Articles related to COMPLEMENTARY & ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

The 8-week treatment with mindfulness-based stress reduction was a well-tolerated treatment option with comparable effectiveness to a first-line medication for patients with anxiety disorders in this randomized clinical trial of 276 adults with anxiety disorders.

Eighty-eight children ages 6 through 12 were randomized to daily pine bark extract, methylphenidate, or placebo for 10 weeks. Total ADHD-Rating Scales scores decreased 29% with pine bark extract, 45% with methylphenidate, and 5% with placebo. Hyperactivity/impulsivity decreased 34% with pine bark extract and 36% with methylphenidate and increased 1% with placebo. Inattention decreased 25% with pine bark extract, 52% with methylphenidate, 9% with placebo. Adverse events were reported 5 times more frequently with methylphenidate than with pine bark.

The evidence for NAD supplement effectiveness at present comes only from animal models and very small-scale human studies. And some studies link excessive consumption of NADH to anxiety and insomnia, and NAD precursors to Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.

Among 150 people ages 65 to 88, investigational transcranial alternating current stimulation for 20 minutes over 4 consecutive days produced selective improvements in working and long-term memory in older adults that lasted for at least a month The rate of memory improvement over 4 days predicted the size of memory benefits 1 month later, the researchers found. Moreover, people with lower baseline cognitive function experienced larger and longer lasting memory improvements. “We found that by applying extremely weak electrical current safely and noninvasively to the prefrontal cortex at a high frequency, we could selectively improve long-term memory in older people aged 65 to 88 years old without changing short-term memory.” Robert Reinhart, PhD, Boston University in Nature Neuroscience

Sixty-one unmedicated adults — 75% female, mean age of 45 years — with major depressive disorder, body mass index > 25 kg/m2, and plasma high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) ≥ 3.0 mg/L were randomly assigned to receive EPA 1 g/d, 2 g/d, or 4 g/d or placebo for 12 weeks. The EPA 4 g/d demonstrated a medium effect versus placebo. This dose may alleviate MDD in overweight individuals with elevated inflammatory markers. Further, decline in hs-CRP may be correlated with clinical response.

The findings were presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The researchers gathered the data from eight different studies that explored the safety profile of ashwagandha — an herb also known as Indian Ginseng, winter cherry, or poison gooseberry — as well as the clinical significance of its beneficial effects.