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

    Review: Aquatic exercise for low back pain

     It appears to be beneficial, say researchers at the University of Jyväskylä, in Finland.

    But the data are sparse.

    First, the details.

    • 37 studies were found and 7 were included in the review.

    And, the results.

    • Therapeutic aquatic exercise appeared to have benefit.
    • But it’s not better than other treatments it was compared to in the studies.
    • Study design was considered poor in all included studies.
    • The inconsistencies among studies made it impossible to combine the data and do a meta-analysis of the results.

    The bottom line?
    The authors concluded, “There was sufficient evidence to suggest that therapeutic aquatic exercise is potentially beneficial to patients suffering from chronic low back pain and pregnancy-related low back pain.”

    “Suggest” and “potentially” are the key words here.

    As with the use of aquatic exercise to treat knee osteoarthritis, more and better designed studies are needed.

    4/1/09 22:51 JR

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