Effects of Boswellia species on viral infections with particular attention to SARS-CoV-2.

The emergence of pathogenic viruses is a worldwide frequent cause of diseases and, therefore, the design of treatments for viral infections stands as a significant research topic. Despite many efforts, the production of vaccines is faced with many obstacles and the high rate of viral resistance caused a severe reduction in the efficacy of antiviral drugs. However, the attempt of developing novel natural drugs, as well as the exertion of medicinal plants, may be an applicable solution for the treatment of viral diseases. Boswellia species exhibited a wide range of pharmacological activities in various conditions such as bronchial asthma, rheumatism, and Crohn's illness. Additionally, pharmacological studies reported the observance of practical antiviral activities from different parts of this substance, especially the oleo-gum-resin. Therefore, this work provided an overview on the antiviral properties of Boswellia species and their potential therapeutic effects in the field of COVID-19 pandemic.

Effectiveness of aromatherapy for prevention or treatment of disease, medical or preclinical conditions, and injury: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Aromatherapy - the therapeutic use of essential oils from plants (flowers, herbs or trees) to treat ill health and promote physical, emotional and spiritual well-being - is one of the most widely used natural therapies reported by consumers in Western countries. The Australian Government Department of Health (via the National Health and Medical Research Council) has commissioned a suite of independent evidence evaluations to inform the 2019-20 Review of the Australian Government Rebate on Private Health Insurance for Natural Therapies. This protocol is for one of the evaluations: a systematic review that aims to examine the effectiveness of aromatherapy in preventing and/or treating injury, disease, medical conditions or preclinical conditions. METHODS: Eligibility criteria: randomised trials comparing (1) aromatherapy (delivered by any mode) to no aromatherapy (inactive controls), (2) aromatherapy (delivered by massage) to massage alone or (3) aromatherapy to 'gold standard' treatments. POPULATIONS: any condition, pre-condition, injury or risk factor (excluding healthy participants without clearly identified risk factors). OUTCOMES: any for which aromatherapy is indicated. Searches: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), with a supplementary search of PubMed (covering a 6-month lag period for processing records in CENTRAL and records not indexed in MEDLINE), AMED and Emcare. No date, language or geographic limitations will be applied. DATA AND ANALYSIS: screening by two authors, independently (records indexed by Aromatherapy or Oils volatile or aromatherapy in title; all full text) or one author (remaining records) with second author until 80% agreement. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment (ROB 2.0) will be piloted by three authors, then completed by a single author and checked by a second. Comparisons will be based on broad outcome categories (e.g. pain, emotional functioning, sleep disruption) stratified by population subgroups (e.g. chronic pain conditions, cancer, dementia) as defined in the analytic framework for the review. Meta-analysis or other synthesis methods will be used to combine results across studies. GRADE methods will be used to assess certainty of evidence and summarise findings. DISCUSSION: Results of the systematic review will provide a comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of evidence about the effectiveness of aromatherapy. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42021268244.

The Potential Role of Traditional Medicine in the Management of Schizophrenia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This article presents an overview of recent literature examining the place of traditional methods of mental healthcare in the management of schizophrenia. RECENT FINDINGS: Patients with schizophrenia make up a large proportion of people seeking traditional methods of mental healthcare, and a majority of such users perceive traditional medicine treatment as helpful. Adherence rates to traditional treatment methods among users may be well over 80%. Nevertheless, evidence is currently too weak to inform recommendation of traditional methods as standalone treatments for schizophrenia. Collaboration between traditional medicine practitioners and biomedical mental healthcare providers is feasible and may lead to safer treatments and better outcomes for patients with schizophrenia. Many patients with schizophrenia preferentially use traditional methods of mental healthcare. A collaborative working relationship that includes training and clinical support for traditional medicine providers by biomedical providers is feasible and may help narrow the global treatment gap for schizophrenia.

[Complementary medicine in uro-oncology]. / Komplementäre Medizin in der Uroonkologie.

Modern concepts such as patient empowerment stand for the selection of appropriate concomitant treatment procedures from a scientific point of view and for placing these in the hands of the patient, thereby demanding and encouraging personal responsibility. It is important to distinguish between the terms complementary and/or alternative medicine. If we look at the motivation of patients to use complementary and/or alternative procedures, this is divided into the desire to do something directly against the tumor and on the other hand to strengthen the body's own resources, support the immune system, and reduce side effects in a concrete manner. The crux of modern oncology is that many specialists no longer have sufficient time for detailed patient information talks and multiple good physician-patient talks. The importance of complementary medicine in addition to nutrition and exercise lies above all in its targeted use as a concomitant supportive therapy. Complementary medicine primarily offers the chance to meet the desire of those affected to actively participate in their treatment.

