Study examines alternative practices popular Today by Trine Tsouderos  Posted: 2:00 AM December 15, 2011

CHICAGO — thanks to a $374,000 taxpayer-funded grant, we now know that inhaling lemon and lavender scents doesn’t do a lot for our ability to heal a wound. With $666,000 in federal research money, scientists examined whether distant prayer could heal AIDS. It could not.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine also helped pay scientists to study whether squirting brewed coffee into someone’s intestines can help treat pancreatic cancer (a $406,000 grant) and whether massage makes people with advanced cancer feel better ($1.25 million). the coffee enemas did not help. the massage did.

NCCAM also has invested in studies of various forms of energy healing, including one based on the ideas of a self-described “healer, clairvoyant and medicine woman” who says her children inspired her to learn to read auras. the cost for that was $104,000.

A small, little-known branch of the National Institutes of Health, NCCAM was launched a dozen years ago to study alternative treatments used by the public but not accepted by mainstream medicine. Since its birth, the center has spent $1.4 billion, most of it on research.

A Chicago Tribune examination of hundreds of NCCAM grants, dozens of scientific papers, 12 years of NCCAM documents and advisory council meeting minutes found that the center has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on studies with questionable grounding in science. the cancer treatment involving coffee enemas was based on an idea from the early 1900s, and patients who chose to undergo the risky regimen lived an average of just four months.

The spending comes as competition for public research money is fierce and expected to get fiercer, with funding for the NIH expected to plateau and even drop in coming years.

“Some of these treatments were just distinctly made up out of people’s imaginations,” said Dr. Wallace Sampson, clinical professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University. “We don’t take public money and invest it in projects that are just made up out of people’s imaginations.”

“Lots of good science and good scientists are going unfunded,” said Dr. David Gorski, a breast cancer researcher at Wayne State University, who has been a vocal critic of NCCAM. “How can we justify wasting money on something like this when there are so many other things that are much more plausible and much more likely to result in real benefit?”

The director of the center and other advocates say it is worthwhile to use taxpayer dollars to study certain alternative treatments.

“They deserve scientific attention,” said NCCAM Director Dr. Josephine Briggs, who noted that the center’s $128 million annual allotment amounts to less than half a percent of the total NIH budget.

Briggs, a respected NIH researcher and physician who has headed NCCAM for nearly four years, said in an interview that she is dedicated to evidence-based medicine and that the center, under her leadership, is committed to rigorous scientific studies.

The center’s recently adopted strategic plan focuses on studies of supplements and other natural products along with the effect of “mind and body” therapies like yoga, massage and acupuncture on pain and other symptoms. In fiscal years 2008-2011, NCCAM funded more than $140 million in grants involving mind and body therapies, including $33 million for pain research in fiscal 2011.

The new strategic plan “reflects real change or an evolution in our mission,” Briggs said. “We are not your grandmother’s NCCAM.”

Studies of energy healing or distant prayer likely would not get funded by NCCAM today, she said.

Yet many mind and body treatments that are being studied, like qigong and acupuncture, also involve the purported manipulation of a universal energy or life force, sometimes called qi — metaphysical concepts unproved by science and incompatible with our modern understanding of how the body works.

In an email, Briggs wrote that it isn’t necessary to invoke qi or other ancient concepts to study therapies that may benefit people with chronic pain, a significant health problem.

NCCAM’s continuing interest in acupuncture comes even though many of its studies have found that acupuncture and similar therapies work no better than a sham treatment at easing symptoms like pain and fatigue.

To most scientists, that would mean the treatments are failures — drug companies cannot sell medicines that work no better than salt water or a sugar pill. but in the case of acupuncture and other mind and body medicine, the center and its supporters say it’s unclear whether the benefits represent a placebo response or something more complicated.

Critics of the center say it’s telling that NCCAM was conceived not by scientists clamoring to study alternative medicine, but by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a member of the powerful Senate subcommittee that helps oversee the NIH budget.

In a 1998 speech, Harkin described watching acupuncture and acupressure ease the pain and violent hiccups of a brother dying of thyroid cancer.

“These are things I have seen with my own eyes,” said Harkin, who also lost three other siblings to cancer. “When I see things like this I ask, ‘Why? why aren’t these things being researched?’ “

A few months later, NCCAM was created through a dozen or so paragraphs added to a budget bill.

The center’s main mission was clear: Study alternative therapies and how they could be integrated into conventional treatment.

Because of its origins and purpose, NCCAM has a duality not often found in scientific institutions.

“They are serving two very different masters,” said Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania. “At the end of the day, they don’t want to turn themselves into ‘the institute for showing complementary and alternative medicine is bogus.’ Then no one will support them who is pro-complementary and alternative medicine.”

Briggs said she has not been subjected to any political pressure in her tenure.

Americans spend about $34 billion each year out of pocket on complementary and alternative therapies, according to a national survey conducted in 2007 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The survey found that about 40 percent of American adults reported using some sort of alternative treatment in the previous year. Mostly they reported taking supplements; practicing deep breathing exercises; going to a chiropractor or osteopath for spinal manipulation; meditating; or getting massages.

