Archive for December, 2008
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Vitamin D, of course.
A PubMed search revealed 146 studies in humans during 2008 for a dizzying list of conditions. (more…)
Tanning, Vitamin D | Comments Off on Biggest winner in CAM for 2008
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Airborne.
Unfortunately, the biggest losers are the people who were coned into taking a “health product” with insufficient supporting scientific evidence. (more…)
Infection | Comments Off on Biggest loser in CAM for 2008
Tuesday, December 30th, 2008
 Patients with exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness felt better after acupuncture, according to researchers at Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany. (more…)
Acupuncture/ pressure, Exercise, Pain | Comments Off on Acupuncture for exercise-induced muscle soreness
Saturday, December 27th, 2008
 Researchers from Peking University in China reviewed the use of acupuncture combined with opioid receptor agonists for treating opiate-withdrawal symptoms. (more…)
Acupuncture/ pressure | Comments Off on Acupuncture for opiate-withdrawal symptoms
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
 Laura Christman and Deb Peterson have written interesting articles on these resins, which became forever famous more than 2 centuries ago.
Highlights follow. (more…)
Aromatherapy, Ayurveda, Cancer, Infection, Osteoarthritis | Comments Off on Frankincense and myrrh
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Mistletoe preparations are sometimes used as CAM to treat solid cancers such as breast cancer.
Here are statistics on the use of mistletoe to treat cancer, the results of a recently published clinical study in women with breast cancer, and a review of the medical literature.
(more…)
Cancer, Mistletoe | Comments Off on Mistletoe and cancer treatment
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Not to be a scrooge, but at this time of the year it’s worthwhile to review the safety of mistletoe. (more…)
G. BOTANICALS | Comments Off on Mistletoe
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
A group of Canadian researchers reviewed the medical literature on this topic.
Not all patents benefit from omega-3 fatty acids. (more…)
Heart Disease, Omega-3 Fatty Acids | Comments Off on Caution taking fish oil supplements in people with implantable defibrillators
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
 Some of the weight loss products listed below claim to be “natural†or to contain only “herbal†ingredients.
The FDA found they actually contain potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the product labels or in promotional advertisements. (more…)
Consumer Alert, Diet-Nutrition, Epilepsy/Seizures, FDA/FTC/CDC, Herbals, Obesity | Comments Off on Consumer Alert: More tainted weight loss products
Sunday, December 21st, 2008
Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston have published a detailed review.
Their interest relates to the needs of vitamin D in the breastfeeding mother and her infant and child, but they also present a detailed and well-referenced review. (more…)
Breastfeeding, Calcium, Cancer, Diabetes Mellitus, Infants, Infection, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Diseases, Vitamin D | Comments Off on Update on vitamin D
Friday, December 19th, 2008
 It reportedly improves certain aspects of cognitive (reasoning) and psychomotor function in older individuals and in young people following sleep deprivation, according to researchers at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania.
But what about in healthy young people? (more…)
Creatine | Comments Off on Creatine supplementation in healthy young adults
Friday, December 19th, 2008
 The American College of Gastroenterology has published new guidelines for the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Let’s focus on their view of herbals, acupuncture, and diet. (more…)
Acupuncture/ pressure, Chinese Medicine, Diet-Nutrition, Fiber, Herbals, Irritable Bowel Syndrome | Comments Off on New recommendations to treat IBS
Friday, December 19th, 2008
This review by Professor Edzard Ernst from the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth in the UK is an outspoken negative critique. (more…)
CAM Cost Effectiveness, Chiropractic, Pain-Back, Prof. Ernst | Comments Off on Prof. Ernst’s negative view of chiropractic
Thursday, December 18th, 2008
After 2 years of treatment, glucosamine sulfate had no effect on the symptoms and the progression of hip osteoarthritis, according to researchers from the Netherlands. (more…)
Glucosamine/ Chondroitin, Osteoarthritis | Comments Off on Glucosamine sulfate on hip osteoarthritis
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
That’s the finding from a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Douglas Kiel of Hebrew SeniorLife and Harvard Medical School in Boston. (more…)
Bone Fracture, Elderly | Comments Off on Hip protectors fail to protect the elderly from fracture
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Giving zinc tablets reduces the duration and severity of diarrhea in children, according to researchers from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. (more…)
Children, Diarrhea/Constipation, Zinc | Comments Off on Using zinc to treat diarrhea
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Here’s what the Cochrane Review reports. (more…)
Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Omega-3 Fatty Acids | Comments Off on Evaluating the role for omega 3 to treat Crohn’s disease
Monday, December 15th, 2008
 Researchers studied the relationship among fitness, adiposity, and mortality in older adults. (more…)
Exercise, Obesity | Comments Off on Which is more important: fitness or fatness?
Monday, December 15th, 2008
Dr. Brent Bauer (photo) who practices in the Division of General Internal Medicine and is Director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic was interviewed as part of their ongoing series of podcasts.
Here are the highpoints. (more…)
Acupuncture/ pressure, Art, Music, Dance, Cancer, Exercise, Ginseng, Herbals, Yoga | Comments Off on CAM benefits in cancer patients
Sunday, December 14th, 2008
 The benefits of isoflavone depend on converting soy foods and supplements to biologically active compounds such as equol, which occurs in the intestines and is altered by age-associated conditions.
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin in Madison studied the effects of soy in older nondemented men and women. (more…)
Alzheimer's Dementia, Elderly, Flavonoids (Soy) | Comments Off on Soy isoflavones in the elderly