वैकल्पिक एवं एकीकृत चिकित्सा

Background: Naturopathic medicine (NM) is a holistic approach to primary care that almost always employs multi-modal interventions, i.e. nutrition and lifestyle change recommendations plus dietary supplements. While evidence supports individual elements of NM, the whole practice is often critiqued for its lack of evidence. Methods: We systematically searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and AMED from inception to April, 2012 as well as conducting hand searches of existing grey literature. For inclusion, studies had to report results from multi-modal treatment delivered by North American naturopathic doctors. The effect size for each study was calculated; no pooled analysis was undertaken. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias as well as Downs and Black tools. Results: Fifteen studies met inclusion criteria, investigating a range of chronic diseases of public health significance. Studies were of good quality and had low to medium risk of bias including acknowledged limitations of pragmatic trials. Effect sizes (Cohen's d ) for the primary medical outcomes varied and were statistically significant (p<0.05) in 10 out of 13 studies. A quality of life metric was included in all of the randomized controlled trials with medium effect size and statistical significance in some subscales. Conclusions: Previous reports about the lack of evidence or benefit of NM are inaccurate; a small but compelling body of research exists. Further investigation is warranted into the effectiveness of whole practice NM for across a range of health conditions. [PROSPERO 2012:CRD42012002176]

This research article describes a method for integrating stress reduction methods and skills into a university curriculum with the dual intention scientific literacy instruction and development of lifelong skills in biofeedback regulation and stress reduction. Twenty-one university students enrolled in a scientific literacy course were introduced to Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational objectives for higher order thinking processes, and subsequently encouraged to apply these higher cognitive levels of thinking to scientific method and scientific inquiry. Students and instructor designed a study, Pulse “As a Surrogate Marker for Biofeedback Regulation”, in which students became the study subjects. Students were instructed on taking pulse measurements and were assessed by instructor and by laboratory partner for skill in pulse measurement. In the second phase of this case-control study, students participated in a 50 minute guided image art therapy session. Each student acted as his/her case control, measuring pulse pre-art therapy to establish a baseline, and then measuring pulse post-art therapy session. Results revealed a clinically significant reduction in pulse in 19 of 21 student subjects. A clinically significant difference in pulse was set at greater than 5 beats per minute in difference of the mean comparison of pulse preand post-art therapy session. In conclusion, this exercise fulfilled the requirements of instruction in scientific inquiry, while offering students new mechanisms for controlling stress and regulating their individual biofeedback mechanisms. This model may serve as a template for instructional courses. The exercise was well received by students.

We perform the two-dimensional (2D) QSAR studies of a series of substituted 2-phenyl-benzimidazole analogues to elucidate the structural properties required inhibitors of IgE response. The 2D-QSAR studies were performed using three statistical methods: the multiple linear regressions, giving square of correlation coefficient r2=0.8386, cross validated squared correlation coefficient q2=0.7218 and predictable ability pred_r2=0.7525; Multiple linear regression (MLR). The results show that the proposed 2D-QSAR models are valid and that they can be applied to predict the activities of substituted 2-phenyl-benzimidazole inhibitors of IgE response.