Effects of acupuncture in reducing attrition and mortality in HIV-infected men with peripheral neuropathy.

Objective: A clinical trial reported in JAMA (Shay et al, 1998), involving acupuncture and amitriptyline in HIV-infected patients, concluded that there was no effect for either acupuncture or amitriptyline on neuropathic pain. However, a recent reassessment of this study showed that there were really three different and independent clinical trials, each with a different research design, which had been combined into a single database and consequently analyzed with a relatively insensitive statistics. When only the first substudy, factorially crossed design involving acupuncture and amitriptyline, was reanalyzed by itself using more powerful statistics, it was found that acupuncture and amitriptyline both worked independently to reduce pain, but also that acupuncture worked best in the absence of amitriptyline, and that there may have been adverse events associated with the combination of the two treatments.

Statistical reanalysis of a randomized trial of acupuncture for pain reveals positive effects as well as adverse treatment interactions on pain, attrition, and mortality.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine, using analysis of covariance, whether a statistical reanalysis of a previously published study on neuropathic pain would reveal undetected significant effects of acupuncture and amitriptyline on pain, attrition, and mortality in HIV-infected patients.

Background: Shlay et al published an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (1988) reporting that neither acupuncture nor amitriptyline had effects on pain in HIV-infected patients. However, they failed to perform a factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) or covariance (ANCOVA) reflective of their core research design.

Does acupuncture work for stroke rehabilitation: what do recent clinical trials really show?

A number of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for stroke recovery were critically reviewed, beginning with an existing systematic review and meta-analysis. A number of these clinical studies suffered from methodological flaws that tended to obscure and reduce the reported effect size. These flaws included inadequate statistical analysis, failure to adequately account for differences in baseline stroke severity, and the use of an inadequate posttreatment assessment period.

Yoga in stroke rehabilitation: a systematic review and results of a pilot study.

Purpose: This article presents a systematic review of the literature pertaining to the use of yoga in stroke rehabilitation. In addition, we present the results of a small pilot study designed to explore the hypothesis that a Kundalini yoga practice of 12 weeks would lead to an improvement in aphasia as well as in fine motor coordination in stroke patients.

Method: The 3 participants attended yoga classes twice a week for 12 weeks, before and after which they were tested on the O'Connor Tweezer Dexterity test, a timed test where the participant places pins in a Peg-Board with tweezers, and the Boston Aphasia Exam for speech.

The effect of Ginkgo biloba on functional measures in multiple sclerosis: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating neurological disease afflicting young and middle-aged adults, resulting in problems with coordination, strength, cognition, affect, and sensation.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether a ginkgo extract (EGb 761) improved functional performance in individuals with MS.

Design: This study used a double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group design.

Use of unconventional therapies by individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To examine the prevalence and patterns of use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the USA and to explore the reasons for use, symptoms treated and perceived effectiveness of these therapies.

Methods: Surveys were mailed to the entire mailing list of the MS Foundation, constituting 11,600 individuals with MS or their family members; 3,140 adults with MS returned surveys, yielding a response rate of 27.1%.

Effect of Reiki treatments on functional recovery in patients in poststroke rehabilitation: a pilot study.

Objectives: The three objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of Reiki as an adjunctive treatment for patients with subacute stroke who were receiving standard rehabilitation as inpatients, (2) to evaluate a double-blinded procedure for training Reiki practitioners, and (3) to determine whether or not double-blinded Reiki and sham practitioners could determine which category they were in.

Design: A modified double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial with an additional historic control condition.

Setting: The stroke unit of a major rehabilitation hospital.

A preliminary study of the effect of external qigong on lymphoma growth in mice.

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of external qigong on the in vivo growth of transplantable murine lymphoma cells in mice.

Background: Qigong is a traditional Chinese health practice that is believed by many to have special preventive and healing power. Underlying the system is the belief in the existence of a subtle energy (qi), which circulates throughout the body, and when strengthened or balanced, can improve health and ward off or slow the progress of disease.

Immunity in adolescents with major depression.

Objective: The association between major depression (MD) and altered immunity appears to be age-related, with differing immune changes found in prepubertal children, young adults, and older adults. There is limited information concerning immunity in adolescents with MD.

Method: Thirty-six otherwise healthy medication-free adolescents (aged 14-20; 23 female) from a community sample, meeting Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children DSM-III-R criteria for unipolar MD, were compared with 36 nondepressed adolescents matched by gender, age, and racial background.

Opinions and practices of medical rehabilitation professionals regarding prayer and meditation.

Objective: To assess the attitudes and practices of professionals in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) regarding prayer and meditation.

Design: A national mail survey that included questions about the use of a number of complementary and alternative therapies.

Participants: The survey was mailed to 7,479 physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists who specialize in PM&R, and 1221 (17%) returned completed surveys.