Exploring dietary changes and supplement use among cancer patients in Norway: prevalence, motivations, disclosure, information, and perceived risks and benefits: a cross sectional study.

Background: Cancer is the leading cause of death in Norway, with prostate, breast, lung, and colon cancers being the most prevalent types. Adopting a healthy and varied diet can help reduce cancer risk and recurrence. However, access to dietary counselling remains limited for cancer patients in Norway.

Mapping of systematic reviews on traditional medicine across health conditions: a protocol for a systematic map.

Introduction: Traditional medicine (TM) is an important part of healthcare either as the main healthcare system or as a complement to conventional medicine. The effectiveness of TM has been assessed in clinical trials that have been synthesised into thousands of systematic reviews (SRs). This study is commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is aimed at providing a systematic map of SRs of TM interventions across health conditions, as well as identifying gaps in the research literature in order to prioritise future primary research.

Prevalence of late and long-term effects of cancer (treatment) and use of complementary and alternative medicine in Norway.

Background: The increasing number of patients surviving cancer leads to more people experiencing late and long term-effects from the disease and its treatment. Fatigue, sleep disorders, early menopause, pain, and nerve damage are commonly reported. Methods helping people to recover after cancer treatment are therefore essential.

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the context of cancer; prevalence, reasons for use, disclosure, information received, risks and benefits reported by people with cancer in Norway.

Background: Research exploring the use of specific Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) modalities by Norwegian cancer patients is sparse. The aims of this study were therefor to map the different CAM modalities cancer patients use and further investigate their rationale for use, communication about use, self-reported benefits and harms, and their sources of information about the different modalities.

Methods: In cooperation with the Norwegian Cancer Society (NCS), we conducted an online cross-sectional study among members of their user panel with present or previously cancer (n = 706).

Consultations with health care providers and use of self-management strategies for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 related symptoms. A population based cross-sectional study in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands.

Objectives: The present study was initiated to determine consultations with health care providers and use of self-management strategies for prevention or treatment of COVID-19 related symptoms in countries with a full lockdown (Norway), a partial lockdown (the Netherlands) and no lockdown (Sweden) during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and if such use correlates with worries of being infected by COVID-19 disease.

Design: Data were collected in collaboration with Ipsos A/S in April-June 2020. An adapted version of the International Questionnaire to measure use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (I-CAM-Q) was used with the categories "for prevention of COVID-19" and "to treat COVID-19-related symptoms" added.

Concurrent Use of Prescription Drugs and Herbal Medicinal Products in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

Background: The use of herbal medicinal products (HMPs) is common among older adults; however, little is known about concurrent use with prescription drugs, as well as potential interactions associated with such combinations.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate the literature on concurrent prescription and HMP use among older adults to assess prevalence, patterns, potential interactions and factors associated with this use.

Methods: Systematic searches were conducted in the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Web of Science and Cochrane databases from inception to May 2017 for studies reporting concurrent use of prescription medicines with HMPs in adults ≥ 65 years of age.

WITHDRAWN: Artichoke leaf extract for treating hypercholesterolaemia.

Withdrawal: The editors of Cochrane Heart consider this title as low priority for the current portfolio of the Heart Group and therefore this title is not open to a new author team. The editorial group responsible for this previously published document have withdrawn it from publication.

Concurrent use of prescription drugs and herbal medicinal products in older adults: a systematic review protocol.

Background: There has been a global increase in the use of herbal medicinal products (HMPs). About a quarter of UK adults use HMPs, bought over the counter by self-prescription and often not disclosed to healthcare professionals. Potential herb-drug interaction is a clinical concern, with older people at greater risk because of co-morbidities and slower clearance of pharmacologically active compounds.

Feverfew for preventing migraine.

Background: This review is an update of a previously published review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews on 'Feverfew for preventing migraine' (2004, Issue 1). Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium L.) extract is a herbal remedy, which has been used for preventing attacks of migraine.

Pyruvate supplementation for weight loss: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

Background: Several slimming aids being sold as food supplements are widely available. One of them is pyruvate. Its efficacy in causing weight reduction in humans has not been fully established.

