Could integrative cancer treatment be cost-saving and resuscitate a submerged medical system?

March 16, 2010

Could integrative cancer treatment be cost-saving and resuscitate a submerged medical system?

Integr Cancer Ther. 2009 Sep;8(3):205-7

Authors: Block KI

PMID: 19815590 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Neural correlates of focused attention and cognitive monitoring in meditation.

March 15, 2010

Neural correlates of focused attention and cognitive monitoring in meditation.

Brain Res Bull. 2010 Mar 8;

Authors: Manna A, Raffone A, Perrucci MG, Nardo D, Ferretti A, Tartaro A, Londei A, Del Gratta C, Belardinelli MO, Romani GL

Meditation refers to a family of complex emotional and attentional regulatory practices, which can be classified into two main styles – focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM) – involving different attentional, cognitive monitoring and awareness processes. In a functional magnetic resonance study we originally characterized and contrasted FA and OM meditation forms within the same experiment, by an integrated FA-OM design. Theravada Buddhist monks, expert in both FA and OM meditation forms, and lay novices with 10 days of meditation practice, participated in the experiment. Our evidence suggests that expert meditators control cognitive engagement in conscious processing of sensory-related, thought and emotion contents, by massive self-regulation of fronto-parietal and insular areas in the left hemisphere, in a meditation state-dependent fashion. We also found that anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices play antagonist roles in the executive control of the attention setting in meditation tasks. Our findings resolve the controversy between the hypothesis that meditative states are associated to transient hypofrontality or deactivation of executive brain areas, and evidence about the activation of executive brain areas in meditation. Finally, our study suggests that a functional reorganization of brain activity patterns for focused attention and cognitive monitoring takes place with mental practice, and that meditation-related neuroplasticity is crucially associated to a functional reorganization of activity patterns in prefrontal cortex and in the insula.

PMID: 20223285 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Development of postdural puncture headache following therapeutic acupuncture using a long acupuncture needle.

March 14, 2010

Development of postdural puncture headache following therapeutic acupuncture using a long acupuncture needle.

J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 2010 Feb;47(2):140-2

Authors: Jo DJ, Lee BJ, Sung JK, Yi JW

Acupuncture appears to be a clinically effective treatment for acute and chronic pain. A considerable amount of research has been conducted to evaluate the role that acupuncture plays in pain suppression; however, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the side effects of the acupuncture procedure. This case report describes a suspected postdural puncture headache following acupuncture for lower back pain. Considering the high opening pressure, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and the patient’s history of acupuncture in the lower back area, our diagnosis was iatrogenic postdural puncture headache. Full relief of the headache was achieved after administration of an epidural blood patch.

PMID: 20224715 [PubMed - in process]

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The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Refugees: A Systematic Review.

March 13, 2010

The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Among Refugees: A Systematic Review.

J Immigr Minor Health. 2010 Mar 12;

Authors: Macduff S, Grodin MA, Gardiner P

Little is known about the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) among refugees, despite the common practice of CAM in many non-Western countries. We performed a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature using nine electronic databases. We included articles pertaining to refugees and CAM (whole medical systems, mind body medicine, herbal remedies, manipulative therapies, energy medicine). Qualitative and quantitative data were compiled and analyzed through descriptive statistics and chi square distribution tables. We reviewed 237 abstracts, and 47 publications met our inclusion criteria. Twenty-six papers documented whole medical systems; 11 mind-body medicine; 5 biologically based practices; 4 manipulative and body-based therapies; and 1 study documented the use of energy medicine. There were 3 clinical trials, 20 surveys, 12 case reports, 2 participant-observer qualitative papers, and 10 review papers. Most studies focused on Asian refugee populations (66%; n = 31). Mental problems related to trauma accounted for 36% of CAM use (17). Among included articles, methodological quality was extremely low. Our results show evidence that type of CAM used by refugees may vary based on ethnicity, yet this is most likely due to a bias in the medical literature. Efforts are needed to further explore these results and expand research within this field.

PMID: 20224938 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Experience-Based, Body-Anchored Qualitative Research Interviewing.

March 12, 2010

Experience-Based, Body-Anchored Qualitative Research Interviewing.

Qual Health Res. 2010 Mar 10;

Authors: Stelter R

Two theoretical constructs that lay the foundation for experience-based, body-anchored interviewing are presented: the first-person perspective and the concept of meaning. These theoretical concepts are concretized, first, by means of a methodological framework for experience-based, body-anchored interviewing, and second, by an interview guide that explores a research participant’s personal experience with mindfulness meditation. An excerpt from an interview is discussed to illustrate the advantages of this interview form, namely its value as a methodological instrument for qualitative research in areas such as traditional and holistic medicine, Western alternative and complementary medicine, nursing, psychotherapy, coaching, physiotherapy, movement arts, and physical education.

PMID: 20220152 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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“tai chi” OR taiji OR qigong OR “qi gong” OR “chi gung” OR “chi kung” OR acupuncture OR meditation OR “mind-body”; +20 new citations

March 11, 2010

20 new pubmed citations were retrieved for your search.
Click on the search hyperlink below to display the complete search results:

“tai chi” OR taiji OR qigong OR “qi gong” OR “chi gung” OR “chi kung” OR acupuncture OR meditation OR “mind-body”

These pubmed results were generated on 2010/03/11

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[Effect of the restriction on the efficacy of acupuncture in mice]

March 10, 2010

[Effect of the restriction on the efficacy of acupuncture in mice]

Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2009 Dec;34(6):429

Authors: Zhang HX, Wang DJ, Yu JC, Han JX

PMID: 20209982 [PubMed - in process]

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Using Guasha to treat musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review of controlled clinical trials.

March 9, 2010

Using Guasha to treat musculoskeletal pain: A systematic review of controlled clinical trials.

Chin Med. 2010;5:5

Authors: Lee MS, Choi TY, Kim JI, Choi SM

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Guasha is a therapeutic method for pain management using tools to scrape or rub the surface of the body to relieve blood stagnation. This study aims to systematically review the controlled clinical trials on the effectiveness of using Guasha to treat musculoskeletal pain. METHODS: We searched 11 databases (without language restrictions): MEDLINE, Allied and Complementary Medicine (AMED), EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Korean Studies Information (KSI), DBPIA, Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), KoreaMed, Research Information Service System (RISS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and the Cochrane Library. The search strategy was Guasha (OR scraping) AND pain. Risk of bias was assessed with the Cochrane criteria (i.e. sequence generation, blinding, incomplete outcome measures and allocation concealment). RESULTS: Five randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and two controlled clinical trials (CCTs) were included in the present study. Two RCTs compared Guasha with acupuncture in terms of effectiveness, while the other trials compared Guasha with no treatment (1 trial), acupuncture (4 trials), herbal injection (1 trial) and massage or electric current therapy (1 trial). While two RCTs suggested favorable effects of Guasha on pain reduction and response rate, the quality of these RCTs was poor. One CCT reported beneficial effects of Guasha on musculoskeletal pain but had low methodological quality. CONCLUSION: Current evidence is insufficient to show that Guasha is effective in pain management. Further RCTs are warranted and methodological quality should be improved.

PMID: 20205902 [PubMed - in process]

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Ideas on Trial Design in Acupuncture for IBS.

March 8, 2010

Ideas on Trial Design in Acupuncture for IBS.

Am J Gastroenterol. 2010 Mar;105(3):699

Authors: Tingting M

PMID: 20203649 [PubMed - in process]

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