Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2013 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 5 Articles
A medico-ethnobotanical survey was conducted among the Senegalese migrant communities of Turin (Piedmont, NW Italy) and\r\ntheir peers living in Adeane (Casamance, Southern Senegal), both among healers and laypeople. Through 27 in-depth interviews,\r\n71 medicinal plant taxa were recorded and identified in Adeane and 41 in Turin, for a total of 315 different folk remedies recorded\r\nin Senegal and 62 in Turin. The large majority of the medicinal plants recorded among Senegalese migrants in Turin were also used\r\nin their country of origin. These findings demonstrate the resilience of home remedies among migrants and consequently the role\r\nthey should have in shaping public health policies devoted to migrant groups in Western Countries, which seek to seriously take\r\ninto account culturally sensitive approaches, that is, emic health-seeking strategies....
In recent years, heavy metal toxicity related to the use\r\nof traditional Chinese and Indian herbal medications\r\nhas been reported in a number of countries, including\r\nAustralia. Heavy metals such as lead or mercury may\r\nbe introduced into herbal medications through\r\ncontaminated soil or production techniques, or may be\r\ndeliberately included as a therapeutic ingredient.\r\nParticularly when consumed over prolonged periods,\r\nheavy metals have been detected in some products at\r\nlevels sufficient to cause significant toxicity. Currently,\r\nthese medications may be imported for personal use\r\nwithout licence or testing, and there is continued risk\r\nthat Australians may develop heavy metal toxicity\r\nthrough their use.\r\nThis article will review heavy metal toxicity related to\r\nherbal preparations, and argue that the current\r\nregulatory framework could be strengthened through\r\nthe use of targeted public educational campaigns and\r\nthe provision of free heavy metal testing for imported\r\nmedications....
Color Doppler imaging (CDI) can be used to noninvasively create images of human blood vessels and quantitatively evaluate blood\r\nflow in real-time. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acupuncture on the blood flow of the peripheral, mesenteric,\r\nand retrobulbar arteries by CDI. Statistical significance was defined as P values less than 0.05. Blood flow in the radial and brachial\r\narteries was significantly lower during needle stimulation on LR3 than before in healthy volunteers, but was significantly higher\r\nafter needle stimulation than before. LR3 stimulation also resulted in a significant decrease in the vascular resistance of the short\r\nposterior ciliary artery and no significant change of blood flow through the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) during acupuncture.\r\nIn contrast, ST36 stimulation resulted in a significant increase in blood flow through the SMA and no significant change in the\r\nvascular resistance of the retrobulbar arteries. Additionally, acupuncture at previously determined acupoints in patients with openangle\r\nglaucoma led to a significant reduction in the vascular resistance of the central retinal artery and short posterior ciliary artery.\r\nOur results suggest that acupuncture can affect blood flow of the peripheral, mesenteric, and retrobulbar arteries, and CDI can be\r\nuseful to evaluate hemodynamic changes by acupuncture....
Objective. To examine the effects of clinical hypnosis versus NLP intervention on the success rate of ECV procedures in comparison\r\nto a control group. Methods. A prospective off-centre randomised trial of a clinical hypnosis intervention against NLP of women\r\nwith a singleton breech fetus at or after 370/7 (259 days) weeks of gestation and normal amniotic fluid index. All 80 participants\r\nheard a 20-minute recorded intervention via head phones. Main outcome assessed was success rate of ECV. The intervention\r\ngroups were compared with a control group with standard medical care alone (n = 122). Results. A total of 42 women, who\r\nreceived a hypnosis intervention prior to ECV, had a 40.5% (n = 17), successful ECV, whereas 38 women, who received NLP, had\r\na 44.7% (n = 17) successful ECV (P > 0.05). The control group had similar patient characteristics compared to the intervention\r\ngroups (P > 0.05). In the control group (n = 122) 27.3% (n = 33) had a statistically significant lower successful ECV procedure\r\nthan NLP (P = 0.05) and hypnosis and NLP (P = 0.03). Conclusions. These findings suggest that prior clinical hypnosis and NLP\r\nhave similar success rates of ECV procedures and are both superior to standard medical care alone....
Constipation is a common problem in advanced cancer patients; however, specific clinical guidelines on traditional Chinese\r\nmedicine (TCM) syndrome (Zhang) are not yet available. In this cross-sectional study, the TCM syndromes distribution and\r\ntheir common symptoms and signs among 225 constipated advanced cancer patients were determined. Results showed that 127\r\npatients (56.4%) and 7 patients (3.1%) were in deficient and excessive patterns, respectively, while 91 patients (40.4%) were in\r\ndeficiency-excess complex. The distributions of the five syndromes were: Qi deficiency (93.3%), Qi stagnation (40.0%), blood\r\n(Yin) deficiency (28.9%), Yang deficiency (22.2%), and excess heat (5.8%). Furthermore, age, functional status, and level of blood\r\nhaemoglobin were factors related to the type of TCM syndrome. A TCM prescription with the functions on replenishing the\r\nDeficiency, redirecting the flow of Qi stagnation and moistening the dryness caused by the blood (Yin) deficiency can be made for\r\nthe treatment of advance cancer patients with constipation. Robust trials are urgently needed for further justifying its efficacy and\r\nsafety in evidence-based approaches....
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