Archive
Seasonal Allergies and Complementary Health Practices
Seasonal Allergies and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Seasonal allergies, also called “hay fever,” are a common chronic medical problem. At least 17.7 million American adults (7.8 percent of the adult population) and 7 million children (about 9 percent of children) have seasonal allergies.
People manage seasonal allergies by taking medication, avoiding exposure to the substances that trigger their allergic reactions, having a series of “allergy shots” (a form of immunotherapy) or using various complementary approaches. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, “respiratory allergy” is among the 15 conditions for which children in the United States use complementary approaches most frequently. This issue of the Digest provides information on what the science says about several complementary health approaches for seasonal allergies, such as saline nasal irrigation, butterbur, honey, acupuncture, and other practices.
Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of Ginkgo Biloba Extract (CASRN 90045-36-6) in F344/N Rats and B6C3F1/N Mice
Source: National Institutes of Health (National Toxicology Program)
Under the conditions of these 2-year gavage studies, there was some evidence of carcinogenic activity of Ginkgo biloba extract in male F344/N rats based on increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell adenoma. The increased incidences of mononuclear cell leukemia and hepatocellular adenoma may have been related to Ginkgo biloba extract administration. There was some evidence of carcinogenic activity of Ginkgo biloba extract in female F344/N rats based on increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell neoplasms. Increased occurrence of respiratory epithelium adenomas in the nose may have been related to Ginkgo biloba extract administration. There was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of Ginkgo biloba extract in male B6C3F1/N mice based on increased incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatoblastoma. The increased incidences of thyroid gland follicular cell adenoma were also related to Ginkgo biloba extract administration. There was clear evidence of carcinogenic activity of Ginkgo biloba extract in female B6C3F1/N mice based on increased incidences of hepatocellular adenoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, and hepatoblastoma.
Administration of Ginkgo biloba extract resulted in increased incidences of nonneoplastic lesions in the liver, thyroid gland, and nose of male and female rats and mice and the forestomach of male and female mice. Increased severity of nephropathy in male rats was also due to administration of Ginkgo biloba extract.
DrugFacts: Nationwide Trends
Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse
Illicit drug use in America has been increasing. In 2011, an estimated 22.5 million Americans aged 12 or older—or 8.7 percent of the population—had used an illicit drug or abused a psychotherapeutic medication (such as a pain reliever, stimulant, or tranquilizer) in the past month. This is up from 8.3 percent in 2002. The increase mostly reflects a recent rise in the use of marijuana, the most commonly used illicit drug.
Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters: What Parents Can Do
Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters: What Parents Can Do
Source: National Institute of Mental Health
A booklet that describes what parents can do to help children and adolescents cope with violence and disasters.
Report to the Nation shows U.S. cancer death rates continue to drop; Special feature highlights trends in HPV-associated cancers and HPV vaccination coverage levels
Report to the Nation shows U.S. cancer death rates continue to drop; Special feature highlights trends in HPV-associated cancers and HPV vaccination coverage levels
Source: National Cancer Institute
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975–2009, shows that overall cancer death rates continued to decline in the United States among both men and women, among all major racial and ethnic groups, and for all of the most common cancer sites, including lung, colon and rectum, female breast, and prostate. However, the report also shows that death rates continued to increase during the latest time period (2000 through 2009) for melanoma of the skin (among men only) and for cancers of the liver, pancreas, and uterus. The special feature section on human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers shows that incidence rates are increasing for HPV-associated oropharyngeal and anal cancers and that vaccination coverage levels in the U.S. during 2008 and 2010 remained low among adolescent girls.
Antioxidants and Health: An Introduction
Antioxidants and Health: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Antioxidants are man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage. Diets high in vegetables and fruits, which are good sources of antioxidants, have been found to be healthy; however, research has not shown antioxidant supplements to be beneficial in preventing diseases. Examples of antioxidants include vitamins C and E, selenium, and carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. This fact sheet provides basic information about antioxidants, summarizes what the science says about antioxidants and health, and suggests sources for additional information.
