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Integrative Medical News Update

This week we feature a round up of integrative medical news published in the last 30 days. Prebiotics Support Beneficial REM Sleep and Reduced Stress Response Emergency Room Doctors Warn of “natural cures” that promote high-concentration peroxide cleanses. Lianhuaqingwen’s antiviral activity and immunomodulatory effects discovered on viral influenza infections.  Read

Integrative Psychiatry Effective but Overlooked for Cancer Patients

Nearly three-quarters of cancer patients who have major depression are not currently receiving treatment for depression, and that a new integrated treatment programme is strikingly more effective at reducing depression and improving quality of life than current care, according to three papers published in The Lancet Psychiatry, The Lancet, and The Lancet Oncology. Lead author Professor Michael Sharpe from the University of Oxford in the UK, says “The huge benefit that DCPC delivers for patients with cancer and depression shows what we can achieve for patients if we take as much care with the treatment of their depression as we do with the treatment of their cancer.” By M Sharpe, et al., published in the Lancet and Lancet Oncology, Aug. 2014.

Drop Diastolic & Systolic Blood Pressure with Yoga

Drop Diastolic and Systolic Blood Pressure with Yoga

Lifestyle modification is a cornerstone of hypertension (HPT) treatment, yet most recommendations currently focus on diet and exercise and do not consider stress reduction strategies. Yoga is a spiritual path that may reduce blood pressure (BP) through reducing stress, increasing parasympathetic activation, and altering baroreceptor sensitivity; however, despite reviews on yoga and cardiovascular disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and anxiety that suggest yoga may reduce BP, no comprehensive review has yet focused on yoga and HPT. By Anupama Tyagi, MA, PhD(c) and Marc Cohen MBBS(Hons), PhD, BMedSc(Hons), FAMAC, FICAE, published Alternative Therapies in Health Medicine, Vol. 20, No. 10.

Insight-motivated Learning: Improve Adherence for Treating Chronic Health Conditions

Why do patients resist prescriptive actions? Clearly their reasons are complex, reflecting intentional as well as nonintentional factors. Behavioral research suggests that people fail to follow prescriptive actions when they do not understand potential benefits, when they do not believe they can change, or when they lack an effective plan and reliable social support. Patients may feel uncomfortable about clinicians’ recommendations because they
do not feel understood or they feel they do not have the time or energy to make the necessary lifestyle changes due to recurrent work-family daily pressures. This report addresses a novel means to improve patient compliance, called Insight-Motivated Learning.

Massage Increases Oxytocin, Reduces Adrenocorticotropin

Human beings are highly social creatures who often touch each other during social interactions. Although the physiologic effects of touch are not understood fully, it appears to sustain social bonds and to increase cooperative behaviors. Oxytocin (OT) is a hormone known to facilitate social bonding, and touch may affect OT release. Previous studies seeking to relate massage and oxytocin in humans have been inconsistent in their findings.

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