Body, Mind & Spirit Articles and Latest News

The relationship between massage to the equine caudal hindlimb muscles and hindlimb protraction.

Equine Vet J. 2010 Nov;42 Suppl 38:683-7

Authors: Hill C, Crook T

Massage is widely used in physiotherapy, but there has been little previous research examining its effectiveness in increasing equine soft tissue length.

PMID: 21059081 [PubMed - in process]

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An overview of systematic reviews of complementary and alternative medicine for fibromyalgia.

Clin Rheumatol. 2011 May 26;

Authors: Terry R, Perry R, Ernst E

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition which is difficult to diagnose and to treat. Most individuals suffering from FM use a variety of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM) interventions to treat and manage their symptoms. The aim of this overview was to critically evaluate all systematic reviews of single CAM interventions for the treatment of FM. Five systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria, evaluating the effectiveness of homoeopathy, chiropractic, acupuncture, hydrotherapy and massage. The reviews found some evidence of beneficial effects arising from acupuncture, homoeopathy, hydrotherapy and massage, whilst no evidence for therapeutic effects from chiropractic interventions for the treatment of FM symptoms was found. The implications of these findings and future directions for the application of CAM in chronic pain conditions, as well as for CAM research, are discussed.

PMID: 21614472 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Reducing perineal trauma through perineal massage with vaseline in second stage of labor.

Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2011 May 26;

Authors: Geranmayeh M, Rezaei Habibabadi Z, Fallahkish B, Farahani MA, Khakbazan Z, Mehran A

PURPOSE: Maintaining an intact perineum is a highly regarded aim in delivery procedures today. Since perineal massage is a common practice during delivery, the present study aims to investigate the effect of perineal massage with Vaseline on perineal trauma (rate of episiotomy procedures and perineal tears). METHOD: Ninety primiparous women (aged between 18 and 30 years with gestational age of 38-42 weeks) were selected sequentially in Tehran in 2009. Once participants’ characteristics were registered, they were randomly assigned to the intervention (perineal massage with Vaseline) or control groups. In the massage group, perineal massage was performed in the second stage of delivery once the genitalia were treated with sterilized Vaseline. The perineum was examined after the delivery in terms of episiotomy or tear and its severity degree. RESULTS: The two groups were homogeneous in terms of demographic data, weight gain during pregnancy, gestational age, abortion history and fetal weight. The second stage of delivery was significantly shorter in the massage group than the control group and the massage group had significantly more intact perineum (P = 0.004). In addition, lower episiotomy and higher first- and second-degree perineal tears were seen in the massage group in comparison with the control one (P < 0.001). Neither of the groups suffered from third- and fourth-degree tears. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that the perineal massage with Vaseline in the second stage of labor increases perineal integrity and decreases perineal traumas (episiotomy and tears). So, it seems that the perineal massage could be an effective way to preserve an intact perineum in labor.

PMID: 21614497 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Efficacy and safety of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation in pregnancy: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Addiction. 2011 Jan;106(1):52-61

Authors: Coleman T, Chamberlain C, Cooper S, Leonardi-Bee J

To determine the efficacy and safety of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) with or without behavioural support when used to support smoking cessation in pregnancy.

PMID: 21054620 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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[Effects of aromatherapy on changes in the autonomic nervous system, aortic pulse wave velocity and aortic augmentation index in patients with essential hypertension].

J Korean Acad Nurs. 2010 Oct;40(5):705-13

Authors: Cha JH, Lee SH, Yoo YS

To investigate the effectiveness of aromatherapy on blood pressure, heart rate variability, aortic pulse wave velocity and the aortic augmentation index of essential hypertensive patients.

PMID: 21157172 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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[The effects of a cognitive enhancement group training program for community-dwelling elders].

J Korean Acad Nurs. 2010 Oct;40(5):724-35

Authors: Han YR, Song MS, Lim JY

In this study a cognitive enhancement group training program of 10 sessions was provided for community-dwelling elders and the effects on cognitive function, depression and quality of life were tested.

PMID: 21157174 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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ADHD related behaviors are associated with brain activation in the reward system.

