Galen's Watch

Favs of the Week: Open Access Articles and More

I don't know that this is about health but it is about food and I love that!

Tasting Table is a free daily email that delivers the best of food and drink culture to adventurous eaters everywhere. Each weekday, we send our members one delicious idea about dining, wine, cocktails, cooking or restaurant personalities. We feed you only first-hand recommendations that we have tested thoroughly ourselves—one bite at a time.

Resources are always good and I like the articles an the Healthy Skeptic. The Healthy Skeptic: Challenging mainstream myths about nutrition, health and disease.

A Randomised Controlled Single-Blind Trial of the Efficacy of Reiki at Benefitting Mood and Well-Being (full text free article)

The Limitations of Interval Training by Matt Stone

Homeopathic Treatment of Patients with Migraine: A Prospective Observational Study with a 2-Year
Follow-Up Period  (Full text free article)

Sabra

Sabra Way MNIMH Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch
 Galen's Watch: A Journal Watch for Integrative Health Professionals

 

Favourites of the week

Every week I read a number of articles and blogs and these are the ones that held my attention the longest.

Clues to Gluten Sensitivity

"For the first time, we have scientific evidence that indeed, gluten sensitivity not only exists, but is very different from celiac disease," says lead author Alessio Fasano, medical director of the University of Maryland's Center for Celiac Research.

The Complex Origins of Food Safety Rules--Yes, You Are Overcooking Your Food

You might think that scientific evidence would constitute the “last word” when food safety rules are made, but in fact it’s only the beginning. Policy makers take many other factors into consideration, including tradition, cultural trends, political expediency, and pressure from industry.To some extent, it’s reasonable to apply these modifiers because public health, not scientific purity, is the ultimate goal of food safety regulations. But this approach sometimes imposes arbitrary and scientifically indefensible restrictions that limit food choices, confuse the public, and prevent cooks from preparing the highest-quality meals.

Low Cholesterol and Suicide. Your brain needs cholesterol - don't go too low.

Chinese Medicine Quarterly is a digital magazine that seeks to inform, connect and inspire students & practitioners of Chinese medicine who want to root deeply in the ancient traditions while thriving in the contemporary world.

Podcast from the Healthy Skeptic-In this week’s show we discuss the similarities and differences between the Paleo, GAPS and Weston A. Price approaches to nutrition. Specifically, we explore:

     ▪     The health of traditional cultures studied by Weston A. Price
     ▪     Raw dairy, IGF-1 and cancer
     ▪     Signs and symptoms of raw dairy intolerance
     ▪     Properly prepared grains – worth the trouble?
     ▪     How to reintroduce and test your tolerance for dairy
     ▪     A1 vs. A2 milk: significant difference or bogus theory?
     ▪     Which is best: Paleo, GAPS or WAPF?


Webecena- Webicina.com curates online medical resources in social media for patients and medical professionals for free in over 15 languages.

Sabra

Sabra Way MNIMH Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch
 Galen's Watch: A Journal Watch for Integrative Health Professionals

Anxiety: Review of Nutritional and Herbal Supplements

This review covers a few nutritional and herbal supplements that have been shown to be effective for anxiety. The list includes: passionflower, kava, St John's wort, lysine+arginine and magnesium. The article is also open access so you can read every detail.

