The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · Sep 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of lavender oil on stress, bispectral index values, and needle insertion pain in volunteers.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether lavender oil aromatherapy can reduce the bispectral index (BIS) values and stress and decrease the pain of needle insertion in 30 volunteers. ⋯ Lavender aromatherapy in volunteers provided a significant decrease in the stress levels and in the BIS values. In addition, it significantly reduced the pain intensity of needle insertion.
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J Altern Complement Med · Aug 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialA feasibility study exploring the role of Chinese herbal medicine in the treatment of endometriosis.
Endometriosis is a common and disabling gynecologic condition affecting between 5% and 15% of women of childbearing age. Conventional medical intervention has unpleasant side-effects, and symptoms frequently return after treatment. Preliminary evidence suggests Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) may contribute to the treatment of endometriosis. ⋯ the methodology successfully allowed individualized CHM decoctions to be tested rigorously. There are nonspecific contextual effects from CHM that require further investigation. Provisional data were generated to warrant a larger, more-definitive study.
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J Altern Complement Med · Jun 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialEfficacy of individualized Chinese herbal medication in osteoarthrosis of hip and knee: a double-blind, randomized-controlled clinical study.
The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of individually designed herbal formulas according to the rules of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. ⋯ While the individual prescription consisting of medicinal herbs according to TCM diagnosis investigated in this trial tend to improve the osteoarthritis, the same effect was also achieved with the nonspecific prescription.
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J Altern Complement Med · May 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialEfficacy of Tripterygium hypoglaucum Hutch in adults with chronic urticaria.
The study objectives were to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tripterygium hypoglaucum Hutch (THH) in adult with severe chronic urticaria (CU) by performing a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. ⋯ This study shows that the therapeutic effect of THH with cetirizine is predominant over that of cetirizine alone in adult CU. THH with cetirizine may play an important role in the therapy of CU and be a useful treatment for CU.
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J Altern Complement Med · Jan 2011
Randomized Controlled TrialRelaxing on a bed of nails: an exploratory study of the effects on the autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, and saliva cortisol.
This study investigated subjective and physiologic responses of lying on a bed of nails (BN) called the Shakti-mat and of listening to relaxing instructions and music. The BN has 6210 sharp-edge 5-mm plastic nails about 5 mm apart. ⋯ Healthy participants habituated to the induced pain on the BN and were able to subjectively relax. When on a BN, signs of both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activity were observed. The pain may hypothetically have triggered a parasympathetic response.