Finding out through well-designed scientific studies whether these treatments work is a valuable service, said neurologist Dr. Steven DeKosky, who sits on the NCCAM advisory council and is dean of the University of Virginia medical school.

“I don’t know who else would do that other than NCCAM,” he said.

DeKosky headed a $36.5 million study, including $25 million from NCCAM, on ginkgo biloba, a popular supplement taken as a defense against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. DeKosky’s study concluded that it did not lower the overall incidence rate of either condition in elderly people who were normal or already had mild cognitive impairment.

The Tribune found that when studying dietary supplements like ginkgo biloba, NCCAM evaluates the results in a way that is accepted within the medical research community.

It’s well known that people who receive any treatment, even if it is inert or useless, are likely to report that it makes them feel better. because scientists don’t want to mistake that boost for a real treatment effect, well-designed clinical trials give some volunteers the real therapy and some a fake version of it, then compare the two groups.

NCCAM considers studies finding that a supplement does no better than a placebo to be evidence that it does not work.

In an interview with the Tribune, NCCAM director Briggs cited a recent study of the fruit extract of the saw palmetto plant, which found that men who had difficulty urinating because of enlarged prostates reported relief from both the saw palmetto and the fake supplement.

Briggs described the study as one that came back “very convincingly negative” because “it did not demonstrate any benefit over placebo.”

But when looking into “mind and body” medicine, NCCAM often argues that a treatment is valuable if patients report that it helped them, even if others receiving a sham treatment said the same. According to Briggs, “most in the mind and body area have actually shown impact.”

For example, the center has spent millions of dollars on studies of acupuncture, in which tiny needles are inserted shallowly into the body. NCCAM’s website states that the “vital energy” called qi “can be unblocked, according to (traditional Chinese medicine), by using acupuncture at certain points on the body.”

Many studies, including those funded by NCCAM, find that true acupuncture performs no better than when a person is fooled into thinking he is getting acupuncture through the use of placebos like retractable needles or even toothpicks twirled on the skin.

People often report feeling less pain or less fatigued regardless of whether they receive real or fake acupuncture, suggesting a placebo effect at work. “I totally agree, in the broadest sense, that it is an effect of context and expectation and hope on pain,” Briggs said.

And yet, instead of declaring these studies convincingly negative, NCCAM is pouring more research money into acupuncture.

“The intellectual dishonesty is just astounding,” said Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale School of Medicine and a critic of NCCAM. “They are just quietly changing the question and the rules.”

Acupuncture researcher Dr. Brian Berman, principal investigator for $24 million in NCCAM grants since 1999, wrote in a paper published in the new England Journal of Medicine that a 2008 analysis of acupuncture studies involving 6,000 patients with lower back pain found no significant difference between true acupuncture and sham acupuncture, though both did better than usual care.

Berman, founder of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, recommended in the paper that a hypothetical person with lower back pain who had not responded to standard medical treatments should receive 10 to 12 acupuncture treatments in addition to usual care. That series of sessions could cost hundreds of dollars.

In an email, Berman wrote that he based his recommendation on evidence that acupuncture is relatively safe and helps people. It’s unclear, he said, why true acupuncture and sham acupuncture may produce similar effects.

Both Berman and Briggs said it is difficult to design trials of complex therapies like acupuncture.

“It is generally impossible to isolate a single element,” Briggs wrote in an email. “A sham control in a mind-and-body study could easily miss answering the most important question of whether the patient experiences benefit (e.g., relief of pain) from the procedure as a whole.”

Physicians who work with patients in pain say they welcome any new tools, especially ones without side effects of narcotics. if that means offering a treatment that may be a placebo, so be it.

“We have lots of people out there with a problem that isn’t being addressed with conventional approaches,” said Seattle researcher Dr. Daniel Cherkin, who also sits on the NCCAM advisory council. “What do we do with those people? to say we shouldn’t do these things because it is a placebo denies them something safe and available and works. What do we replace that with?”

Critics respond that it’s not right to charge people hundreds or thousands of dollars for treatments that amount to nothing more than an elaborate placebo without telling them so.

“There is another side of the coin. It is essentially deluding somebody,” said Sampson of Stanford. “In other parts of our social life, it is a crime.”

———

In fiscal years 2002 and 2003, NCCAM helped fund a study with the National Cancer Institute of an arduous regimen for pancreatic cancer that is best known for frequent “detoxifying” coffee enemas. the study was troubled from beginning to end.

The research design pitted standard chemotherapy against a regimen developed by Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, a new York City physician. In the study, volunteers on the Gonzalez protocol were to take dozens of supplements each day, including between 69 and 81 capsules of pancreatic enzymes; undergo twice-daily coffee enemas; maintain a strict diet; and engage in other “detoxifying” activities like “skin brushing.”

