Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz
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Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz · Aug 2006
[Acupuncture. Clinical studies on efficacy and effectiveness in patients with chronic pain].
In Germany, acupuncture is one of the most frequently used complementary and alternative therapies. In the year 2000, we initiated three large projects in co-operation with statutory health insurance companies to assess the effectiveness, safety and costs of acupuncture in patients with chronic headache, low back pain and pain due to osteoarthritis. ⋯ A significant difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture was only seen for arthritis of the knee; for the other diagnoses, both forms of acupuncture showed similar effects. Whether the effects of acupuncture are due primarily to specific or unspecific mechanisms appears to depend on the diagnosis and should be investigated in further studies.
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Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz · Aug 2006
[Implementation of the new drinking water regulation section sign 18: monitoring of drinking water systems in houses--water for public use].
The monitoring of drinking water based on the drinking water regulation is one of the central tasks of public health authorities in Germany. With the coming into force of the new drinking water regulation in the year 2003 also water supply plants "from which water is made available for the public, in particular in schools, kindergartens, hospitals, restaurants and other communal facilities" must be supervised for the first time (TrinkwV section sign 18). ⋯ Since appropriate expansion of personnel was not possible, innovative solutions were in demand for implementation of these tasks. These are introduced here.
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Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz · Aug 2006
[Procedures of complementary medicine. Spiritual healing and healing through prayer: a discussion paper].
Spiritual healing and healing through prayer have been among the methods for healing diseases of mankind since time immemorial. Even today they are quite popular in many parts of the Western world, as epidemiological data testify. Also in Germany, although less systematic data are available, spiritual healing is being used quite a lot. ⋯ At the same time, there is little evidence that these effects are specific in nature. It could be the case that the mechanisms at work--if there are any specific mechanisms at all--do not follow the normal expected causal routes of activity, and hence the methodology applied might be misguided or incapable of capturing the effects. If there are generalised non-local effects at work, a hypothesis worth testing, then this has profound consequences both for research and for the interpretation of results.