The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · Apr 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialA double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of the neuropsychologic efficacy of cranberry juice in a sample of cognitively intact older adults: pilot study findings.
The aim of this research was to conduct the first known clinical trial of the short-term (i.e., 6 weeks) efficacy of cranberry juice on the neuropsychologic functioning of cognitively intact older adults. ⋯ Taken together, no significant interactions were found between the cranberry and placebo groups and their pretreatment baseline and end-of-treatment phase (after 6 weeks) standardized neuropsychologic assessments. A nonsignificant trend was noted, however, on a subjective, self-report questionnaire where twice as many participants in the cranberry group rated their overall abilities to remember by treatment end as "improved" compared to placebo controls.
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J Altern Complement Med · Apr 2005
Case ReportsThe effects of meditation and visual imagery on an immune system disorder: dermatomyositis.
To analyze the relationship between a patient's "spontaneous recovery" from dermatomyositis and her practice of transcendental meditation and visual imagery without confounding effects of conventional therapies. ⋯ The results demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between mind-body therapies and the patient's recovery from dermatomyositis, possibly mediated by influences on the humoral immune system. A key factor in the recovery was the slower decay rate of meditation and visual imagery compared to stress. As dermatomyositis is a humorally mediated immune microvasculopathy, the benefits of meditation and imagery in our patient comport with a growing body of evidence showing that these techniques influence immune system function.