The Complementary Medicine Insurance Wars: The Unresolved but Politicised Australian Theatre of Combat.

Debates have taken place for many years internationally, including in Australia, about the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM). The issues raised in such disputation go beyond the capacity for patients to make choices informed by contemporary knowledge about the status of such disciplines and the accuracy of claims made by the various stakeholders. As government subsidises rebates under private health insurance for a number of modalities of health care, the entitlements of CAM disciplines to such rebates have become controversial. This editorial traces Australian reports since 2010 about the eligibility for insurance rebates of a number of CAM disciplines and calls for the current 2019-2020 review by the Chief Medical Officer to engage in a fair, rigorous and conclusive evaluative process, utilising as its yardstick contemporary evidence about treatment efficacy. Such a process has the potential to bring to an end disputation that has only served to confuse patient decision-making, cater to vested interests and incur for government costs that cannot properly be justified.

Medical management of adult headache.

We review the therapies for primary headache disorders: migraine, chronic migraine, tension-type headache, and cluster headache. Recommendations follow the evidence-based treatments so far as is possible with expert opinion to give clinical guidance. Headache has 2 levels of care: acute treatments designed to stop a headache from progressing and alleviate all symptoms associated with the headache and preventive therapies for patients whose headache frequency is such that by itself produces significant disability and impact on quality of life, or where the frequency of use of acute medications, regardless of efficacy, poses risks in terms of overuse or adverse events.

O uso da terapia reiki nas américas do norte e do sul: uma revisão / Use of reiki therapy in countries of the north and south: a review / El uso de la terapia reiki en las américas del norte y del sur: una revisión

Trata-se de um artigo de revisão que objetiva identificar a produção científica sobre a Terapia Reiki nas bases de dados ScIELO, LILACS e MEDLINE, utilizando os descritores Reiki e terapias complementares. Foram consideradas como variáveis: ano de publicação, disponibilização do texto, país, periódico e número de autores. Constatou-se que os estudos foram publicados com predominância na base de dados MEDLINE, 41(87,23%), e em 2003 - 10(21,27%) e 2010 - 6(12,78%); os artigos, na maioria, apresentaram somente resumo, 29(61,70%); o país destacado foi Estados Unidos, com 41(87,23%); e o periódico Holistic Nursing Practice, com 6(12,77%) textos. Conclui-se que o quantitativo de pesquisas abordando a temática ainda é incipiente, especialmente no Brasil, o que aponta para a necessidade de novas investigações do uso do Reiki e seu impacto, utilizando método científico e com amostras ampliadas, consolidando uma base de dados que justifique a sua validade terapêutica.

This review article aimed to identify the scientific literature on Reiki Therapy in the ScIELO, LILACS and MEDLINE databases, using the descriptors ‘Reiki’ and ‘complementary therapies’. The variables considered were year ofpublication, full text available, country, journal, and number of authors. It was found that the studies were recorded predominantly in MEDLINE (41; 87.23%), published in 2003(10; 21.27%) and 2010(6; 12.78%), most articles appeared only as abstract (29;61.70%), the foremost country was United States (41; 87.23%) and the journal, Holistic Nursing Practice (6; 12.77%). It is concluded that quantitative research on this subject is still incipient in Brazil, indicating a need to continue investigating the use of Reiki and its impact, using scientific method and larger samples, to establish a body of data that justifies its validity as therapy.

Se trata de un artículo de revisión que objetiva identificar la producción científica sobre la Teoría Reiki en las bases de datos ScIELO, LILACS Y MEDLINE, usando los descriptores Reiki y terapias complementares. Fueron consideradas como variables: año de publicación, disponibilización del texto, país, periódico y número de autores. Se constató que los estudios fueron publicados predominantemente em la base de datos MEDLINE: 41(87,23%), y en 2003 – 10(21,27%) y 2010– 6(12,78%); predominaron los artículos que presentaron sólo resumen: 29(61,70%); el país destacado fue Estados Unidos: 41(87,23%); y el periódico Holistic Nursing Practice con 6(12,77%) textos. Se concluye que el cuantitativo de pesquisas enfocando la temática es a un incipiente, especialmente en Brasil, lo que apunta para la necesidad de nuevas investigaciones sobre el uso del Reiki y su impacto, utilizando método científico y con muestras ampliadas, consolidando una base de datos que pueda justificar su validad terapéutica.