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

    Foot massage for patients with dementia

    Researchers at Griffith University, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, studied the effects of foot massage on agitated behaviors.

    First, the details.

    • 22 elderly men and women with a diagnosis of dementia and a history of clinically significant agitation received a 10-minute foot massage each day for 14 days.
    • The short form of the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI-SF) and the Revised Memory and Behavior Problems Checklist (RMBPC) were used to assess the response.

    And, the results.

    • Both scores were significantly reduced after message and remained significantly lower than at the start of the study at the 2-week follow up.

    The bottom line?

    The authors concluded, “This study provides preliminary evidence suggesting that limited short-duration foot massage reduces agitation and related behavioral problems in people with dementia, and that these behavior changes are maintained after the massage ceases.”

    Next, we need a study in more patients with a comparison of massage to a no treatment control group

    9/21/11 21:32 JR

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