Complementary and Alternative Medicine Topic
Pain Is No Matter for the Meditative Mind
Remove your opinion about that which appears to give you pain and you stand painless. --- Marcus AureliusPain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. --- Dalai LamaThe insight of Marcus Aurelius and the Dalai Lama about the nature of pain alludes to the practical knowledge that physical pain can be managed effectively through proper training and mental discipline, neatly summarized by the popular phrase "mind over matter."
Life is Like a Box of Chocolates
Through the course of modern human history, chocolate has been considered the most special of all confections. Chocolate inspires deep love and devotion from those who partake of it, and its ability to enhance one’s mood has been advertised by men, women and children -- and candy manufacturers -- everywhere. Now, new evidence may put all that positive information under wraps; a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that individuals who eat more chocolate are at a greater risk of depression.
Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective… Again
Many parents have cried “How many times do I have to tell you?” at their young children when trying to get their attention or emphasize specific behaviors. Now, pharmacists and other medical practitioners are beginning to feel like these parents: “How many times do we have to tell you that Ginkgo biloba is not all it’s cracked up to be?” Yet another study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that Gingko biloba is not effective in preventing cognitive decline in older adults, but people continue to take it in astounding numbers.
If Herbal Medicine is Medicine, Shouldn’t it be Treated as Such?
Recently, the UK Government announced a consultation on whether practitioners of acupuncture, herbal medicine and traditional Chinese medicine should become subject to statutory regulation. Unsurprisingly, the announcement has sparked some lively debate. Currently, most herbal remedies and dietary supplements are classified by regulatory authorities as "foods," and therefore subject to far less stringent legal requirements than pharmaceutical products. However, if a herbal remedy offers some pharmacological effect over and above its nutritional value (and many undoubtedly do), then it becomes no longer a food but a medicine.
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