Neuropsychologia. 2011 Feb;49(3):426-34

Authors: Stark R, Bauer E, Merz CJ, Zimmermann M, Reuter M, Plichta MM, Kirsch P, Lesch KP, Fallgatter AJ, Vaitl D, Herrmann MJ

Neuroimaging studies on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suggest dysfunctional reward processing, with hypo-responsiveness during reward anticipation in the reward system including the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). In this study, we investigated the association between ADHD related behaviors and the reward system using functional magnetic resonance imaging in a non-clinical sample. Participants were 31 healthy, female undergraduate students with varying levels of self-reported ADHD related behaviors measured by the adult ADHD self-report scale. The anticipation of different types of reward was investigated: monetary reward, punishment avoidance, and verbal feedback. All three reward anticipation conditions were found to be associated with increased brain activation in the reward system, with the highest activation in the monetary reward anticipation condition, followed by the punishment avoidance anticipation condition, and the lowest activation in the verbal feedback anticipation condition. Most interestingly, in all three conditions, NAcc activation was negatively correlated with ADHD related behaviors. In conclusion, our results from a non-clinical sample are in accordance with reported deficits in the reward system in ADHD patients: the higher the number and severity of ADHD related behaviors, the lower the neural responses in the dopaminergic driven reward anticipation task. Thus, our data support current aetiological models of ADHD which assume that deficits in the reward system might be responsible for many of the ADHD related behaviors.

PMID: 21163276 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Visual action control does not rely on strangers–effects of pictorial cues under monocular and binocular vision.

Neuropsychologia. 2011 Feb;49(3):556-63

Authors: Borchers S, Christensen A, Ziegler L, Himmelbach M

Fast goal-directed actions are supposed to be controlled almost exclusively by bottom-up visual control. This mode of processing has been identified with the so-called dorsal visual stream. It is generally accepted that object recognition, mediated by the ventral stream, must be important for deciding what action to execute depending on the specific object to be grasped and the particular purpose. In contrast, the kinematic parameters of the actual movement itself are supposed to be unaffected by recognition processes. This view was recently challenged by the demonstration of a significant impact of object familiarity on grasping kinematics under binocular visual control (McIntosh & Lashley, 2008). This effect was observed for very well known everyday objects. However, it remained unclear whether the effect was really due to long-term, everyday familiarity of the target objects or whether it was simply mediated by short-term learning during the experiment. Therefore, we examined whether the same effect could also be found with objects that were geometrically identical to the ones used by McIntosh and Lashley (2008) and could be distinguished by a pictorial cue but were not associated with long-term, everyday experience. We only found an effect of familiarity under monocular but not under binocular control. Our observation suggests that indeed familiarity exerts an effect on movements under binocular control only if explicit knowledge about the objects is very stable and salient, e.g. after long-term experience.

PMID: 21168426 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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The neurobiological basis of ADHD.

Ital J Pediatr. 2010;36(1):79

Authors: Curatolo P, D’Agati E, Moavero R

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is not a single pathophysiological entity and appears to have a complex etiology. There are multiple genetic and environmental risk factors with small individual effect that act in concert to create a spectrum of neurobiological liability. Structural imaging studies show that brains of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder are significantly smaller than unaffected controls. The prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum are differentially affected and evidence indicating reduced connectivity in white matter tracts in key brain areas is emerging. Genetic, pharmacological, imaging, and animal models highlight the important role of dopamine dysregulation in the neurobiology of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. To date, stimulants are the most effective psychopharmacological treatments available for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Currently only immediate release methylphenidate and atomoxetine are approved for the treatment of ADHD in Italy. Drug treatment should always be part of a comprehensive plan that includes psychosocial, behavioural and educational advice and interventions.

PMID: 21176172 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Mental practice enhances surgical technical skills: a randomized controlled study.

Ann Surg. 2011 Feb;253(2):265-70

Authors: Arora S, Aggarwal R, Sirimanna P, Moran A, Grantcharov T, Kneebone R, Sevdalis N, Darzi A

To assess the effects of mental practice on surgical performance.

PMID: 21245669 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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