an herbal medicine that contains a mixture of 10 medicinal plants (listed below). It’s produced by Tsumura Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, which specializes in selling Kampo medicine — the adaptation of traditional Chinese medicine to Japanese culture.

In this study, the use of topical medicines (steroids and/or tacrolimus [Protopic]) decreased when patients with atopic dermatitis took Hochu-ekki-to. (more…)

If an elite athlete takes something that enhances the immune system, does that make it a performance enhancement drug? (more…)

The Canadian Medical Association Journal has published all you really need to know about omega-3 fatty acids and heart health.

And, it took just one page to do it. (more…)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an established treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is equal or perhaps superior to pharmacotherapy.

Now researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles and San Diego have identified changes in the brain that might explain how this happens. (more…)

According to researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, music therapy is a promising approach to improving engagement in substance abuse treatment groups. (more…)

 This qualifies for mention here because this product contains menthol. (more…)

First published in 1966, CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) is intended to improve the reporting of medical research. Authors use it as a checklist when they submit articles for publication. By standardizing the information that must appear in a research article, this should help assure that the studies are well designed and the results are useful to readers.

Has it helped improve acupuncture studies? (more…)

A continuing education article on Medscape presents a nice summary on the use of black cohosh to treat the symptoms of menopause. (more…)

Medscape printed an article last year that was critical of CAM and any role it might have in the education of medical students. I summarized it here.

Now, a reasoned reply has been published. (more…)

The results of a combined analysis of 3 studies of kava kava (Piper methysticum) to treat anxiety do not support the use of kava in DSM-IV generalized anxiety disorder.

Well then, where does the support for kava come from?

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Researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas focused on breast cancer information. (more…)