Studies and Progress Notes (May 2007)
* * SPIRITUAL AWARENESS AND WHOLISTIC HEALING * *
Tapas Acupressure Technique and Qigong for weight loss
Abstract
Objective: Regain of weight after initial weight loss constitutes a major factor contributing to the escalating obesity epidemic. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility and clinical impact of two mind-body interventions for weight-loss maintenance.
Design: Randomized, balanced, controlled trial.
Setting: Large-group model health maintenance organization.
Participants: Overweight and obese adults were recruited to a 12-week behavioral weight-loss program. Participants meeting threshold weight loss and attendance requirements were eligible for randomization.
Interventions: The three weight-loss maintenance interventions were qigong (QI), Tapas Acupressure Technique® (TAT®) (registered trademark of Tapas Fleming, L.Ac.), and a self-directed support (SDS) group as an attention control.
Outcomes: The main outcome measure was weight loss maintenance at 24 weeks postrandomization. Patient interviews explored additional benefits of the interventions, as well as barriers and facilitators to compliance.
Results: Eighty-eight percent (88%) of randomized patients completed the study. There were no significant study-related adverse events. At 24 weeks, the TAT group maintained 1.2 kg more weight loss than the SDS group did (p = 0.09), and 2.8 kg more weight loss than the QI group did (p = 0.00), only regaining 0.1 kg. A separation test (0.05 level, 0.95 power) indicated that TAT merits further study. A secondary analysis revealed that participants reporting a previous history of recurrent unsuccessful weight loss were more likely to regain weight if assigned to the SDS arm, but this effect was suppressed in both the QI and TAT groups (p = 0.03). Although QI participants reported important general health benefits, the instruction sequence was too brief, given the complexity of the intervention.
Conclusions: TAT warrants further research for weight-loss maintenance. Any further research on qigong should use a modification of our protocol.
Source: Elder, Charles et al. Randomized Trial of Two Mind-Body Interventions for Weight-Loss Maintenance, J. Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2007, 13(1), 67 -78
IJHC – WHR Observations
Obesity is a challenging problem, often resistant to therapeutic interventions. It is helpful to know that TAT can be of benefit with weight loss. Long term follow up is important in assessing the benefits of any treatment method for obesity, because it is typically a chronic problem with recurrences. My own experience in helping people with weight loss is that there are often complex issues of self-image, self-esteem, and early psychological traumas that must be addressed. WHEE, the method I prefer, has also been helpful for obesity issues. It is the exception, rather than the rule, in my experience, for dieting alone to succeed as a treatment for obesity.
TAT is in the Energy Psychology family of therapies. It includes spiritual components, and is therefore included in this section of the eZine.
* * FUTURE RESEARCH IN WHOLISTIC HEALING * *
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Spiritual healing as an adjunct treatment for obesity
I have never seen a study of spiritual healing for obesity. While I would not recommend this as a primary treatment, due to the complexity of the psychological issues involved, I believe spiritual healing would provide a great boost as an ancillary treatment with psychotherapy, WHEE and other treatments – just as spiritual healing can be of benefit as an adjunct intervention with other problems, such as surgery, psychotherapy for various issues, and many other approaches.
* * WHOLISTIC APPROACHES * *
Electrophysiological measurements of a yogi master
“A Yogi master was psychophysiologically monitored while he pierced his neck and tongue with skewers to demonstrate control of pain and bleeding. Measurements included respiration rate (RR), heart rate (HR), diaphragmatic and thoracic breathing, electrodermal activity (EDA) [same measure as lie detector test] and electroencephalography (EEG)... The Yogi reported no pain during piercing and no bleeding was observed. In general he had elevated HR and low unresponsive EDA throughout the session. His respiration rate averaged 7 brpm during the slow breathing meditation prior to and following the piercing but elevated to approximately 25 breaths per minute during piercing. His EEG showed predominate alpha of 10 Hz during meditation. Alpha, sensory motor rhythm (SMR), and beta [brainwaves] elevated… during piercing with no change in delta or theta. Alpha and beta elevated at Fz during piercing with no change in SMR, delta or theta. While he stayed in alpha during the piercing, there was a broader range of alpha activatio... This demonstration suggests a finding of conscious self-regulation, as opposed to disassociation, for controlling attention and responsiveness to painful stimuli. It could be hypothesized that clients with chronic pain could be taught how to control pain suing the mind/body in a similar manner."
Source: Peper, Erik/ Wilson, Vietta Sue/ Kawakami, Mitsumasa/ Sata, Misa. The physiological correlates of body piercing by a Yoga master: Control of pain and bleeding, Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine 2003, 14(3), 223.
IJHC – WHR Observations
Each of us has vast self-healing potentials that are available to us but – for most of us – are outside our usual awareness. With advanced yoga practice, it is possible to activate these potentials. Similarly, there are instances of ordinary people who activate their self-healing potentials to deal with stress, injuries, and illnesses of all sorts. As we study people like this yoga practitioner, we may come to understand better how everyone might activate these healing potentials.
* * COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES * *
Overweight men are less likely to suicide
Body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) has been linked in various studies to either higher or lower rates of depression and risks of suicide attempts and deaths.
Methods: In a prospective cohort study of 46,755 men free of cancer enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, participants reported their height, weight, diet, and physical activity on repeated occasions beginning in 1986 and were followed up until death or until February 2002. A subsample of 1829 men reported their mental health–related quality of life with the Mental Component Summary Scale of the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey in 1998.