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Stress and Relaxation Techniques
NCCAM Clinical Digest: Stress and Relaxation Techniques
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Stress is a physical and emotional reaction that people experience as they encounter changes in life. Occasional stress is a normal coping mechanism. However, long-term stress may contribute to or worsen a range of health problems including digestive disorders, headaches, sleep disorders, and other symptoms. Stress may worsen asthma and has been linked to depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.
Some people use various relaxation techniques to induce the relaxation response, which helps release tension and may counteract the ill effects of stress. Relaxation techniques often combine breathing exercises and focused attention to calm the mind and the body. Some examples of relaxation response techniques are autogenic training, biofeedback, deep breathing, guided imagery, progressive relaxation, and self-hypnosis.
This issue provides information on "what the science says" about relaxation techniques for several stress-related disorders, including anxiety, depression, headaches, asthma, heart disease and heart symptoms, high blood pressure, insomnia, and irritable bowel syndrome.
S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAMe): An Introduction
S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine (SAMe): An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (also called S-adenosyl methionine, S-adenosylmethionine, SAMe, or SAM-e in the United States or ademetionine in Europe, and also often abbreviated as SAM and AdoMet) is a chemical that is found naturally in the body. SAMe is sold in the United States as a dietary supplement. This fact sheet provides basic information about SAMe, summarizes scientific research on safety and effectiveness, and suggests sources for additional information.
Osteoarthritis and Complementary Health Approaches
Osteoarthritis and Complementary Health Approaches
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease that causes pain and difficulty moving joints, particularly in the knees, hips, hands, and spine. This fact sheet provides basic information on OA, summarizes scientific research on selected dietary supplements, mind and body practices, and other complementary health approaches that have been studied for OA, and suggests sources for additional information.
Fact Sheet: Conflict of Interest Disclosure and Journal Supplements in MEDLINE®
Fact Sheet: Conflict of Interest Disclosure and Journal Supplements in MEDLINE®
Source: National Library of Medicine
Journals indexed for MEDLINE® sometimes publish supplements devoted to a specific topic and that may be financed by profit-making organizations or by organizations representing for-profit interests. The supplements may have a guest editor or may be produced outside of the routine editorial and peer review processes of the journal. Citation of these supplements in MEDLINE may give the appearance that for-profit interests have acquired a place in the scholarly literature while working outside of the usual standards for publication that were considered when the journal was approved for indexing in MEDLINE by the NLM Literature Selection Technical Review Committee. Supplements will thus be cited and indexed for MEDLINE only if certain conditions are met.
If a supplement is sponsored by an outside organization, or reports on a conference or other activity that was sponsored by an outside organization, or is devoted to a special topic that is in any way related to a proprietary product, then the articles in the supplement will not be cited and indexed for MEDLINE unless the supplement includes the disclosure information that is described below. An “outside organization” does not include the organization for which the journal is the publishing organ (e.g., the American Academy of Dermatology and the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology), nor does it include any U.S. or non-U.S. government agency.
Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Practices
Chronic Pain and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Millions of Americans suffer from pain that is chronic, severe, and not easily managed. Pain from arthritis, back problems, other musculoskeletal conditions, and headache costs U.S. businesses more than $61 billion a year in lost worker productivity.
Pain is the most common health problem for which adults use complementary health practices. Many people with conditions causing chronic pain turn to these practices to supplement other conventional medical treatment, or when their pain is resistant or in an effort to advert side effects of medications. Despite the widespread use of complementary health practices for chronic pain, scientific evidence on efficacy and mechanisms—whether the therapies help the conditions for which they are used and, if so, how—is, for the most part, limited. However, the evidence base is growing, especially for several complementary health practices most commonly used by people to lessen pain.
This issue highlights the research status for several therapies used for common kinds of pain, including arthritis, fibromyalgia, headache, low-back pain, and neck pain.
