Acupuncture therapy

Other medications that have been studied for nicotine addiction but were found to yield poor or variable results include naltrexone, naloxone, lobeline, mecamy-lamine, and buspirone. Hypnosis and herbal remedies have been reported to be of potential use but are not scientifically proven. A review of nine studies of acupuncture therapy for smoking cessation shows it to increase the quit rate a modest 1.5 times. 

Matsuyama H, Nagao K, Yamakawa GI, Akahoshi K, Naito K. Retroperitoneal hematoma due to rupture of a pseudoaneurysm caused by acupuncture therapy. J Urol 1998 159(6) 2087-8. 

Complementary and alternative medicine therapies, such as acupuncture, biofeedback, chiropractic manipulation, dietary supplements, herbal therapy, and homeopathic preparations, are used by individuals with allergic rhinitis.29,30 Use of bromelain, gingko, ginseng, licorice, quercetin, and Urtica dioica has been reported, but large-scale studies documenting efficacy are lacking.31,32 Caregivers should inquire routinely about patients use of alternative therapies and counsel patients about the lack of validated data to support such practices.12... 

Complementary and alternative medicines A group of practices and products that are not presently considered to be part of conventional medicine, including alternative medical systems (e.g., homeopathic medicine and naturopathic medicine), mind-body interventions (e.g., meditation and mental healing), biologically-based therapies (e.g., dietary supplements, vitamins, herbs, and other natural products), manipulative body-based methods (e.g., acupuncture and massage), and energy therapies (e.g., therapeutic touch and bioelectromagnetic-based therapies). 

Nonpharmacologic therapies include reassurance and counseling, stress management, relaxation training, and biofeedback. Physical therapeutic options (e.g., heat or cold packs, ultrasound, electrical nerve stimulation, massage, acupuncture, trigger point injections, occipital nerve blocks) have performed inconsistently. 

Some alternative therapies have crossed the line into mainstream medicine as scientific investigation has confirmed their safety and efficacy. For example, today physicians may prescribe acupuncture for pain management or to control the nausea associated with chemother-(40) apy. Most U.S. medical schools teach courses in alternative therapies and many health insurance companies offer some alternative medicine benefits. Yet, despite their gaining acceptance, the majority of alternative therapies have not been researched in controlled studies. New research efforts aim at testing alternative methods and providing the... 

Complementary and alternative medicine, which includes a range of practices outside of conventional medicine such as herbs, homeopathy, massage therapy, yoga, and acupuncture, hold increasing appeal for Americans. In fact, according to one estimate, 42% of Americans have used alternative therapies. In all age groups, the use of unconventional healthcare practices has steadily increased in the last 30 years, and the trend is likely to continue, although people born before 1945 are the least likely to turn to these therapies. 

More and more Americans are turning to alternative medicine. The ancient art of aromatherapy has gained a tremendous following, particularly on the West Coast. Acupuncture, the traditional Chinese art of needle therapy, has doubled its number of active practitioners in the past decade. And holistic medicine—treating the whole body instead of just one part—is so popular that some HMOs now even pay for holistic care. 

CAM. Data about 145 boys and 35 girls, with a mean age of 10 years, were obtained. The most popular form of alternative therapy was vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (51%), followed by nutritional supplements (14%), herbs and botanical medicines (11%), massage (9%), chiropractic (4%), homeopathy (4%), and acupuncture (2%). (Horrigan et ah, 1998). An anecdotal report described the use of St. John s wort by four teenagers who were under psychiatric care (Walter and Rey, 1999). Three of the patients had been reluctant to reveal this to their psychiatrist, believing the doctor had no interest in alternative medicine or would disapprove of it. 

People have looked to alternative medicine, herbal remedies, homoeopathy, acupuncture and hypnotherapy, and other therapies as alternatives to tranquillisers to help them withdraw. These may be valid and useful in their way but they are not all that is required. Switching to an alternative therapy fails to pay proper attention to physical dependence. A pharmacological understanding of tranquilliser withdrawal is also required. 

No single definition adequately captures the range of practices that fall under the CAM rubric. Those that define CAM as practices that are not part of mainstream medicine, or as practices used by patients to manage their own health care, or as therapies not widely taught in Western medical schools or available in most hospitals, fail to capture the complexity of this field. CAM includes health-care practices that range from the use of vitamins, herbal remedies, and massage therapies to the ancient traditions of Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, along with chiropractic techniques, naturopathy homeopathic medicine, meditation, hypnosis, acupuncture, and a host of other less well-known approaches to health and health care. 

In addition to Sheng Jing and acupuncture, which are old (Crimmel et al., 2001), and gene therapy, which is novel and new (Bivalacqua and Hellstrom, 2001), other emerging therapeutics for erectile dysfunction are the following ... 

A systematic review of the literature aimed to assess the effectiveness of any type of complementary therapy for intermittent claudication revealed that there is no evidence of effectiveness of acupuncture, biofeedback therapy, chelation therapy, CO(2)-applications and the dietary supplements of Allium sativum (garlic), omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin E (86). 

Alternative medicine includes (but is not limited to) the following herbal medicine, homeopathy, aromatherapy, chiropractic, osteopathy, acupuncture, acupressure, yoga, tai chi, meditation, music or art therapy, shamanism, and faith healing. In this chapter our focus is on herbal medicine. The increased use of herbal medicine outside of the traditional physician-patient paradigm represents a search for other sources of health as well as an expression of assuming greater responsibility for our own health maintenance. In one sense, it is a return to an earlier period. The shift from traditional medicine to modern medicine can be traced to the Flexner Report of 1910. 

Alternative therapies like massage, acupuncture, hypnotherapy, and homeopathy are slowly growing in popularity people are constantly looking for new answers to old problems. 

Herbal products are considered a type of alternative medicine (e.g., herbal medicines, Chinese herbs, homeopathy, acupuncture, biofeedback, color therapy, music therapy, hypnotherapy, aromatherapy. Ayurvedic medicine, massage, therapeutic touch, Bach flower remedies, chiropractic, reflexology, naturopathy, and more). According to the Office of Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), characteristics of alternatives medicine include treatments that lack sufficient documentation in the United States for safety and effectiveness against specific disease and... 

A 42-year-old woman with Marfan s syndrome, who had previously had an aortic root and valve replacement, presented with fever and polyarthralgia 6 days after receiving acupuncture for back pain (95). Examination of the valve showed no abnormalities, but S. aureus was grown from blood cultures. Extensive investigations did not identify a cause for the infection. Her condition deteriorated despite antibiotic therapy, and emergency aortic root and valve replacement became necessary. She eventually made a full recovery. 

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