Search

Background: A large part of the population in Germany makes use of naturopathic, complementary and integrative medical treatments. There are now numerous scientific studies that provide evidence of efficacy for certain indications. At German medical faculties, selected procedures and their application are taught within the cross-sectoral unit called QB 12 and some elective courses, with a focus on specific aspects are offered. So far, however, there has been no structured curriculum that longitudinally anchors teaching across medical studies and enables all students to consider naturopathic and complementary medical options for patient care later on and to integrate them effectively into the diagnostic and treatment process. Objective: The aim of this position paper is to show the relevance of this topic for medical education, to clarify terminology and to present core competencies and possible implementation options for training. Method: The Integrative Medicine and Perspective Pluralism Committee of the German Association for Medical Education developed this position paper in a multi-stage consensual process, in cooperation with the Forum of University Work Groups on Naturopathic Treatment and Complementary Medicine. Results: First, different umbrella terms were discussed and an existing definition of integrative medicine and health was chosen for subsequent use. Building on this step, the status of education and its scientific foundation in Germany was considered in an international context. In the next step, a competency profile for medical training, consisting of seven areas of competency, was developed and described in detail with regard to naturopathic, complementary and integrative medicine. Implementation options were identified using possible starting points in the curriculum and using established examples of best practice. Conclusion: Despite different priorities at each faculty, it was possible to find an agreement on the development of competencies and anchoring them in medical education on the basis of a common definition of terms. Currently, the implementation in the mandatory and elective areas is very heterogeneous. As part of the current revision of the Medical Licensure Act, there are many possible starting points for the integration of naturopathic and complementary medical teaching content, especially in interprofessional and general practice courses. The implementation and accompanying research of targeted teaching settings should lay the foundations for a long-term and binding integration into medical education. Overall, it is clear that medical education in the field of naturopathy and complementary and integrative medicine has the potential to develop comprehensive core medical competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Plantar Fasciitis (PF) is an overuse syndrome as it develops over time. It is most frequently seen in both the non-athletic and athletic populations. PF is a multifactorial and self-limiting disorder that several factors are involved in its onset. Many well-established treatments are available for plantar heel pain. The purpose of this review is to determine the effectiveness of dry needling for the management of PF. Materials and Methods: This article is a review study, in which we present the studies that compare dry needling with other treatments for the management of plantar heel pain. We included all of the studies on patients with plantar heel pain and plantar fasciitis that investigated the effects of dry needling. Finally, seven articles were included in this review. The study designs were randomized controlled, quasi-experimental, and case-control. The Physiotherapy Evidence-based Database (PED) scale was used to measure the methodological quality of the studies. Results: The PEDro scoring of the articles ranged between 2.10-7.10. The results of this review show that dry needling may be useful in improving the pain of individuals with plantar heel pain and plantar fasciitis. Conclusion: Further high-quality research studies are needed to determine the effectiveness of dry needling in the management of plantar heel pain. Because a variety of protocol treatments of dry needling were used in the studies, we cannot recommend dry needling schedule prescriptions for the management of individuals with plantar heel pain and plantar fasciitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A significant number of women experience labour without effective pain management and thus suffer from unbearable labour pain to the extent they term labour as the most agonizing event in their lives. Unresolved labour pain can lead to stress, fear, and confusion, which may compromise placental perfusion and lead to birth asphyxia. Although various pharmacological and non-pharmacological labour pain management methods exist, the use of non-pharmacological methods (NPMs) to manage labour pain has remained low in low-resource settings. This paper explored the barriers for using NPMs to manage labour pain by nurse-midwives in eastern Tanzania. Methods: We conducted an exploratory qualitative study with 18 nurse-midwives purposefully recruited from the labour wards of two selected district hospitals in eastern Tanzania. Qualitative content analysis guided the data analysis. Results: Two categories illustrating barriers to using NPMs were generated: individual-level and institutional-level barriers. Individual-level barriers include (i) limited competencies of nurse-midwives on the use of NPMs for managing labour pain, (ii) inadequate exposure to labour pain management practices, (iii) misconceptions about labour pain relief, and (iv) a lack of opportunities for knowledge acquisition. The institutional barriers include (i) a critical staff shortage amidst many clients and (ii) an unfavourable healthcare facility environment. Conclusion: The implementation of NPMs for labour pain management by nurse-midwives in eastern Tanzania faces several institutional and individual barriers. We recommend addressing both supply- and demand-side barriers. Strengthening nurse midwives' competencies in NPMs adoption and use and improving the facility environment to ensure privacy during labour can be a starting point for addressing supply-side issues. We recommend dispelling myths and misconceptions through health promotion education to address demand-side barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A timely diagnosis of cancer is important for patient outcomes. The delay in the patient interval (time from symptom interpretation to seeking help) is often the longest throughout the cancer patient pathway. Factors extending this interval include vague symptom profiles increasing the difficulty of symptom appraisal and individual demographics influencing help‐seeking behaviours. An underexplored and potential source of delay in cancer diagnosis is associated with managing symptoms using self‐care activities prior to presentation to healthcare. Methods. This study aimed to characterise the use of self‐care activities in the context of managing nonspecific symptoms, prior to cancer diagnosis and their effect on the length of the patient interval. Eligible publications were identified using a rapid systematic review, and their qualitative self‐care data were extracted and analysed using thematic synthesis. Results. Forty‐five qualitative research papers between 2009 and 2024 were included in the final review. Self‐care was used as part of an iterative process, often resulting in delayed presentation to healthcare, if methods were effective in managing nonspecific symptoms. Across the literature, varying types of self‐care activities were reported across all cancers with nonspecific symptoms, including the use of over‐the‐counter or alternative medications, lifestyle changes, and watchful waiting. The individual's decision to self‐care was either prompted externally by a healthcare professional (HCP) (e.g., community pharmacists) or prompted by the individual depending on the availability of home remedies and medication. Patients used self‐care when there was a low perceived need to seek healthcare, to determine whether healthcare was required, or to avoid the use of healthcare. However, across the literature, there is limited evidence to understand the variation by cancer type, symptoms, and individual characteristics. Conclusions. The findings of this rapid review demonstrate that self‐care activities could hinder prompt help‐seeking and delay cancer diagnosis among people who are experiencing nonspecific cancer symptoms. However, more evidence is needed to understand which individual factors facilitate the adoption of self‐care behaviours over prompt help‐seeking for nonspecific cancer symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been suggested that cyberchondria leads to increased utilization of healthcare services. Unfortunately, not many studies have analyzed this effect comprehensively. