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

    Pycnogenol to treat acute hemorrhoids

    Researchers from G D’Annunzio University, in Italy tell us Pycnogenol, both in oral and in topical form, is effective.

    First, the details.

    • 84 people having acute attacks of hemorrhoids were assigned to a treatment group within less than 48 hours of onset.
      • Pycnogenol
      • Placebo
    • They were evaluated after 7 days of treatment and again, 7 days later.

    And, the results.

    • The decrease in signs and symptoms of acute external hemorrhoids was significantly greater with Pycnogenol vs placebo.
    • In a group of patients given topical (0.5%) Pycnogenol in addition to oral Pycnogenol the improvement in symptoms was reported significantly faster and was more pronounced.
    • The most prominent symptom, hemorrhoidal bleeding, was absent in all patients treated with Pycnogenol after treatment and 14 days later.
    • In contrast, bleeding was still observed in the placebo group during the 2 weeks follow-up.

    The bottom line?

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen a negative study of Pycnogenol in the past 3 and-a-half years since the start of The CAM Report. The treated conditions are diverse and the results appear consistent.

    In the next few weeks we will review in detail.

    1/17/10 21:15 JR

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