Tryptophan Metabolites in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Overnight Time-course Study.

Background/aims: Patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) often report poor sleep quality. Whether poor sleep is associated with tryptophan (Trp) metabolites is unknown. We compared serum Trp metabolites in women with IBS and healthy controls (HCs) using targeted liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based profiling.

Naturopathy as a Model of Prevention-Oriented, Patient-Centered Primary Care: A Disruptive Innovation in Health Care.

: The concept of a "disruptive innovation," recently extended to health care, refers to an emerging technology that represents a new market force combined with a new value system, that eventually displaces some, or all, of the current leading "stakeholders, products and strategic alliances." Naturopathy is a distinct system of traditional and complementary medicine recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), emerging as a model of primary care. The objective here is to describe Naturopathy in the context of the criteria for a disruptive innovation.

An examination of naturopathic treatment of non-specific gastrointestinal complaints: comparative analysis of two cases.

Background: Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) affect more than one-third of the general population and contribute a considerable burden on the health and wellbeing of the community and the economy. This study aims to examine the treatment approaches and outcomes of naturopathic management of individuals presenting with a non-specific FGID.

Methods: We report a comparison of two clinical case studies of patients being treated by a naturopath for a functional gastrointestinal disorder.

Abdominal pain during the menopause transition and early postmenopause: observations from the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study.

Objective: To assess the relationship between abdominal pain severity during the menopausal transition (MT) and age, MT stage, reproductive biomarkers, stress biomarkers, and stress perceptions.

Methods: Women ages 35-55 were recruited from multiethnic neighborhoods in the greater Seattle area from 1990 to 1992, for an original study cohort of 508. From 1990 to 2013, a subset of this cohort consented to ongoing annual data collection by annual health questionnaire, health diary, and daily menstrual calendar.

Effect of a Nutrition Support Formula in Adults With Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Pilot Study.

Background: Due to the high prevalence of nutrient deficiencies in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), routine monitoring of nutrient status and supplementation are recommended.

Objective: This preliminary study was implemented to prospectively identify potential effects of a nutrition support formula on blood nutrient parameters in adults with IBD.

Methods: Ten adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis were recruited from the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area into a single-arm, open-label pilot study.

Efficacy of the Autoimmune Protocol Diet as Part of a Multi-disciplinary, Supported Lifestyle Intervention for Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.

Background Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), also known as chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is an autoimmune disorder affecting the thyroid gland and is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the US. Despite medical management with thyroid hormone replacement, many individuals with HT continue to experience symptoms and impaired quality of life. Given the limited number of efficacious treatments outside of hormone replacement and the overall burden of continued symptomatic disease, this pilot study was designed to determine the efficacy of a multi-disciplinary diet and lifestyle intervention for improving the quality of life, clinical symptom burden, and thyroid function in a population of middle-aged women with HT.

Effect of the Anti-Inflammatory Diet in People with Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Feeding Study.

Introduction: Inflammation underlies a variety of chronic medical conditions, including diabetes. The anti-inflammatory diet, one that excludes foods that may stimulate inflammation and includes foods that reduce inflammation, may improve inflammatory biomarkers in people with diabetes and pre-diabetes.

Study Design: Thirty participants with diabetes or pre-diabetes were randomized (2:1) in a controlled feeding study that compared the anti-inflammatory diet (=20) to a control diet (=10) based on the American Diabetes Association recommendations.

Course of Concomitant Bell's Palsy and Trigeminal Neuralgia Shortened with a Multi-Modal Intervention: A Case Report.

A 60-year-old man presented to the ER with lancinating right-sided facial pain following a URI. He was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, yet returned several days later with right-sided facial paralysis. He was then also diagnosed with Bell's palsy and treated with corticosteroids and antiviral medication.

Treatment of Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Mood Disorder With Physical Medicine and Supplementation: A Case Report.

This report details the naturopathic treatment of a 28-y-old female with a 1 y history of abdominal pain, heartburn, and constipation as well as longstanding anxiety and depression. Clinical evaluation ruled out organic causes of dyspepsia such as peptic ulcer disease, infection, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs-induced dyspepsia. Treatment consisting of soft-tissue manipulation, homeopathic prescription, nutritional supplementation, and lifestyle modification greatly improved gastrointestinal and mental-emotional symptoms after 2 wk.

Treatment of Osteoarthritis With Low-level Laser Therapy, Acupuncture, and Herbal Therapy: A Case Report.

Osteoarthritis is a challenging diagnosis to navigate and treat. Management options range from nonpharmacological agents to surgical repair. No specific combination of therapies has yet been identified for optimal management although a variety of therapeutic options have been studied.

Lessons from Outside and Within: Exploring Advancements in Methodology for Naturopathic Medicine Clinical Research.

