The journal of alternative and complementary medicine : research on paradigm, practice, and policy
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J Altern Complement Med · Dec 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Controlled Clinical TrialEffects of yoga and the addition of Tui Na in patients with fibromyalgia.
This study aimed to verify whether techniques of yoga with and without the addition of Tui Na might improve pain and the negative impact of fibromyalgia (FMS) on patients' daily life. ⋯ These study results showed that yogic techniques are valid therapeutic methods for FMS. Touch addition yielded greater improvement during the treatment. Over time, however, RY patients reported less pain than RYT. These results suggest that a passive therapy may possibly decrease control over FMS symptoms.
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J Altern Complement Med · Oct 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Controlled Clinical TrialThe combined effect of relaxation response and acupuncture on quality of life in patients with HIV: a pilot study.
Treatment advances have transformed human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) into a chronic manageable disease; quality of life (QoL) has become an important health outcome. Some studies have shown the individual effects of acupuncture and the relaxation response (RR) in improving QoL of patients with HIV/AIDS. In light of the presumed shared features of acupuncture and the RR, we conducted a pilot study to examine the effects of adding the RR to usual acupuncture treatment on improving the QoL of HIV/AIDS patients. ⋯ Data from this pilot trial suggested that adding the RR to acupuncture may enhance improvement in QoL of patients with HIV/AIDS. Further investigation on this putative synergistic effect is warranted.
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J Altern Complement Med · Jul 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Controlled Clinical TrialDry needling of trigger points with and without paraspinal needling in myofascial pain syndromes in elderly patients.
To compare the efficacies of dry needling of trigger points (TrPs) with and without paraspinal needling in myofascial pain syndrome of elderly patients. ⋯ TrP and paraspinal dry needling is suggested to be a better method than TrP dry needling only for treating myofascial pain syndrome in elderly patients.
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J Altern Complement Med · Mar 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialBinaural beat technology in humans: a pilot study to assess neuropsychologic, physiologic, and electroencephalographic effects.
When two auditory stimuli of different frequency are presented to each ear, binaural beats are perceived by the listener. The binaural beat frequency is equal to the difference between the frequencies applied to each ear. Our primary objective was to assess whether steady-state entrainment of electroencephalographic activity to the binaural beat occurs when exposed to a specific binaural beat frequency as has been hypothesized. Our secondary objective was to gather preliminary data on neuropsychologic and physiologic effects of binaural beat technology. ⋯ We did not find support for steady-state entrainment of the scalp-recorded EEG while listening to 7-Hz binaural beats. Although our data indicated increased depression and poorer immediate recall after listening to binaural beats, larger studies are needed to confirm these findings.
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J Altern Complement Med · Sep 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Controlled Clinical TrialInterventions and physician characteristics in a randomized multicenter trial of acupuncture in patients with low-back pain.
Descriptions of the interventions used in acupuncture studies are often incomplete. The aim of this paper is to describe participating trial physicians and interventions in a randomised trial of acupuncture for low back pain. ⋯ For most trial physicians, the semistandardized acupuncture strategy used in this trial was an acceptable compromise for an efficacy study. However, a relevant minority of participating trial physicians stated that they would have treated patients differently outside of the trial.