Results: A total of 131 men died from suicide during follow-up. A higher BMI was related to a graded decline in the suicide mortality rate, from 52 per 100, 000 person-years among men with a BMI of less than 21 to 13 per 100,000 among men with a BMI of 30 or higher (…p<.001). The relationship was consistent when baseline or updated measures of BMI were used and with adjustment for medical illness, dietary factors, antidepressant use, physical activity, or social support. Height and physical activity were not strongly associated with risk. Analyses of mental health–related quality of life showed a similar positive relationship with BMI.
Conclusions: Among men, risk of death from suicide is strongly inversely related to BMI, but not to height or to physical activity. Although obesity cannot be recommended on the basis of its detrimental physical effects, further research into the mechanisms of lower risk among overweight and obese men may provide insights into effective methods of suicide prevention.
www.archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/167/5/468
Source: Kenneth J. Mukamal, et al. Body mass index and risk of suicide among men, Archives of Internal Medicine 2007, 167, 468-475.
Body Mass Index and Risk of Suicide Among Men
IJHC – WHR Observations
The findings in this study are counter-intuitive. One might expect that low self-esteem would be associated with obesity and therefore predispose people to depression and suicide risk. It will be interesting to see further explorations of this factor. A possible explanation is that those who are obese engage in comfort eating, which helps to stave off depression, though it may be unhealthy in the long run.
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 * *
Plant-based fuel for cars
“Plant-based fuel could replace fossil fuels in your car.
In a bold claim that farm and forest waste products could be efficiently processed into fuels on a scale that would render fossil fuels unnecessary, Chemical Engineering Prof. Rakesh Agrawal says a "hydrogen-carbon based economy" is possible. The revelatory find comes in improving a process called gasification. Currently, biofuel is broken down into fuel via chemicals into carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen gases. Those are then taken and converted into liquid fuel. The new technique feeds hydrogen into the mix through electrolysis - splitting water molecules to supply the hydrogen. This takes the burden off of the biomass to do all the work, eliminates the escape of carbon dioxide, and improves the yield of the process three-fold. The method is dubbed the "hybrid hydrogen-carbon process." "Further research is needed to make this a large-scale reality," Agrawal says in a prepared statement, "to provide a sustainable fuel supply to meet the needs of the entire U.S. transportation sector - all cars, trucks, trains and airplanes." No new plants need to be grown and turned into fuel, adds Agrawal. The U.S. is estimated to have about 1.4 billion tons of biomass waste per year that could be used for fuel. www.discoverychannel.ca/reports/article.aspx?aid=308
IJHC – WHR Observations
Fossil fuels are a limited commodity and pollute the atmosphere. With global warming looming as a major ecological danger, we must do everything possible to reduce greenhouse gasses.
Increasingly, people are voicing their concerns about these factors. You can make a difference to this world by letting your congressperson know these issues are important to you. Here is a site that will give you the contact details for your elected representatives in government:
http://congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress/
* * ENVIRONMENT (HEALING OUR PLANET) * *
Outstanding green designs for homes
“The 7.83 Hz House: Green, Prefab, Reconfigurable
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 03.13.07
Design & Architecture (prefab)
Featured in the latest issue of Dwell, the "7.83 Hz" house was created by Simon Beames and Simon Dickens of the fledging London-based design house YOUMEHESHE. The firm was set-up to develop an innovative, potentially revolutionary design, which would make a carbon-neutral, eco-friendly, prefab house available to the mass market. Designed to be delivered on just two trucks, the prefab is assembled from precut, biodynamically grown wooden panels, which are doweled together onsite rather than glued. The house costs about $170,000 (this does not include land cost). It is constructed around a central core, through which service areas run and heat rises. The interior can be altered as families grow or shrink, with floors added to create new bedrooms.”
www.treehugger.com/files/2007/03/the_783_hz_hous.php
IJHC – WHR Observations
These homes are not only functional, they are aesthetically pleasing, too. We tend to think of ecological approaches in dealing with packaging and other items that reach the end of their usefulness in shorter time frames. Extending this mind-set to home construction is an added dimension to environmental friendliness.
* * HUMAN ECOLOGY* *
Court mandated treatments for mental health
“Special courts for mentally ill people that deal out treatment for non-serious crimes save taxpayers money, a new U.S. study says.
The study of the Allegheny County Mental Health Court in Pittsburgh showed that people received more mental-health services and spent fewer days in jail than they might have if they had been sentenced in the criminal court.
They also spent fewer days in jail than they spent related to a prior arrest, according to the study by the RAND Corporation for the Council of State Governments Research Center.
By the second year after sentencing by a mental-health court, taxpayers had recouped the cost of treatment, the study found.
The courts, which seek to get mentally ill defendants the disease and drug-dependence treatment they need, are an increasingly common phenomenon, the authors write. In 1997 there were only four such courts in the United States but there are now 120.
Advocates say the courts provide a more appropriate and cost-effective alternative for dealing with the 16 percent of people in jails who have a serious mental illness. "
Source: www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/
Study_Mental_health_courts_save_money/
20070301-053237-2808r/
IJHC – WHR Observations
Dealing with criminals in punitive manners is often less than productive in the long run. It may serve our sense of justice – based in a reasoned argument that punishments should deter criminal activities, but the fact is that being in jail is often an abusive experience that leads the abused to be more angry and to pass on the abuse through continued criminal activities.
Another factor that makes this approach attractive and successful is that the low self-esteem, negative self-image and other factors that accompany criminal mind-sets also predispose people to not pursue therapies that might be of help to them. Mandating treatments forces people to engage in therapies that can be supportive and transformative.
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