Studies and Progress Notes (Mar 2009)

* * * STUDIES and PROGRESS NOTES* * *        

* *  SPIRITUAL AWARENESS AND WHOLISTIC HEALING * *       

Therapeutic Touch affects bone cell formation and growth in cell culture     

"Our goal was to determine if Therapeutic  Touch (TT) has any effects on bone cells. Our initial studies with TT were focused on TT effects on cells in culture in our laboratory, so that we could eliminate the mindbody connection that is found in studies involving patients and practitioners, investigate the possible effects of TT on cells with controlled experiments that could be rigorously analyzed with statistics, and design experiments with the hope, in the future, of trying to determine what is the nature of the human biofield and if cell have receptors for this energy. Our studies were funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C."     

"Since these cells are bone forming cells, we assayed for mineralization by determining the calcium content of the cell layers. At three weeks of culture with and without TT treatment, the amount of calcium in the cell layer was determined biochemically using a commercially available kit. With 2 weeks of TT treatment, mineralization was significantly stimulated by 48% (p=0.002) in human osteoblasts compared to control human osteoblast cultures. However, TT significantly inhibited bone formation by 44% (p=0.004) in SaOs-2 cultures compared to controls. Experiments with a placebo control had no significant effect on mineralization and were similar to untreated control values."

"Our experiments are the first to demonstrate that Therapeutic Touch has an affect on human bone formation in culture. TT increased cell growth, expression of bone matrix proteins and mineralization of human osteoblast cultures. Conversely in the same experiments, we discovered that TT treatment of a human cancer cell line caused a significant decrease in osteoblast matrix synthesis and mineralization. In addition, TT stimulates the proliferation of other normal human cells, such as tenocytes and fibroblasts. Therefore, TT may promote healing by increasing the number of normal cells, and thus counteract and out-number unhealthy cells. These findings also suggest that experienced TT practitioners are able to affect cells in culture, that the practice of TT may be beneficial to patients, has scientific validity, and should be studied in more depth. We hope to continue our studies to understand which cell factors and molecules are affected by TT, and to look at more immediate changes in cell function that ultimately lead to increased cell numbers and bone formation."

Source: Jhaveri, Ankur et al. Therapeutic touch affects DNA synthesis and mineralization of human osteoblasts in culture, Journal of Orthopaedic Research 2008, 26(11), 1541-1546.
Summary from Gronowicz, Gloria. Therapeutic Touch affects osteoblast proliferation and bone formation in cell culture.  Cooperative Connection, Newsletter of the Nurse Healers-Professional Associates Intl., Inc. 2008.



IJHC – WHR Observations

Spiritual Healing has been reported anecdotally to enhance healing of bone fractures. This study shows that healing can increase the rate of bone cell formation, suggesting mechanisms to explain these effects.

**  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.

I know of no study of spiritual healing for fractures. This is a serious gap in the literature.

* *  WHOLISTIC APPROACHES * * 

BLIND AS A BAT!

Echo-location for navigation used by a blind boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBv79LKfMt4

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is astounding! It highlights the infinite capacity of the human organism to adapt to challenges.
Bats emit squeaks and use the echoes from these sounds as a means of navigation in the dark. It is fascinating to see that this is possible for humans. Who would have thought that 'blind as a bat' would be a good thing to be!

Psychological intervention confirmed to help people with breast cancer

Abstract 

Background:  The question of whether stress poses a risk for cancer progression has been difficult to answer. A randomized clinical trial tested the hypothesis that cancer patients coping with their recent diagnosis but receiving a psychologic intervention would have improved survival compared with patients who were only assessed.  
 
Methods:  A total of 227 patients who were surgically treated for regional breast cancer participated. Before beginning adjuvant cancer therapies, patients were assessed with psychologic and behavioral measures and had a health evaluation, and a 60-mL blood sample was drawn. Patients were randomized to Psychologic Intervention plus assessment or Assessment only study arms. The intervention was psychologist led; conducted in small groups; and included strategies to reduce stress, improve mood, alter health behaviors, and maintain adherence to cancer treatment and care. Earlier articles demonstrated that, compared with the Assessment arm, the Intervention arm improved across all of the latter secondary outcomes. Immunity was also enhanced.  
 
