Alternative therapies in health and medicine
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Altern Ther Health Med · May 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialAromatherapy Massage for Pain and Xerosis After Repeated Needle Insertion Into a Fistula Arm in Hemodialysis.
Repeated needle insertion into the fistula causes dry skin in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Dry skin can add to the acute pain from needle by increasing skin irritability. ⋯ Aromatherapy massage can be an effective nursing practice to manage acute pain and dry skin from needle insertion at the site of an arteriovenous fistula in HD units. Further randomized controlled trials are needed.
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Altern Ther Health Med · Mar 2021
Clinical TrialEffect of Auricular Acupuncture on the Reduction of Symptoms Related to Sleep Disorders, Anxiety and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD).
Auricular acupuncture (AA) is a complementary/integrative therapy, and can be used as adjuvant treatment in sleep disorders, anxiety and the painful symptomatology of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). ⋯ In our study, AA was effective in reducing sleep disorder symptoms and our data suggests some relief of symptoms of anxiety and TMD pain.
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Altern Ther Health Med · Feb 2021
Effects of Valsalva Maneuver, EMLA Cream, and Stress Ball for Pregnant Women's Venipuncture Pain.
Peripheral intravenous catheter (PIVC) practice is a common invasive procedure used in the diagnosis and treatment of pregnant women admitted to the hospital. Difficulties experienced during PIVC application are among the most common problems encountered in a medical facility. ⋯ The current study can generate awareness in pregnant women in terms of choosing between pharmacological and nonpharmacological practices that nurses use during PIVC insertion. As the only randomized controlled blind study that has been performed on the topic, the current study offers nurses evidence of a way to reduce PIVC pain in pregnant women.
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Altern Ther Health Med · Jan 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialEffects of Percutaneous Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Neck Pain in Patients With Cervical Spondylosis.
Cervical spondylosis (CS) is a very common, age-related, chronic, disc-degeneration condition. Alternative medicine has been widely used to treat neck pain in CS. However, no randomized controlled trials have focused on the effects and safety of percutaneous neuromuscular electrical stimulation (PNMES) for neck-pain relief in patients with CS. ⋯ The results of this study have demonstrated that PNMES is more effective than sham PNMES for neck-pain relief in patients with CS.
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RNA viruses exhibit an extraordinary ability to evolve in a changing environment and to switch from animal hosts to humans. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, recognized as a respiratory disease, is an example of zoonotic transmission of the RNA virus known as SARS-CoV-2. The development and regulatory approval of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 pose multiple preventive and therapeutic challenges, especially during an ongoing pandemic. ⋯ Emerging and re-emerging pathogenic RNA viruses pose a serious threat to human health. Little is known about the human-host adoptive mechanism for zoonotic transmission. Deep insights into the molecular mechanism responsible for the switching of animal or bird viruses to humans could provide target molecules or events to prevent such transmissions in the near future. Fast development and approval of efficacious and safe vaccines is key to the effort to provide preventive measures against COVID-19 and future viruses. However, the development and availability of a vaccine candidate is a time-consuming process and often can't be completed during an epidemic. Currently, several types of vaccines are under development, and most of them won't realistically be available in time for the present COVID-19 pandemic.