TabsMagic

Medical students have given a 75% approval to integrating more complementary and alternative medicine into conventional medicine. The survey was the largest undertaking of its kind with medical students across the country being surveyed by researchers from UCLA and UC San Diego. The result showed that most medical students felt that “conventional Western medicine would benefit by integrating more CAM therapies and ideas.”

Ryan Abbott, the study author and a researcher at the UCLA Centre for East-West Medicine said, “Complementary and alternative medicine is receiving increased attention in light of the global health crisis and the significant role of traditional medicine in meeting public health needs in developing countries.” He further went on to say that “Integrating CAM into mainstream health care is now a global phenomenon, with policy makers at the highest levels endorsing the importance of a historically marginalized form of health care.”
 
The survey team comprised experts from several fields, namely Western medicine, CAM, integrative medicine, medical education and survey development. Between them, they created a unique 30 question survey that they sent to 126 medical schools all across the United States. 3% of the medical students completed the survey making it 1,770 completed surveys.
 
74% of the responses “agreed to some extent that a system of medicine that integrates therapies of conventional and complementary and alternative medicine would be more effective than either type of medicine provided independently.”
 
Professor Michael S. Goldstein, a senior research scientist at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and also the professor of Public Health and Sociology was another study author. He said  “Even with the high prevalence of CAM use today, most physicians still know little about non-conventional forms of medicine,” adding that by “Investigating medical students’ attitudes and knowledge will help us assess whether this may change in the future.”
 
The National Institutes of Health, the Annenberg Foundation and the Gerald Oppenheimer Family Foundation provided funding for the project. The survey is to be published on the Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine website.

UK researchers have conducted experiments that resulted in the discovery that mint tea can relieve pain. Brazilian mint tea otherwise known as hyptis crenata appears to have equal analgesic qualities as proprietary pain killers.
 
A team of researchers from Newcastle went to Brazil to discover how the Brazilian tea medicine is traditionally prepared so they could recreate the same thing at home. They found that the most common method of preparation was to boil the dry leaves for 30 minutes and allow the concoction to cool before use.
 
Graciela Rocha, the lead researcher of the project said: “Since humans first walked the Earth we have looked to plants to provide a cure for our ailments – in fact it is estimated more than 50,000 plants are used worldwide for medicinal purposes. Besides traditional use, more than half of all prescription drugs are based on a molecule that occurs naturally in a plant.”

So, there! Here is me wondering how hard the pharmaceutical companies are going to be working to sit on that one!!

They certainly are not too forthcoming about shouting the benefits of sports massage for long term pain relief!

How do you feel?

Just take 60 seconds. Sit  or stand, take a deep breath, and as you breathe out, think about how you FEEL. Not the  superficial short term feelings that your immediate surroundings are affording you, annoyance at your boss, stress of doing too much, or the itch at the back of your knee. How do you feel underneath all this?

This can mean both psychologically and mentally and the two are not necessarily independent either. For example, if you feel the long standing back pain that you have been having physically does it really surprise you that you have felt irritable and grumpy recently?

If you feel that familiar headache in your temples, is it any wonder that you might feel psychologically drained today?

If you feel lethargic and dull, is it on par with your current fitness level?

The point is that you can get to used to feeling a certain way that you begin to feel this as ‘normal’. You begin to ignore your body’s warning signals. Our bodies do not feel without reason, if you feel pain in an area there is always a reason for this.

Would you ignore someone else trying to tell you something? You can be just as rude by ignoring yourself!

So listen a while, then, in the same way you would advise a friend in pain, depressed, despondent or stressed,  take action to mend things.

As a personal trainer I recognize that it is often hard enough to listen to something you have too long been blocking out. It is even harder to chance your life, your attitude and your routine in order to address the problem. So I do it for you.

Massage may be all you need to rid your body of the tension spots that have been causing you headaches, back pain, knee pain or that stiff neck.

I provide the motivation needed to start or modify that exercise regime, or change those long ingrained eating habits…….

In practicing, massage, remedial massage, personal training and nutrition, I have the pleasure of seeing people change their lives for the better in many different ways, I see the ease of movement when the stiff muscles ease, the change in  mood when the long term nagging headache is dissolved. The increase in energy levels as the body gains fitness, and the boost in confidence that follows accordingly.

So, next time someone asks you how you are feeling, take a breath, feel, and ask yourself how could a little magic  help you feel better?

As we know, our joints (especially the knees) are protected by a form of lubricant or cartilage. Any degenerative wear and tear of it will result in pains as we grow older.

 Some history:

Glucosamine has been used to treat osteoarthritis in Europe for ages. Americans never heard of glucosamine until some 10-15 years ago.
The EU recognizes glucosamine as having the highest level of evidence (1A category) and highest recommendation (A) of all treatments for osteoarthritis. A study published in the Lancet (medical journal) in 2001 show glucosamine effectively controlled osteoarthritis symptoms and even suggested that it produced some reversal of the disease process.
But there are two types of glucosamine in the market. Those produced and sold in the EU must meet stricter drug standards as they are registered as drugs and are sold by prescription. Those that are produced outside the EU are not FDA regulated and are produced and sold as supplements, which do not require the strict and higher standards of drugs.
An analysis of 15 different placebo vs. glucosamine trials showed that if you took 1500mg of glucosamine daily for three years you might reduce the narrowing of the space in your knee joint by 0.27mm. Richy F., Bruyere O., Ethgen O., et al: Structural and symptomatic efficacy of glucosamine and chondroitin in knee osteoarthritis. Arch Intern Med 163. 1514-1522.2003

My own thoughts are that the effectiveness on Glucosamine on joint discomfort is dependant of whether or not the problem is cartilage related. For a person with healthy knees, that should sound like a lot of money and trouble for a minuscule benefit.
For anyone with injury or arthritis already, it might sound like a worthwhile effort to slow deterioration. Besides, glucosamine has been shown to ease pain for some folks.

Others say you can achieve much the same with 3g of flax seed oil a day, or getting your quota of oily fish- yes the good old omega 3 rules the day again!!

There is a very substantial amount of evidence to say that taken alone it is of NO benefit BUT………

The Arthritis Society recomends the following medicational supplements;

Join the forum discussion on this post - (4) Posts

I have many clients who admit that they have put up with pain for a long time, mainly because they were uncomfortable with asking for help.

This happens in all the fields in which I specialise, people who know that they have a dietary issue but carry on regardless, letting the effects worsen and letting their physical and mental health suffer as a result. People suffering back, shoulder, neck or any other muscular pain who are continuing in their daily lives without seeking pain elimination. Not only do they suffer physically for this, but mentally too. Pain can be very tiring and draining and can make sufferers irritable, short tempered and hard to be around. Others who can see themselves getting progressively out of shape but lack the motivation to change their lifestyle, again the obvious physical affects, but also the mental depression and resulting lack of energy effects the social life.

Its usually as simple to solve as asking for help………..so ask!