Can Ayahuasca, the ‘sacred plant’ of the Amazon, help addiction and depression?

TheConversation: Ayahuasca goes by many names: Daime, Vegetal, Hoasca, Kamarampi, Huni … whatever you call it, this plant-based psychoactive decoction, which has been used by indigenous Amazonians for centuries to contact the spiritual world, has suddenly burst into global consciousness. As a recent New Yorker article put it, ayahuasca is “the drug of choice for the age of kale”. The article, which positioned ayahuasca as a hipster trend in a tone of mockery mixed with mystification, nevertheless belies the growing interest of Western scientists and rich urbanites in its medicinal and therapeutic potential, which include antidepressant, anti-anxiety and anti-addiction elements.

Mushroom supplement could be one way to tackle obesity

"A mushroom used for centuries in Chinese medicine reduces weight gain in animals," BBC News reports. A supplement from the Ganoderma lucidum mushroom (more commonly known as "reishi") slowed the pace of weight gain by apparently altering bacteria inside the digestive system of mice. In this study, the researchers aimed to see if reishi was effective in preventing obesity. They gave mice different amounts of reishi or placebo and either a normal diet or a high-fat diet for eight weeks. All mice on the high-fat diet gained a lot of weight and body fat, but those given reishi did not gain as much weight or body fat. The reishi supplement did not have an effect on mice fed a normal diet. The supplement appeared to work by improving the number of "good" bacteria in the gut and through reducing inflammation. Some studies have suggested that chronic inflammation and an increased number of "bad" bacteria in the gut are linked to obesity in humans.

Qigong to prevent cardiovascular disease

Cochrane: This review assessed the effectiveness of qigong interventions for reducing cardiovascular events and cardiovascular risk factors among healthy adults and those at high risk of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a global health burden. However, by changing several modifiable behaviours, such as by increasing exercise levels and by promoting relaxation to reduce stress, it is thought that cardiovascular risk can be reduced. Qigong originated in China and involves physical exercise, mind regulation and breathing control to restore Qi (the life energy force that flows around the body). Qigong might reduce stress and increase exercise levels.

Mead made from honey could have healing properties

Lund: Did the Vikings have the recipe for good health? Lund University researchers Alejandra Vasquez and Tobias Olofsson have previously shown in lab experiments that 13 lactic acid bacteria found in the stomach of bees counteract antibiotic-resistant MSRA. The bacteria also healed horses with persistent wounds and protected against bee colony collapse in separate studies. Now, the two researchers have launched a mead drink made from honey and water, containing those same bacteria. Going forward, the pair will study the possible health benefits of the ancient brew – drunk by the Vikings, among others – including the potential that the drink combats or prevents infections.

Eating The Placenta: Trendy But No Proven Health Benefits And Unknown Risks

Chicago: Celebrities such as Kourtney Kardashian blogged and raved about the benefits of their personal placenta “vitamins” and spiked women’s interest in the practice of consuming their placentas after childbirth.
But a new Northwestern Medicine review of 10 current published research studies on placentophagy did not turn up any human or animal data to support the common claims that eating the placenta -- either raw, cooked or encapsulated -- offers protection against postpartum depression, reduces post-delivery pain, boosts energy, helps with lactation, promotes skin elasticity, enhances maternal bonding or replenishes iron in the body.

Yoga for secondary prevention of coronary heart disease

Cochrane: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of early cardiovascular-related illness and death in most developed countries. Secondary prevention is a term used to describe interventions that aim to prevent repeat cardiac events and death in people with established CHD. Individuals with CHD are at the highest risk of coronary events and death. Lifestyle modifications play an important role in secondary prevention. Yoga has been regarded as both a type of physical activity and a stress management strategy. The physical and psychological benefits of yoga are well accepted, yet inappropriate practice of yoga may lead to musculoskeletal injuries, such as muscle soreness and strain.

Thunder god vine used in traditional Chinese medicine is a potential obesity treatment

Cell: An extract from the thunder god vine, which has a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine, reduces food intake and causes up to a 45% decrease in body weight in obese mice. The weight-loss compound, called Celastrol, produces its potent effects by enhancing the action of an appetite-suppressing hormone called leptin. The findings, published May 21 in Cell, are an early indicator that Celastrol could be developed into a drug for the treatment of obesity.

