Fasting for male fertility-a mixed methods study.

Purpose: Approximately 10-20% of couples in Germany are unable to conceive. About 50% of this subfertility can be attributed to the male partner. Preclinical studies suggest that fasting could potentially influence central mechanisms of spermatogenesis.

Scoping review meets expert interviews: Key issues of multimodal programs for workplace health promotion in long-term care facilities - .

Background: Long-term care facility employees' workload escalation intensifies negative risk for (nursing) staff health, residents, and the economy. Workplace health promotion (WHP) has emerged as a vital approach with positive impacts on employee well-being. This Scoping Review focuses on multimodal WHP programs in long-term care facilities, emphasizing barriers, facilitators, and the integration of complementary and integrative medicine (CIM).

Effect of the health and wellness Kneipp concept on health promotion and reduction of sick days for kindergarten children: a cluster randomized controlled trial protocol.

Background: The holistic health and wellness Kneipp concept, has a long tradition in Europe with demonstrated health benefits. Based on the five elements of the Kneipp concept, kindergartens in and around Germany are used to certify "Kneipp Kindergartens" that practice regular Kneipp applications and activities: cold water applications, exercise, nutrition, herbs and mind-body interventions. Little is known about the potential health benefits for children, however.

Scenting serenity: influence of essential-oil vaporization on dental anxiety - a cluster-randomized, controlled, single-blinded study (AROMA_dent).

Dental fear and anxiety (DFA) is known as an immense challenge in oral healthcare, which can result in compromised oral health, pain, and uncomfortable treatment. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of essential-oil vaporization on acute anxiety of patients in dental practices. Four dental practices used five weekly cycles of vaporization with each scent: Orange (Citrus sinensis), Swiss Pine (Pinus cembra), Good Mood (blended essential oils: Citrus sinensis, Citrus aurantifolia, Citrus limon, Osmanthus fragrance (5%)), Forest Walk (blended essential oils: Abies grandis, Pinus cembra, Myrtus communis c.

Talking numbers: how women and providers use risk scores during and after risk counseling - a qualitative investigation from the NRG Oncology/NSABP DMP-1 study.

Objectives: Little research exists on how risk scores are used in counselling. We examined (a) how Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool (BCRAT) scores are presented during counselling; (b) how women react and (c) discuss them afterwards.

Design: Consultations were video-recorded and participants were interviewed after the consultation as part of the NRG Oncology/National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project Decision-Making Project 1 (NSABP DMP-1).

Perceptions of Health Professionals on the Implementation of Integrative and Complementary Practices at a University Pediatric Hospital in Brazil: A Qualitative Interview Study.

Background: Despite an increase in use of pediatric complementary and integrative health (PCIH), many healthcare professionals still have an inadequate understanding of such practices and consider their use inappropriate, which might thwart implementation processes. In a qualitative interview study we examined the feedback of conventional healthcare professionals about the integrative practices provided to pediatric patients by an integrative team in a pediatric oncological hospital.

Methods: Fifteen semi-structured interviews were carried out with various conventional healthcare professionals in an university pediatric hospital in São Paulo, Brazil.

Planting Seeds for the Future: Scoping Review of Child Health Promotion Apps for Parents.

Background: Increasingly, parents use child health promotion apps to find health information. An overview of child health promotion apps for parents currently does not exist. The scope of child health topics addressed by parent apps is thus needed, including how they are evaluated.

Self-care and lifestyle interventions of complementary and integrative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic-A cross-sectional study.

Background: Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CIM), including self-care healthy life-style promotion strategies, is widely used in Germany. Aim of this study was to assess the use of self-care and lifestyle interventions as well as mental/emotional state experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: An exploratory cross-sectional online study was conducted with adults in Germany through an online survey.

Touching body, soul, and spirit? Understanding external applications from integrative medicine: A mixed methods systematic review.

Introduction: External applications from anthroposophic medicine (EAAM) are touch-based applications such as rhythmical massages, embrocations, and compresses that serve as components of complementary treatment concepts for various diseases. The aim of this review is to gain an understanding of typical indications and outcomes and to systematically assess the effectiveness and safety of EAAM.

Materials And Methods: Medline/PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Library, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched through May 2021 and supplemented by searches in specialized databases and personal requests to experts in the field.

"Like one part of a puzzle" - individualized aromatherapy for women with gynecological cancers in aftercare: results from a qualitative-focused mixed-methods study.

Background: Gynecological cancer(s), including breast cancer patients in aftercare and survivors, need supportive strategies to cope with symptoms that are adapted to their individual needs and circumstances. Aromatherapy has potential to be such strategy, but (qualitative) empirical research taking users' own views into consideration about the potential and challenge of aromatherapy is lacking.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to gain insights from individualized aromatherapy as a supportive care treatment, regarding their use and evaluation by women with gynecological cancers in aftercare.