There was little scientific evidence to suggest all of this would work other than a paper Gonzalez published in 1999 on a pilot study of 11 pancreatic cancer patients. Five were reported to have lived at least two years, a long time for pancreatic cancer, which usually kills swiftly.

The hypothesis behind his treatment — that pancreatic enzymes are the body’s primary defense against cancer and can be used to fight it — is based on an unproven idea from the early 1900s.

“We have learned a lot since 1906 about cell transformation and how these cells change,” said Dr. Mary Mulcahy, a gastroenterology medical oncologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Meanwhile, one of the protocol’s components — coffee enemas — has been linked to infections and electrolyte imbalances that can be fatal.

Despite the risks and the lack of evidence that the regimen would help patients, the taxpayer-funded study enrolled 55 volunteers with pancreatic cancer. As the project continued, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the federal Office of Human Research Protections identified problems, including issues with the subjects’ consent.

Researchers published their dramatic results in 2010 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. Patients receiving standard chemotherapy had lived an average of 14 months. the Gonzalez patients lived an average of four months, and were in significantly more pain.

But some experts questioned the study’s findings, saying it lacked a clear question and had a flawed design. for example, the volunteers were allowed to pick whether they received chemotherapy or the other regimen. Originally, they were to be randomly assigned to a group, but few patients were willing to volunteer under those conditions.

Gonzalez is a critic of the project, calling it a disaster. Gonzalez, who participated in the study but didn’t run it, argues that the patients in his group were sicker than those receiving chemotherapy.

“It was a waste of taxpayers’ money and 10 years of our lives,” Gonzalez said. “It served no one and nothing.”

Dr. John Chabot, professor of clinical surgery at Columbia University, led the study and said it was worthwhile. “Identifying treatments that don’t work remains valuable,” he said.

As for Gonzalez’s criticism, Chabot said: “Dr. Gonzalez was an active participant and strong advocate of the study until the data started to come through and begin to direct us toward a conclusion.”

NCCAM’s Briggs declined to talk about the study, calling it “even more ancient history” and a study that would have little chance at receiving funding from her center today. “I think our advisory council would have lots of concerns,” she said. NCCAM’s website contains barely any mention of it beyond a link to the paper and links to the National Cancer Institute website, which provides more information.

Today, patients continue to stream in to see Gonzalez about his cancer treatment. In the end, the study changed few minds and put volunteers at risk for little benefit to them or to the greater good — at a cost to taxpayers of $1.4 million, with $406,000 coming from NCCAM.

Critics of NCCAM say the project demonstrates how difficult it can be to study complementary and alternative medicine, and that precious research dollars could be better spent elsewhere.

“We have to be good stewards of public money for science,” said Gorski, the cancer researcher. “I don’t view NCCAM as being a good steward of our public money at the moment. Even if they are doing rigorous science, they are still looking at incredibly implausible things.”

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This is turning out to be one of the worst springs ever for Americans who suffer from allergies.

But for those who’d prefer to avoid drugs in seeking relief from their sniffles, itchy eyes and other symptoms, Dr. Vincent Pedre had some suggestions on “The Early Show” Friday.

Pedre, founder of Pedre Integrative Health, pointed to seven drug-free alternative treatments:

Fighting the good fight against allergies

HONEY

The theory behind honey is that if you eat local honey from bees that live in your area, the nectar created by the flowers that they draw from has pollen grains in it that are local to your area. Taking a spoonful of this about one month before spring starts is almost like a natural form of homeopathy, in which you’re being exposed to tiny amounts of the allergen, which helps you become resistant to it. new York City recently approved beekeeping, and one brand, called Hi-Rise Hive, is sold at local health food stores. The theory hasn’t been proven by a double blind study yet, but as long as you don’t give honey to a child under a year old, it’s a safe remedy and it won’t do any harm to try it.

VITAMIN C TAKEN WITH QUERCETIN

Vitamin C taken with Quercetin works in unison to stabilize mast cells. Mast cells are tiny cells that line your nasal passages and go down into your lungs. Basically, when a mast cell is exposed to a pollen grain that you’re sensitive to, it releases histamine and causes the symptoms typical to allergies. by stabilizing the mast cell, you reduce its activity so it doesn’t release histamine as easily as it would have. You can take Vitamin C and Quercetin several times a day when you find you’re having symptoms, since you can’t overdose on either, because they’re water soluble, and any amount that you don’t digest will be released in your urine. Vitamin C and Quercetin are sold as a combo at health food stores.

STINGING NETTLE WEED

If you’ve ever come in contact with this perennial, you probably remember the sting. It has an acid at the edge of pointy leaves, and the acid stays on your skin. but, it’s safe and healthy in drink form. Steep the tea for 10 to 15 minutes to obtain the full benefits of the medicinal oils. The oil from the leaves has an antihistamine effect and tends to dry up the mucous membranes.