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between cyberchondria severity and the utilization of healthcare services among adult Internet users after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and the health status of respondents. Methods: The analysis detailed in this paper examined data from a computer-based, web-based interviewing survey performed among a representative sample of 1613 Polish Internet users. Cyberchondria severity was assessed with the Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS). The variables reflecting the use of healthcare services were based on the frequency of visits to family physicians and specialists, diagnostic procedures, hospital admissions, and emergency services, and finally being vaccinated against COVID-19. The effect of cyberchondria severity on the utilization of healthcare services and alternative medicine was adjusted for key sociodemographic variables, the presence of chronic diseases, disability, and unspecific symptoms. For variables reflecting the use of services, ordinal logistic regression and multivariable logistic regression models were developed. Results: Cyberchondria severity was a significant predictor of the utilization of all but one of the analyzed healthcare services and alternative medicine. The odds of being in a higher category of the utilization of visits to family physicians and specialists, hospital admissions, emergency services and alternative medicine services increased by a factor of 1.01–1.02 for every unit increase of the cyberchondria score. The cyberchondria score was a negative predictor of COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The effect of cyberchondria on outcome variables was independent of the level of health anxiety, sociodemographic variables, and variables reflecting the health status of respondents. Conclusions: Cyberchondria leads to more intensive use of nearly all healthcare services, but in the case of vaccination against COVID-19, cyberchondria severity was a negative predictor. Cyberchondria's effect extends beyond health anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Bio-pharmaceutical supplements are widely used and essential for consumer health awareness. They are commonly used as alternative or complementary medicine. The bio-pharmaceutical market includes substances with health benefits beyond nutritional value, such as dietary supplements, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, botanicals, etc. These products traditionally prevent and treat diseases. Material and methods. The study explores the impact of online social marketing on consumer behavior regarding biopharmaceutical products in Pakistan. Using involvement theory, it investigates how online social marketing influences purchase intentions, specifically regarding health and well-being. Results. During three months, from January to March 2023, a survey was conducted in Lahore, a city known for significant sales and purchases of these products. The study involved 500 female participants. The statistical analysis indicated excellent fit of the proposed model (^=12.5427, p=0.056; CFI, NFI, TLI>0.95; RMSEA=0.028), where situation mediates product's effect on purchase (ab=0.1068). Product directly impacts purchase (c'=0.4273), showing significant influence on purchase (total effect=0.5341). Conclusions. The paper reviews social marketing literature, delving into the nexus of biopharma products, health, and their influence on purchase intentions. It identifies critical research gaps and suggests future directions, offering valuable insights for academia and Pakistan's biopharmaceutical industry, focusing on advancing healthcare-related initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, with the development of the social economy, the incidence of infertility has increased year by year. With its complex etiology and diversified syndromes, infertility has become one of the most important diseases that plague the physical and mental health of women of childbearing age worldwide. Endometrial factors as an important part affecting female reproductive capacity, due to which induced repeated abortion and multiple uterine cavity operations occur, can destruct endometrium, failing to provide a normal implantation environment for zygote, thus resulting in infertility. Many patients failed to achieve expected results after receiving conventional treatments such as hormone therapy, assisted reproductive technology (ART), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) therapy, and cell therapy, then turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for help. Aiming at clarifying the effectiveness and mechanisms of CAM therapy in the treatment of infertility caused by endometrial factors, our paper systematically searched and studied present related literature on the PubMed, CNKI, and other databases, focusing on the aspects of clinical application and mechanism explorations and highlighting the therapeutic effects of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM), acupuncture, and moxibustion on such diseases. Moreover, this paper also introduces the CAM treatments of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) retention enema, neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), photobiomodulation therapy, dietary intervention, and other measures for infertility caused by endometrial factors, in order to provide a reference for subsequent basic research and clinical work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article, firstly, deals with some definitions and classifications of medicines generated in the social science and biomedical fields. Then, the author proposes a systematization of medicines, incorporating new categories, as well as the notion of ethno-medical configuration, to explain healthcare in intercultural contexts. The categories introduced are biomedicine, traditional medicine, alternative medicine, religious therapy or medicine, and lay-treatment. Finally, as an illustrative example, the paper focuses on the ethno-medical configuration of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The goal of this systematization is proposing categories that consider the understandings and behaviors of social actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, taking the medical practice of Khorchin Mongolian bone-setting as an example, examines the conflict and connection between religious healing and modern (or Western) medicine as well as the transformation of shamanisms in the discourse of nation-state building in China, and argues that the relationship between shamanic healing and modern medicine is not a binary opposition. Khorchin Mongolian bone-setting is the product of the interaction between alternative medicine and syncretistic local knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complementary medicines (CMs) that are formulated to facilitate weight loss are a popular and widely available treatment option, particularly among women. There is limited research regarding their use in the South African context. The aim of this study was to gather information on the use and perceived effectiveness of CMs for weight loss among adult women. A quantitative, descriptive survey design was used. Johannesburg, South Africa. A purposive sample of women over the age of 18 years who had used CMs for weight loss within the past five years were recruited from health stores and a university campus healthcare centre. Data were obtained through a self-administered 29-item, paper-and-pen questionnaire. Responses were descriptively analysed using cross-tabulation, multiple response analysis and frequency tables. Data from 160 questionnaires were analysed and the results demonstrated that a wide variety of CM products are used for weight loss, with branded combination products, green tea, Garcinia cambogia and conjugated linoleic acid being the most popular. Most participants also adopted lifestyle interventions such as exercise and calorie restriction during their weight loss attempt. While minor side effects were experienced by over half of the participants, the majority were satisfied with their product choice as well as the amount of weight that they lost. Most participants perceived their CM weight loss product of choice to be effective. However, other concomitant weight-loss strategies that were employed may have been responsible for these results. Despite their popularity, there is only very limited research surrounding the safety and efficacy of these weight-loss products, with most studies being conducted on single constituents rather than whole formulations as sold on the market. Healthcare providers should encourage the disclosure of the use of CM weight-loss products to ensure safe and effective patient care and mitigate the potential risks associated with their inappropriate use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: There is a large gap in knowledge amongst the oncology community of moderate hyperthermia use in cancer management. This review provides an overview of clinical data on the use of loco-regional and superficial hyperthermia in the adjunct management of cancers. It is updated using higher-level evidence from prospective, comparative studies and meta-analyses. The methodology and results are summarised and tabulated according to tumour type for easy reference. Regional hyperthermia therapy (RHT) is a treatment that applies moderate heat to tumours in an attempt to potentiate the effects of oncological treatments and improve responses. Although it has been used for many years, the mechanisms of action are not fully understood. Heterogenous practices, poor quality assurance, conflicting clinical evidence and lack of familiarity have hindered its use. Despite this, several centres recognise its potential and have adopted it in their standard treatment protocols. In recent times, significant technical improvements have been made and there is an increasing pool of evidence that could revolutionise its use. Our narrative review