The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · Jun 2005
Complementary and alternative medicine for low-back pain in pregnancy: a cross-sectional survey.
To identify common treatments used for low-back pain (LBP) during pregnancy. ⋯ This two-part survey study found that both providers of prenatal health care and pregnant women in New Haven county are likely to use CAM treatments for pregnancy-induced LBP. Further investigation should focus on whether it is a nationwide phenomenon, as well as if various CAM therapies are an efficacious treatment for LBP during pregnancy.
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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.
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J Altern Complement Med · Feb 2005
"No language restrictions" in database searches: what does this really mean?
The aim of this study was to investigate the coverage of non-English journals by MEDLINE((R)) and EMBASE, the two major biomedical databases used for identifying studies for possible inclusion in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. A series of searches were conducted to compare the coverage of journals in languages other than English. ⋯ This study has highlighted the existence of a database coverage bias, in terms of the systematic exclusion of journals from certain countries and/or in certain languages. Searching that relies only on English language databases may result in failure to find many relevant studies published in languages other than English, irrespective of the research question and the avoidance of any language restrictions.
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J Altern Complement Med · Feb 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPerception of bodily sensation as a predictor of treatment response to acupuncture for postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis.
Conditions associated with the response to acupuncture treatment remain widely elusive. This study aimed to identify predictors of treatment response in patients undergoing acupuncture treatment for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). An intervention-specific questionnaire was developed to assess perception of bodily sensations (PBS) in patients undergoing acupuncture treatment. ⋯ The incidence of PONV after breast surgery seems to be influenced by some psychological mechanisms. In this group of patients, acupuncture might be more effective in patients who have low PBS.