CAM

Low vitamin D levels raise anemia risk in children, Hopkins-led study shows
Low levels of the "sunshine" vitamin D appear to increase a child's risk of anemia, according to new research led by investigators at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. The study, published online Oct. 10 in the Journal of Pediatrics, is believed to be the first one to extensively explore the link between the two conditions in children. Eurekalert!

Can meditation decrease chronic pain?
A randomized controlled study published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics has investigated the role of a special form of meditation (mindfulness) in Chronic pain. MedicalXpress

Post-diagnosis soy food intake and breast cancer survival: a meta-analysis of cohort studies
Our meta- analysis showed that soy food intake might be associated with better survival, especially for ER negative, ER+/ PR+, and postmenopausal patients. Chi F, Wu R, Zeng YC, Xing R, Liu Y, Xu ZG. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(4):2407-12. PMID: 23725149

Coffee consumption reduces risk of liver cancer
Coffee consumption reduces risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, by about 40 percent, according to an up-to-date meta-analysis published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. Further, some data indicate that three cups of coffee per day reduce liver cancer risk by more than 50 percent. Eurekalert!

Light as medicine? Researchers reveal how specific wavelengths of light can heal
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes progressive paralysis by destroying nerve cells and the spinal cord. It interrupts vision, balance and even thinking. On a suggestion from a colleague, Jeri-Anne Lyons decided to test how the disease responded to a radical therapy – exposure to a certain wavelength of light called near-infrared (NIR).

"Never in a million years did I think it would help," says Lyons, an associate professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), who studies the role of the immune response in MS. But it did. In rodent models, early MS-like symptoms were treated with exposure to NIR light for a week, alternating with a week of no light. The clinical condition of the mice improved. MedicalXpress

Documenting effects of nature on human well-being
The review of literature pertaining to learning and capability also showed some empirical results that suggest interactions with nature provide a significant benefit to human cognition. Encounters with nature also contribute positively to the creation of the identity of individuals as well as those of communities and have been shown to contribute a sense of connection to something greater than oneself and to the natural world. MedicalXpress