Medical Cannabinoids as Treatment for Hypophosphatasia-Related Symptoms.

Background: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare congenital disease caused by a mutation affecting tissue nonspecific alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme involved in phosphate metabolism. The clinical manifestation usually includes bone mineralization disorders, neurological symptoms, and persistent muscle pain.

Case Report: This case involves a woman in her sixties of Central European descent who suffers from lifelong chronic pain and muscle weakness due to HPP and concomitant degenerative changes of the lumbar spine.

Integrative medicine during the intensive phase of chemotherapy in pediatric oncology in Germany: a randomized controlled trial with 5-year follow up.

Background: Integrative medicine is used frequently alongside chemotherapy treatment in pediatric oncology, but little is known about the influence on toxicity. This German, multi-center, open-label, randomized controlled trial assessed the effects of complementary treatments on toxicity related to intensive-phase chemotherapy treatment in children aged 1-18 with the primary outcome of the toxicity sum score. Secondary outcomes were chemotherapy-related toxicity, overall and event-free survival after 5 years in study patients.

The Effect of Cold-Water Hydrotherapy According to Sebastian Kneipp for Immune Stimulation: A Nonrandomized, Controlled, Explorative, Mixed-Methods Clinical Study.

Home-based hydrotherapy leads to fewer missed kindergarten-days in total. In the application group, more fever days could be registered. Hydrotherapy, according to the hormesis principle by Sebastian Kneipp, aims to reduce infections of the lower respiratory tract.

Mental and Behavioural Responses to Bahá'í Fasting: Looking behind the Scenes of a Religiously Motivated Intermittent Fast Using a Mixed Methods Approach.

Background/objective: Historically, fasting has been practiced not only for medical but also for religious reasons. Bahá'ís follow an annual religious intermittent dry fast of 19 days. We inquired into motivation behind and subjective health impacts of Bahá'í fasting.

Plant Fragrances Are Like Music for Our Senses: A Scoping Review of Aromatherapy in Gynecologic Cancers and Breast Cancer Care.

Essential oil (EO) applications via inhalation and/or absorption through the skin-often referred to as aromatherapy-have particular relevance as complementary to cancer treatment and follow-up care. Aromatherapy is of particular interest for controlling symptoms and enhancing the general well-being of people with cancer. This is indicated by the increasing number of empirical studies on this topic.

The effect of Kneipp treatment hydrotherapy on secretory IgA in young children: A controlled, non-randomized clinical pilot study.

Objectives: This pilot study analyses the effect and feasibility of hydrotherapeutic Kneipp arm affusions on secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and classic cold symptoms in children 3-6 years of age.

Study Design: A controlled, non-randomized, clinical pilot study was undertaken.

Intervention: This descriptive hydrotherapeutic intervention treated children aged 3-6 with Kneipp arm affusions over four weeks.

Patient, Parent, and Speech-Language Pathologists' Perceptions of Pediatric Voice Therapy Through Interviews.

Purpose: Voice therapy is heavily reliant on patient adherence for success, and patient perceptions are an important piece of understanding adherence. Patient perceptions of voice therapy have not been studied in the pediatric population. The purpose of this study was to examine patient, parent, and speech-language pathologists' experiences and perceptions of voice therapy and how they reflect barriers to and facilitators of adherence to therapy.

Deciding on breast cancer risk reduction: The role of counseling in individual decision-making - A qualitative study.

Objectives: The presentation of risks and benefits in clinical practice is common particularly in situations in which treatment recommendations involve trade-offs. The treatment of breast cancer risk with selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) is such a decision. We investigated the influence of health care provider (HCP) counseling on women's decision-making.

Exploring Explanatory Models of Risk in Breast Cancer Risk Counseling Discussions: NSABP/NRG Oncology Decision-Making Project 1.

Background: Explanatory models represent patient understanding of etiology, pathophysiology, illness, symptoms, and treatments, but little attention has been paid to how they are used by patients "at risk" for future disease.

Objective: The aims of this study were to elucidate what constitutes an explanatory model of risk and to describe explanatory models of risk related to developing breast cancer.

Methods: Thirty qualitative interviews with women identified as at an increased risk for breast cancer were conducted.

Whitebark pine facilitation at treeline: potential interactions for disruption by an invasive pathogen.

In stressful environments, facilitation often aids plant establishment, but invasive plant pathogens may potentially disrupt these interactions. In many treeline communities in the northern Rocky Mountains of the U.S.