The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · Oct 2011
Controlled Clinical TrialSustained impact of MBSR on stress, well-being, and daily spiritual experiences for 1 year in academic health care employees.
The objectives of the study were (1) to evaluate self-reported stress levels and daily spiritual experiences in academic health care employees before, immediately after, and 1 year after enrolling in a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) course; and (2) to evaluate the correlation between a potential measure of pulse rate variability and self-reported stress levels. ⋯ MBSR effectively reduces self-report measures of stress and increases daily spiritual experiences in employees in an academic health care setting, and these effects are stable for at least 1 year. Using a simple measure of PRV was not a clinically reliable biologic measure of stress.
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J Altern Complement Med · Oct 2011
Controlled Clinical TrialManual acupuncture for relieving pain associated with panretinal photocoagulation.
The feasibility of manual acupuncture for reducing pain associated with panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) was investigated. ⋯ Acupuncture might help reduce pain during PRP treatment. However, further randomized studies are necessary to verify these preliminary results.
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J Altern Complement Med · Oct 2011
Case reports of sarcoma patients with optimized lectin-oriented mistletoe extract therapy.
Mistletoe (Viscum album L) extracts (ME) are widespread as immunomodulatory therapeutic agents in alternative tumor treatment. Assessing the often-controversial clinical results is rather difficult since the effects of ME on the immune system cannot be equally reproduced. Mistletoe lectins (ML) are the only mistletoe ingredients also found in vivo that are capable of having a positive effect on the immune balance of patients with tumors. Other components have only been tested in vitro, and the removal of mistletoe lectins ML from the extract can put an end to the immunological efficacy of ME. Preclinical investigations in the tumor models (using nude mice xenotransplanted with human leiomyosarcoma and interleukin-12-deficient C57BL6 mice) show that without immunological reactions, ME induce less antitumor efficacy. ML, functioning as ligands for pattern recognition receptors of the natural immune system, are docked to ganglioside molecules (CD75) of monocytes and granulocytes, thereby stimulating the natural antitumor mechanisms. ⋯ It seems that this disease is beneficially influenced by optimized lectin-oriented ME therapy since patients with sarcoma may react especially well to the improved balance of natural immunological mechanisms. These case reports require further clinical studies with patients with sarcoma.