aims to summarise the recently published prospective trial evidence and present the clinical effects of RHT when added to standard cancer treatments. In total, 31 studies with higher-quality evidence across various subsites are discussed herein. Although not all of these studies are level 1 evidence, benefits of moderate RHT in improving local tumour control, survival outcomes and quality of life scores were observed across the different cancer subsites with minimal increase in toxicities. This paper may serve as a reference when considering this technique for specific indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article, firstly, deals with some definitions and classifications of medicines generated in the social science and biomedical fields. Then, the author proposes a systematization of medicines, incorporating new categories, as well as the notion of ethno-medical configuration, to explain healthcare in intercultural contexts. The categories introduced are biomedicine, traditional medicine, alternative medicine, religious therapy or medicine, and lay-treatment. Finally, as an illustrative example, the paper focuses on the ethno-medical configuration of the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The goal of this systematization is proposing categories that consider the understandings and behaviors of social actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pain is the predominant symptom of many clinical diseases and is frequently associated with neurological and musculoskeletal problems. Chronic pain is frequent in the elderly, causing suffering, disability, social isolation, and increased healthcare expenses. Chronic pain medication is often ineffective and has many side effects. Nonsteroidal over-the-counter and prescription drugs are frequently recommended as first-line therapies for pain control; however, long-term safety issues must not be neglected. Herbs and nutritional supplements may be a safer and more effective alternative to nonsteroidal pharmaceuticals for pain management, especially when used long-term. Recently, topical analgesic therapies have gained attention as an innovative approach due to their sufficient efficacy and comparatively fewer systemic side effects and drug–drug interactions. In this paper, we overview the main natural herbal pain relievers, their efficacy and safety, and their potential use as topical agents for pain control. Although herbal-derived medications are not appropriate for providing quick relief for acute pain problems, they could be used as potent alternative remedies in managing chronic persistent pain with minimal side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies include a wide range of procedures and products that are often used by cancer patients to directly combat cancer and to protect normal cells from the toxic effects of conventional therapies. Most often, their use is self-prescribed based on a collection of scattered information from websites and advice from relatives or friends. In this paper, we examined the potential known benefits and harms associated with the most commonly used alternative treatments to provide a practical guide for caregivers and patients. CAM is used by about 40% of cancer patients in Western Countries, with peaks of 80% for breast cancer patients. Cancer patients use CAM to boost immune function, to control cancer symptoms and treatment-related side effects, and to improve health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and survival. Unfortunately, self-prescription of natural remedies in cancer patients can lead to unexpected toxicities and can reduce the effectiveness of cancer therapy. Although CAM usually refers to all the "natural or organic" products/methods that are generally considered less toxic, there are concerns about drug interactions, especially in patients participating in clinical trials with experimental agents. Despite the claims of the promising and potential benefits made by prescribers, many CAMs lack clear scientific evidence of their safety and efficacy. Given the widespread use of CAM—both clearly declared and overt—in this review, we focused on the most important known data on the risk of interactions between biologics and oncology drugs with the goal of opening up CAM in accordance with the meaning of integrative medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper supports alternative medicine as well as phytotherapy, which in recent decades has seen an increase in prestige due to the fact that, on the one hand, the increasingly acute resistance to certain antibiotics or antifungal molecules and, on the other hand, the growth of the current traditionalist consumer medicine in both human and veterinary medicine. So, this paper aims to present a plant less known in Romania, but very popular in Japan, South Korea, China and the biological activity of Ashitaba (Angelica keiskei), already established in the countries mentioned above and with possible applications, as an auxiliary or supportive treatment in veterinary medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a lifelong reproductive endocrine disease, which is the most common cause of anovular infertility. Modern medicine mainly treats infertile patients with PCOS by improving living habits, ovulation induction therapy, and assisted reproductive technology (ART), but the effect is not satisfied. Complementary alternative medicine (CAM) has conspicuous advantages in the treatment of PCOS infertility due to its good clinical efficacy, wide mechanism of action, and no obvious adverse reactions, but its safety and effectiveness in the treatment of PCOS infertility have not been proved. Based on the existing clinical and experimental studies, this paper looks for the therapeutic effect and the mechanism behind it, and explores the safety and effectiveness of its treatment in PCOS infertility, in order to provide reference for future clinical treatment and experimental research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncaria gambir Roxb. is a plant from Southeast Asia and is widely used as an alternative medicine with various applications. This plant has been widely used in traditional medicine. This paper aims to provide information on U. gambir, a summary of data on phytochemicals and on medical and nonmedical activities. Phytochemical studies reveal biologically active constituents such as flavonoids, phenolics, and alkaloids. Various studies have shown that extracts and compounds obtained from U. gambir have medical uses for their antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-helminthic, anticancer, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hyperuricemic, anti-lipid peroxidation, antihyperlipidemic and other properties. In addition, this extract has other uses, such as adsorbent for dyes and metal ions, as well as corrosion inhibition. Thus, U. gambir, which is commonly used in traditional medicine, is a potential plant for many therapeutic applications and prospects for drug development as well as other applications such as adsorbent and corrosion inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Pain related to cancer, despite the numerous treatment options available, is still a challenge in contemporary pain medicine. The unsatisfactory treatment of cancer pain is one of the main reasons why patients seek complementary and alternative methods (CAM) and a more integrative/holistic approach to pain management. The popularity of CAM forces healthcare professionals to provide patients with current and evidence-based information on the effectiveness and safety of CAM. The aim of the paper is to present current evidence and limitations regarding CAM commonly used in the pain management of cancer patients. Material and methods: The paper comprehensively reviews the current and most relevant literature considering the integrative approach to management of pain due to cancer disease and/or cancer treatment. Results: The available data from clinical trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews supports the effectiveness of acupuncture, massage, physical exercises, music therapy, and mindbody therapies as adjunct therapies for alleviating pain in cancer patients, although the supporting evidence is weak or moderate. Conclusions: Based on the available knowledge, physicians should be capable of advising the cancer patient as to which CAM methods can be used safely, which are contraindicated, and what therapeutic effects they may expect, especially when standard pain treatment fails or induces serious side effects. An integrative approach to cancer pain management may improve the quality of pain treatment, patients' quality of life, and satisfaction with pain relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A quantitative and qualitative assessment of global research output (2016) on the "Rhodiola rosea" plant based on select bibliometric indicators, using Scopus database covering period 1993-2018, is presented here. Analyzed data on a series of bibliometric measures, like average annual growth, citations per paper, international collaborative papers, relative citation index, activity index, top productive countries, organizations, authors, journals and highly cited papers. The global publications registered an annual average growth rate of 12.97% and its citation impact averaged to 17.59 citations per paper. China and USA together account for more than 36% share of global output on Rhodiola rosea, whereas other 8 top ranking countries accounted each for global share between 4.06% and 7.60% during 2003-18. 