The News Review:
- Iraq returns to its alternative medicine roots
- Does chelation therapy work for MS?
- Combination Of Alternative, Traditional Cancer Treatments Get …
- Northwestern aims to improve practice of CAM
- A new place to heal
- EASING THE PAIN
Iraq returns to its alternative medicine roots
USA Today
Insurgents and weapons poured in from neighboring countries. So, too, did illegal pharmaceuticals, says Sayed Kathem Khawasiya, the Ministry of Health’s inspector general. Unlicensed medicine companies and sidewalk stands sprung up around Iraq, selling unregulated drugs from China and elsewhere. Today, 70% of drugs on the Iraqi market are illegal, and one in five are total fakes, such as starch pills pawned off as legitimate antibiotics, Khawasiya says. “The demand for herbal remedies has skyrocketed because of fake pharmacies and counterfeit medicines that don’t work,” says Faris Kadhem, director of the Health Ministry’s herbal medicine center. The government has raided and closed 120 illegal pharmacies across Iraq in the past two months, Khawasiya says. Many more continue to operate, she says.
Does chelation therapy work for MS?
Calgary Herald, Canada
Because MS does not have such an association, chelation therapy is not indicated for it. By the way, I’ve always been skeptical of claims that IV chelation effectively removes plaque from arteries (supposedly by extracting calcium from it). This issue may finally be settled when the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine completes a five-year, $30 million study of EDTA chelation therapy in patients with heart disease. The study, called TACT (Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy), is recruiting volunteers and will conclude in 2009. For more information, go to clinicaltrials. Bottom line: Chelation therapy, whether oral or IV, has no role in the treatment of MS.
Combination Of Alternative, Traditional Cancer Treatments Get …
AHN
Karan’s foundation is donating $850,000 to the year-long treatment trials. Karan is the well known founder of the DKNY clothing line. About one-third of Americans use alternative medicine treatments, which are often misunderstood or frowned on by the American medical profession. Such treatments are usually not covered by insurance plans either. In the United States, an estimated 16 million people practice Yoga and millions more practice some form of meditation, including hundreds of thousands who practice transcendental mediation. Because of concerns that the alternative treatments will be dismissed, Karan’s yearly-long trials include a research component to verify any results, the New York Times reports. Researchers will be looking for evidence that the treatments reduce cancer symptoms such as pain, nausea and anxiety and are thereby able to cut down on hospital stays and costs, the Times reports.
Related from Aerobicscardiomonster: Cancer rates may double thanks to obesity
Northwestern aims to improve practice of CAM
Chiropractic Economics, FL
The project is being funded by a major grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM). The grant, totaling more than $750,000, will be awarded over a period of four to five years. The project is a collaborative effort between Northwestern and the University of Minnesota. Roni Evans, DC, MS, dean of research at Northwestern’s Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies, and Mary Jo Kreitzer, PhD, RN, director of the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota, are leading the project. The broad objective of the CAM Education project is to facilitate “Evidence Informed Practice” (EIP) among CAM practitioners.
A new place to heal
Arizona Republic, AZ
5, 2008 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic When a new for-profit cancer hospital opens in the Valley next year, it will offer patients intriguing new options for treatment. Along with traditional therapy, the Cancer Treatment Centers hospital in Goodyear will offer a full range of alternative treatments, a less-stressful environment, patient empowerment, constant customer service and such perks as free plane tickets and limo service for traveling patients. In essence, the hospital, run by Cancer Treatment Centers of America, will treat the patient not just the cancer. Because Cancer Treatment Centers are specialty hospitals, a patient typically must have insurance coverage through a preferred-provider organization or through an out-of-network provision in his or her policy, said Christopher Hamrick, director of public relations for CTC. CTC can’t guarantee that it will help cancer patients survive longer than any other hospital can.
EASING THE PAIN
Bangkok Post, Thailand
In the modern world of today, where many health-conscious consumers prefer to be treated without the use of medication and where the popularity of traditional medicine is on the rise, Thai alternative medicine is being used to successfully treat migraines. Wipaporn Saysree, a specialist in Thai traditional medicine, said that in order to efficiently treat a chronic disorder such as a migraine, it is important to first understand its cause. “Thai alternative medicine believes that migraine is closely associated with a hypersensitive muscle called a trigger point. Therefore, in order to heal migraine, we need to heal the trigger point,” said Wipaporn. Wipaporn is an expert in applied Thai traditional medicine, which, she explained, applies scientific theories such as those about the human anatomy to Thai traditional medicine, including therapeutic massage. Trigger points, the therapist went on, are areas where one feels sharp pain when pressed. These points are, in other words, areas of muscle fibres that are permanently contracted and thus refer pain to nearby areas.