INHALING STEAM WITH ESSENTIAL OILS

If you inhale steam with certain essential oils, you can breathe easily — quickly. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan, turn off the heat and add 4 drops of eucalyptus oil, 1 to 2 drops of tea tree oil and three drops of rosemary essential oil. The eucalyptus oil opens up your airway. The tee tree oil has antimicrobial properties that align with the rosemary. The effect won’t last for several hours, but it can provide immediate relief.

ACUPUNCTURE

It can be effective for this purpose. Acupuncture works by putting a needle into what is called an acupuncture point, a pressure point. by pointing the needle there, it creates signaling to your nervous system to alter what’s happening in your body at the moment. Endorphins are released, local anti-inflammatories are released, and it can reduce inflammation.

CHECK YOUR DIET

The type of medicine I practice realizes that, while your body reacts to external allergens, the underlying cause may be certain foods that can increase your level of reaction. So, my first piece of advice is to begin with a non-allergenic diet. For example, for a lot of people, dairy causes them to create more mucous. If you’re having dairy on a regular basis, and it’s spring and you’re a person who’s already sensitized to pollen, you’re more likely to develop mucous buildup and congestion in your sinuses that can lead to a sinus infection. The same thing goes for sugar. It can increase mucous production and inhibits white cell activity. Wheat is another thing to which 10 percent of Americans are sensitive and don’t even know it because it doesn’t have a sudden onset. Rather, it’s a gradual reaction. The only way to know if you’re allergic is to take wheat out of your diet and see how you feel in two or three weeks. some of my patients report a general sense of well-being and more energy. A lot of women report constipation goes away after they remove wheat from the diet. This treatment is the most powerful one on the list, because it’s for treating the underlying cause of allergies. The remaining remedies are for treating symptoms. The thing to bear in mind is that there’s no instant gratification with this, since it can take several weeks before you see results.

NETI POTS

Neti pots have been used since ancient times in India to clear nasal passages. using one, or a saline nasal rinse such as Sinucleanse, is a great way to help reduce allergy symptoms. You use a salt solution that, at room temperature, is bactiostatic (antibacterial). When you’re leaning forward and putting the neti pot in one nostril and tipping over, it runs through your nasal passage and out the other nostril, washing out any pollen grains that are stuck to your mucous membranes. You’re reducing your exposure and reducing the activity of your mast cells and your immune system. It also helps with congestion and with mucous buildup.

More Malaysians are turning to osteopathy to relieve numerous health problems. KASMIAH MUSTAPHA finds out more about this alternative treatment

IT may not be as familiar or well known as other alternative treatments in this country, but osteopathy is catching up. through word of mouth, Malaysians have been turning to this technique to manage their health problems.

At a glance, the technique looks more like the massage that you get at a spa but, according to Ian Lee, osteopathy is based on the belief that the body can heal itself through realigning its structure of nerves, bones, tissues and muscles.

A graduate in osteopathy medicine and naturopathy from the British College of Osteopathy, Lee has been treating people using the technique for more than two years. “Osteopathy is based on the belief that the body is able to heal itself through structural and soft tissue work. All body parts are connected to one another — the skin to the tissues and muscles and ligaments so we have to work with every aspect of it. by helping the blood flow better, the person will be able to better manage pain.

“Health is about taking better care of your structure (that includes bones and tissues) as well as your mind and diet. Everything is connected and osteopathy looks at all aspects of your life. The techniques may look like those of a massage but we are dealing with the structural aspects. We are keeping the body in balance because imbalance will result in pain and disease.Osteopathy is beneficial to those suffering from sports injury, asthma, postural problems, headache and migraine, says Lee. “for example, if someone has asthma, we will work on the tissues and structural part of their chest to help them breathe better by helping the muscles relax. However, the treatment is not a cure but to teach them how to manage their condition.”

Before he begins the treatment, Lee will find out the cause of the condition and ways to manage it and prevent further incidences. The most important thing is for the person to not experience pain again if possible. “Prevention is better than cure. If I can help them avoid it so that they need not go for treatment, that’s good.”Osteopathy is a system of diagnosis and treatment for a wide range of medical conditions. it was first developed in the United States and later spread to Europe. Osteopathy works on the principle of promoting an individual’s well-being through improving the musculoskeletal functions of the body. it uses touch, physical manipulation, stretching and massage to increase joint mobility, relieve muscle tension, enhance blood supply to muscle tissues, improve nerve function and strengthen the body’s healing mechanisms. Osteopaths also give advice on posture and exercises to aid recovery from illness and prevent recurrence of symptoms.People with back pain, repetitive strain injury, postural problems related to pregnancy, driving or work, arthritis and sports-related injuries often seek the treatment.Osteopathy is offered at Cinq Energies International Therapy Centre, owned by two French women, Nadege Lubrano and Delphine Douard. Opened in 2009, it offers alternative and natural therapies such as acupuncture, cupping, massage, yoga and organic body and face skin care.it also offers a new facial rejuvenation treatment with acupuncture known as Le Lifting Zen. it was introduced by Francois Dufresne who believed that better skin can be achieved through the inner balance between body and mind.“Usually people would do acupuncture on the face if they want to look young. But I have found that looking young is not only from the outside but also from the inside. It’s not just about getting rid of wrinkles but also about feeling more peaceful and less stressed. “When you have that, you will definitely not look your age.”Dufresne, who has been practicing acupuncture for over 20 years, is based in Provence, France. When he started practicing acupuncture, he noticed a difference in the skin of the face and body.“I realised that acupuncture can change a person’s physical appearance and decided to use the technique on the face. “of course, you will not look like a 20-year-old if you are 50. it does not mean the wrinkles will disappear but there will be a glow on your face because you have inner peace and calm. When the inside of your body is happy, you will appear more youthful.”The Le Lifting Zen technique combines acupuncture with modern aesthetic therapy techniques. Using sterilised single-use needles at specific points on a relaxed face and body improves blood flow and muscle tone, resulting in better looking skin.

