Clinical holistic medicine: the Dean Ornish program ("opening the heart") in cardiovascular disease.

Dean Ornish of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California has created an intensive holistic treatment for coronary heart patients with improved diet (low fat, whole foods, plant based), exercise, stress management, and social support that has proven to be efficient. In this paper, we analyze the rationale behind his cure in relation to contemporary holistic medical theory. In spite of a complex treatment program, the principles seem to be simple and in accordance with holistic medical theories, like the Antonovsky concept of rehabilitating the sense of coherence and the life mission theory for holistic medicine.

Children with intellectual disability in residential care centers. Trends in Israel 1999-2004.

Children and adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) have historically gone through various stages from being left or activity killed, to being placed in care, to being rehabilitated or educated and today with efforts to keep as normal a life as possible inspite of their disability. This study was conducted in order to look at the trends of children with ID in residential care centers in Israel. Since 1998 an annual survey of all medical clinics in residentail care centers has been conducted by the Office of the Medical Director of the Ministry of Social Affairs and data was extracted from the national surveys during 1999-2004.

Childhood injury prevention: intervention in the Bedouin city of Rahat.

For several years, the National Center for Children's Health and Safety (Beterem) has worked on many levels to promote safety and prevent injury of the children in Israel. As part of intervention programs in 20 communities around Israel, this paper describes a 1-year, multidisciplinary, multistrategic childhood safety promotion and injury prevention project. The project took place in the Bedouin city of Rahat in the Southern part of Israel, the Negev, conducted by a local safety coordinator.

Recent trends in adolescent asthma.

Asthma is a disability that can affect the quality of life of the adolescent going through a period with difficulty and often rebellion, but gentle care from the primary physician will guide the adolescent through this period. A worldwide increase in childhood asthma has been observed and recent data from the National Health Interview Survey-2003 in the United States showed an overall 12.5% of children under age 18 years, who ever had asthma diagnosed.