Spinal Manipulation for Low-Back Pain
Spinal Manipulation for Low-Back Pain
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Low-back pain (often referred to as “lower back pain”) is a common condition that usually improves with self-care (practices that people can do by themselves, such as remaining active, applying heat, and taking pain-relieving medications). However, it is occasionally difficult to treat. Some health care professionals are trained to use a technique called spinal manipulation to relieve low-back pain and improve physical function (the ability to walk and move). This fact sheet provides basic information about low-back pain, summarizes research on spinal manipulation for low-back pain, and suggests sources for additional information.
Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction
Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Red yeast rice is a traditional Chinese culinary and medicinal product. In the United States, dietary supplements containing red yeast rice have been marketed to help lower blood levels of cholesterol and related lipids. Red yeast rice products may not be safe; some may have the same side effects as certain cholesterol-lowering drugs, and some may contain a potentially harmful contaminant. This fact sheet provides basic information about red yeast rice, summarizes scientific research on effectiveness and safety, discusses the legal status of red yeast rice, and suggests sources for additional information.
Backgrounder — Tai Chi: An Introduction
Tai Chi: An Introduction
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
Tai chi, which originated in China as a martial art, is a mind-body practice in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Tai chi is sometimes referred to as “moving meditation”—practitioners move their bodies slowly, gently, and with awareness, while breathing deeply. This Backgrounder provides a general overview of tai chi and suggests sources for additional information.
March 29‐30, 2012 Meeting of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to Review Revised Manuscripts on Transmissibility of A/H5N1 Influenza Virus — Statement of the NSABB
March 29‐30, 2012 Meeting of the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to Review Revised Manuscripts on Transmissibility of A/H5N1 Influenza Virus — Statement of the NSABB (PDF)
Source: National Institutes of Health, Office of Science Policy
The United States Department of Health and Human Services convened the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) on March 29‐30, 2012, to examine two revised manuscripts regarding the transmissibility of A/H5N1 influenza virus (avian flu) in ferrets. Earlier versions of these manuscripts had been submitted for publication in Science and Nature and were reviewed by the Board.
The NSABB is an independent federal advisory committee chartered to provide advice and guidance on the biosecurity oversight of dual use research to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and all federal entities that conduct, support or have an interest in life sciences research. Dual use research is defined as biological research with legitimate scientific purpose that may be misused to pose a threat to public health and/or national security.
The Board was asked to consider the revised manuscripts from Dr. Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center and Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin and to recommend whether the information they contain should be communicated and, if so, to what extent. In their evaluation, the Board used analytical tools that it previously developed for considering the risks and benefits associated with the communication of dual use research of concern (available at http://www.biosecurityboard.gov). After careful deliberation, the NSABB unanimously recommended that this revised Kawaoka manuscript should be communicated in full. The NSABB also recommended, in a 12 to 6 decision, the communication of the data, methods, and conclusions presented in this revised Fouchier manuscript.
See also: US Government Issues Policy on Oversight of Life Science Dual Use Resarch of Concern (PDF)
Report to the nation finds continuing declines in cancer death rates since the early 1990s; Feature highlights cancers associated with excess weight and lack of sufficient physical activity
Source: National Cancer Institute
Death rates from all cancers combined for men, women, and children continued to decline in the United States between 2004 and 2008, according to the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2008. The overall rate of new cancer diagnoses, also known as incidence, among men decreased by an average of 0.6 percent per year between 2004 and 2008. Overall cancer incidence rates among women declined 0.5 percent per year from 1998 through 2006 with rates leveling off from 2006 through 2008.
The report is co-authored by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Cancer Society. It appeared early online on March 28, 2012, in the journal CANCER.
The special feature section highlights the effects of excess weight and lack of physical activity on cancer risk. Esophageal adenocarcinoma, cancers of the colon and rectum, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, endometrial cancer, and breast cancer among postmenopausal women are associated with being overweight or obese. Several of these cancers also are associated with not being sufficiently physically active.