Introduction: Naturopathy is a mixture of both traditional and complementary medicine. It incorporates a broad set of health care practices that may or may not be traditional to that country or conventional medicine and are not fully integrated into the dominant health care system. Research required to evaluate or substantiate naturopathic medicine may not fall under the testing of randomized clinical trials, which opens up discussions on what is the best practice for research in naturopathic medicine.

Effects of a topical botanically-enriched salve on cutaneous oxygenation.

Objective: There is a medical need to evaluate new treatments that may improve wound healing. This study aimed to determine if Original Healing Salve (OHS, Puremedy, Inc.) a topical, botanically-enriched salve (BES), changes distal leg tissue oxygenation in people with type 2 diabetes.

Design of a Multidisciplinary Training Program in Complementary and Integrative Health Clinical Research: Building Research Across Interdisciplinary Gaps.

Despite wide use by the public, limited evidence is available for many complementary and integrative health (CIH) practices. Thus, clinical researchers knowledgeable about CIH disciplines are necessary to study the efficacy and effectiveness of CIH practices to benefit the public health. To partially address the need for clinical researchers versed in CIH, the authors of this study report the design of an interprofessional clinical research training program focused on CIH, the Building Research across Interdisciplinary Gaps (BRIDG) program, supported by a 5-year T90/R90 grant from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.

Prolonged Survival in a Patient with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Receiving Acupuncture and DHEA-Promoting Herbs with Conventional Management: A Case Report.

Introduction: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a lethal, chronic, degenerative disease most commonly affecting the elderly population. The pathologic finding of this restrictive lung condition is excessive deposition of fibrotic tissue in the alveolar interstitium. Conventional therapies minimally alter the course of disease, and mean survival time from diagnosis is only 2 to 4 years.

Impact of a Short-Term Naturopathic Whole-Foods-Based Nutrition Education Intervention on Dietary Behavior and Diabetes Risk Markers: A Pilot Study.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of measuring the health impacts of a 12-week naturopathic whole foods nutrition education course among adults with or at risk for prediabetes.

Design: A pilot nonrandomized pre-post intervention design investigated physiological changes associated with participation in a 12-week structured naturopathic nutrition education course. Follow-up measures were assessed at 6 and 12 months from baseline.

Regulatory Status of Cannabidiol in the United States: A Perspective.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is 1 of > 100 cannabinoids found in L. ( or ). Despite its complex and rapidly evolving regulatory status in the United States, projected retail sales of CBD products-hemp, Cannabis and pharmaceutical-are as high as $1.

Health Information Discrepancies Between Internet Media and Scientific Papers Reporting on Omega-3 Supplement Research: Comparative Analysis.

Background: Dietary supplements are the most used complementary and alternative health modality in the United States, and omega-3 supplements continue to be the most popularly used nonvitamin or nonmineral supplements by adults. Users of dietary supplements report that they obtain health guidance from internet media resources, but there is question as to whether or not these resources provide the necessary evidence to guide health decisions. Current evidence suggests that there is a mistranslation occurring somewhere between researchers and the media.

Naturopathic approaches to irritable bowel syndrome: protocol for a prospective observational study in academic teaching clinics.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional bowel disorder with a worldwide prevalence estimated between 10% and 20%. It has a significant impact on quality of life and societal expense. While there are pharmaceutical options available, few can be reliably recommended.

Impact of Food Immunoglobulin G-Based Elimination Diet on Subsequent Food Immunoglobulin G and Quality of Life in Overweight/Obese Adults.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess changes in serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) food antibody titers and quality-of-life measurements following a targeted elimination diet in overweight/obese adults.

Methods: We performed a randomized control trial. Participants were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to either an intervention group or waitlist group for 3 months.

Prospective Safety Evaluation of a Cardiovascular Health Dietary Supplement in Adults with Prehypertension and Stage I Hypertension.

Objective: To prospectively examine the long-term safety of a cardiovascular health dietary supplement by assessing a comprehensive set of safety measures.

Design: Single-arm, open-label study.

Location: National University of Natural Medicine, Portland, OR.

A new validated HPLC method for the determination of levodopa: Application to study the impact of ketogenic diet on the pharmacokinetics of levodopa in Parkinson's participants.

A simple, accurate, and reproducible HPLC-UV method has been developed and validated for the quantification of levodopa (l-Dopa) in human plasma. The method involves a simple protein precipitation procedure to extract both l-Dopa and methyldopa, the internal standard. The chromatographic analysis was achieved on a Shimadzu LC 20A HPLC system equipped with a Zorbax Eclipse XDB C column and an isocratic mobile phase consisting of 20 mm KH PO (pH 2.