Building an Evidence Base: Clinical Research Progress
“Our goal is to build a house of evidence,” explains long-time NCCAM grantee Brian Berman, M.D., director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
To date, much of the progress in clinical research on acupuncture has come from an interdisciplinary approach that includes experts in acupuncture, clinical trial methodology, biostatistics, and relevant diseases such as osteoarthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome.
“What we’ve learned so far is that the most promising area for using acupuncture is pain,” says Dr. Nahin. Clinical studies are showing acupuncture’s efficacy for some types of pain, such as back, osteoarthritis, and postoperative pain. For example, a systematic review supports the use of acupuncture for postoperative pain management. An NCCAM-supported Phase III clinical trial led by Dr. Berman showed that acupuncture relieved pain and improved function in patients with knee osteoarthritis when it was used with standard medical care, including anti-inflammatory medications and opioid pain relievers. In a large study published in 2009, researchers found that people suffering from chronic low-back pain who received acupuncture or simulated acupuncture treatments fared better than those receiving only conventional care. Pilot studies have looked at acupuncture in posttraumatic stress disorder and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. And, the Cochrane Collaboration reviewed 11 randomized trials and found that acupuncture may be a valuable option for patients suffering from tension headaches.
But these clinical outcomes may involve more than acupoints and needles. Other aspects of the acupuncture experience may play important roles in healing, including reassurance provided by the practitioner, expectation of benefit, and the sensory experience elicited by acupuncture needling, which has been called de qi and variously described as aching, dull pain, tingling, or a heaviness. In several recent studies researchers have carefully designed their studies to compare true acupuncture to simulated acupuncture and have tried to mimic the sensory experience of true acupuncture so that patients would be unaware of whether they were receiving true or simulated acupuncture. In some of these studies, such as the 2009 study on low-back pain, both simulated acupuncture and real acupuncture produced greater benefit than standard therapy.

Source:

Sources:
NationalNCCAM, National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland 20892 USA

Key Points

• Federal regulations for dietary supplements are very different from those for prescription and over-the-counter drugs. For example, a dietary supplement manufacturer does not have to prove a product’s safety and effectiveness before it is marketed.
• If you are thinking about using a dietary supplement, first get information on it from reliable sources. Keep in mind that dietary supplements may interact with medications or other dietary supplements and may contain ingredients not listed on the label.
• Tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use, including dietary supplements. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health. This will help ensure coordinated and safe care.

About Dietary Supplements

© Jupiterimages

Dietary supplements were defined in a law passed by Congress in 1994 called the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). According to DSHEA, a dietary supplement is a product that:

• Is intended to supplement the diet
• Contains one or more dietary ingredients (including vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and certain other substances) or their constituents
• Is intended to be taken by mouth, in forms such as tablet, capsule, powder, softgel, gelcap, or liquid
• Is labeled as being a dietary supplement.

Herbal supplements are one type of dietary supplement. An herb is a plant or plant part (such as leaves, flowers, or seeds) that is used for its flavor, scent, and/or therapeutic properties. “Botanical” is often used as a synonym for “herb.” An herbal supplement may contain a single herb or mixtures of herbs.

Research has shown that some uses of dietary supplements are effective in preventing or treating diseases. For example, scientists have found that folic acid (a vitamin) prevents certain birth defects, and a regimen of vitamins and zinc can slow the progression of the age- related eye disease macular degeneration. Also, calcium and vitamin D supplements can be helpful in preventing and treating bone loss and osteoporosis (thinning of bone tissue).

Research has also produced some promising results suggesting that other dietary supplements may be helpful for other health conditions (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids for coronary disease), but in most cases, additional research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.

Source:

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More information…..

A telemedicine trial, undertaken by Cisco, has proven a success after almost 100 percent of responses suggested the technology used was acceptable, according to Cisco Systems, a U.S.-based multi-national corporation.

Cisco, NHS Scotland and the Scottish Centre for Telehealth teamed up to run the trial at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in early 2008. The trial tested the performance of Cisco’s TelePresence and HealthPresence solutions in supporting medical staff’s treatment of patients with non-life threatening illnesses.