83.04% global publication share and 89.95% global citation share has been contributed by top 10 countries during 2003-18. Sweden (2.78), Canada (1.17) and USA (1.11) registered the highest relative citation index among top 10 countries during 2003-18. Swedish Herbal Institute, Askloster, Sweden (21 papers), Medical University of Warsaw, Poland (14 papers), Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary were the three the most productive organizations and Z. Gyorgy and A. Panossian (18 papers each) and G. Wikman (14 papers) were the three top most productive authors. Phytomedicine (25 papers), Phytotherapy Research (21 papers) and Evidence-based Complementary and Alternate Medicine (15 papers) were the three leading journals contributing research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of the rehabilitation treatment to patients with patellar chondromalacia, is one of the polemical topics among the specialists of physical medicine and rehabilitation. This paper aims to elaborate an alternative of rehabilitative treatment for patients with patellar chondromalacia. Different methods and technics were used which allowed us the development of the whole investigative process. The elaboration of the scientific results is corroborated beginning from the diagnosis, where the necessity of an alternative treatment is revealed, because in the consulted literature it becomes evident the presence of lacks of the practical order which justify the present investigation. The results were compared applying the treatment to two groups of patients randomnly selected, one group received the traditional treatment and the other one received the alternative treatment. Some statistical tests were applied like t Student test. The achieved results reveal their validity in practice since the quasi-experiment and it was demonstrated that the relevant clinical effect is high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. This article aims to analyze the research status of integrative complementary medicine (ICM) and features of highly cited papers in the field to provide reference of the future development of ICM. Methods. Publications in the field of ICM from 2009 to 2018 were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. The top 20 countries/territories, institutions, journals, keywords of highly cited and noncited papers, and characteristics of essential science indicator (ESI) papers, as well as open access (OA) and non-OA papers, were analyzed. Results. Mainland China had the largest number of ICM publications. The top 20 journals published a total of 31667 papers in 2009–2018, which represented 92.9% of all publications. Keywords of highly cited and noncited papers point to different research directions. 48 ESI highly cited/hot papers were identified, most of which are related to phytochemistry. Furthermore, the average citation rate (percentage of publications that have been cited one or more times) of OA papers was lower than that of total papers and non-OA papers. Conclusions. China leads in number of publications; however, publication quality in ICM field requires improvement. A few journals accounted for more than half of number of publications and citations, which are important for the development of ICM. Many of the keywords in ICM noncited publications pointed towards broad meaning that poorly reflect the exact research content. Most highly cited ICM studies focused on the identification and evaluation of plant active components. OA may not be an effective approach to increase paper citations in the field of ICM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Citrus aurantium L., frequently known as the sour or bitter orange, is native to Asia and, nowadays, is widely cultivated in different regions such as the Mediterranean. Different parts of C. aurantium are consumed as an alternative medicine in some areas to treat some diseases, and various recent studies have proven the potential of this medicinal plant. This review examined the therapeutic effects of C. aurantium components. Methods: Tactful and progressive search strategies were developed to determine the studies. To this end, a large number of databases were evaluated, including Cochrane Library, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Google Scholar (2010 to April 2019). Finally, 12 clinical trial studies were selected for evaluation and analysis, and the JADAD scale was used to evaluate the quality of the papers. Results: Of 546 papers found in the preliminary search, 12 clinical trials (1132 participants), which were written in English, were selected for structured reviews. The researches consisted of those which evaluated the therapeutic role of the plants in anxiety, depression, sleep quality, premenstrual syndrome, and menopausal symptoms. Conclusions: The review of clinical trials brings some evidence that different components of C. aurantium, especially its flower have therapeutic effects on particularly psychological states like anxiety, depression, and insomnia and aromatherapy by the essential oil is considered as the most used method of prescription. Therefore, C. aurantium can confidently be used in various disorders which have these psychological aspects among their symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this review paper is to present the state of complementary and alternative medicine in the Republic of Serbia and compare it with other developing and developed countries around the world. In most countries of the world, the legalization and integration of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) into the health system went very slowly until the 1970s, when there was an important global change in socioeconomic conditions. WHO estimates that $ 83 billion was spent on traditional medicine in the world market in 2008. Significant variations in financial allocations to CAM across the globe have been observed, however, their direct comparison has been hampered by differences in the definitions and categorization of CAM used, as well as by the use of different currencies in different time periods. The development of CAM in the Balkans, during the 1990s, was hampered by war and transition, and the resolution of CAM was delayed. For the first time, the law regulates the implementation of the CAM in Serbia in 2005 by Article 235 of the Health Care Act. In the Republic of Serbia, evidence of the extent of use of CAM methods is very modest, although worldwide research shows an accelerated upward trend in the use of CAM. This paper is our contribution to the further development and better recognition of CAM methods by both the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia and the professional public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the technological advances and clinical results obtained in the neuroprosthetic management of foot drop. Functional electrical stimulation has been widely applied owing to its corrective abilities in patients suffering from a stroke, multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injury among other pathologies. This review aims at identifying the progress made in this area over the last two decades, addressing two main questions: What is the status of neuroprosthetic technology in terms of architecture, sensorization, and control algorithms?. What is the current evidence on its functional and clinical efficacy? The results reveal the importance of systems capable of self-adjustment and the need for closed-loop control systems to adequately modulate assistance in individual conditions. Other advanced strategies, such as combining variable and constant frequency pulses, could also play an important role in reducing fatigue and obtaining better therapeutic results. The field not only would benefit from a deeper understanding of the kinematic, kinetic and neuromuscular implications and effects of more promising assistance strategies, but also there is a clear lack of long-term clinical studies addressing the therapeutic potential of these systems. This review paper provides an overview of current system design and control architectures choices with regard to their clinical effectiveness. Shortcomings and recommendations for future directions are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This review aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of complementary and alternative medicine methods for constipation in the pediatric population. Evidence acquisition: Medical literature search was performed in several databases for a variety of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in childhood constipation. Databases included Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google scholar and a number of Persian databases including IranDoc, Magiran and SID. No time limitation was determined. Clinical trials or case series that had evaluated the effectiveness of CAM therapies in functional constipation of 1–18 year old children were included. Papers not in English or Persian language were excluded. Related articles were screened independently by two reviewers according to their titles and abstracts. A data extraction form was filled in for each eligible paper. Quality assessment of eligible documents was also performed. Results: 30 studies were included, comprising 27 clinical trials and 3 case series. Ten documents were on herbal medicine, nine on traditional medicine, ten on manual therapies and one on homeopathy. Except for two herbal and one reflexology interventions, all studies reported positive effects on childhood constipation, with the majority being statistically significant. As the number of studies in each method was limited, we could not perform a meta-analysis. Conclusion: The scarcity of research on the efficacy and safety of different types of complementary and alternative medicine methods in children with constipation necessitates conducting more studies in each field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. The popular use of marijuana and its components (THC and CBD) for medicinal purposes is often regarded as irresponsible and ignorant. However, in this paper, it is conceptualized and studied as medical knowledge of self-care, in which it is linked to different therapeutic knowledge from conventional and alternative medicine to treat anxiety. Objective. This article reports on a qualitative research project designed to analyze the practices and risks of self-medication with CBD, and its links with medical treatments and self-care measures for dealing with anxiety in adult women in Mexico City. Method. Eleven adult women, mostly professionals, diagnosed with anxiety, participated in the study. In-depth interviews were conducted to learn how women use therapeutic resources to cope with anxiety in their everyday lives. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using ATLAS ti 7 software. Results. Self-medication is part of a self-care process with several facets: the experience of symptoms, self-diagnosis, the use of various remedies (dosage and administration), and their evaluation. During this process, women use a range of medication, psychological therapies, herbalism, acupuncture, yoga, and sleep hygiene measures, including CBD, either as an alternative or an adjunct to biomedical pharmacology, with or without medical supervision. Certain risks were identified, such as the use of CBD that may be incorrectly labeled or interact dangerously with other self-prescribed substances. Discussion and conclusion. These results coincide with those of various authors who equate self-care with a first level of care, which has risks that could be reduced by controlling misleading marketing and developing professional medical services, which are trained and accessible to users, who could inform them about the medicinal use, scope and risks of CBD or THC for health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe mental illness can have a devastating effect on both the mind and body. It alters the brain's chemistry, impairs physical conditioning, shatters self-confidence, and often leads to diminished social functioning or even total isolation. Physical activity can play a positive meaningful role in altering or reversing this destructive process. Group activities can provide enormous social benefits lacking in other forms of physical activities or individual sports. Team sports, such as basketball and soccer, are being utilized more and more in the 21st century after being overlooked beforehand. The paper presents a case study that describes a longterm program that examines basketball's usefulness as adjunctive treatment for the physical and psychosocial recovery of young adult men in a rehabilitation center in Jerusalem. The discussion session's material is based on the authors' observations and from interviews conducted with group members. The data comes from a questionnaire that was administered after several years of group participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) are widely used by cancer patients, despite limited evidence of efficacy. Manipulative and body-based practices are some of the most commonly used CAM. This systematic review evaluates their benefits in oncology. A systematic literature review was carried out with no restriction of language, time, cancer location or type. PubMed, CENTRAL, PsycArticle, PsychInfo, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and SOCindex were queried. Inclusion criteria were adult cancer patients and randomized controlled trials (RCT) assessing manipulative and body-based complementary practices on psychological and symptom outcomes. Effect size was calculated when applicable. Of 1624 articles retrieved, 41 articles were included: massage (24), reflexology (11), acupressure (6). Overall, 25 studies showed positive and significant effects on symptom outcomes (versus 9 that did not), especially pain and fatigue. Mixed outcomes were found for quality of life (8 papers finding a significant effect vs. 10 which did not) and mood (14 papers vs. 13). In most studies, there was a high risk of bias with a mean Jadad score of 2, making interpretation of results difficult. These results seem to indicate that manipulative CAM may be effective on symptom management in cancer. However, more robust methodologies are needed. The methodological requirements of randomized controlled trials are challenging, and more informative results may be provided by more pragmatic study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is a theoretical one. It does not enter the debate of evidence-based medicine (EBM) about the validity of meta-analyses including pooled data from placebo-controlled clinical trials of homeopathy and the result of epidemiological clinical studies about the success of homeopathic treatments. The paper tries to answer the question of why extremely highly diluted substances may be able to result in a medical reaction in a patient even if no single molecule of the used substance is present in the medicament. This paper describes the Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI) and the Generalized Quantum Theory (GQT) and how they can be applied to describe properties of homeopathic treatment. From the point of view of the MPI and the GQT, homeopathic treatment and medicaments are "pseudo-machines." The Model of Pseudo-Machines (MPM) includes sociological, psychological, physical, and causal-as well as non-causal (entanglement) processes that are relevant for the (homeopathic) treatment. This means that the properties of pseudo-machines can clearly be distinguished from placebos. In terms of MPM, placebos can be considered as a specific form of pseudo-machine. On the other hand, MPM is able to explain the limitation of double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in medicine, complementary medicine (CM), and elsewhere. Finally, the paper describes an experimental method (the Correlation Matrix Method, CMM), a way that the operation of pseudo-machines can be tested empirically. Furthermore, this method allows the distinguishing of causal and non-causal processes in medical treatments in general and is not limited to homeopathy but could serve as a new approach in EBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder with high blood sugar level. Type 2 is the common form. The herbal remedies for diabetes treatment is an area of research with a huge potential for the progress in the growth of inexpensive alternative medicine with low or no side effects. In this paper, reviews mainly focused on traditionally used medicinal herb, Gymnema sylvestre and its bioactive components and their mode of actions. Method: Relevant information was collected from scientific journals, research papers, books and various medicinal reviews. Result: This review provides a comprehensive report on Gymnema sylvestre having antidiabetic and antioxidant activity due to its bioactive compounds like oleanines (Gymnemic acid, Gymnema saponins), dammarenes (Gymnemasides), anthraquinones, flavones, hentriacontane, pentatriacontane, phytin, resin, tartaric acid, formic acid, butyric acid, lupeol, β-amyrene related glycosides and anthraquinones, alkaloid like gymnamine, flavonoids, cinnamic acid, folic acid, ascorbic acid etc. Conclusion: Considering the presence of bioactive compounds present in Gymnema sylvestre, this review is aimed to summarize the information of the chemical constituents and their antidiabetic activities and specially to detect the relation between antioxidants and antidiabetic compounds regarding blood sugar reduction in diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exaggerated immune response and cytokine storm are accounted for the severity of COVID-19, including organ dysfunction, especially progressive respiratory failure and generalized coagulopathy. Uncontrolled activation of complement contributes to acute and chronic inflammation, the generation of cytokine storm, intravascular coagulation and cell/tissue damage, which may be a favorable target for the treatment of multiple organ failure and reduction of mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19. Cytokine storm suppression therapy can alleviate the symptoms of critically ill patients to some extent, but as a remedial etiological measure, its long-term efficacy is still questionable. Anti-complement therapy has undoubtedly become an important hotspot in the upstream regulation of cytokine storm. However, chemosynthetic complement inhibitors are expensive, and their drug resistance and long-term side effects require further investigation. New complement inhibitors with high efficiency and low toxicity can be obtained from natural products at low development cost. This paper puts forward some insights of the development of natural anti-complement products in traditional Chinese medicine, that may provide a bright perspective for suppressing cytokine