Complementary therapies in medicine
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Complement Ther Med · Feb 2014
Review Meta AnalysisHealth benefits of qigong or tai chi for cancer patients: a systematic review and meta-analyses.
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Mind-body interventions are widely used by cancer patients to reduce symptoms and cope better with disease- and treatment-related symptoms. In the last decade, many clinical controlled trials of qigong/tai chi as a cancer treatment have emerged. This study aimed to quantitatively evaluate the effects of qigong/tai chi on the health-related outcomes of cancer patients. ⋯ This study found that qigong/tai chi had positive effects on the cancer-specific QOL, fatigue, immune function and cortisol level of cancer patients. However, these findings need to be interpreted cautiously due to the limited number of studies identified and high risk of bias in included trials. Further rigorous trials are needed to explore possible therapeutic effects of qigong/tai chi on cancer patients.
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Complement Ther Med · Feb 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialIs ginger effective for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome? A double blind randomized controlled pilot trial.
Ginger is one of the most commonly used herbal medicines for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) but no data exists about its effectiveness. ⋯ This double blind randomized controlled pilot study suggests ginger is well tolerated but did not perform better than placebo. Larger trials are needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.