The expo offers something for almost everyone. While not everyone is into alternative medicine many of the ideas are interesting. One booth’s message was that some mental illnesses including schizophrenia can be cured using diet changes. Other medicine booths claimed to have cures for common ailments.

Source/Read More: Digital Journal

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In the study, several plants used in traditional folk medicine were found to have broad spectrum antibiotic properties that could fight bacterial and fungal infections.

Scientists from Rohtak, India studied 40 patients, 35 of whom had low neutrophil counts, indicating compromised immune system function and infection. The patients were undergoing radiation treatment at the Regional Cancer Institute, Pt. B.D.S. Health University, Rohtak, Haryana.

Dr Jaya Parkash Yadav, study author said the finding is a “starting point” for finding plant based medicines that can be developed to fight bacteria that are becoming increasing resistant to antibiotics.

Source: EmaxHealth

Other complementary and alternative health practices including meditation and relaxation techniques, manual therapies such as massage and spinal manipulation also show promise for contributing to the management of pain.

“Much of health care involves helping people find solutions for tough problems like pain. I think all physicians are well aware of how difficult it is to manage chronic pain patients,” said Josephine Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.

Source: The Times of India

…for sicker patients, these alternative therapies seem to provide both emotional and physical relief for many types of medical ailments, according to the findings, which were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Nearly 40 percent of Americans use some form of complementary and alternative medicine, according to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey. These practices include meditation, yoga, acupuncture and other types of mind-body-practices. And now, many are receiving the support of conventional doctors who have seen apparent benefits in some of their patients.

Source: KGOAM810.com

Expo attendees are invited to speak with local practitioners, who will provide personalized, complimentary treatments so that individuals can experience complementary and alternative therapies firsthand. The event will include practitioners of European natural medicine, herbal medicine, integrative medicine in clinical practice, massage therapy, medical qigong, naturopathy, tai chi, Thai massage, Tibetan medicine, tong ren healing, tui na, traditional Chinese medicine, yoga, vibrational medicine as well as wellness/lifestyle educators. Live music and multi-cultural crafts available for sale will round out the festivities.

This event is free and open to the public. You can find out more information here.

You can see the logic. Old people with dementia can become frightened and restless, angry or agitated. Reiki, a Japanese healing practice that supposedly channels a universal energy, is said to be soothing and deeply relaxing. So why not offer reiki to elderly dementia patients?

Home Care Partners, a nonprofit home care agency in Washington, won a two-year grant from the federal Administration on Aging to give it a try and has just finished training 36 aides in reiki. Next year, the agency will offer reiki training to family caregivers and to workers at adult day programs.

“It relieves stress, it reduces anxiety and it can help diminish pain,” said Marie Muller, the agency’s education manager and a trained reiki master. “We hope that our clients with dementia who become agitated and stressed will find reiki calming” — and thus will be less disturbed when aides help them bathe or dress or eat.

Source: NY Times Health

Unlike a classic nail bed made famous by performers, the modern-day mats, sometimes called “acupressure mats,” are made with small disks of plastic spikes. There’s no set daily usage recommendation, though some companies suggest starting with lying down, usually face up with the spikes in contact with the back and neck, for 5 to 10 minutes, then gradually longer.

The fewer spikes, the more challenge to the body—and the more benefit, says Team Shakti AB of Sweden, which puts 6,000 spikes on its main mat but offers a more comfortable version, its Shakti Light mat, with 8,000 spikes. For the biggest benefit, lie naked on the mat, Shakti says. The cost of the mats ranges from $30 to $50 or more. Shakti sells its mats on its website for $69.

Source: WSJ.com

Only about half of insurers cover acupuncture, and those that do usually only cover a set number of sessions per year. But…

But insurance companies’ reluctance to cover licensed acupuncture treatments may be changing. For the ninth straight year, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) is introducing legislation that would add acupuncture to the list of services covered by Medicare and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program participants.

“Even though the National Institutes of Health has found acupuncture to be an effective treatment for a range of serious diseases and conditions, 52 million Medicare beneficiaries and federal employees have no guaranteed access to the treatment,” Mike Morosi, Hinchey’s press secretary, writes in an email. “Congressman Hinchey will soon reintroduce the The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act, which would ensure that those in need of care aren’t forced to choose more expensive, invasive and risky treatments with a long list of side effects simply because acupuncture isn’t covered.”

Check out the whole article at DailyFinance — very interesting and well worth the time.

In the U.S., consumer sales of homeopathic treatments reached $870 million in 2009, growing 10 percent over the previous year, according to Nutrition Business Journal estimates.

For Oscillococcinum, sold in 60 countries, estimated annual retail sales in the U.S. are more than $20 million, according to the manufacturer, Boiron. It ranks 49th out of 318 cold and flu brand products that do more than $1 million in sales. Other popular homeopathic products include arnica gel for bruises and strains and diluted zinc remedies for colds.

“Some people feel these products shouldn’t work due to the dilution level,” said pharmacist Christophe Merville, director of education and pharmacy development for Boiron, the world’s leading manufacturer of homeopathic medicines. But he said basic science studies have shown “that highly diluted solutions have biological properties that are different than water.”

This article from NewsObserver.com offers not only a great introduction to some of the basic principles of homeopathy, but also an interesting look into some of the arguments pro/con that continue to dog the discipline today.