Results:  After a median of 11 years of follow-up, disease recurrence was reported to occur in 62 of 212 (29%) women and death was reported for 54 of 227 (24%) women. Using Cox proportional hazards analysis, multivariate comparison of survival was conducted. As predicted, patients in the Intervention arm were found to have a reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence (hazards ratio [HR] of 0.55; P = .034) and death from breast cancer (HR of 0.44; P = .016) compared with patients in the Assessment only arm. Follow-up analyses also demonstrated that Intervention patients had a reduced risk of death from all causes (HR of 0.51; P = .028).  
 
Conclusions: Psychologic interventions as delivered and studied here can improve survival.

American Cancer Society, CANCER; Published Online: November 17, 2008 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.23969); Print Issue Date: December 15, 2008.

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is a very helpful addition to the growing evidence that psychological shifts can alter for the better the physical regression/ progression of cancer.

 * *  COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES * * 

The Moss Reports on complementary treatments for cancer

The Moss Reports include a periodically updated library of detailed reports on 200+ varieties of cancer diagnoses. Although not a medical doctor, he is noted for his critical acumen and is listed in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in HealthCare, etc.
Moss is the author of such books as Antioxidants Against Cancer, Cancer Therapy, Questioning Chemotherapy, and The Cancer Industry, as well as the award-winning PBS documentary The Cancer War. He also wrote the first article on alternative medicine for The Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook and the first article on complementary cancer treatments for a medico-legal textbook, Courtroom Medicine: Cancer (Matthew Bender). He is co-editor of the first medical textbook in English on non-conventional treatments for cancer, Complementary Oncology (Thieme, 2005).
His articles and scientific communications have appeared in such journals as The Lancet, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the Journal of the American Medical Association, New Scientist, Anticancer Research, Genetic Engineering News, the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, and Integrative Cancer Therapies, of which he is Corresponding Editor. For years he has written the monthly "War on Cancer" column for the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. His op-ed "Patents Over Patients" appeared in the New York Times (4/07).
http://www.cancerdecisions.com/order.html

IJHC – WHR Observations

If anyone with cancer wants to know the non-medical options available, this is an excellent place to start.

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 * *

Ultracapacitors Get Real: Lightning Flashlights
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

We often debate whether technology will save us or whether we should rely on simpler tried and true methods. However, sometimes when something comes out of the labs that is so different, such an improvement, one thinks that perhaps the geeks in the white coats might actually pull it off. An example might be Lightning Flashlight, an ultracapacitor flashlight that recharges in 90 seconds, is good for fifty thousand power cycles, contains no heavy metals and is RoHS compliant. Essentially, it is a light for life.

TreeHugger has been waiting for EEstor's ultracap for years, complaining about their lack of transparency, while IVUS Energy Innovations has been developing its FlashPoint ultracap and happily writing about it, and is bringing it to market. At $169 it isn't cheap, but it is designed for police and fire use and is competitive in that market.

They don't have any issues about explaining how it works, either; one distributor, 5.11, even has a blog.


What are the differences between a battery and a ultracapacitor?

A battery stores energy through a chemical reaction. The flow of electrons (i.e. electricity) causes an oxidation/reduction reaction to occur between a metal and an electrolyte. This reaction effectively stores the electrical energy by forming a new compound. When energy is taken out of a battery, the chemical reaction goes the other direction. Of course since nothing is perfect, this process does not store 100% of the energy going in nor release 100% of the energy going out. Extreme temperatures dramatically effect this reaction resulting in poor battery performance. Also, this reaction gives off heat which increases the temperature of a battery resulting in low performance or reduced life. Every time this reaction takes place a battery looses its ability to transfer energy. After about 500 to 1000 cycles a typical battery needs to be replaced.

An ultracapacitor does not store energy through a chemical reaction. 
The electrons that enter into an ultracapacitor get stored in tiny pores that exist in the carbon material on each electrode. The carbon material is like a sponge storing electrons through millions of nooks and crannies. Because the electrons are not converted into a chemical compound, they are quickly stored, and there is very little degradation. In fact, an ultracapacitor can be cycled 50,000 times without losing more than about 20% of its original energy.

So they have working, available ultracaps, now let's see them wire a few of them together and run a car with them. IVUS Innovations via Dvice
Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/ultracapacitors-get-real.php

 
IJHC – WHR Observations

Batteries are bigtime polluters of the environment. It is great to see a battery that is environmental friendly, as well as rechargeable and long-lasting.