Why do cancer patients turn to complementary medicine?

Scimex: Cancer patients who are older, female, and college educated tend to expect greater benefits from complementary and alternative medicine, a US study has found. The researchers surveyed 969 cancer patients, and say that specific attitudes and beliefs, such as expectation of therapeutic benefits, perceived barriers regarding cost and access, and opinions of physicians and family members, may all predict a patient's use of complementary and alternative medicine following a cancer diagnosis.

Why do cancer patients turn to complementary medicine?

Scimex: Cancer patients who are older, female, and college educated tend to expect greater benefits from complementary and alternative medicine, a US study has found. The researchers surveyed 969 cancer patients, and say that specific attitudes and beliefs, such as expectation of therapeutic benefits, perceived barriers regarding cost and access, and opinions of physicians and family members, may all predict a patient's use of complementary and alternative medicine following a cancer diagnosis.

Tong-xin-luo capsule for coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention

Cochrane: What is the efficacy and safety of chinese herbal medicine Tong-xin-luo capsules in preventing cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention, a procedure involving placing a stent to open up the heart's blood vessels, in patients with coronary heart disease? Coronary heart disease is a major cause of mortality globally. Percutaneous coronary intervention is regarded as a standard treatment for coronary heart disease to improve symptoms of heart-related chest pain. However, a major drawback of percutaneous coronary intervention is the need for a repeat procedure due to symptoms related to recurring narrowing of the heart's blood vessels. Previous studies have indicated that Tong-xin-luo capsule, a Chinese herbal medicine product, might be effective in preventing recurrence of narrowing of a blood vessel after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Is holistic dentistry panacea?

TheConversation: Many Australian dentists’ websites proudly advertise that they practise holistic dentistry, a philosophy that promotes health and wellness rather than simply treating disease, and considers the whole body and mind, not just teeth. It sounds exciting. The implication is that this practice is very different – and superior – to the type of dentistry being practised by mainstream dental professionals. But different doesn’t actually mean superior.

Yoga for epilepsy

Cochrane: This review assessed the utility of yoga as a treatment for control of epilepsy. Epilepsy is a disorder in which recurrent seizures are caused by abnormal electrical discharges in the brain. Most seizures can be controlled by antiepileptic drugs but sometimes seizures develop which are resistant to those drugs. People may also wish to try non-drug treatments such as yoga. Between 25% and 40% of people with epilepsy treated with AED have uncontrolled seizure, experience adverse effect from medication, suffer from stigmatisation and have a higher degree of psychiatric disorders as compared with people with other chronic illnesses. For those who have epilepsy and related problems it is important to develop, evaluate, and implement a complementary treatment model in the everyday treatment of epilepsy.

Global pandemic of fake medicines poses urgent risk

NIH: Poor quality medicines are a real and urgent threat that could undermine decades of successful efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, according to the editors of a collection of journal articles published today. Scientists report up to 41 percent of specimens failed to meet quality standards in global studies of about 17,000 drug samples. Among the collection is an article describing the discovery of falsified and substandard malaria drugs that caused an estimated 122,350 deaths in African children in 2013. Other studies identified poor quality antibiotics, which may harm health and increase antimicrobial resistance. However, new methodologies are being developed to detect problem drugs at the point of purchase and show some promise, scientists say.

Laetrile treatment for cancer: risk of cyanide poisoning

Cochrane: Laetrile is a word created from the first letters of laevorotatory and mandelonitrile and describes a semi-synthetic form of amygdalin. Amygdalin is a compound that can be isolated from the seeds of many fruits such as peaches, bitter almonds and apricots. Both laetrile and amygdalin have a common structural component, mandelonitrile, that contains cyanide.

Health experts find no evidence homeopathy works, again

TheConversation: There’s no reliable evidence that health conditions can be effectively treated with homeopathic medicine, according to a statement by the National Health and Medicine Research Council (NHMRC) released today. The study failed to find any evidence for homoepathy’s effectiveness for treating 68 conditions, which ranged from the common cough through to malaria. Only single studies were identified for 29 of the conditions, and all were deemed unreliable for either having too few participants for a meaningful result or being poorly designed. The statement is based on a summary of research on homeopathy’s effectiveness for treating health conditions. It aimed to provide people who use homeopathic remedies with information of their risks and benefits so they could make informed health decisions.