With suicides up, military increasingly explores alternative treatments for PTSD

by Hilary StohsKrause

When Jeff Miller returned from Saudi Arabia in 2003, he jumped feet first back into society. The staff sergeant and security forces specialist with the 363rd expeditionary security forces squadron did everything expected of him: got married; got a job; had two children.

But something was wrong. He started having nightmares, flash anger — going from mildly irritated to explosively angry in minutes — and problems being in crowded places.

“Over the first year or so, my wife would say, ‘Gosh, you know you’ve got some anxiety, some separation issues,’ particularly with crowds,” says Miller, who until recently was the state legislative chairman for Veterans of Foreign Wars. “I didn’t want to go to a mall, or movie, or party … “

“I thought, that’s just me being me,” he says by phone from his Bellevue home, his voice revealing a deep conviction. “It took me almost seven years to recognize that I was actually being affected by PTSD.”

Across the country, alternative methods for treating PTSD are being explored and studied, including meditation, yoga and breathing exercises, as soldiers and health practitioners alike find standard treatments lacking.

Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and depression have jumped for American soldiers in recent years. Studies estimate as many as 1 in 5 veterans will have PTSD at some point in their lives, compared to 1 in 10 for Gulf War veterans. The number skyrockets to nearly 1 in 3 for veterans of the Vietnam War.

Among all Americans, about 1 in 14 people will have PTSD at some point, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include flashbacks; bad dreams or sleep troubles; feeling guilt, depression or being emotionally numb; losing interest in activities that were enjoyable in the past; being easily startled, or on edge; and angry outbursts, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

The VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care system cared for nearly 6,000 veterans in 2010, says public affairs officer William Ackerman. about 2,600 of those were veterans from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The Omaha VA spent $535,201 in 2010 treating 1,001 PTSD patients, according to information obtained by The Reader through a Freedom of Information Act request. That’s the highest number of patients in the last eight years, and almost double the 586 patients who received care in 2002, the earliest data available.

And the consequences of such numbers can be shocking: last year, for the first time, more U.S. service members took their lives than were killed by hostile forces.The pain of survivingFifty-three soldiers from Nebraska have died in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, including nine from Omaha, according to the Washington Post’s “Faces of the Fallen” online database.

For those who survive, however, readjusting to civilian life can be difficult — even something as basic as getting rest. From 2008, the earliest data available, to 2010, the number of Omaha VA patients receiving medicine to help them sleep catapulted from 19 to 1,001.

Many veterans and counselors hope therapies such as yoga and animal companionship could help turn the tide. It’s hard to determine the extent to which alternative treatment for PTSD is used, but researchers say it’s definitely a trend.

“Anecdotally, we hear this more and more, that more (Department of Veterans Affairs) programs are offering programs such as pet therapy, equestrian therapy, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture,” says Paula Schnurr, deputy executive director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD.

The VA is preparing a survey to find out exactly how many veterans are engaged in these practices. it hopes to learn if treatments help those with PTSD and depression, which occur at roughly the same rates in veterans, and often overlap, she says.

Yoga, in particular, has proven popular.

Sean Bradrick has been teaching yoga for 25 years. for the last two or three, he’s contracted with the Omaha Veterans Affairs Medical Center to teach meditation and relaxation techniques to veterans.

“It’s not just for PTSD, but for people with depression, people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,” he says. “It’s so good for so many mental and physical ailments.”

And at this point, the military is willing to try anything, as the impact of PTSD and depression grows: From 2007 to 2010, suicides in the army more than doubled.

In June of this year, the number of confirmed or suspected suicides for the army alone reached one every 22.5 hours. through November, the army has recorded 268 confirmed or suspected suicides in 2010 among both active and non-active duty personnel — up from 245 in all of 2009, 197 in 2008 and 115 in 2007.

The Omaha VA doesn’t keep track of suicides for military personnel stationed in Nebraska, but the number of unique patients who visited its mental health facility rose 37 percent from the fiscal year 2002 to the fiscal year 2010 — from 5,614 to 8,832.

