Studies and Progress Notes (August 2006)

Spiritual Awareness and Wholistic Healing

Therapeutic Touch for chemical dependency in pregnant women
Chemical dependency is known to complicate about 3.8% of pregnancies in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In this study, 54 English-speaking, hospitalized women were randomly assigned to receive either (a) daily Therapeutic Touch over a 7-day period for 20 minutes each day, (b) shared activity with a registered nurse for 20 minutes over a 7-day period, or (c) standard ward care. Anxiety was measured using Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Withdrawal symptoms were measured using a standardized Symptom Checklist. Anxiety scores were significantly less on Days 1, 2, and 3 (p<.05) for the group receiving Therapeutic Touch. Therapeutic Touch may be of value as an adjunctive measure in the treatment of chemical dependency among pregnant women.
Source: Larden CN/ Palmer ML, Janssen P, Efficacy of therapeutic touch in treating pregnant inpatients who have a chemical dependency, J Holist Nurs., 2004, 22(4), 320-32.
British Columbia Women's Hospital, British Columbia, Canada.

IJHC - WHR Observations
    Withdrawal symptoms make it difficult for people to overcome addictions. It is helpful to see that TT can aid in reducing anxiety during withdrawal -- particularly in pregnancy, where the baby is at risk as well as the mother.

---

Future Research in Wholistic Healing

The IJHC/WHR E-Zine features monthly suggestions for future research in healing.

READERS ARE INVITED TO SUBMIT SUGGESTIONS FOR TOPICS TO STUDY.

If your topic is chosen, you ill receive free access to the IJHC for a month, including the current issue and all back issues.

Spiritual healing for healing one's own stress and pain
    Spiritual healing is most often a therapist-administered modality. Therapeutic Touch (TT) is sometimes taught to people with illness as a self-healing technique. Numbers of healers have told me of incidents in which they used healing for traumatic injuries with excellent results.
    It seems likely that various forms of spiritual healing could readily be employed for self-healing for stress and other problems.

---

Wholistic Approaches

Vaccine for cervical cancer
    "There are several strong candidates for the first ever genetically engineered cervical cancer vaccine, according to scientists participating. . . in a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting on the current status of development of prophylactic vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. If successful, this vaccine will be the second vaccine against a major human cancer (the other being hepatitis B vaccine which prevents primary liver cancer).
    Cervical cancer is the second most important cancer in women after breast cancer. Approximately 500,000 new cases are identified each year. Mortality is very high -- nearly 300,000 deaths annually, with 80% of them in developing countries.
    There is a huge discrepancy between incidence in developed and developing countries largely due to the availability of screening and treatment facilities in industrialized countries. The proportion of cancers in women attributable to HPV as a whole ranges from 3% to 5% in North America and Western Europe but in Latin America, South-west Asia and sub-Saharan Africa it reaches 20-24%.
    Cervical cancer is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the human papillomavirus. Infection with HPV usually occurs in the early years of sexual activity but it takes up to twenty years for it to develop into a full blown malignant tumour. Scientists believe that essentially all cervical cancer is caused by infection with a few types of HPV."

Source: Press Release WHO/13
http://www.who.int/inf-pr-1999/en/pr99-13.html

IJHC - WHR Observations
    A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer would be a boon to the world.
    With all our saving of lives, however, we must ask what we are doing to counterbalance the larger numbers of people on the planet. . .

---

Complementary Therapies

Study shows that acne can be triggered and worsened by stress
    ". . . College students with acne were vulnerable to a worsening of their condition during examination periods.
    Acne vulgaris is the most common skin disease treated by dermatologists - affecting an estimated 85% of the population at some time in their lives.
    However, although the condition is so widespread, there is still considerable uncertainty about which factors cause, or exacerbate it. . .
    The link remained even after other factors such as changes in sleep hours, sleep quality, diet, and number of meals per day were taken into account. . .
    Research has also found that stress may exacerbate the symptoms of other skin diseases, such as psoriasis, alopecia areata and atopic dermatitis." 
http://toronto.fashion-monitor.com/news.php/beauty/2006060505Acne

IJHC - WHR Observations
    Not only is this good news in terms of our understanding of one of the contributing factors to acne, but it is also good news in terms of many treatment modalities that may help prevent and treat acne. There is a report of acne improving with emotional freedom technique www.emofree.com/articles2/acne-color-blindness.htm

NAPRALERT Database now available online
The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has announced the availability of its highly respected NAPRALERT database (on herbs and medicinal plant research) on the Internet effective April 26. The site is available at: www.napralert.org 

