Funding of alternative treatments questioned

Thanks to a $374,000 taxpayer-funded grant, scientists now know that inhaling lemon and lavender scents doesn't do a lot for our ability to heal a wound. For $666,000 in federal research money, we can be certain that distant prayer cannot heal AIDS. Americans also paid $406,000 to learn that squirting brewed coffee into someone's intestines doesn't help treat pancreatic cancer and $1.25 million to discover that massage makes people with advanced cancer feel better.

These and other dubious investigations were funded by the government's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. NCCAM, a small, little-known branch of the National Institutes of Health, was launched a dozen years ago to study alternative treatments that are used by the public but are not accepted by mainstream medicine.

Since its birth, the center has spent $1.4 billion, most of it on research. Millions of those dollars have been used to fund studies with questionable grounding in science, according to a review of hundreds of NCCAM grants and other documents reviewed by the Chicago Tribune.

Source  - Los Angeles Times

The end of illness?

Take statins if you’re over 50, and baby Aspirin, too. Drop the vitamin supplements like they were a lit cigarette. Junk the juicer. If the vegetables at the supermarket aren’t today-fresh, opt for fresh frozen. Wear sensible shoes. Eat lunch and go to bed at the same time every day. Get your flu shot. Move around a lot, even when you aren’t exercising. Digitize your medical records, family history and genetic profile, and store this information on a USB stick. Carry it with you always. Share it, anonymously, with the world.
Think of yourself as a system: cancer is not something the body gets and health is not something it has—both are states, dynamic processes really, that the body undergoes. And your system is not the same as anyone else’s: the daily glass of red wine that does wonders for your friend may be killing you. Take note of the specific, unchanging details of your system. Is your ring finger longer than your index finger? That ups the risk of prostate cancer for a man, and of osteoarthritis for a woman. (No one knows quite why, but the marker is well-established.) Keep an eye on your more changeable fine points. Check your nails: yellowish hue bad (go for a diabetes check); white crescent at the base good (iron levels are sufficient). Check your ankles: indentation marks from your socks or loss of hair could mean circulatory problems and increased risk of blood clot.

Do all these things, which essentially add up to two commandments—cut down on daily sources of life-threatening inflammation and take an active part in your own health care—and you stand a very good chance of living to see the end of illness.

Source  - Macleans

How yoga can help fight ageing aches

Yoga has never been so fashionable, its benefits as a stress-buster and body toner advocated by celebrities from Madonna to Ricky Martin. And while it suits all ages – pre-schoolers are stretching and twisting on the mat, thanks in part to the BBC children’s series Waybuloo – it is especially good for older people.

In fact, Fenella Lindsell, a consultant on the CBeebies show and co-founder of the children’s yoga company Yoga Bugs (www.yogabugs.com), says her classes for the elderly are the highlight of her week.

Eight years ago, Lindsell, 48, began subsidised yoga sessions for older adults to increase their mobility and help reduce the aches and pains of ageing, following a request from her local GP’s surgery in Balham Park, south London.
At first, the classes attracted a slow stream of men and women. But now the three weekly sessions of gentle “Hatha flow” yoga – focusing on breath work, postures and relaxation – are packed.

The physical and emotional benefits appear remarkable. Judy Campbell, 70, has Sjogren Syndrome (an auto-immune disorder affecting her joints) and inflammatory lung disease. She believes that the yoga she has learnt in Lindsell’s class for the past eight years has strengthened her muscles and improved joint mobility, while the breathing techniques have increased her lung capacity and helped with tiredness and pain toleration. The classes calm her, too; they are “the most positive part of my week”, she says.

Source  - Telegraph