The C.A.M. Report
Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Fair, Balanced, and to the Point

Archive for February, 2009

Effect of folate on depression in Japanese adults

Saturday, February 28th, 2009

Higher dietary intake of folate was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms in Japanese men but not women, according to researchers at the International Medical Center of Japan in Tokyo. (more…)

Australian pharmacy students rate CAM

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Pharmacy students view education about CAM as a core and integral part of their professional degree. (more…)

Future directions for acupuncture research

Friday, February 27th, 2009

There’s an online newsletter, CAM at the NIH, posted by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) that you might want to check out.

This issue lists priorities for future acupuncture research. (more…)

Implanting gold beads to treat knee osteoarthritis

Friday, February 20th, 2009

Despite negative results, researchers from Denmark think another, larger study is needed. (more…)

NIH starts CAM for seniors website

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

 NIHSeniorHealth is a website that features health and wellness information for older adults from the National Institutes of Health.

Now, it’s added a CAM link. (more…)

Using probiotics to protect kids from infection

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

 Researchers from Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital in Hualien, Taiwan report that long-term administration of Lactobacillus rhamnosus T cell-1  decreased the incidence of bacterial infection in children.

Well, maybe it did… but maybe it didn’t. (more…)

Another review of acupuncture for neck pain

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

 Yes, it’s effective short term, according to researchers at Southern California University of Health Sciences at Whittier.

It’s the latest in a series of reviews (here, here, and here) on this topic in the past few years. (more…)

Walking vs stretching in high-risk pregnancy

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

This study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill compared the response to each activity in high-risk women who were sedentary and had experienced pre-eclampsia previously. (more…)

Resistance-training for Special Olympics athletes

Monday, February 16th, 2009

 There were significant gains in strength, according to researchers at the University of Florida in Gainesville. (more…)

Preventing falls in the elderly

Monday, February 16th, 2009

Back in 2004, Dr. John Chang from the David Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles reported, “Interventions to prevent falls significantly reduce the proportion of older people who fall at least once.”

Reviewers since then have disagreed. (more…)

Rebuttal to the AHA omega-6 advisory

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

The American Heart Association (AHA) advisory on the benefits of omega-6 fatty acids is summarized here. Considering all the press about omega-6 and the negative effects of the typical US diet on the omega-3:-6 ratio it was surprising to see.

Ms. Evelyn Tribole (photo), a registered dietitian from Newport Beach, California, emailed her thoughts about the AHA advisory. They’re reprinted below. (more…)

Augmentation therapy for resistant depression

Sunday, February 15th, 2009

When a second antidepressant drug is added to an existing antidepressant, it’s called “combination pharmacotherapy.”

When a non-antidepressant agent is added, it’s “augmentation treatment.”

Examples of augmentation therapy… (more…)

Physical activity lowers colon cancer risk

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

 “What’s really compelling is that we see the association between exercise and lower colon cancer risk regardless of how physical activity was measured in the studies,” say researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. (more…)

Yoga of Awareness in breast cancer survivors

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

 Yoga of Awareness is an 8-week program that includes gentle yoga poses, meditation, and breathing exercises.

Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University in Portland studied its effects on menopausal symptoms in breast cancer survivors. (more…)

Heavy marijuana use leads to high triglyceride levels

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

 ApoC-III is a risk factor for heart disease. The increased levels observed in marijuana users might explain, in part, the heart and cerebral abnormalities seen in tokers. (more…)

Soy and prostate cancer risk

Friday, February 13th, 2009

 Protection from prostate cancer may be associated with the type of soy foods consumed, according to this review by researchers at the Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. (more…)

Lack of uniformity in acupuncture for back pain

Friday, February 13th, 2009

 For non-specific low back pain, what is the appropriate number of acupoints and how many acupuncture sessions are needed?

Researchers from the University of Ulster in the UK have documented wide variability. (more…)

Effects of acupuncture on cardiac arrhythmias

Friday, February 13th, 2009

  Researchers from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis have reviewed the literature.

There’s good news and a challenge to future researchers. (more…)

Music during colonoscopy

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

 Researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia reviewed the evidence. (more…)

Benefits of omega-6 fatty acids

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

 There are those who recommend substantial reductions in omega-6 fatty acid intake. Now, the American Heart Association (AHA) says, “enough already.” (more…)