More CAM reviews at:
www.naturalhealthvillage.com
www.mdlinx.com/FamilyMDLinx  
www.chiro.org/alt_med_abstracts/#David_M_Eisenberg
www.ucalgary.ca/~camig/litsearch.html
www.amsa.org/humed/camresources/camnews.cfm

---

Environment (Healing Our Planet)

Full cemeteries lead to alternative burial practices
     "Weekend Edition Sunday, June 4, 2006 · What happens when there is no more earth to sell at the cemetery to pay for the cemetery? It's a problem across the nation. The city of Sonoma, Calif., recently voted to build a new mausoleum to stack caskets and burial urns. Meanwhile, a private cemetery in a neighboring town is offering environmentally correct green burials: no headstones, and hand-held global positioning devices to find loved ones on hillsides restored with native plants."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5450430

IJHC - WHR Observations:
    Not only are we challenged to deal with overpopulation of the living, but we are now having difficulties with the overpopulation of the dead.

Maintaining A Healthy Organic Lawn
     There's  no need to water more than an inch per week. Over-watering  is unhealthy for lawns and invites lawn disease. Placing a tuna can under the sprinkler will help gauge water depth.  Water early in the morning to avoid excessive evaporation  from midday sun.

- Taller grass has deeper roots, causing the plants to need  less watering. Set mower height to 3 inches and cut grass  when it reaches 4.5 inches.

- Sharpen  mower blades. Dull blades harm grass blades, inviting disease.

- Return  grass clippings to the lawn. Grass mulching decreases weeds  up to 60% and is a natural fertilizer.

- Avoid  cheap grass seed, as it typically has weed seeds mixed in.  Get good quality perennial rye and fescue seeds.

- Each  time you mow, try alternating your pattern and path. This  prevents the soil from compacting. 

- Soil  biota helps provide a stable healthy lawn. If your lawn has  been treated chemically, it will take a couple of years for  the soil microorganisms to rebuild.

Source: ORGANIC  BYTES #84 Health, Justice and Sustainability News Tidbits with an Edge!
6/15/2006
  Subscribe  to this Bi-weekly Email Newsletter:  www.organicconsumers.org/organicbytes.htm www.alerts.organicconsumers.org/trk/click?ref=zqtbkk3um_0-1ex345x352014&
 Written  and edited by Craig Minowa and Ronnie Cummins   

IJHC -- WHR Observations
    Simplicity!

---

Technology

Video games for healing
     "Virtual Iraq," allows war zone veterans to replay war scenes in a video environment where they can be in control, stop the game at any time, and -- in essence -- desensitize themselves to war scenes and situations.
    "Some of the games in development are designed to improve cognitive functioning in the aging brain, boost motor skills in stroke victims and focus the attention of brain-injured kids or those diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
    Other games use interactive scenarios to walk nurses, trauma physicians and medics through real-life situations including battleground medicine; educate children and adults on diseases and conditions such as diabetes, cancer, leukemia and HIV; and help kids relax before surgery.
    Although few, if any, of these games will ever be available at the neighborhood superstore, they hold enough therapeutic promise to attract support from such diverse institutions as the U.S. Army and Navy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars."
    Other applications: improving focus in ADHD; Physical therapy -- developing fine motor muscle skills through computer interface technology; Public health -- dealing with challenges through 'sym world' type games.

Source: Healing games: Therapy and entertainment go hand in hand
By Janet Cromley, Los Angeles Times http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/living/14772898.htm
Sunday, Jun 11, 2006

IJHC - WHR Observations
    It is lovely to see video games used for healing purposes -- in contrast with their all too often use as chewing gum for the mind or as cheap baby sitters for children.

---

Human Ecology

Wal-Mart to offer organic foods
    This is likely to be a mixed blessing. The good news: this will popularize the awareness of organic foods and make them more readily available. The bad news: Wal-Mart's consistent strategies of cutting corners to obtain low wholesale prices is likely to put pressure on growers that may be difficult to resist. Some of the corners that may be cut are those that define organic foods as containing no pesticides or additives. With pressures to mass produce large quantities of organic foods, Wal-Mart may also pressure legislators into redefining 'organic' in ways that are financially advantageous but not healthy.

Source: New York Times Magazine 6/4/06, p. 15, 16, 18, 20.

IJHC - WHR Observations
    The challenge will be for alert consumers to resist legislative changes and vote with their feet and dollars for truly organic foods.