How alternative techniques work“We understand that these practices are important to our veterans, and we have an important need for knowledge about how widely they’re being used,” Schnurr says. “We also need to know how they work or what they work for.”

The only practice shown in definitive trials to have benefits for directly treating PTSD is acupuncture, she says, though early open trials regarding mindfulness components, such as meditation and breathing techniques, “look encouraging.”

“It comes from the Buddhist practice of living in the present,” she says. “Oftentimes, when people have depression or PTSD or other problems, they’re very much stuck worrying about the past or worrying about the future, and spend a lot of time and a lot of emotional energy on things that have already happened or things that have not yet happened.”

Mindfulness practices teach people to live in the moment. they teach acceptance, preparation and how to deal with the present.

“Sounds kind of logical, right? everyone should do that. but we don’t,” Schnurr says. “We spend too much time thinking about things we can’t control.”

While data isn’t available to show effectiveness of more physical practices like yoga or tai chi, Bradrick says soldiers he’s instructed have received enormous benefit.

“It’s based on using yoga as exercise for the body and using mediation as an exercise for the mind,” he says. “Everyone has anxiety; Gandhi had anxiety. but when anxiety reaches the level of PTSD … that’s where yoga and mediation can be used as a form of therapy, rather than just a superficial physical exercise.”

For example, hearing sirens might trigger a panic attack in an individual, leading to anxiety, leading to a worse panic attack the next time. but through yoga and breathing techniques, Bradrick says that person can learn to control his or her anxiety by learning to still his or her mind, breath and heartbeat.

Some have called it a gift — others, a powerful medicine.

“Everyone’s different, of course, but generally speaking, I have probably a 90 percent rate of people that say by the end of the session that they feel like their anxiety and that their PTSD is much more manageable,” Bradrick says. “They feel like they have some control over it, where at the beginning they felt helpless to it.

“I’ve never had someone who’s made it through a whole session come up and say, ‘Hey, I feel worse than I did before I learned all this stuff.’”

Focusing on the presentAt Ease is a program for traumatized veterans started this year by Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska. So far, they’ve worked with 53 people, including service members and their families. Twenty-five percent of the soldiers fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. A “significant portion” served during the Vietnam War.

Program supervisor Debra Jones says At Ease encourages a family-based, holistic approach to PTSD, teaching coping skills and relaxation techniques.

“We don’t use yoga, because at the point clients are coming to us, their trauma is recent and significant and they don’t care to be touched,” she says. “Initially, one of the issues is that most of the returning combat veterans that are struggling with PTSD don’t feel safe anywhere. So we encourage them to identify and construct a safe place.”

Miller was recommended to At Ease by a private doctor, and he says meeting with a therapist has been “the greatest relief of my life since returning back from the Middle East.” He’s also practiced awareness and breathing techniques to help with his anger, saying they “definitely work.”

“That split second when a veteran has the opportunity to react to a situation … that split second of decision-making, what I’ve done is essentially take myself out of the equation for two seconds and really think about what’s important,” Miller says. “You take a very simple process and break it down. … It’s allowed me to process that info at face value, instead of lumping other things into it.”

It’s also allowed him to control his anger flashes, he says, bringing himself down from a 9 or 10 on a scale of 10 down to a 4 or 5. At Ease also collaborates with Omaha’s Take Flight Farms, which offers equine-based therapy and pet therapy.

“Anything, whether it be another human being or an animal, that a veteran can make a connection with is critical in the first phase of reestablishing trust and safety,” Jones says.

Drugs still dominate PTSD treatmentsInterest in alternative methods has increased for numerous reasons, experts say: for many, there’s little to no risk of side affects; treatments are non-invasive; and they’re done by the patient, instead of to the patient.

“There’s also an increasing emphasis on wellness, and many of these techniques are really about the idea of not reducing a disorder, but about living and staying well, increasing your quality of life,” says Schnurr with the National Center for PTSD. “Practices that are more physical may also be more appealing to younger veterans, because anecdotally, we know that many younger veterans are very involved in physical fitness activities.”

And many who don’t have criteria for depression or PTSD might still have adjustment difficulties, Schnurr says.

“My guess is that many of them are people who, even if they don’t have a disorder, want or need some help,” she says. “They notice a difference between now and before they were deployed.”

But experts stress that yoga, breathing techniques and other alternative remedies should not replace psychiatric or psychological therapy.

“These are not primary interventions,” Schnurr says. “These are helpful secondary interventions that may improve your quality of life. they may improve your sleep. they may improve how you feel about yourself.”

“I would never say, ‘Oh, do yoga and someday you won’t need drugs,’” he says. “Yoga and meditation can work alongside osteopathic psychiatry and biochemical drugs.”

At the Omaha VA, soldiers received 108,671 prescriptions in 2010 for antidepressant or antipsychotic drugs. That’s a decrease from 2009’s high of 116,670 prescriptions, but it’s still 78 percent higher than the 61,093 prescriptions given in 2000.