16th Century book provides recipes for today's health

Canterbury: The School of Health Sciences at the University of Canterbury is conducting ground-breaking research into a Renaissance medico-pharmaceutical text that could hold invaluable recipes for today’s health needs. In painstaking work PhD student Sandra Clair is unlocking a large, 400 year old Materia Medica, is a book of collected knowledge about medicinal plants that have influenced Western herbal medicine. The book is the most comprehensive German language encyclopaedia on plant medicine in the early modern era and reflects a quantified approach to epidemiology and experimentally gained medical knowledge.
“The 16^th century work was written over a period of 36 years at the peak of European plant-based medicine by German pharmacist, physician and botanist Theodorus Jacobus Tabernaemontanus, who systematically recorded the scholarship of physicians and local healers from antiquity to the early modern era,” Clair says.
“He describes more than 3000 medicinal plants and their preparations which represents a much larger therapeutic repertoire than in today’s official international list of medicinal drugs. The author’s scientific approach and systematic arrangement of plant monographs and its comprehensive register of herbal therapeutics and ailments in 10 languages, allows a logical way to navigate the complex information.
“The work’s enduring clinical information is still relevant for contemporary medical herbalism and inspired many modern drug developments such as pain relieving morphine and honey wound dressings.
“Despite the longevity of plant medicine since the dawn of mankind, high use by patients for self-care, and their importance affirmed by the current World Health Organisation’s Traditional Medicine Strategy inquiry into the effectiveness of traditional plant applications is a neglected area of medical research.
“Professionally trained herbal experts are necessary for an interdisciplinary investigation of pre-modern medical text books so that they can be understood for their clinical relevance. My research will contribute to new insights and a platform for testing old recipes. It will highlight historic indications of selected plants over several centuries and further compare them with the latest biomedical research in order to validate the rational of traditional practice.
“Using traditional medical knowledge for therapeutic use or a drug discovery is a fruitful approach. The compounding of the antibiotic substance Penicillin was first recorded by Benedictine monks in the eighth century and the recent recreation of a thousand-year-old medieval remedy for eye infections proved effective against the antibiotic resistant superbug staph infections.
“I have identified a promising Renaissance recipe to treat open injuries. It contains antimicrobial and nerve regenerating ingredients and warrants further investigation. We are not exactly sure yet why the ancient potion is so effective,” Clair says.

What Is It About Yoga?

UCSD: What is it about yoga that makes it such a healthful practice? Is it adding mindfulness to movement that does a body good, or adding movement to mindfulness? Two studies at the University of California, San Diego Qualcomm Institute are attempting to answer that question by examining the physiological effects of the yoga postures known as asanas to see if they provide health benefits beyond what can be achieved with non-movement-based mindfulness practices or no exercise at all.

Barberry for treatment of pigment-related skin problems

Korea: Chung-An researchers investigated the activities of Berberis vulgaris extract in melanoma cells. They found out that berberine, a barberry plant alkaloid, aids in skin whitening by inhibiting the activity of tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for melanin synthesis. The researchers also demonstrated that berberine is more effective than arbutin in suppressing the production of melanin. “If the effectiveness and safety of berberine is proved through clinical trials, berberine would become one of the best solutions to pigment-related skin problems caused by UV rays“, professor Kim said. The research, sponsored by the Rural Development Administration Korea, was published in the February issue of the International Journal of Molecular Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal devoted to the publication of high quality studies related to the molecular mechanisms of human disease. 

 

Cane toads potentially lucrative export in cancer fight

Queensland: Wait before you whack that toad. Not only is it frowned upon to kill cane toads inhumanely, but the amphibian’s venom could be worth a bucket-load. That’s the message from The University of Queensland School of Pharmacy’s Dr Harendra Parekh, who is exploring how cane toad venom can be used to fight cancer.

Yoga and meditation can influence perception of pain and aging

Maastricht: There were already indications that mindfulness meditation and yoga have a positive effect on pain perception and the preservation of mental faculties when ageing. With the help of brain scanners, PhD student Tim Gard now explains the underlying mechanisms in the brain. He found unique neural mechanisms in the area of pain processing and more efficiently organised and sturdier brain networks in older adults who were experienced yoga and meditation practitioners. This could have future implications for the treatment of chronic pain and for maintaining a healthy ageing population as long as possible.