Article Archive

Returning to Native Tradition

An Integrative Approach to Diabetes

Prior to European colonization of the Americas, diabetes was virtually unknown in indigenous peoples. It is now epidemic, having taken a firm hold in this population over the past century and increasing at an alarming rate. It is estimated approximately 15 percent of Native Americans and Alaska Natives under care by Indian Health Services (IHS) are diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes, type 2, more than twice the national average. Statistics are higher in some groups, with a 50 percent incidence for adults between ages 30 and 64 in one Arizona tribe.1

Indian Head Massage

Ancient Ayurvedic Technique for Modern-day Problems

For 5,000 years, head massage has been a part of India’s rich culture. It’s held a special place both in the “kitchen table wisdom” of local Hindu mothers and in the medical bag of ayurvedic physicians.

Now making its way to the West, this seemingly simple health technique is finding new “disciples” eager to use it in their fight against modern-day problems.

Rolfing Children

Lifespan

Back in the Game

News Note

Stretching a strained muscle speeds recovery and gets athletes back in the game, Greek researchers recently concluded. Eighty subjects suffering from pulled hamstrings were assigned to one of two groups: The first group was assigned to stretch the hamstring four times daily, while the second group stretched once a day. The first group regained full range of motion in an average of 5.6 days while it took the control group 7.3 days to reach the same result. The first group also resumed full activity about two days earlier than those who only stretched once a day.

New Website Provides Drug Study Results

News Note

Responding to pressure for access to full disclosure on drug studies, the pharmaceutical industry has created a website, www.clinicalstudyresults.org, that includes summary results of all conducted research, even for those studies not published in medical journals. The drug trials are searchable by drug name, company name, disease state, indication, and study name. However, participation in the database is voluntary and only includes short abstracts rather than full data.

Single and Cooking

News Note

The 73 million Americans who live by themselves need to make sure they’re getting their essential vitamins, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR). Because singles tend to cook fewer of their own meals, they’re more likely to eat out often and eat too much, or skip meals altogether, rather than going through the trouble of making a nutritious meal for one.

Artistic Endeavors Improve Seniors’ Health

News Note

Elderly chorale members have significantly fewer falls, doctor visits, and take less medication than their peers who are not participating in any arts programs, according to an ongoing three-year study conducted by researchers at The George Washington University’s Center on Aging, Health, and Humanities. Furthermore, subjects answering their inner artist reported lower levels of depression, less loneliness, and higher morale, in addition to better health one year after joining.

Educational Mantra

Reading, Writing, and Transcendental Meditation

The early 1990s was a difficult time to be living in Washington, D.C.

Drive-by shootings, overwhelmingly high crime rates, and ruthless gang activity ruled the streets in this political town.

It was 1994, and as principal of the Fletcher-Johnson Educational Center, George Rutherford was searching for ways to keep his students safe.

“We were in competition with the drug dealers,” says Rutherford, who continues today as principal of D.C.’s Ideal Academy Public Charter School. “We were fighting for the kids. They wanted them and I wanted them.”

Yoga Gives Depression the Boot

News Note

Yoga alleviates mild depression in adolescents and young adults, according to a recent study published in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Twenty-eight college students, ages 18 to 29, who were mildly depressed but had not undergone any treatment, were divided into a yoga treatment group and a wait-list control group. None had previous yoga experience. The yoga subjects attended a 1-hour Iyengar yoga class twice a week for five consecutive weeks.

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