storm in critically ill patients with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bioresonance therapy is a holistic physical method used in the treatment of various diseases. Aim of the study: The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the effect of bioresonance therapy in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder and with mild or moderate depressive episodes, respectively, without any other pharmacological, psychological, or other type of treatment. Methods: We selected 40 patients diagnosed with recurrent depressive disorder and bioresonance therapy as the only treatment. Assessment of the level of depression was achieved by measuring the biorhythm with the bioresonance device and by applying the Hamilton Depression Inventory questionnaire, with 17 items, at the beginning and the end of five weeks of treatment. Results: We identified a statistically significant decrease in depression levels as quantified by the HAM-D 17 scale, between the initial and final phase of therapy (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Our results suggest that bioresonance therapy can decrease the level of depression in patients with recurrent depressive disorder, with mild and moderate depressive episodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Female infertility is a state of fertility disorder caused by multiple reasons. The incidence of infertility for females has significantly increased due to various factors such as social pressure, late marriage, and late childbirth, and its harm includes heavy economic burden, psychological shadow, and even marriage failure. Conventional solutions, such as hormone therapy, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and embryo transfer, have the limitations of unsatisfied obstetric outcomes and serious adverse events. Currently, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), as a new treatment for infertility, is gradually challenging the dominant position of traditional therapies in the treatment of infertility. CAM claims that it can adjust and harmonize the state of the female body from a holistic approach to achieve a better therapeutic effect and has been increasingly used by infertile women. Meanwhile, some controversial issues also appeared; that is, some randomized controlled trials (RCTs) confirmed that CAM had no obvious effect on infertility, and the mechanism of its effect could not reach a consensus. To clarify CAM effectiveness, safety, and mechanism, this paper systematically reviewed the literature about its treatment of female infertility collected from PubMed and CNKI databases and mainly introduced acupuncture, moxibustion, and oral Chinese herbal medicine. In addition, we also briefly summarized psychological intervention, biosimilar electrical stimulation, homeopathy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Ghana, studies documenting the effectiveness of evidence-based specialized training programs to promote respectful maternity care (RMC) practices in healthcare facilities are few. Thus, we designed a four-day RMC training workshop and piloted it with selected midwives of a tertiary healthcare facility in Kumasi, Ghana. The present paper evaluated the impact of the training by exploring midwives' experiences of implementing RMC knowledge in their daily maternity care practices 4 months after the training workshop. Methods: Through a descriptive qualitative research design, we followed-up and conducted 14 in-depth interviews with participants of the RMC training, exploring their experiences of applying the acquired RMC knowledge in their daily maternity care practices. Data were managed and analysed using NVivo 12. Codes were collapsed into subthemes and assigned to three major predetermined themes. Results: The findings have been broadly categorized into three themes: experiences of practising RMC in daily maternity care, health facility barriers to practising RMC, and recommendations for improving RMC practices. The midwives mentioned that applying the newly acquired RMC knowledge has positively improved their relationship with childbearing women, assisted them to effectively communicate with the women, and position them to recognize the autonomy of childbearing women. Despite the positive influence of the training on clinical practice, the midwives said the policy and the built environment in the hospital does not support the exploration of alternative birthing positions. Also, the hospital lacked the required logistics to ensure privacy for multiple childbearing women in the open labour ward. The midwives recommended that logistics for alternative birthing positions and privacy in the ward should be provided. Also, all midwives and staff of the hospital should be taken through the RMC training program to encourage good practice. Conclusion: Despite the report of some RMC implementation challenges, the midwives noted that the 4-day RMC training has had a positive impact on their maternity caregiving practice in the hospital. Policies and programs aimed at addressing the issue of disrespect and abusive practices during maternity care should advocate and include the building of facilities that support alternative birthing positions and privacy of childbearing women during childbirth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an emerging comprehensive discipline, artificial intelligence (AI) has been widely applied in various fields, including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a treasure of the Chinese nation. Realizing the organic combination of AI and TCM can promote the inheritance and development of TCM. The paper summarizes the development and application of AI in auxiliary TCM diagnosis, analyzes the bottleneck of artificial intelligence in the field of auxiliary TCM diagnosis at present, and proposes a possible future direction of its development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a reproductive endocrine disease, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has influenced billions of women during childbearing age worldwide. Owing to its complex etiology and ambiguous pathogenesis, there is still not a specific method to cure it. Clinical treatments, such as hormone therapy and surgical treatment, have side effects. Therefore, it is essential and urgent to seek alternative treatment to solve these problems. The satisfactory efficacy of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), immunotherapy, medicinal foods, vitamin therapy, diet therapy, psychotherapy, spa, and oxygen therapy, in treating PCOS, has aroused an increasing number of medical workers' concern and gradually become the mainstream. This paper reviews the application of CAM in the treatment of PCOS, especially from the perspective of TCM. Meanwhile, the limitations of the literature about CAM in the treatment of PCOS are mentioned and analyzed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the theory of social action in organizational and institutional sociology, this paper examines the behavioral consequences of plural logics of action. It addresses the question based on the empirical case of plural medical systems that are composed of both biomedicine and alternative medicine. Applying mixed methods of a cross-national panel data analysis and a content analysis of medical journal articles, it finds that plural systems affect health outcomes negatively when tensions between biomedicine and alternative medicine are unaddressed. In contrast, plural systems produce tangible health benefits when biomedicine and alternative medicine are coordinated through government policies or by health care organizations/professionals. This paper proposes plurality coordination as an important mechanism that modifies the behavioral consequences of plural logics. This proposition contributes to providing theoretical answers to the sociological puzzle that plural logics of action produce inconsistent behavioral consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Despite substantial progress in the treatment of hepatitis C through the use of direct-acting antivirals which have been shown to cure the disease, complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are popular among patients as a substitute or complement of allopathic medicines. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients and CAM practitioners on the use of CAM for the treatment of hepatitis C in Pakistan. Methods. A cross-sectional design was adopted. Participants (CAM practitioners and patients) were recruited from the capital and two provinces: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab of Pakistan. A survey using paper-based questionnaires, each specific for patients and CAM practitioners, was conducted to gather information pertaining to demography, disease status, treatment history, and participants' perspectives (about the disease, reasons to switch to CAM, and referring source). Results. A total of 417 respondents (n = 284 patients, n = 133 practitioners) were recruited. Of the total patients, 170 (59.9%) had started CAM during the previous three months. There were 168 (59.2%) of the total patients who had used allopathic treatments for hepatitis C prior to their use of CAM. The confidence in CAM (24.6%), high cost (19%), and unbearable side effects (52.1%) of allopathic medicines were the main reasons to switch to CAM treatment. Majority (49.3%) of the patients were referred to CAM on the recommendations of relatives or care givers (17.3%) whereas only 9.5% were referred by health care professionals. Out of 133 practitioners, 48 (36.1%) were practicing herbal medicines. From practitioners' perspectives, club-moss (Lycopodium clavatum) was the best treatment option for hepatitis C. The majority, 73 (54.9%), of the patients had chosen to use CAM because of the side effects of allopathic medicines. Patients who had previous "good experience" with CAM were the most common referral source (56.4%) for CAM use in hepatitis C. Conclusions. Patients' beliefs in CAM, side effects of allopathic therapy, high cost of allopathic medicines, and referrals from previous CAM users are key factors in the switching of hepatitis C patients to CAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Despite substantial progress in the treatment of hepatitis C through the use of direct-acting antivirals which have been shown to cure the disease, complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) are popular among patients as a substitute or complement of allopathic medicines. This study aimed to explore the perspectives of patients and CAM practitioners on the use of CAM for the treatment of hepatitis C in Pakistan. Methods. A cross-sectional design was adopted. Participants (CAM practitioners and patients) were recruited from the capital and two provinces: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab of Pakistan. A survey using paper-based questionnaires, each specific for patients and CAM practitioners, was conducted to gather information pertaining to demography, disease status, treatment history, and participants' perspectives (about the disease, reasons to switch to CAM, and referring source). Results. A total of 417 respondents (n = 284 patients, n = 133 practitioners) were recruited. Of the total patients, 170 (59.9%) had started CAM during the previous three months. There were 168 (59.2%) of the total patients who had used allopathic treatments for hepatitis C prior to their use of CAM. The confidence in CAM (24.6%), high cost (19%), and unbearable side effects (52.1%) of allopathic medicines were the main reasons to switch to CAM treatment. Majority (49.3%) of the patients were referred to CAM on the recommendations of relatives or care givers (17.3%) whereas only 9.5% were referred by health care professionals. Out of 133 practitioners, 48 (36.1%) were practicing herbal medicines. From practitioners' perspectives, club-moss (Lycopodium clavatum) was the best treatment option for hepatitis C. The majority, 73 (54.9%), of the patients had chosen to use CAM because of the side effects of allopathic medicines. Patients who had previous "good experience" with CAM were the most common referral source (56.4%) for CAM use in hepatitis C. Conclusions. Patients' beliefs in CAM, side effects of allopathic therapy, high cost of allopathic medicines, and referrals from previous CAM users are key factors in the switching of hepatitis C patients to CAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical component in a three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound imaging system is a two-dimensional (2D) transducer array. A 2D transducer array is also essential for the implementation of a compact form factor focused ultrasound system for therapeutic applications. Considering the difficulty associated with developing 2D transducer arrays using piezoelectric technology, capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) technology with the inherent advantages has emerged as a candidate to develop these devices. Previously, we demonstrated that 2D CMUT arrays can be fabricated with through-glass-via interconnects on borosilicate substrates using anodic bonding. In this paper, we present a fabrication process for implementing $16\times 16$ -element 2D CMUT arrays on an alkali-free glass substrate using the sacrificial release method. The vacuum-sealed $16\times 16$ -element 2D CMUT array is built on an SGW3 glass substrate with copper through-glass interconnects. The fabrication process developed for the 2D CMUT array is described in detail. Across the 256 elements of the 2D CMUT array, the mean resonant frequency is measured as 4.76 MHz with a standard deviation of 46.6 kHz. Also, the mean device capacitance across the array is measured as 1.17 pF with a standard deviation of 0.12 pF, and these results agree with the finite-element analysis. This study shows an alternative method to fabricate 2D CMUT arrays on glass substrates with metal interconnects, especially when the substrate is not suitable for anodic bonding. In addition to improved reliability and reduction in parasitic interconnect capacitance and resistance, this fabrication method benefits from the flexibility of developing 2D CMUT arrays on any type of insulating substrate, and still attain optimum uniformity in both yield and functionality of the fabricated devices. [2019-0246] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the limited surge capacity of the healthcare system is being quickly overwhelmed. Similar scenarios play out when an institution's systems fail, or when local or regional disasters occur. In these situations, it becomes necessary to use one or more alternative care sites (ACS). Situated in a variety of non-healthcare structures, ACS may be used for ambulatory, acute, subacute, or chronic care. Developing alternative care facilities is the disasterplanning step that moves communities from talking to doing. This commitment pays real dividends if a disaster of any magnitude strikes. This paper discusses the basic criteria for selecting, establishing and ultimately closing an ACS, difficulties of administration, staffing, security, and providing basic supplies and equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer is one of the most common cancers and liver ultrasonic scanning has already become an essential method of preoperative imaging examination of liver cancer. In celiac CT image, liver and the adjacent organs or tissues have similar grayscales and there usually exists fuzzy boundary between them, causing difficulty to liver segmentation. Besides, the anatomical structure and shape of human abdomen are very complex and there may be great differences between the livers of patients and the shapes, sizes, positions and grayscales of tumors. Because of these problems, liver segmentation has always been a classic difficulty in medical image processing field. Therefore, this paper proposes a liver image segmentation method based on improved region growing method. As for the applications in liver image segmentation, this method conducts automatic selection of seed point through threshold pre-segmentation; performs image segmentation via region growing; and improves segmentation effect, reduces iteration steps and time complexity through morphological post-processing. So, the idea of combining threshold segmentation method and region growing method integrates the strengths of both methods and the experiment shows that the region growing algorithm based on threshold pre-segmentation works well on liver image segmentation and it can extract liver regions to a certain extent and play a role in complementary medicine; from this perspective, it has certain practical application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bombyx batryticatus (B. batryticatus), a well-known traditional animal Chinese medicine, has been commonly used in China for thousands of years. The present paper reviewed advances in traditional uses, origin, chemical constituents, pharmacology and toxicity studies of B. batryticatus. The aim of the paper is to provide more comprehensive references for modern B. batryticatus study and application. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) culture, drugs containing B. batryticatus have been used to treat convulsions, headaches, skin prurigo, scrofula, tonsillitis and fever. Many studies indicate B. batryticatus contains various compounds, including protein and peptides, fatty acids, flavonoids, nucleosides, steroids, coumarin, polysaccharide and others. Numerous investigations also have shown that extracts and compounds from B. batryticatus exert a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects both in vivo and in vitro, including effects on the nervous system, anticoagulant effects, antitumor effects, antibacterial and antifungal effects, antioxidant effects, hypoglycemic effects, as well as other effects. However, further studies should be undertaken to investigate bioactive compounds (especially proteins and peptides), toxic constituents, using forms and the quality evaluation and control of B. batryticatus. Furthermore, it will be interesting to study the mechanism of biological activities and structure-function relationships of bioactive constituents in B. batryticatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While we agree that the traditional medicine systems suggested by Shirzad and Abbassian, namely, Persian medicine and Uyghur medicine, are important they do not appear in the Cochrane complementary medicine operational definition. We thank Shirzad and Abbassian for their response to our paper I 'Stakeholder attitudes to the regulation of traditional and complementary medicine professions: a systematic review' i [[1]] and for their comments regarding the importance of research in the area of regulation of traditional, complementary, and integrative medicine. As outlined in the Methods section of our paper, we consulted an authoritative source for a list of traditional and complementary medicine search terms; Cochrane Complementary Medicine [[6]]. [Extracted from the article]