But painkiller prescriptions have dropped off considerably, from a 2001 high of 126,774. they rose again slightly, from 2005 to 2009, reaching 97,389, but decreased again last year.

Veterans also need to keep in mind that methods like acupuncture and tai chi are still being studied, Schnurr says.

“It’s very understandable that people are seeking out these techniques. It’s just important for them to be informed consumers,” she says. “Evidence about how they work and how well they work is still coming in.”

But despite the uncertainty surrounding these methods, more and more soldiers are eager to try them.

“There’s so much energy and interest, and I think good scientist are designing good studies to look at these things,” Schnurr says. “It’s a very exciting time.”

And it can’t happen too soon, Miller says. throughout the interview, he’s grown more contemplative, well aware of the toll PTSD can have on an individual.

“Not all wounds are visible,” Miller says. “Wounds in a person’s soul or head can take a long time to heal … but (soldiers) might surprise themselves what they can find, what peace.”

posted at 12:53 pm on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

by mstcweb

The side Effects From Check growth Behavior vs Alternative Treatments

How many of you are dealing with cancer or know someone who is or someone that died since of this frightening illness? I bet, very near every one of you answered “YES” to that question. now, have any of the public you’ve known with cancer die while they were still receiving their behavior? Here is the hard fact: Everyday, more and more public get affected from this pitiless illness we call, “growth!” What is even worse is that many of them end up failing. Not just from the cancer itself, but from all the toxins and chemicals place into your body for treating actual cancer. I am going to tell you all what the difference is linking getting the more traditional check cancer behavior and receiving the more effective alternative cancer behavior.

When most public find out they have cancer, they don’t ordinarily sit and take time contemplating on what their next step is or what their options are for behavior. Well, that’s since most of them like for myself, never even knew that there was other alternative cancer treatments even available. Most of us are only traditional with the traditional check treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. We doubtless all mediate that these treatments are our only resolution and cure for treating most cancers; as long as it was still in the earlier stages and still treatable. I have in fact heard of an alternative medicine for butchery cancer where public taste Chinese Herbs as medicine, to kill the cancer cells. I in person never said this method would work or even be effective. I didn’t even know there were other alternative methods life used that is more effective than the check, in anticipation of now.

I know many public who died from cancer within a year of finding out that they even had it. We all seek medical help from the most evident professionals, hospitals, nurses, and doctors and mediate they know what is best and stay on all of their directions. That’s why many public with cancer find themselves below the knife, getting high dosages of radiation, and complications and queasiness from the many side effects you can get from the all-encompassing check treatments. BIG MISTAKE! Unknown knows or can tell you what is best for your own body but physically.

We are all traditional with the traditional check cancer behavior like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Have you ever known any of persons treatments to be relaxing, comfortable, or pleasant all through the course of action? When you go with check behavior, not only do you feel pain, but you will feel sicker, weaker, and look 10 being grown-up. Every patient I’ve seen aptly after they receive chemo or radiation, but look more like walking zombies! These patients can barely even walk without diminishing or help, they’ve got pale skin, as if there’s no blood flowing in them, eyes seem like they are bulging out since they are extremely thin, and even experience hair loss. It’s unquestionably poignant to see another human look the way they do. What is even more disgusting is that these doctors actual pat themselves on the back for a job well done on keeping these patients active and fortunate! Absolute GARBAGE! I’m sure you all agree that if you’re like most public with cancer, you would very die than to look and feel that way or to give up the quality of life which we all deserve.

Now, let me tell you about a leap forwards cancer behavior that is most advanced remarkable alternative cancer therapy in the world called “Hyperthermia.” Hyperthermia (gentle concentrated heat) collective with low–dose radiation is the most effective alternative cancer behavior available, and near pain free which will provide better comfort for cancer patients! You don’t experience any of the hair loss, vomiting, vomiting, exhaustion, or even feel sicker and weaker than you were before the actual behavior. When I was modest I would hear public say jokingly “If the cancer doesn’t kill you than the behavior certainly will!” I now realized it wasn’t a joke. I implicit they were since how can any behavior be worse than the illness. After examination all the uncommon tales about what cancer patients go through with the severe side effects, that phrase makes exact sense!

Let’s take a look at the most recent talk of a Hollywood star having cancer. In August, this Oscar Winning actor announced he had been diagnosed with The boards IV Esophageal growth (throat cancer.) He immediately followed his doctors’ instructions and started 8 exhausting weeks of severe high dosages of chemotherapy and radiation. I’ve seen photos of him on the internet taken before he started his behavior and ones taken just just while still in his behavior and I was shocked! Since he started his 8 severe weeks of behavior, he looks ten era worse. Not only does he look like he’s aged 10 being, he looks pale and extremely thin, very near skeletal. I mean, in just a couple of months, he looks as even if someone sucked the bloody life out of him. It’s like he does not have any might or life remaining in him. How saddening it is to see one of Hollywood’s all time utmost actor, be so weak and helpless and powerless to even talk or delight in life with his wonderful family since of this life-threatening disease.

