As every psychiatrist knows, miracle drugs don’t always lead to miracle cures. Sometimes the inevitable side effects of psychiatric drugs – ranging from chronically dry mouth to panic attacks- become too much for a patient.
One practitioner, James S. Gordon, has a radical new approach to depression. Gordon is certainly well-acquainted with the nuances of depression. But for the past 15 years, as founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Gordon has helped patients replace their drug prescriptions with a program of alternative therapies. He’s convinced that holistic medicine can be as effective as antidepressants. Most people with chronic depression, he believes, don’t need drugs to feel good.
Gordon’s approach is quite controversial in psychiatry, where the ability of antidepressants to correct abnormal brain chemistry isn’t questioned, and the idea of asking seriously depressed patients to gamble on unproven alternatives is viewed with alarm. Yet, Gordon has had many successes. Jim Norman, an epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health suffered from depression. He tried for years to stabilize himself with tranquilizers, and then he tried Gordon’s recommended therapies. Five years later, Norman finally feels he can control his moods without drugs. “The ups and downs still exist,” he says, “but they’ve leveled out.”
Should you try mind-body medicine? Depression is not an illness to fool with. If you are depressed and haven’t consulted a psychiatrist or psychologist, go see one. But if your depression is mild, or if you’re already being treated for it, but find you have other ailments, you can consider the approach of James Gordon. But, be discriminating. Two alternative practitioners rarely have the same training or philosophy, let alone the same track record.
Following are some of the alternative therapies to consider:
Acupuncture – Employs the use of needles inserted at certain points in the body. Some experiments suggest needle treatment spur higher levels of serotonin and endorphins in the brain. These chemicals may be involved in improving mood and lessening pain. However, there’s little evidence that acupuncture mental anguish.
Herbal Remedies – Need to be suited to one’s needs by someone trained in Chinese or botanical remedies. Few herbs have been studied as antidepressants, but a review of research in Germany involving the use of St. John’s Wort showed that it worked against moderate depression as well as synthetic drugs. However, herbal remedies are unregulated in this country, and must be used under the supervision of a physician or pharmacist who has studied herbs.
Exercise – By focusing mind and body on a rhythmic activity, exercise lessens anxiety and other negative emotions. Seriously depressed people, though, have a hard time making the effort to exercise on their own.
Meditation – Regularly taking ten to 20 minutes to focus thoughts on a single phrase or image can lower blood pressure, decrease pain and reduce anxiety. However, there’s no direct evidence that meditating helps seriously depressed people. Yet, it does induce a “relaxation response”, a calm state that turns off the “fight or flight” reaction that is part of many anxious and depressed patients.
Nutrition – Gordon and other alternative medicine physicians believe that certain foods, particularly caffeine and sugar, strain the endocrine system and promote depression. No one should fast without a doctor’s supervision; some people are too run down to stop eating. For most people, the best food therapy may come down to good nutrition.
(Summarized from HEALTH Jan. / Feb. 1997 pp 72-78. Article by: Peter Carlin, Reprinted from HEALTH, Copyright © 1997.)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Unusual and Promising Approaches to Allergy Prevention and Treatment
As strange as it may seem, early exposure to pets, peanuts, and intestinal worms might actually be good for you. Evidence to support this view has been mounting for more than a decade. But now, for the first time, researchers are beginning to test remedies based on these theories in patients. Other doctors are trying to make use of novel approaches to retrain the immune system once it’s too late and allergies set in.
“What we’ve learned is that it may, in fact, be important to be exposed early on to a sufficient quantity of allergy-causing substances to train the immune system that they are not a threat,” says Andy Saxton of the University of California – Los Angeles. “And in people who already have allergies, we see for the first time where the problems lie, and we have new opportunities to tweak the system.”
If the new approaches work, millions might benefit. More than 50 million people have allergic diseases, which are the sixth-leading cause of chronic illness in the United States, according to the National Intitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In fact, allergies cost the health system $18 billion a year.
If educating the immune system is tough, re-educating it after allergies set in appears to be tougher. Allergy shots work, but they’re costly and often must be continued for years. Then the protection fades over time. There are two new strategies being developed that may improve treatment.