Internet-based rehabilitation for individuals with chronic pain and burnout II: A long-term follow-up

Abstract: This study is a long-term follow-up of a previously published study that used the internet in the rehabilitation of people on long-term sick leave owing to chronic pain and/or burnout. The follow-up was to assess the effects over time of this kind of rehabilitation. The goals of the first study were to improve the participants' health and work capacity. Sixty people were randomly assigned to either a treatment or a waiting-list group. A 20-week rehabilitation programme based on 19 films on different themes was supplemented with written material and a dialogue over the internet. Fifty participants, 25 in each group, were followed up for 1 year after programme completion. They were administered the same questionnaire (SF-36, HAD, Stress Barometer) that they had taken immediately before (pre) and after (post) the rehabilitation programme. No significant differences were found regarding stress and health between the treatment and waiting-list groups at the time of the 12-month follow-up. Significant group differences were, however, seen in work capacity (number of hours worked per week): 52% of the participants in the treatment group reported an increased work capacity, compared with only 13% in the waiting-list group (P=0.005). Rehabilitation of people on long-term sick leave, which is carried out over the internet seems to complement other rehabilitation programmes as well.
Source: Full text: http://www.intjrehabilres.com/pt/re/intjrr/abstract.00004356-200709000-00007.htm

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is a low-cost intervention, once it is posted on a website. At a time when healthcare costs are soaring to the point of unsustainable, more interventions of this sort seem warranted.

* *  ENVIRONMENT (HEALING OUR PLANET) * *  

Fall in population of tiny animals is a 'disaster'

Experts on invertebrates have expressed "profound shock" over a UK government report showing a decline in zooplankton of more than 70% since the 1960s.

These tiny animals are an important food for fish, mammals and crustaceans.

This could starve creatures all the way up the food chain, from sand eels to seabirds, which feed on plankton-eating fish.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7499834.stm

IJHC – WHR Observations

People tend to dismiss the importance of news items such as the above, because we aren't directly involved in plankton. Industries and governments continue to dump chemical wastes into rivers and ocean waters. Pollution of the rivers and seas must stop if life on this planet as we know it is to survive.

 * *  HUMAN ECOLOGY* * 

Paying people to stop smoking

Abstract

Background: Smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature death in the United States. Previous studies of financial incentives for smoking cessation in work settings have not shown that such incentives have significant effects on cessation rates, but these studies have had limited power, and the incentives used may have been insufficient.

Methods: We randomly assigned 878 employees of a multinational company based in the United States to receive information about smoking-cessation programs (442 employees) or to receive information about programs plus financial incentives (436 employees). The financial incentives were $100 for completion of a smoking-cessation program, $250 for cessation of smoking within 6 months after study enrollment, as confirmed by a biochemical test, and $400 for abstinence for an additional 6 months after the initial cessation, as confirmed by a biochemical test. Individual participants were stratified according to work site, heavy or nonheavy smoking, and income. The primary end point was smoking cessation 9 or 12 months after enrollment, depending on whether initial cessation was reported at 3 or 6 months. Secondary end points were smoking cessation within the first 6 months after enrollment and rates of participation in and completion of smoking-cessation programs.

Results: The incentive group had significantly higher rates of smoking cessation than did the information-only group 9 or 12 months after enrollment (14.7% vs. 5.0%, P<0.001) and 15 or 18 months after enrollment (9.4% vs. 3.6%, P<0.001). Incentive-group participants also had significantly higher rates of enrollment in a smoking-cessation program (15.4% vs. 5.4%, P<0.001), completion of a smoking-cessation program (10.8% vs. 2.5%, P<0.001), and smoking cessation within the first 6 months after enrollment (20.9% vs. 11.8%, P<0.001).

Conclusions: In this study of employees of one large company, financial incentives for smoking cessation significantly increased the rates of smoking cessation.
Source: Volpp, Kevin G. et al. A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation, New England J of Medicine 2009, 360(7), 699-709

 

IJHC – WHR Observations

This is a very different approach to helping people with addictions. Investment in preventive medicine has been recommended for decades, but little support for this has been found. Insurance companies may buy into such incentive programs if further research is published on this approach.