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INFORMED.
2nd Annual
BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE BOOK FAIR
May 15-18
DETROIT
JEWISH NEWS
4/3
1998
118
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Alternative medicine
gains mainstream
acceptance.
CHARLENE BALDRIDGE
Special to The Jewish News
CO
ne friend takes St. John's
wort for mild depression;
another, feverfew to prevent
and/or lessen the severity of
her migraines. Still another ingests
shark cartilage for bone spurs.
A transcontinental photographer —
who needs stamina for long hours
spent shooting in transit and develop-
ing film — lives by the regimen he
established through consultation with
product advisers at the Life Extension
Foundation (a nonprofit organization
"dedicated to freedom of choice in
health care"), to which he has
belonged for 15 years.
Some of us megadose ourselves
with vitamin C to ward off incipient
colds; a friend does so in hopes of
fending off yet another sinus infec-
tion, for which she fears she's been
prescribed antibiotics too many times.
"This time, I want to save it for
when it really counts," she says. One
in three Americans seeks out some
kind of alternative health care, folk
remedies, herbal therapy, faith healers
and other formerly "unconventional"
treatments. Traditional medicine is
getting in on the act; more and more,
such practices are the subject of stud-
ies funded by the National Institutes
of Health. Following its creation in
1993, the NIH Office of Alternative
Medicine made a number of
exploratory grant awards.
Here's a sampling of NIH-backed
studies: acupuncture for unipolar
depression, massage therapy for HIV,
electrochemical treatment for tumors,
hypnosis for accelerated fracture heal-
ing, classical homeopathy for health
status, guided imagery for asthma,
imagery and relaxation for immunity,
imagery and relaxation for breast can-
cer, macrobiotic diet for cancer,
ayurvedic herbals for Parkinson's dis-
ease, hypnotic imagery for breast can-
cer, biofeedback and relaxation for
diabetes, and antioxidant vitamins for
tumors.
The NIH just launched the first
U.S. clinical trial of St. John's wort, an
herb widely used in Europe to treat
Charlene Baldridge writes for Copley
New Service.
depression. The NIH study will
include 336 individuals with diag-
nosed depression, who will be ran-
domly assigned to one of three treat-
ment arms for an eight-week trial. (St.
John's won is not to be taken in con-
junction with any other medication
for depression, nor should those tak-
ing it ingest tyramine-containing
foods such as red wine, cheese, yeast
or pickled herring, nor use it during
pregnancy. Just because something is
natural doesn't mean it's without side
effects, especially in combination with
other drugs or herbal remedies.)
In an OAM study conducted at the
University of Arizona, Tucson, 34 seri-
ously depressed women participated in
a 16-week acupuncture study con-
ducted by psychologist John Allen,
who recently reported in USA Today
that after eight prescribed acupuncture
treatments, more than half the women
no longer met the criteria for clinical
depression.
He said that figure compares favor-
ably with other, more expensive thera-
pies. Currently, Allen is doing a one-
year follow-up to study the rate of
relapse among individuals in his study.
According to an October 1997
issue of The Lancet, a new Australian
study reveals that a high intake of
phyto-estrogen lowers the risk of
breast cancer. Phyto-estrogens — nat-
urally occurring chemicals similar to
female estrogen — are found in soy
and the fiber of whole grains, berries,
fruit, vegetables and flax seed, accord-
ing to Better Health Happenings, an
on-line medical reference.
When all the OAM data are col-
lected and analyzed and other studies
are complete, reports may foster addi-
tional integration of many techniques
and treatments formerly considered
downright weird by the medical estab-
lishment. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.,
<
recently introduced a House bill,
reported to have bipartisan support,
that would expand OAM's budget and
allow it to conduct tests in a more
timely fashion. Such a holistic
approach is the way to go. according
to Herbert Benson, author of
"Timeless Healing" (Simon &
Schuster) and founder of the 5-year-
old Mind/Body Medical Institute affil-
iated with Harvard Medical School. C>
Now celebrated, Benson was derid-
ed 25 years ago by a medical establish-
ment that separated body from mind.
Today, many physicians integrate
holistic practices into their clinical
practice. They seem willing to use
every means at their disposal to pro-