Now, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I sure as heck wouldn’t want my shape to make something worse from behavior if the total point of receiving it is so that I would be healthier. Had the actor known about Hyperthermia, and chose this noninvasive behavior instead, he would’ve still had his voice, maintained his inclination, and even gain more might. He would not be having the same backbreaking side effects as he is now experiencing now. I from the bottom of your heart hope and pray his behavior ends fruitfully and wins his battle against cancer without having any stable side effects.

Hyperthermia alone will not rid your cancer alone but the high heat is known to kill cancer cells directly and to make them more susceptible to radiation. The low dose radiation catches any renegade cancer cells that may have dodged the heat bullets. This can work on a diversity of cancers. It has been known to work very mainly well with breast, prostate, head and neck, throat, and tongue cancers without any reappearance of the cancer cells. With Hyperthermia, your body is not poisoned with the many downer type drugs used to control pain which can become highly addictive. Mediate it or not, this alternative behavior can in fact help reduce your pain and even help in humanizing your immune logic.

The behavior process is painless and without causing any discomfort. Unlike the check, all through the behavior you will feel relaxed, pain free, and comfort. once you lay down, a specialist will come in and house the heat applicators onto the tumor and then you just take a nap. The heat is monitored by the technicians at all time so that each behavior receives the aptly amount of heat each time. It really is this simple. Hyperthermia really is the most advanced cancer therapy in the world and most medical establishments won’t let you have it! It really pisses me off that these doctors and medical specialists all know of this remarkable cure but never even bother to mention it to the patients. very than having the patients point out their options, these selfish, money hungry doctors make the choice for them and have them get high dosages of chemotherapy, radiation, and even worse, surgery to remove parts from their body.

How can any person mediate that cold, burning, and poisoning one’s body is the best scale when an alternative behavior “Hyperthermia” is available? Luckily, aptly here in Los Angeles, California is one pioneering doctor who is recognizable globally for developing a behavior technique commanding yet gentle that patients from all nearly the world come for his behavior. His behavior center is the only house donation Hyperthermia with low dose radiation in the form of IMRT (Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy) developed and implemented by himself. He has devoted his career to improve consequences for every person who comes to his clinic. He facility day and nocturnal determinedly on tweaking treatments and tracking outcome.

In the end, all I want is for anyone who has cancer or anyone you know that has cancer to tell them that they do not have to spend the remainder of their time in discomfort, pain, and helpless from the all the toxins place into the body when choosing check behavior. Tell them that there is much more effective and painless alternative treatments available for them. Not only will Hyperthermia help you live a better quality of life, it will cost you one tenth that of habitual check behavior. So how may maybe anyone turn that down? Or why would anyone turn down Hyperthermia, and point out to pay more and feel worse for the check behavior?

I encourage all to please look into every choice that is available. If your doctor tells you that the only way to get rid of your cancer is with either surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. You must always get a following opinion, even a third opinion, so that you are certain of your choice. You can also go online to find more information a propos the type of cancer and what behavior options are available. I highly recommend all to do research online even before seeing any specialists. Learn all about the type of cancer you have and which I recommend all to do. You can find all kinds of information for free all on the internet. Never make a choice based on just one doctors’ opinion. There are so much that many doctors tend to hide from the patients. I feel like many doctors make medical decisions based on what they know only and mediate it to be the best. What medical professionals must keep in mind is that there are scientist nearly the world effective hard trying to develop new treatments to cure cancer so the traditional check behavior may not always be the aptly resolution for each individual patient.

Meet James Bicher, MD a pioneer in the hyperthermic field, and founder/director of Bicher & Valle

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Shape up from articlesbase.com

In Prostate growth Behavior Decisions, Age The the boards Too Huge a RoleGrown-up men with high-risk prostate cancer often are offered less – and less effective – choices of behavior than younger men, potentially resulting in earlier deaths, according to a new UCSF study. The scientists establish that men above age 75 with high-risk prostate cancer often are below-treated through hormone therapy or watchful coming up alone in lieu of more aggressive treatments such as …Read more on Medical News Now

Question by Jayden’s ?mommy?: what is the best homeopathic remedies/belief healers for cancer therapy?my protect in law has chose to go all untreated on our advice, can anyone link me to some sites giving cheap homeopathic remedies for cancer. she doesn not trust doctors and huge pharm as they take your money unecessarily.also any accomplishment tales with belief healers in the cali area would be splendid!

Best resolution:

Resolution by staggerleeadage the best belief/untreated/homeopathic healers is like adage your looking for the best smelling turd

Know better? Leave your own resolution in the observations!

“….the most revolutionary advanced medical behavior in the world!” cancer-alternative.org That’s what Robert and the Channel 4 News say about this growth Alternative Behavior, where Gene Therapy for growth is applied. It can be applied to more than 43 types of levelheaded types of tumors. Send us and inquiry at cancer-alternative.orgVideo Rating: 5 / 5

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