The Flu, the Common Cold, and Complementary Health Practices
The Flu, the Common Cold, and Complementary Health Practices
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Each year, approximately 5 to 20 percent of Americans come down with the flu. Although most recover without incident, flu-related complications result in more than 200,000 hospitalizations and between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths each year. Colds generally do not cause serious complications, but they are among the leading reasons for visiting a doctor and for missing school or work.
To prevent or treat these illnesses, some people turn to complementary health practices such as herbs or vitamins and minerals. This issue provides information on “what the science says” about some of these practices for the flu and for the common cold, including zinc, vitamin C, echinacea, and probiotics.
Adaptations of Avian Flu Virus Are a Cause for Concern
Adaptations of Avian Flu Virus Are a Cause for ConcernSource: U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (via Science)
Risk assessment of public harm is challenging because it necessitates consideration of the intent and capability of those who wish to do harm, as well as the vulnerability of the public and the status of public health preparedness for both deliberate and accidental events. We found the potential risk of public harm to be of unusually high magnitude. In formulating our recommendations to the government, scientific journals, and the broader scientific community, we tried to balance the great risks against the benefits that could come from making the details of this research known. Because the NSABB found that there was significant potential for harm in fully publishing these results and that the harm exceeded the benefits of publication, we therefore recommended that the work not be fully communicated in an open forum. The NSABB was unanimous that communication of the results in the two manuscripts it reviewed should be greatly limited in terms of the experimental details and results. This is an unprecedented recommendation for work in the mammal-adapted influenza A/H5N1 viruses for harmful purposes. We believe that as scientists and as members of the general public, we have a primary responsibility “to do no harm” as well as to act prudently and with some humility as we consider the immense power of the life sciences to create microbes with novel and unusually consequential properties. At the same time, we acknowledge that there are clear benefits to be realized for the public good in alerting humanity of this potential threat and in pursuing those aspects of this work that will allow greater preparedness and the potential development of novel strategies leading to future disease control. By recommending that the basic result be communicated without methods or details, we believe that the benefits to society are maximized and the risks minimized.
Although scientists pride themselves on the creation of scientific literature that defines careful methodology that would allow other scientists to replicate experiments, we do not believe that widespread dissemination of the methodology in this case is a responsible action. life sciences, and our analysis was conducted with careful consideration both of the potential benefits of publication and of the potential harm that could occur from such a precedent. Our concern is that publishing these experiments in detail would provide information to some person, organization, or government that would help them to develop similar mammal-adapted influenza A/H5N1 viruses for harmful purposes. We believe that as scientists and as members of the general public, we have a primary responsibility “to do no harm” as well as to act prudently and with some humility as we consider the immense power of the life sciences to create microbes with novel and unusually consequential properties. At the same time, we acknowledge that there are clear benefits to be realized for the public good in alerting humanity of this potential threat and in pursuing those aspects of this work that will allow greater preparedness and the potential development of novel strategies leading to future disease control. By recommending that the basic result be communicated without methods or details, we believe that the benefits to society are maximized and the risks minimized. Although scientists pride themselves on the creation of scientific literature that defines careful methodology that would allow other scientists to replicate experiments, we do not believe that widespread dissemination of the methodology in this case is a responsible action.
Herbs at a Glance: Cinnamon
Herbs at a Glance: Cinnamon
Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
This fact sheet provides basic information about cinnamon — common names, what the science says, potential side effects and cautions, and resources for more information.
Children’s Health — NICHD posts map of state-by-state funding for research
An interactive map with information about NICHD funding for research projects in the United States is now available on a new page of the NICHD Web site,at: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/about/overview/approp/fundstate.cfm.The new map lists funding for each fiscal year from 2003 to 2011 by state, district or territory, or by congressional district. The new page also includes a table listing NICHD funding by state, and a link to a downloadable table of NICHD funding awards by state, congressional district, and institution receiving an award.
