Research News15 May, 2014 by David FinerAfter integrative care for pain at the anthroposophical hospital Vidarkliniken in Sweden, prescriptions for pain medications could be halved. Patients in conventional care however, purchased twice as many analgesics as before treatment. These are some results of a unique comparative study published in the high impact journal PLOS One. Physician Hans Johansson, Södertälje Hospital (not involved with the study), says that it is interesting and important. Read more 
Tags: anthroposophical integrative care, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, CAM, case-control study, complementary and alternative medicine, David Finer, drug utilization, evidence, health, health care, health care cost, health economics, I C, integrative care, Integrative Care Science Center, integrative medicine, Karolinska Institutet, National Board of Health and Welfare, pain, prescribing, prospective, research, retrospective, Tobias Sundberg, Torkel Falkenberg, Vidarkliniken
Research News20 March, 2014 by David FinerScientists are confused about the concept of mindfulness, and overlook its social and existential dimensions. Mindfulness has become commercialized mindlessness and lost its soul. So says Håkan Nilsson at University of Gothenburg, Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion in Sweden. Håkan Nilsson is a lecturer in social psychology and the author of the […] Read more
Tags: ACT, body scanning, Buddhism, David Finer, discourse, empathy, ethics, exercise, Existential, Gothenburg University, Håkan Nilsson, health, health care, meaning, mindfulness, religion, social psychology, soul, spirituality, stress, stress management, sustainability, yoga
Research News28 February, 2014 by David FinerSoftly stroking the skin at body temperature at the speed of five centimeters (roughly two inches) per second. That’s the recipe for an optimal caress according to research from Gothenburg University, Sweden. It is not wild guess that most people experience tender touching positively. In fact, sensitive, respectful touching is not only pleasant, it is […] Read more
Tags: affinity, attachment, bonding, caressing, classical massage, comfort, David Finer, elderly, Gothenburg University, healing touch, infant, massage, neurology, parent, Rochelle Ackerley, security, sensualism, skin, stroking, Swedish massage, tactile, touch
Research News25 February, 2014 by David FinerPolarized thinking about complementary, alternative and integrative care is negative, well, downright dangerous. It undermines the health care encounter and harms individuals and nations. This can be read in an opinion piece in the journal European Journal of Integrative Medicine, written by researchers at I C. Read more
Tags: alternative medicine, attitude, CAM, complementary and alternative medicine, CritiCAM, David Finer, ethics, European Journal of Integrative Medicine, health care, health journalism, integrative care, Integrative Care Science Center, Jackie Schwartz, Johanna Hök, Maria Arman, mass media, Media Doctor, nursing, patient, polarization, pseudoscience, sceptics, Tobias Suundberg, Torkel Falkenberg, WHO
Research News16 January, 2014 by David FinerHomeopathy is generally superior to placebo, particularly in immune-related conditions. But it has been discounted by ideologically biased researchers, who have excluded almost all published studies, referring to virtual data, and using inappropriate statistics, writes physician Robert Hahn in a critical analysis in Forschende Komplementärmedizin. Read more
Tags: alternative medicine, bias, CAM, CI, communication, confidence interval, conflict, controversy, David Finer, Edzard Ernst, evidence, Forschende Komplementärmedizin, homeopathy, ideology, odds ratio, OR, placebo, randomized controlled trial, RCT, review, Robert Hahn
Research News20 September, 2013 by David FinerWomen do not integrate conventional and alternative medicine because they think it is a romantic or rebellious thing to do. They do it because they must. Health providers, after all, do not build any bridges. A diary study from Australian reveals the pragmatic approach of older women towards medical pluralism. Researchers view them as role models for all of us as consumers of the future. Read more
Tags: allopathic medicine, alternative medicine, attitude, Australia, autenticity, biomedicine, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, bridging gaps, CAM, complementary and alternative medicine, David Finer, diaries, disease, empowerment, gender, health, home remedies, independence, integrative care, integrative medicine, Internet, knowledge, lay activism, lay knowledge, mass media, meaning, medical pluralism, narrative analysis, natural, nature, network, networking, old wives tales, patient-doctor communication, personalised medicine, pragmatism, qualitative study, resistance, responsibility, self-care, TM, traditonal medicine, wellbeing, women, women´s health
Research News15 August, 2013 by David FinerThe concept of personalized medicine has become synonymous with risk factor identification and treatment. But according to a German study, our understanding of the term is in fact more in line with personal development, integrative care, authenticity, self-determination and wellbeing. Values which we look for in complementary, alternative and integrative care. Read more
Tags: attitude, authenticity, biomarker, Brigitte Franzel, CAM, communication, complementary and alternative medicine, conceptions, cytochrome P450, David Finer, discourse, ethnography, grapefruit, health care, individualized medicine, integrative medicine, meaning, narrative, patient, patient-doctor communication, person-centered, personalized medicine, research
Research News30 July, 2013 by David FinerA new study from Oxford shows that vegetarians reduce their risk of succumbing to ischemic cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 32 percent compared to non-vegetarians. The study comprised both vegetarians and non-vegetarians from the United Kingdom, in all almost 45 000 people. Read more
Tags: CAM, cardiovascular, CVD, death, diet, eggs, exercise, fish, Francesca Crowe, green, heart, heart disease, Johanna Hök, lifestyle, meat, milk, mortality, Oxford, prevention, smoking, stress, vegetarian, veggie
Research News18 June, 2013 by David FinerFailure to integrate conventional and complementary medicine will soon be viewed as unethical. The “magical” effects of homeopathy are attributable solely to the patient-provider relationship. All raw CAM research data should be made publically available. These were three provocative statements formulated during a popular “soapbox” session at the ICCMR 2013 research meeting in London recently. […] Read more
Tags: Andrew Weil, CAM, complementary and alternative medicine, controversy, David Finer, ethics, George Lewith, healthcare crisis, homeopathy, ICCMR, informed consent, integrative care, magic, patient-provider, priorities, research, Torkel Falkenberg
Research News15 March, 2013 by David FinerA Swedish study links regular supplements of vitamin C to an increased risk of men getting kidney stones. The association is not a causal relationship, but for safety’s sake, consumers should refrain from taking high doses, says Agneta Åkesson, principal author of the study, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. Read more
Tags: causality, David Finer, Karolinska Institutet, kidney, observational study, supplements, vitamin C