One strategy, pioneered by researchers at Dynavax Technologies in Berkeley California, involves disguising a key ragweed protein with DNA from a bacterium. The goal is to create a short course of allergy shots that tricks the immune system into permanently thinking that ragweed is a bacterium, so it will attack it like a germ and not mount an allergic response. The approach has appeared to work in early trials at John Hopkins University.
A second strategy, now being developed by Saxon and his colleagues at UCLA and licensed to the biotech firm Biogen Idec, involves fusing a cat allergen with a snippet of a powerful antibody call IgG. This IgG snippet turns off cells that make histamine, the chemical that produces allergic symptoms. Researchers hope the combo will turn off histamine-producing cells, and in time, retrain the immune system to accept that cats are harmless.
The new approach to allergy prevention and treatment arises from a paradox. Known as the “hygiene hypothesis,” it suggests that growing up in cities and suburbs, away from fields and animals, leaves people more susceptible to a host of immune disorders, including allergies and asthma.
It has been shown through a study by Dennis Ownby of the Medical College of Georgia that children exposed early in a home with two or more cats or dog, are 45% less likely to test positive for allergies than other kids. The study appeared in the August 28, 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association. One possible explanation is that dogs and cats shed a substance called endotoxin from bacteria. A related study by Andy Liu of National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver reported in 2002 that infants with the most endotoxin exposure were the least likely to have allergies.
Researchers have also found that worms also have potential as allergy-busters. Weinstock, and his collaborator, David Elliott of the University of Iowa found that worm infections appear to regulate the immune system so that it functions normally. Robert Coffman, vice president of the biotech firm Dynavax Technologies says that the immune system developed two sets of responses: one for bacteria and viruses, and one for worms. Called Th1 for germs and Th2 for worms, they work in opposition. When Th1 is active, Th2 takes a break, and vice versa. All of the symptoms people link with allergy are part of the Th2 response.
Weinstock, Elliott, and other researchers believe that a low-grade infection with intestinal worms – pig whipworms because they cannot reproduce in humans - can restore the immune system. In fact, a small-scale study proved that of 29 people with Crohn’s disease who drank a brew of Gatorade and whipworm eggs, 23 responded to the treatment and 21 of those 23 had complete remission.
Whether it is endotoxin or worms, scientists continue to investigate all of the factors that can confer protection against allergy and other immune diseases.
(Summarized from: USA TODAY, March 19, 2006, article by: Steve Sternberg; Copyright© 2006 USA TODAY. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services. March 19, 2006.)
“What we’ve learned is that it may, in fact, be important to be exposed early on to a sufficient quantity of allergy-causing substances to train the immune system that they are not a threat,” says Andy Saxton of the University of California – Los Angeles. “And in people who already have allergies, we see for the first time where the problems lie, and we have new opportunities to tweak the system.”
If the new approaches work, millions might benefit. More than 50 million people have allergic diseases, which are the sixth-leading cause of chronic illness in the United States, according to the National Intitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In fact, allergies cost the health system $18 billion a year.
If educating the immune system is tough, re-educating it after allergies set in appears to be tougher. Allergy shots work, but they’re costly and often must be continued for years. Then the protection fades over time. There are two new strategies being developed that may improve treatment.
One strategy, pioneered by researchers at Dynavax Technologies in Berkeley California, involves disguising a key ragweed protein with DNA from a bacterium. The goal is to create a short course of allergy shots that tricks the immune system into permanently thinking that ragweed is a bacterium, so it will attack it like a germ and not mount an allergic response. The approach has appeared to work in early trials at John Hopkins University.
A second strategy, now being developed by Saxon and his colleagues at UCLA and licensed to the biotech firm Biogen Idec, involves fusing a cat allergen with a snippet of a powerful antibody call IgG. This IgG snippet turns off cells that make histamine, the chemical that produces allergic symptoms. Researchers hope the combo will turn off histamine-producing cells, and in time, retrain the immune system to accept that cats are harmless.
The new approach to allergy prevention and treatment arises from a paradox. Known as the “hygiene hypothesis,” it suggests that growing up in cities and suburbs, away from fields and animals, leaves people more susceptible to a host of immune disorders, including allergies and asthma.