Common chronic conditions are routinely treated following standardised procedures known as clinical guidelines. For patients suffering from two or more chronic conditions, known as multimorbidity, several guidelines have to be applied simultaneously, which may lead to severe adverse effects when the combined recommendations and prescribed medications are inconsistent or incomplete. This paper presents an automated formal framework to detect, highlight and resolve conflicts in the treatments used for patients with multimorbidities focusing on medications. The presented extended framework has a front-end which takes guidelines captured in a standard modelling language and returns the visualisation of the detected conflicts as well as suggested alternative treatments. Internally, the guidelines are transformed into formal models capturing the possible unfoldings of the guidelines. The back-end takes the formal models associated with multiple guidelines and checks their correctness with a theorem prover, and inherent inconsistencies with a constraint solver. Key to our approach is the use of an optimising constraint solver which enables us to search for the best solution that resolves/minimises conflicts according to medication efficacy and the degree of severity in case of harmful combinations, also taking into account their temporal overlapping. The approach is illustrated throughout with a real medical example. • Clinical guidelines (CGs) are transformed into intermediate formal models. • Inter-guideline inconsistencies are detected with constraint solvers. • A metric is introduced to find best solutions via solvers. • Isabelle is used to formally prove overall correctness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baricitinib is an innovative small-molecule drug that reversibly inhibits continuous activation of JAK/STAT pathway, thus reducing joint inflammation. The drug was approved for use as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate (MTX) in the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The aim of this paper was to review the studies on pharmacology, mode of action, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, and safety of baricitinib in patients with RA. Baricitinib provides an innovative approach to modulating the immune and inflammatory response in patients with RA, which is especially important in individuals who do not respond to disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs or standard biologic drugs (tumor necrosis factor inhibitors) or who lose response over time. Baricitinib therapy reduces symptoms of RA and improves the quality of life. Moreover, it has shown high efficacy and an acceptable safety profile in Phase III randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and become another JAK inhibitor approved for RA treatment, providing a useful alternative option. RCTs have revealed a significant benefit of baricitinib over placebo, MTX, and adalimumab in terms of standard efficacy outcomes, especially the American College of Rheumatology ACR20, ACR50, and ACR70 response rates. Additionally, a clinically meaningful improvement in patient-reported outcomes, including the quality of life, compared with placebo has been reported. The safety profile seems acceptable, although some rare but potentially severe adverse events have been observed, such as serious infections, opportunistic infections (eg, herpes zoster), malignancies, and cardiac or hepatic disorders. Baricitinib administered at an approved dose of 2 or 4 mg once daily offers a novel and promising alternative to parenterally administered biologic drugs used in RA treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: Plantar foot pain of neural origin is a challenging diagnosis to identify and treat. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the novel way in which cupping was utilized in conjunction with neural glides to better diagnose and manage a patient who presented with symptoms of peripheral neuropathic plantar foot pain. Case description: A 65-year-old male presented to physical therapy with the diagnosis of plantar fasciitis by an orthopedic surgeon. The presentation included a diffuse area of pain toward the medial border of the foot with a peripheral neuropathic pain description. Cupping was used to identify pain in the saphenous nerve distribution and aided in resolving symptoms with the concomitant use of lower quarter neural glides. Outcome: At discharge and 1-year follow-up, the patient had a full resolution of symptoms and a return to prior level of function. Self-report outcomes included the numeric pain rating scale and the lower extremity functional scale. Discussion: This case is the first to describe the use of cupping combined with neural glides in the diagnosis and management of peripheral neuropathic pain from the saphenous nerve that was previously diagnosed as plantar fasciitis. The proposed mechanisms behind this treatment are also reviewed. Conclusion: In patients that present with symptoms of plantar fasciitis, testing neural glides combined with cupping may be warranted to confirm or refute the presence of a peripheral neuropathic pain source. Further studies are necessary to determine the mechanisms and further utility of the combined interventions in well controlled trials. Level of Evidence: Level IV [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Stachytarpheta jamaicensis (L.) Vahl belongs to the family of Verbenaceae and is commonly known as Gervao, Brazilian tea, verbena cimarrona, rooter comb, or blue porter weed. It is one of the important plants with high medicinal and nutraceutical benefits. S. jamaicensis contains various medicinal properties in traditional and folk medicinal systems, with cures for several diseases. Objective. The objective of this review paper is to collect information concerning the morphology, distribution, traditional usage, phytochemical compositions, biological activities, and safety data of S. jamaicensis. Materials and Methods. The information was obtained from literature search through electronic databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar on S. jamaicensis. Results and Conclusion. The high medicinal properties of this plant, for instance, antimicrobial and antifungal effect as the main activities, but verbascoside as the main active chemical component, make it a valuable source of the medicinal compound. This review paper summarizes all information concerning the morphology, distribution, traditional usage, phytochemical compositions, pharmacological activities, and toxicological studies of S. jamaicensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tinnitus is a prevalent and costly chronic condition; no universally effective treatment exists. Only 20% of patients who report tinnitus actually seek treatment, and when treated, most patients commonly receive sound-based and educational (SBE) therapy. Additional treatment options are necessary, however, for nonauditory aspects of tinnitus (e.g., anxiety, depression, and significant interference with daily life) and when SBE therapy is inefficacious or inappropriate. This paper provides a comprehensive review of (1) conventional tinnitus treatments and (2) promising complementary therapies that have demonstrated some benefit for severe dysfunction from tinnitus. While there has been no systematic study of the benefits of an Integrative Medicine approach for severe tinnitus, the current paper reviews emerging evidence suggesting that synergistic combinations of complementary therapies provided within a whole-person framework may augment SBE therapy and empower patients to exert control over their tinnitus symptoms without the use of medications, expensive devices, or extended programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) which belongs to the Lamiaceae family is a known herb that has long been used in traditional medicine to treat many disorders, and several studies have been conducted to identify the plant and its healing properties. The purpose of this article is to review a series of studies on the effects of the herb extract on the function of various body organs. Due to its volatile organic compounds and active constituents such as terpenoids, flavonoids, quercetin, rutin, quercitrin, gallic acid and high antioxidant capacity, the extract of the plant can have a significant role in maintaining health and curing diseases. In this paper data have been collected from books and scientific papers published in the databases like Science Direct, Web Science, Scopus, EBSCO, Iran medex and PubMed. Search in the interval of the years 2006 to 2012 was carried out. To search for the key words Melissa officinalis, lemon balm, and balm mint were used. About 80 articles was reviewed and after rejection non-related or similar items, in the end about 50 the number was actually cited. Results indicate that the extract of the plant with its several antioxidant, anti- inflammatory, anti-pain, anti-spasmodic and anti-cancer properties as well as its cholinergic receptor activation have highly significant effects on improving behavioral symptoms, cognitive impairment, insomnia, anxiety, and stress. However, these studies have been vast and sparse, and doing more focused and extensive researches in this area is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]