The article by He and colleagues, ‘‘Adverse Events Following Acupuncture: A Systematic Review of the Chinese Literature for the Years 1956–2010’’ is an important and timely contribution. In this commentary, the article is reviewed and issues are highlighted about how to interpret and contextualize the results of their study. While their review has been well performed, certain areas have been ...

Background: Although use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among cancer patients has been described previously, prevalence of use has not commonly been compared to other disease groups in a true population sample where CAM use or cancer is not the main focus. The aims of the present study are to (1) examine how CAM use in cancer patients differs from people with a previous CHD diagnosis ...

Introduction: Freezing Cold Injuries (FCI) have been associated with long-term sequelae including vasospasm. The aims of the pilot study are to explore the research methodology and investigate the tolerability and safety of treatment with Botulinum Toxin-A (BTX-A) in FCI Sequelae. Methodology: This pilot study tests the logistics, the treatment setting and the follow-up procedure in an early-phase, ...

<i>Background</i>: Due to limitations of conventional medicine for atopic eczema (AE), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is widely used as an alternative, maintaining, or simultaneous treatment for AE. We aimed to evaluate the beneficial and harmful effects of CAM for children with AE under 14 years old.<p> <p><i>Methods</i>: We searched for randomized trials on CAM in 12 Chinese and ...

Forskning utført ved Nasjonalt forskningssenter innen komplementær og alternativ medisin (NAFKAM) viser at alternativ behandling ofte oppleves som et vanskelig tema i møtet mellom lege og pasient. Hvordan kan vi møte denne utfordringen i morgendagens helsevesen? Kan pasienterfaringer utgjøre en del av kunnskapsgrunnlaget?

<p><i>Introduction:</i> Freezing cold injuries (FCI) are a common risk in extreme cold weather warfare operations. The Norwegian Armed Forces (NAF) have the expertise and capabilities in education and training for warfighting capabilities in the Arctic. Nevertheless, a substantial number of Norwegian soldiers sustain freezing cold injuries annually. The aim of this study was to describe the FCI in ...

After more than 50 years of studying soldiers in the cold, we are well past the phase of defining the unique problems; the research requirements are known but the solutions have been slow in coming. This requires iterative testing of proposed lab-based solutions with soldiers in the real environment. Representing a renewed effort to produce and implement solutions to human biomedical challenges in ...

Sosial og helsedirektoratet arbeider med retningslinjer for pasientbehandling ved mistanke om helseskade fra amalgamfyllinger. Som bakgrunn for dette arbeid fikk Nasjonalt Forskningssenter innen Komplementær og Alternativ Medisin (NAFKAM) ved Universitetet i Tromsø i oppdrag å beskrive hvordan befolkningen opplever sammenhengen mellom amalgam og helse. Kvantitative og kvalitative metoder har vært ...

Intentional use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has previously only been researched in small, possibly biased, samples. There seems to be a lack of scientific information regarding healthy individual's attitudes and presumed use of CAM. The aim of this study is to describe prevalence and characteristics of participants who intend to see a CAM provider compared to participants who ...

<p><i>Background - </i>Recruitment and inclusion procedures in clinical trials are time critical. This holds particularly true for studies investigating patients with fluctuating symptom patterns, like those with chronic neck pain. In a feasibility study on neck pain, we found a clinically relevant decrease in pain ratings within the recruitment period. This paper analyses the phenomenon and gives ...