Studies and Progress Notes (Dec 2009)

* *  SPIRITUAL AWARENESS AND WHOLISTIC HEALING * *       

Healing Touch shortens hospital stay and decreases anxiety in cardiac bypass surgery     

This is a randomized controlled study of 237 cardiac patients who were scheduled for coronary artery bypass surgery. They were randomized to either one of three groups: the intervention group who received Healing Touch, or one of two control groups: standard care or standard care plus nurse visits. One control group received a visit by a nurse who either had a general conversation with the patient or sat quietly in the room. The second control group had standard care without Healing Touch or visit. The study had six outcome measures including length of stay, incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation, use of antiemetic (anti-nausea) medication, amount of narcotic pain medication, functional status and anxiety. There was no significant difference in the incidence of atrial fibrillation, use of medication, or functional status at the end of the study.  However, there were significant differences in a shorten length of stay for those in the Healing Touch group and a significant decrease in anxiety.  The decrease in anxiety was found in all subjects in the Healing Touch group.

Source: MacIntyre, B., Hamilton, J., Fricke, T. Ma W., Mehle, S., Michel, M. (2008). The efficacy of healing touch in coronary artery bypass surgery recovery: A randomized clinical trial.  Alternative Therapies in Healing and Medicine, July-August; 14(4), 24-32. (Summary of Diane Wardell)

IJHC – WHR Observations

This study stand in contrast with two other studies that showed no effects of healing in people undergoing cardiac catherization procedures. It is a challenge to understand why healing is effective in one study and not in another.

**  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.
 
Experimenter effects in healing research are prime candidates as explanations for differences between results in similar studies. It seems to me long overdue for journals to add this to their list of items required for acceptance of articles for publication.

* *  WHOLISTIC APPROACHES * * 

Pregnancy exercise 'helps baby'   

Aerobic exercise during pregnancy can be good for the developing baby as well as for the mother, research suggests.  

A team from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences suggest it is linked to better fetal heart health and nervous system development… They also wanted to see if fetuses whose mothers exercised had increased breathing movements compared to non-exercise exposed fetuses. Fetal breathing is a "practice" movement where a baby developing in the womb gets ready to breathe after it is born. It is also a sign of how well the respiratory system and central nervous system are developing.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8002560.stm

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is an interesting addition to the research literature accumulating in support of simple factors which may have health benefits. Further research is clearly needed to establish how long lasting such effects might be as the child grow up.

Pharmaceutical companies tempt medical students to accept free gifts and benefits

First annual survey and scorecard finds many schools lacking comprehensive policy. Only six U.S. medical schools are free of the influence of pharmaceutical companies, according to a new report.  A survey of medical school policies conducted by the American Medical Student Association gave the six schools an A grade for keeping pharmaceutical company representatives off campus and banning drug company gifts to students and doctors.

"An institution's ... policy is indicative of the ethical and practical foundation it can offer students," said Justin Sanders, a spokesman for the association, which is running the PharmFree campaign encouraging medical schools to eliminate the influence of pharmaceutical companies.

"Medical students want more and more to be 'PharmFree' and they are looking to their schools to move forward with them," Sanders said.

The six top-graded medical schools were at Stanford University, the University of California-Davis, the University of Michigan Medical School, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Vermont and Yale University.

Source: the American Medical Studeant Association (AMSA) 2007 PharmFree Scorecard is available as a downloadable PDF on the web at http://amsa.org/prof/scorecard07.pdf. For more information on AMSA, 
please visit their website: http://www.amsa.org.

IJHC – WHR Observations

The influence of pharmaceutical companies on doctors is a well-planned campaign. I remember myself how easy it was in medical school to be enticed to accept free gifts – ranging from inexpensive pens and annual calendars to stethoscopes, lunches and dinners, and sponsorships for student functions. This is certainly a habit to be discouraged. It is heartening to see student doctors alert to this nefarious, insidious corruption of morals – that escalates to payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars to individual medical researchers, an investment which bears enormous hidden fruits of findings that are favorable to the drug companies.

 * *  COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES * *  

Vitamin C and reduced stroke risk   

Vitamin C might be responsible for a lower risk of stroke observed in a new British study. Or it might have been a “marker” that indicates a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and all the other nutrients they contain. Either way, participants whose blood levels of “C” were highest proved less prone to strokes over the study’s duration than those whose levels were lowest.

Source: American Journal of Nutrition (Jan 2008).  Research cited in article: Plasma vitamin C concentrations predict risk of incident stroke over 10y in 20649 participants of the European prospective investigation into cancer
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/87/1/64  Reported in: DrWeil Weekly Bulletin (Jan 30, 2008)

IJHC – WHR Observations

Increasing evidence suggests Vitamin C has multiple health benefits. Is it not worth fighting for our rights to keep easy access to this and other vitamins and supplements? In Europe, the 'Codex' laws promoted by conventional medicine and pharmaceutical companies have prohibited sale of these nutraceuticals in higher, more effective doses and require medical prescriptions for their uses. Beware the same trends in North America and elsewhere in the world!

Antioxidants reduce risks of cataracts and macular degeneration

Two new studies show a diet-eye health relationship.  Eating the right vegetables, it now appears, may help to ward off some life-changing diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, conditions you might otherwise come eye to eye with as you get older.