Artichoke leaf extract for treating hypercholesterolaemia.

Background: Hypercholesterolaemia is directly associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease and other sequelae of atherosclerosis. Artichoke leaf extract (ALE) has been implicated in lowering cholesterol levels. Whether ALE is truly effective for this indication is still a matter of debate.

Quality of herbal medicines: challenges and solutions.

The popularity of herbal medicines has risen worldwide. This increase in usage renders safety issues important. Many adverse events of herbal medicines can be attributed to the poor quality of the raw materials or the finished products.

The Use of Garcinia Extract (Hydroxycitric Acid) as a Weight loss Supplement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Clinical Trials.

The aim of this systematic review is to examine the efficacy of Garcinia extract, hydroxycitric acid (HCA) as a weight reduction agent, using data from randomised clinical trials (RCTs). Electronic and nonelectronic searches were conducted to identify relevant articles, with no restrictions in language or time. Two independent reviewers extracted the data and assessed the methodological quality of included studies.

Complementary and alternative medicine use in England: results from a national survey.

Objectives: In many countries, recent data on the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) are available. However, in England, there is a paucity of such data. We sought to determine the prevalence and predictors of CAM use in England.

Cancer pain: part 2: physical, interventional and complimentary therapies; management in the community; acute, treatment-related and complex cancer pain: a perspective from the British Pain Society endorsed by the UK Association of Palliative Medicine and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Objective: This discussion document about the management of cancer pain is written from the pain specialists' perspective in order to provoke thought and interest in a multimodal approach to the management of cancer pain, not just towards the end of life, but pain at diagnosis, as a consequence of cancer therapies, and in cancer survivors. It relates the science of pain to the clinical setting and explains the role of psychological, physical, interventional and complementary therapies in cancer pain.

Methods: This document has been produced by a consensus group of relevant healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom and patients' representatives making reference to the current body of evidence relating to cancer pain.

Conducting systematic reviews of complementary and alternative medicine: common pitfalls.

Systematic reviews (SRs) are considered the best tools for summarizing the evidence for or against the effectiveness of health care interventions. The principles and methods of SRs apply equally to both, mainstream and complementary/alternative medicine (CAM). Certain challenges are, however, more commonly encountered in CAM or even specific to it; this article is aimed at raising awareness of these among systematic reviewers.

Artichoke leaf extract for treating hypercholesterolaemia.

Background: Hypercholesterolaemia is directly associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease and other sequelae of atherosclerosis. Artichoke leaf extract (ALE) has been implicated in lowering cholesterol levels. Whether ALE is truly effective for this indication, however, is still a matter of debate.

Serenoa repens (saw palmetto): a systematic review of adverse events.

Serenoa repens (W. Bartram) Small, also known as saw palmetto, is one of the most widely used herbal preparations for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Although a number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and systematic reviews of the efficacy of S.

Mind-body therapies: are the trial data getting stronger?

The effectiveness of mind-body therapies is sometimes doubted. The aim of this article is to evaluate trends in the development of the evidence base for autogenic training, hypnotherapy, and relaxation therapy. For this purpose, a comparison of 2 series of systematic reviews was conducted.

The antioxidant vitamins A, C, E and selenium in the treatment of arthritis: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

Objective: To systematically review the evidence from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) for the effectiveness of the antioxidant vitamins A, C, E or selenium or their combination in the treatment of arthritis. METHODSL: A systematic search of computerized databases from inception to September 2006 for relevant RCTs, application of pre-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria and independent data extraction by two authors. Methodological quality was assessed using the Jadad scale.

Acupuncture: its evidence-base is changing.

The effectiveness of acupuncture remains a controversial issue. The aim of this article is to evaluate trends over time in the development of the evidence-base of acupuncture. A comparison of two series of systematic reviews was conducted.

Complementary/alternative medicine for supportive cancer care: development of the evidence-base.

Aim: The aim of this article is to compare the evidence relating to the effectiveness of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) in palliative cancer care as it existed in 2000 and 2005.

Methods: Our comparison is based on systematic reviews using the same methodology at these two points in time.

Results: The results reveal a buoyant research activity in this sector.