Alternative therapies in health and medicine
-
Altern Ther Health Med · Jan 2002
Multicenter StudyIntegration and reimbursement of complementary and alternative medicine by managed care and insurance providers: 2000 update and cohort analysis.
To assess the status of managed care and insurance coverage of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and the integration of such services into managed care. ⋯ Consumer demand for CAM is motivating more MCOs and insurance companies to assess the clinical and cost benefits of incorporating CAM. Outcomes studies for both conventional and CAM therapies are needed to help create a healthcare system based on treatments that work, whether they are conventional, complementary, alternative, or integrative medicine.
-
Altern Ther Health Med · Nov 2001
Feasibility of a music intervention protocol for patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support.
Music has been found to be an effective nonpharmacologic adjunct for managing anxiety and promoting relaxation in limited trials of critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation. No data are available to determine the effect of the intervention over repeated trials or to determine whether patients or staff will use music intervention independently. ⋯ Patient-initiated music is a feasible intervention protocol: subjects were able to request music independently and nursing staff were cooperative. Findings will be used in future studies to refine the protocol and attendant measures to implement music intervention in the critical care setting and to develop detailed staff education materials.
-
Altern Ther Health Med · May 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialUse of Iscador, an extract of European mistletoe (Viscum album), in cancer treatment: prospective nonrandomized and randomized matched-pair studies nested within a cohort study.
In anthroposophical medicine, total extracts of Viscum album (mistletoe) have been developed to treat cancer patients. The oldest such product is Iscador. Although Iscador is regarded as a complementary cancer therapy, it is the most commonly used oncological drug in Germany. ⋯ Iscador treatment can achieve a clinically relevant prolongation of survival time of cancer patients and appears to stimulate self-regulation.
-
Altern Ther Health Med · Jan 2001
A pilot study into the therapeutic effects of music therapy at a cancer help center.
Since the mid-1980s, music therapy has been a regular feature of the residential program at the internationally renowned Bristol Cancer Help Centre, United Kingdom. Music therapy complements other therapeutic interventions available to residents at the center. ⋯ These findings, which link listening to music in a relaxed state and improvisation to alterations in psychological and physiological parameters, may provide a better understanding of the effectiveness of music therapy for cancer patients.
-
Altern Ther Health Med · Mar 2000
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialRandomized prospective double-blind placebo-controlled study of dextrose prolotherapy for knee osteoarthritis with or without ACL laxity.
Use of prolotherapy (injection of growth factors or growth factor stimulators). ⋯ Prolotherapy injection with 10% dextrose resulted in clinically and statistically significant improvements in knee osteoarthritis. Preliminary blinded radiographic readings (1-year films, with 3-year total follow-up period planned) demonstrated improvement in several measures of osteoarthritis severity. ACL laxity, when present in these osteoarthritic patients, improved.