Biggest winner in CAM for 2008
Vitamin D, of course. A PubMed search revealed 146 studies in humans during 2008 for a dizzying list of conditions.
Biggest loser in CAM for 2008
Airborne. Unfortunately, the biggest losers are the people who were coned into taking a “health product” with insufficient supporting scientific...
Acupuncture for exercise-induced muscle soreness
 Patients with exercise-induced delayed-onset muscle soreness felt better after acupuncture, according to researchers at Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany.
Acupuncture for opiate-withdrawal symptoms
 Researchers from Peking University in China reviewed the use of acupuncture combined with opioid receptor agonists for treating opiate-withdrawal symptoms.
Frankincense and myrrh
 Laura Christman and Deb Peterson have written interesting articles on these resins, which became forever famous more than 2 centuries...
Mistletoe and cancer treatment
Mistletoe preparations are sometimes used as CAM to treat solid cancers such as breast cancer. Here are statistics on the...
Mistletoe
Not to be a scrooge, but at this time of the year it’s worthwhile to review the safety of mistletoe.
Caution taking fish oil supplements in people with implantable defibrillators
A group of Canadian researchers reviewed the medical literature on this topic. Not all patents benefit from omega-3 fatty acids.
Consumer Alert: More tainted weight loss products
 Some of the weight loss products listed below claim to be “natural†or to contain only “herbal†ingredients. The FDA...
BreastfeedingCalciumCancerDiabetes MellitusInfantsInfectionMultiple SclerosisRheumatoid DiseasesVitamin D
Update on vitamin D
Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston have published a detailed review. Their interest relates to the...
Creatine supplementation in healthy young adults
 It reportedly improves certain aspects of cognitive (reasoning) and psychomotor function in older individuals and in young people following sleep...
New recommendations to treat IBS
 The American College of Gastroenterology has published new guidelines for the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Let’s focus on...
Prof. Ernst’s negative view of chiropractic
This review by Professor Edzard Ernst from the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth in the UK is an outspoken negative...
Glucosamine sulfate on hip osteoarthritis
After 2 years of treatment, glucosamine sulfate had no effect on the symptoms and the progression of hip osteoarthritis, according...
Hip protectors fail to protect the elderly from fracture
That’s the finding from a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Douglas Kiel of Hebrew...
Using zinc to treat diarrhea
Giving zinc tablets reduces the duration and severity of diarrhea in children, according to researchers from the Medical College of...
Evaluating the role for omega 3 to treat Crohn’s disease
Here’s what the Cochrane Review reports.
Which is more important: fitness or fatness?
 Researchers studied the relationship among fitness, adiposity, and mortality in older adults.
CAM benefits in cancer patients
Dr. Brent Bauer (photo) who practices in the Division of General Internal Medicine and is Director of the Complementary and...
Soy isoflavones in the elderly
 The benefits of isoflavone depend on converting soy foods and supplements to biologically active compounds such as equol, which occurs...