Nutr J. 2010 Oct 7;9:42.
Nutritional and herbal supplements for anxiety and anxiety-related disorders: systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Over the past several decades, complementary and alternative medications have increasingly become a part of everyday treatment. With the rising cost of prescription medications and their production of unwanted side effects, patients are exploring herbal and other natural remedies for the management and treatment of psychological conditions. Psychological disorders are one of the most frequent conditions seen by clinicians, and often require a long-term regimen of prescription medications. Approximately 6.8 million Americans suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. Many also suffer from the spectrum of behavioural and physical side effects that often accompany its treatment. It is not surprising that there is universal interest in finding effective natural anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) treatments with a lower risk of adverse effects or withdrawal.
METHODS: An electronic and manual search was performed through MEDLINE/PubMed and EBSCO. Articles were not discriminated by date of publication. Available clinical studies published in English that used human participants and examined the anxiolytic potential of dietary and herbal supplements were included. Data were extracted and compiled into tables that included the study design, sample population, intervention, control, length of treatment, outcomes, direction of evidence, and reported adverse events.
RESULTS: A total of 24 studies that investigated five different CAM monotherapies and eight different combination treatments and involved 2619 participants met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed. There were 21 randomized controlled trials and three open-label, uncontrolled observational studies. Most studies involved patients who had been diagnosed with either an anxiety disorder or depression (n = 1786). However, eight studies used healthy volunteers (n = 877) who had normal levels of anxiety, were undergoing surgery, tested at the upper limit of the normal range of a trait anxiety scale, had adverse premenstrual symptoms or were peri-menopausal, reported anxiety and insomnia, or had one month or more of elevated generalized anxiety. Heterogeneity and the small number of studies for each supplement or combination therapy prevented a formal meta-analysis. Of the randomized controlled trials reviewed, 71% (15 out of 21) showed a positive direction of evidence. Any reported side effects were mild to moderate.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on the available evidence, it appears that nutritional and herbal supplementation is an effective method for treating anxiety and anxiety-related conditions without the risk of serious side effects. There is the possibility that any positive effects seen could be due to a placebo effect, which may have a significant psychological impact on participants with mental disorders. However, based on this systematic review, strong evidence exists for the use of herbal supplements containing extracts of passionflower or kava and combinations of L-lysine and L-arginine as treatments for anxiety symptoms and disorders. Magnesium-containing supplements and other herbal combinations may hold promise, but more research is needed before these products can be recommended to patients. St. John's wort monotherapy has insufficient evidence for use as an effective anxiolytic treatment.


PMID: 20929532 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
 

Sabra

Sabra Way MNIMH Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch
 Galen's Watch: A Journal Watch for Integrative Health Professionals

My tummy hurts! Fructose malabsorption a common culprit?

A recent article at www.medscape.com Fructose Intolerance, Malabsorption a Common Culprit in Pediatric Abdominal Pain  highlights the possibility that fructose mal-absorption is a common culprit of abdominal pain in children. Fructose mal-absorption, sometimes called FODMAP has symptoms similar to Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Another excellent article Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional Gastrointestinal Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach can also be found at Medscape.com


From the article Fructose Intolerance, Malabsorption a Common Culprit in Pediatric Abdominal Pain

You can overload the intestine's ability to absorb the fructose, in which case, the fructose makes its way down to the colon where it's hydrolyzed, causing gas formation and abdominal pain. I think it may be an issue of overloading the system, instead of any kind of metabolic abnormality," Dr. Czinn observed.

Fructose intolerance or malabsorption is a common but often undetected cause of recurrent abdominal pain in children, but the problem can be effectively resolved with a low-fructose diet, according to research presented here at the American College of Gastroenterology 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course.


Other resources

FODMAP

Fructose Malabsorption

 

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.

Grab it while you can! Osteoarthritis article.

The journal  Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is offering a free article for a brief period of time. Act fast and read it. Osteoarthritis effects an estimated 27 million Americans age 25 and older. It is the most common form of arthritis and commonly affects people as they age but can be found in young people as well. This article links several health conditions to osteoarthritis:

There is growing evidence that OA is not simply a disease related to aging or mechan- ical stress of joints but rather a “metabolic disorder” in which various interrelated lipid, metabolic, and humoral mediators contribute to the initiation and progression of the disease process. Indeed, OA has been linked not only to obesity but also to other cardiovascular risk factors, namely, diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance.

Osteoarthritis: Another Component of Metabolic Syndrome?
http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/met.2009.0110

For more information about osteoarthritis click here

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.

Free Articles for the Month of August- Journal of Breastfeeding Medicine

The Journal, Breastfeeding Medicine is offering all its articles for free online access this month. Sure it will take a little time to scan through them and read what catches your eye. Unless you subscribe to the journal each article is usually about $30US. So take this opportunity to read some articles.

