RECENT RESEARCH
Interventions : Participants were randomized to receive placebo tea , 1.5 g of PIT , and 1.5 g Camellia sinensis tea ( green tea , CST ) once daily for 12 weeks .
Outcome Measurements : The oral glucose tolerance test ( OGTT ), total cholesterol , triglyceride ( TG ), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( LDL-C ), highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol ( HDL-C ), blood urea nitrogen ( BUN ), creatinine , alanine transaminase ( ALT ), alkaline phosphatase ( ALP ), and complete blood count ( CBC ) before and after treatment were investigated .
Results : The results showed that PIT significantly ameliorated hyperglycemia and significantly lower serum TG ( 109.22 ± 5.21 mg / dL ) and LDL-C ( 122.20 ± 3.67 mg / dL ) than placebo ( 145.56 ± 8.18 and 142.07 ± 8.58 mg / dL , respectively ) ( p < 0.05 ). Moreover , PIT exhibited serum TG ( 109.22 ± 5.21 mg / dL ) significantly lower than CST ( 124.38 ± 4.70 mg / dL ) ( p < 0.05 ). In addition , the serum HDL-C of PIT ( 57.56 ± 3.05 mg / dL ) was significantly higher than the placebo ( 46.44 ± 2.47 mg / dL ) ( p < 0.05 ). Furthermore , the toxicity testing showed that no significant difference in BUN , creatinine , ALT , ALP , and CBC of PIT-treated group compared with the placebo ( p > 0.05 ).
Conclusions : These results suggest that PIT may ameliorate hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia in prediabetes people . It may not be toxic to the kidney , liver , and blood . So , PIT has the potential to develop to be a health-promoting tea or herbal medicine for hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia prevention .
Alam F , Khan SHA & Asad MHB .
Phytochemical , antimicrobial , antioxidant and enzyme inhibitory potential of medicinal plant Dryopteris ramose ( Hope ) C . Chr .. BMC Complement Med Ther . 2021 ; 21 ( 197 ). https :// doi . org / 10.1186 / s12906-021-03370-7
Dryopteris ramose has numerous potentials uses in the treatment of different maladies as old traditional medication . The fronds of D . ramose are edible and orally administered for producing antibiotic effect . They are also used as astringent and febrifuge , and as a pesticide .
Methods : Extraction of fronds of D . ramose using solvents of increasing polarity , namely , ethyl acetate , methanol and water were tested for phytochemical ( qualitative tests , GC-MS ), antimicrobial ( well method ), antioxidant ( DPPH ), antifungal ( tube dilution ), cytotoxic activity ( brine shrimps lethality assay ) and LOX and COX inhibitory activities were performed using standard methods .
Results : The phytochemical analysis of the crude methanolic extract revealed that the fronds are rich in flavonoids , alkaloids , saponins , tannins , glycosides and triterpenoids . The total flavonoid content of the ethyl acetate fraction was 46.28 μg QE / mg extract . The GC-MS analysis revealed nine major compounds that constituted the crude drug and potentially had a role in reported activities . The crude extract was the most active amongst all the fractions against the bacterial and fungal strains used such that it inhibited the growth of P . aeruginosa with a zone of 13 mm and a MIC value of 16 μg / ml as compared to the standard cefixime , which inhibited the zone by only 10 mm and a MIC value of 32 μg / ml . The highest antioxidant potential in DPPH assay was shown by the crude extract with 91.948 % free radical scavenging activity . The bring shrimps lethality potential of the crude extract was the highest , with a LD50 value of 47.635 μg / ml . The ethyl acetate fraction inhibits 91.36 % of alpha glucosidase enzyme at a concentration of 0.5 mg / ml . In case of acetylcholine esterase inhibition assay , the methanol fraction inhibits 58.26 % of the enzyme activity . Similarly , for butyrylcholine esterase inhibition , the maximum inhibitory effect was seen in the methanol fraction , with a percentage inhibition of 47.32 %.
Conclusion : These test results support traditional medicinal uses of the plant . Dryopteris ramose could be imperative for being used as a therapeutic agent and the medicinal importance of this plant should be further investigated .
Homeopathy
Takacs M , Frass M , Walder G , Fibert P , Rottensteiner M , Glück W , Lechleitner P , Oberbaum M , LeisserIlse CK , Panhofer P , lWeiermayer P .
Adjunctive homeopathic treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients ( COVIHOM ): A retrospective case series . Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice . 2021 ; 44 , 101415 .
Background : COVID-19 is a novel viral disease causing worldwide pandemia . The aim of this study was to describe the effect of adjunctive individualized homeopathic treatment delivered to hospitalized patients with confirmed symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection .
Patient presentation : Thirteen patients with COVID-19 were admitted . Mean age was 73.4 ± 15.0 ( SD ) years . Twelve ( 92.3 %) were speedily discharged without relevant sequelae after 14.4 ± 8.9 days . A single patient admitted in an advanced stage of septic disease died in hospital . A time-dependent improvement of relevant clinical symptoms was observed in the 12 surviving patients . Six ( 46.2 %) were critically ill and treated in the intensive care unit ( ICU ). Mean stay at the ICU of the 5 surviving patients was 18.8 ± 6.8 days . In six patients ( 46.2 %) gastrointestinal disorders accompanied COVID-19 .
Conclusion : The observations suggest that adjunctive homeopathic treatment may be helpful to treat patients with confirmed COVID-19 even in high – risk patients especially since there is no conventional treatment of COVID-19 available at present .
Massage , myotherapy and other bodywork , kinesiology
Boucher J , Mooney S , Dewey T , Kirtley RG , Walker T , Rabago D .
Manual Therapy Informed by the Fascial Distortion Model for Plantar Heel Pain : Results of a Single-Arm Prospective Effectiveness Study . The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine . 2021 ; 27 ( 8 ): 697 – 705 . https :// doi . org / 10.1089 / acm . 2020.0486
160 | vol27 | no3 | JATMS