Research cited in article:
Source: Dietary carotenoids, vitamins C and E, and risk of cataract in women, Archives of Ophthalmology (Jan 2008) http://archopht.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/126/1/102

Source: Dietary antioxidants and the long-term incidence of age-related macular degeneration, Ophthalmology (February 2008)
http://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/ophtha/article/S0161-6420(07)00474-5/abstract

Source: LA Times (Jan 21, 2008)
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-eye21jan21,1,3303301.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true

IJHC – WHR Observations

Investing in vegetables and vitamins in our diet appears to carry a very helpful return in our retirement years. This is a retirement investment that cannot be taken from us.

More CAM reviews at
www.naturalhealthvillage.com
www.mdlinx.com/FamilyMDLinx 
 www.ucalgary.ca/~camig/litsearch.html
AMSA website
www.amsa.org/humed/camresources/camnews.cfm

* * TECHNOLOGY * *

A drop of blood on a tiny chip could diagnose disease
The device uses the tendency of a fluid to travel through small channels under its own force, instead of using pumps.

The design is simpler, requires less blood be taken, and works more quickly than existing "lab on a chip" designs, the team report in Lab on a Chip.

Source: Microrheology with optical tweezers, Hichlights in Chemical Science, © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2009  http://www.rsc.org/delivery/_ArticleLinking/DisplayHTMLArticleforfree.cfm?JournalCode=LC&Year=2009&ManuscriptID=b907992k&Iss=17#fn1

BBC News  IJHC – WHR Observations
<http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/email/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8366405.stm

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is a major advance in speed and ease of diagnosing diseases. Its range, however, is far more limited as yet than that of medical intuition. It is doubtful this will ever reach

* *  ENVIRONMENT (HEALING OUR PLANET) * *

Solar Energy Jobs Initiative
by Michael Mellish, Consultant

"In February[2009], the U.S. Congress passed an ~$800 billion "Stimulus" package that the administration said would create 2 million new jobs, stimulate the economy and reduce the suffering of those who have already lost their jobs in this economic downturn. Critics say that the package has failed in all of these measures. Now what?

The goals established for the stimulus package represent the needs & hopes of the American people. If this first effort falls short, then perhaps it is time for simpler, more focused program. The majority of problems in America are solved when working Americans have jobs that allow them to pay their bills, receive employer supported health care and add value to the American economy.

The problems in America soar when unemployment rises and Americans can no longer pay their bills, loose their health care and become a drag upon the economy. So let us focus on programs that can create jobs starting in a matter of months, create sustained value for the economy and generally lift the spirits of Americans because they feel they are once more a part of a wholesome America.

I propose a Solar Energy Program that would accelerate the path of America's progression toward carbon free renewable energy. This program would target the conversion of America's commercial & industrial flat rooftops into distributed power generating stations.

The Solar Energy Program would have Congress set aside US $50 billion in no-interest 15-year loans for the construction of a slew of 250-kW rooftop power stations. The $50 billion would allocate US $1 billion to each of the 50 states who would administer the program (most states already have some sort of solar energy program so this avoids creating a new government agencies). Note that these are loans, not grants or giveaways.

The $1 billion should fund at least 1,000 250-kW rooftop installations in each state, creating 250 megawatts (MW) of solar power generating facilities in each state. This is equivalent to one-half of a typical coal-fired power plant so in total, the entire program would create the equivalent of 25 new coal-fired power plants. Consider this a serious down payment on carbon footprint reduction in the United States..."

Source: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2009/03/solar-energy-jobs-initiative

IJHC – WHR Observations

To expect a national government today to invest in renewable energies projects seems overly optimistic. Several state governments have been much more forward looking and proactive in initiating carbon sensitive programs. I would expect the sort of program proposed above (and more thoroughly analyzed at the source link) to be far more likely to succeed in selected states with greater openness to environmental issues.

Adversity sometimes brings unexpected benefits

Stradivarius violins have acquired a matchless reputation for tone and clarity. The unique sounds of a Stradivarius violin may come down to the density of the wood it is made from. Scientists say the patterns of the grain are markedly different from modern instruments. It is believed that the seasonal growth of trees in the early seventeenth century was affected by a mini-Ice Age.

Stradivarius had the benefit of wood that was produced in conditions that have not been repeated since then, the journal Plos One reports.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7484975.stm

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is certainly a thin benefit for what must have been a serious environmental challenge to many who lived through the cold spell four hundred years ago. One wonders, should there be human survivors of global heating, what helpful and healing lessons and benefits there may be…

* * HUMAN ECOLOGY * *

Diet foods for children may inadvertently lead to overeating and obesity

In tests on young rats, animals given low-calorie versions of foods were induced to overeat, whether they were lean or obese.

The researchers believe low-calorie versions of usually high-calorie foods disrupt the body's ability to use taste to regulate calorific intake. High calorie foods should be eaten in moderation

Source: Pierce WD, et al. Overeating by young obesity-prone and lean rats caused by tastes associated with low energy foods" Obesity 2007, 15:1969-1979.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6933686.stm

IJHC – WHR Observations

What comprises a healthy diet is an enormously complex issue, and every helpful measure is a blessing, as dealing with overeating is an enormous challenge.

Many of the contributing factors in obesity are stress related. WHEE – a new self-healing method – is an excellent aid in dealing with stress, cravings and other psychological factors contributing to obesity.