It has been shown through a study by Dennis Ownby of the Medical College of Georgia that children exposed early in a home with two or more cats or dog, are 45% less likely to test positive for allergies than other kids. The study appeared in the August 28, 2002 Journal of the American Medical Association. One possible explanation is that dogs and cats shed a substance called endotoxin from bacteria. A related study by Andy Liu of National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver reported in 2002 that infants with the most endotoxin exposure were the least likely to have allergies.
Researchers have also found that worms also have potential as allergy-busters. Weinstock, and his collaborator, David Elliott of the University of Iowa found that worm infections appear to regulate the immune system so that it functions normally. Robert Coffman, vice president of the biotech firm Dynavax Technologies says that the immune system developed two sets of responses: one for bacteria and viruses, and one for worms. Called Th1 for germs and Th2 for worms, they work in opposition. When Th1 is active, Th2 takes a break, and vice versa. All of the symptoms people link with allergy are part of the Th2 response.
Weinstock, Elliott, and other researchers believe that a low-grade infection with intestinal worms – pig whipworms because they cannot reproduce in humans - can restore the immune system. In fact, a small-scale study proved that of 29 people with Crohn’s disease who drank a brew of Gatorade and whipworm eggs, 23 responded to the treatment and 21 of those 23 had complete remission.
Whether it is endotoxin or worms, scientists continue to investigate all of the factors that can confer protection against allergy and other immune diseases.
(Summarized from: USA TODAY, March 19, 2006, article by: Steve Sternberg; Copyright© 2006 USA TODAY. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services. March 19, 2006.)
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Studying the Benefits of Massage
As a healing aid, hands-on therapy is being studied to win over skeptics to understand its healing benefits
Longmont United Hospital in Colorado has a massage therapist on staff around the clock for patients who need or request it. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, 11 massage therapists are on a staff team and work with hundreds of patients. Yet, those who advocate massage therapy say that some hospital administrators are wary of introducing such a “touchy-feely” element to clinical practice.
“Clearly there are medical benefits to massage,” said Dr. Gregory P. Fontana, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In a study of heart patients measuring the effectiveness of nontraditional therapies, such as massage, in helping speed recovery after surgery, ninety-five percent of the 50 massage patients reported that massage was a “very important” part of their recovery, according to Fontana.
However, many doctors remain skeptical of the research suggesting a medical benefit to massage, saying more rigorous studies are needed. There are several new studies underway. Some are being funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, is working on two NIH-funded studies: one measuring the effect of massage on premature babies; the other measuring the effect of massage on pregnant mothers who are depressed. Currently, Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers are undergoing studies that measure how effective massage can be in alleviating the pain of cancer patients.
Advocates of massage therapy hope that the scientific and medical research will continue to support the benefits, safety, and cost-effectiveness of massage treatments. (Summarized from Los Angeles Times, Nov. 22, 2004, pp. F1+; Copyright © 2004 Los Angeles Times, Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Longmont United Hospital in Colorado has a massage therapist on staff around the clock for patients who need or request it. At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, 11 massage therapists are on a staff team and work with hundreds of patients. Yet, those who advocate massage therapy say that some hospital administrators are wary of introducing such a “touchy-feely” element to clinical practice.
“Clearly there are medical benefits to massage,” said Dr. Gregory P. Fontana, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. In a study of heart patients measuring the effectiveness of nontraditional therapies, such as massage, in helping speed recovery after surgery, ninety-five percent of the 50 massage patients reported that massage was a “very important” part of their recovery, according to Fontana.
However, many doctors remain skeptical of the research suggesting a medical benefit to massage, saying more rigorous studies are needed. There are several new studies underway. Some are being funded by NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine, is working on two NIH-funded studies: one measuring the effect of massage on premature babies; the other measuring the effect of massage on pregnant mothers who are depressed. Currently, Memorial Sloan Kettering researchers are undergoing studies that measure how effective massage can be in alleviating the pain of cancer patients.
Advocates of massage therapy hope that the scientific and medical research will continue to support the benefits, safety, and cost-effectiveness of massage treatments. (Summarized from Los Angeles Times, Nov. 22, 2004, pp. F1+; Copyright © 2004 Los Angeles Times, Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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