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

Archive for the 'Stress' Category

Acne treatments

Saturday, July 11th, 2015

The surest way to know that there is no truly effective treatment for a condition is to count the number of treatment recommendations. The more recommendations, the less likely it is that any of them have a significant effect. I’m not sure if there is a tipping point. Whether 6 or 12 or 20 recommended treatments guarantee that you will have less than complete cure.

Here are some of the recommendations from just one article.

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Homeopathic treatments for psychiatric conditions

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Researchers in South Carolina conducted this review. (more…)

Review: Homeopathic treatments in psychiatry

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Really? (more…)

Horticulture for mentally challenged adults

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

Researchers at Catholic University of Daegu, in Gyeongbuk, South Korea, examined how pressing flowers, planting, and making topiaries affected stress. (more…)

Scientific basis for yoga

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Dr. Timothy McCall, writing at YogaJournal.com, makes the case for yoga.

Here’s what we know. (more…)

Review: Benefits of yoga in people with cancer

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

Researchers at National Taiwan University, in Taipei, conducted a meta-analysis on the effects of yoga in patients with cancer. (more…)

CAM options to treat eczema

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Bastyr Center for Natural Health has published a review. (more…)

Looking for mechanisms to explain stress reduction with yoga

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Studies commonly report less stress among people who practice yoga. Examples are here in pregnancy, here among musicians, and here in healthy women and cancer survivors.

This study, by Ohio State University researchers searched for the mechanism underlying the benefit. (more…)

Heart rate variability biofeedback as treatment for PTSD

Friday, June 3rd, 2011

Researchers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, DC, investigated its potential value in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). (more…)

Benefits of music on stress after surgery

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

Researchers at Orebro University Hospital, in Sweden, evaluated the effect of bed rest + music on the first day after surgery in order to decrease stress. (more…)

Does tai chi improve psychosocial well-being?

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

Researchers at Deakin University, in Australia reviewed the evidence. (more…)

Tai chi on psychological well-being

Monday, November 8th, 2010

Physical activity and exercise appear to improve psychological health.

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine, in Boston review the evidence for tai chi. (more…)

Krill oil vs fish oil to manage premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

In this study, researchers at the University of Montreal, in Quebec, evaluated the response to alternative sources of omega-3 fatty acids (krill vs fish) in women with premenstrual syndrome.

A reader comments, and I reply. So, it’s back to the top of the queue for this post. (more…)

Vitamin C, stress, and the risk of infection

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Prolonged physical exertion and environmental stress may depress immune cell function and increase the risk of an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI).

Researchers from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia studied the response to vitamin C under these conditions. (more…)

The history of animal-assisted therapy

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

National Pet Week is May 2-8.

Nurse Janet Eggiman reports a 10-year-old girl with post-traumatic stress disorder and a history of physical and sexual abuse. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) was used as part of a broader cognitive behavioral therapy, with a dramatic change in behavior.

Interesting, but of greater interest is the literature review of the history of AAT presented by Ms. Eggiman.

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Multivitamins, cancer, heart disease, and death

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Millions of postmenopausal women use multivitamins.

Does it matter? (more…)

Benefits of music therapy during pregnancy

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

The effects of music therapy on stress, anxiety, and depression in pregnant women were studied by researchers at the National Tainan Institute of Nursing in Taiwan. (more…)

Key points about commonly used herbals

Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Dr. Darrell Hulisz from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio has written a continuing education article on herbals.

Here are the author’s take-away points, with additional references added. (more…)

Meditation lowers stress and supports forgiveness

Monday, March 2nd, 2009

In college students, meditation-based stress-management practices reduce stress and enhance forgiveness, according to this study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley. (more…)

Most common medical conditions treated with CAM

Sunday, January 18th, 2009

Here’s a follow-up to earlier posts here and here on the use of CAM in the US.

The findings come from a survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). (more…)