Am J Chinese Med
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The effects of chronic treatment with hot water extract of Bitter Melon (Momordica charantia L.) or Ginger Rhizome (Zingiber offifinale Rosc) on spontaneous mammary tumorigenesis were examined in SHN virgin mice. In mice given free access to extract of Bitter Melon (0.5%) or Ginger (0.125%) in drinking water, the development of mammary tumors was significantly inhibited. ⋯ While the mechanism of the effects of these natural products remains to be clarified, there were no adverse effects of chronic treatment with these agents as estimated from body weight, food and water intake and various plasma component levels as well as external appearance. Thus, these natural products, popular in Japan as foodstuffs, also appear to have a health benefit.
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So called primitive peoples of the world share a philosophy that human interaction via ceremony or ritual can affect the natural world. Is it possible to affect the germination and growth of plants by imbuing them with an intent to stimulate or inhibit them? We conducted a double blind series of experiments to determine whether a process of meditation on the water (referred to as "treated") given to a controlled planting of green peas or wheat would affect their germination. Peas were given water treated with stimulating intent. ⋯ During the sixth run of the wheat (inhibition) experiment, the seedlings were harvested and individually weighed on the tenth day after planting to determine whether there was any difference in growth. The mass of the treated seedlings was statistically significantly lower (mean = 97 mg versus 106 mg for the controls) when compared by analysis of variance (p = 0.000056). We conclude that meditation upon the water supplied to green peas and wheat can affect their germination rates and growth.
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The acute toxicity of dried Nerium oleander leaves to Najdi sheep is described in 12 sheep assigned as untreated controls, N. oleander-treated once at 1 and 0.25 g/kg body weight and N. oleander-treated daily at 0.06 g/kg body weight by drench. Single oral doses of 1 or 0.25 g of dried N. oleander leaves/kg body weight caused restlessness, chewing movements of the jaws, dyspnea, ruminal bloat, incoordination of movements, limb paresis, recumbency and death 4-24 hr after dosing. ⋯ The daily oral doses of 0.06 g dried N. oleander leaves/kg body weight caused less severe signs and death occurred between days 3 and 14. In these animals, the main lesions were hepatonephropathy and gelatinization of the renal pelvis and mesentry and were accompanied by significant increases in serum AST and LDH activities, in bilirubin, cholesterol and urea concentrations and significant decreases in total protein and albumin levels, anemia and leucopenia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The analgesic efficacy of bee venom acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: a comparative study with needle acupuncture.
The aim of this investigation was to determine whether bee venom (BV) administered directly into an acupoint was a clinically effective and safe method for relieving the pain of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) as compared to traditional needle acupuncture. We evaluated the efficacy of BV acupuncture using both pain relief scores and computerized infrared thermography (IRT) following 4 weeks of BV acupuncture treatment. We observed that a significantly higher proportion of subjects receiving BV acupuncture reported substantial pain relief as compared with those receiving traditional needle acupuncture therapy. Furthermore, the IRT score was significantly improved and paralleled the level of pain relief.
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Mentally controlled qi energy can induce crop seeds to sprout and root for several cm within about 20 min. The RAPD method was used to compare treated groups of wheat and pea seeds and their controls using 11 selected primers. Seven primers amplified polymorphisms in wheat seeds and 5 in pea seeds. It was thought preliminarily that qi energy changed the structure of a germination-correlated gene site speeding up expression and advancing it in time.