HealthPresence provides a more efficient way for doctors to assess patients’ symptoms using physiological data obtained through stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs and thermometers. Over the five months, 105 patients were treated. Ninety-nine percent of the patients said they were satisfied with the experience.

Source:HealthCare IT News

WebMD,medscape division has introduced free tools for health care professionals,using Iphone and Itouch.

This enables,healthcare professionals to

View Drug Interactions,

Read Medical News

Participate in Contiuing Medical Education credits.

For a free demo of their model visit..

C. Peter Waegemann, CEO of the Medical Records Institute and executive director of the newly established not-for-profit mHealth Initiative, says that in the last several years, cell phone use had been forbidden in most hospitals and clinics. Now, however, they are moving toward becoming among the most prized tools to decrease costs, improve care, and provide an optimal way to communicate with patients.

The vision of the mHealth Initiative includes 10 application clusters that will enhance the overall delivery of healthcare through the use of cell phone technology.

A primary goal is to foster better communication between patients and doctors through avenues such as short message services, texting, or even calling rather than scheduling an office visit. For example, the patient can send medical information via a cell phone or an agenda prior to an appointment to make the visit more effective. “There is a major move to having personal medical records available on their cell phones. We expect between 10 [million] to 30 million patients to have this information by the end of 2009,” says Waegemann.

From 411 on Cellphone applications in Healthcare

How Mobile Devices Benefit Healthcare

• Cell phone, smart phone, and other mDevice users can store their personal health information safely and securely on their phone in order to share it with authorized healthcare professionals when healthcare services are needed.
• Specific mDevice software can provide preferred and easy communication between healthcare providers, patients, payers, pharmacists, and others, facilitating medication reminders for patients, appointment scheduling, easy emergency calling, and other functions.
• mDevices can serve as the platform for consumer health-related software such as wellness-related programs and disease management programs. A wealth of functions related to diseases ranging from asthma to diabetes, from smoking cessation to general pediatric applications, are currently being developed and tested.
• mDevices offer clinicians and patients quick access to health information for clinicians and patients. Patients can look up information about medication or symptoms of their health status. Imagine a patient looking up a specific medication after it has been prescribed at a clinic visit, noting it interacts with another of their medications that they failed to mention during their visit and alerting the clinic physician – also via the cell phone – before having the prescription filled. Clinicians, on the other hand, can access protocols at the point of care and/or other professional information that is available on the Internet while with a patient or away from their desk.
• mDevices can be very efficient tools for medical research, offering the power of the Internet and enabling patient data to be transmitted easily and instantaneously to authorized, pre-programmed research centers.

More about mhealth initiative…

Cell phones are now a common part of our everyday lives. But not only is the technology taken for granted, its wide-reaching potential is largely unrecognized. The technology that is found in cell phones and PDAs is currently being applied to improve health services in developing countries.

The United Nations Foundation (UNF) and Vodafone Foundation (VF) Technology Partnership is using mobile health (mHealth) technology to support UN programs in developing countries. Innovative mHealth projects are powering the collection of health data, supporting diagnosis and treatment, and advancing education and research in even the most remote and poverty stricken environments.

In health care, time is of the essence. With mobile technology, data can be quickly and accurately collected, allowing health workers to coordinate their efforts and track the success of health campaigns. This technology can also be used in disaster and outbreak response, to track the spread of an epidemic in real time. With the most up-to-date, easily accessible information and communications, mHealth is revolutionizing healthcare delivery in much of the developing world.

From MediaGlobal

Innovation: Is the future of healthcare online?

For practical reasons, health workers are often unable to talk to home-based patients with chronic conditions on a daily basis – but they could keep an eye on an online medical record that is automatically updated whenever the patient measures their own blood pressure, checks their weight, or takes their medication. Such technology could help medical workers ensure remote patients are healthy, and detect any problems at an early stage before they become serious.

The move beyond traditional telehealth – remote contact with a patient through phone calls or video conferencing – is being encouraged by the Continua Health Alliance, a non-profit open industry group. The alliance boasts some powerful players in both the technology and medical arenas, including IBM, Intel, Google, Kaiser Permanente and the UK’s National Health Service.

From:New Scientist