In recognition of World Breastfeeding Week, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. will provide free online access to Breastfeeding Medicine for the entire month of August. Breastfeeding Medicine, celebrating its 5th anniversary, is an international peer-reviewed journal providing physicians and other healthcare providers with the evidence-based information they need to ensure optimal care for both mother and infant. The Journal is the official publication of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine. All published issues are available free online.

Complications While Breastfeeding: Challenges and Concerns
Ruth A. Lawrence
Breastfeeding Medicine. June 2010, 5(3): 101-102.

The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Childbearing and Breastfeeding: The Role of Maternity Caregivers
Phyllis Klaus
Breastfeeding Medicine. August 2010, 5(4): 141-145.

Infection, Allergy, and the Protection from Breastfeeding
Ruth A. Lawrence
Breastfeeding Medicine. March 2009, 4(1): 1-2.

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.

Acupuncture for Children: A Review

A free full text article reviewing acupuncture for children and adolescents. Current literature is reviewed and appraised.

Pediatric acupuncture: a review of clinical research.

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Dec;6(4):429-39. Epub 2008 Jan 10.

Practiced in China for more than 2000 years, acupuncture has recently gained increased attention in the United States as an alternative treatment approach for a variety of medical conditions. Despite its growing prevalence and anecdotal reports of success among pediatric populations, few empirically based studies have assessed the efficacy of acupuncture for children and adolescents. This article presents a review of the current literature, including a systematic appraisal of the methodological value of each study and a discussion of potential benefits and adverse effects of acupuncture. While acupuncture holds great promise as a treatment modality for diverse pediatric conditions, a significant amount of additional research is necessary to establish an empirical basis for the incorporation of acupuncture into standard care.

 
 

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18955306

Roundtable Discussion on Men's Health

From ALTERNATIVE AND COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES a free Roundtable Discussion on Men's Health. What I like about these Roundtable pieces is that you get to hear the opinion of well established and experienced CAM practitioners. You benefit from the diverse and large patient experience and learn about what protocols they utilize.

Roundtable Discussion: Focus on Men’s Health

Moderator: Eric Yarnell, N.D. Participants: Geo Espinosa, N.D., L.Ac., C.N.S., R.H. (AHG), and Mark W. McClure, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.

The Mythology of Science-Based Medicine

This article by Dr. Larry Dossey, Deepak Chopra and Dr. Rustum Roy challenges how effective current mainstream medical practices are. I like this piece because it opens up conversation about mainstream medicine and it is done by people who are respected within integrative medicine. The comments are varied  but the writers respond to them with supporting information and poise.

The Mythology of Science-Based Medicine:

The current healthcare debate has brought up basic questions about how medicine should work. On one hand we have the medical establishment with its enormous cadre of M.D.s, medical schools, big pharma, and incredibly expensive hospital care. On the other we have the semi-condoned field of alternative medicine that attracts millions of patients a year and embraces literally thousands of treatment modalities not taught in medical school. Read more...

 

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.

How Flexible are you?

A study in the American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology has found a connection between poor trunk flexibility and arterial flexibility. The entire article is available at: Poor trunk flexibility is associated with arterial stiffening.

 

iHealthBulletin News has a good summation of the article:

• A simple, no-cost flexibility test of your body - how far you can reach beyond your toes from a sitting position – may be an indicator of how stiff your arteries are, if you are 40 or older
• Because arterial stiffness often precedes cardiovascular disease, the results suggest that this simple test could become a quick measure of an individual’s risk for early mortality from heart attack or stroke
• Healthy blood vessels are elastic, and elasticity helps to moderate blood pressure. Arterial stiffness increases with age and is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. Previous studies have established that physical fitness can delay age-related arterial stiffness, although exactly how that happens is not understood. The authors noted that people who keep themselves in shape often have a more flexible body, and they hypothesized that a flexible body could be a quick way to determine arterial flexibility

Read the entire posting by iHealthBulletin News

Sabra Way MNIMH

Editor in Chief and Founder, Galen's Watch

 Galen's Watch reports on complementary and alternative medical literature that is relevant to CAM practitioners. Visit our journal watch service and see the medical journals we scan regularly.