RECENT RESEARCH
Settings / Location : Kerala , India .
Subjects : People that did not suffer from any major medical condition . All participants were naïve to yoga and meditation practices , except for the 5 LT- IAM practitioners .
Intervention : ST-IAM practitioners underwent 2 community IAM practices and 5 individual IAM practices . LT-IAM practitioners ( performing IAM regularly for more than 4 years ) underwent a community IAM practice before the study .
Outcome measures : Anxiety and depression states and physiological parameters from ST-IAM and ST-control groups were assed in two different visits ( before and after the week of IAM practice or control condition ). LT-IAM and LT-control subjects ' physiological measurements were taken in only one visit .
Results : Short-term IAM practice significantly decreased anxiety and depression states ; two way ANOVA indicated differences on anxiety and depression scores across visits between ST-IAM and ST-control groups ( Group effect : F ( 1 , 25 ) = 6.083 , p = 0.0209 ; F ( 1 , 25 ) = 4.449 , p = 0.0451 ). However , no changes were observed on their physiological parameters ( heart rate , blood pressure , oxygen saturation , and dopamine and GABA plasma levels ). Interestingly , LT-IAM practitioners showed increased GABA plasma levels than the LTcontrol group ( p = 0.0358 , t = 2.521 , df = 8 ).
Conclusions : Our study indicates the possible role of IAM technique on modulations of the plasma GABAergic levels and shows that one week of IAM practice is accompanied by a significant decrease of anxiety and depression states in the healthy population .
Narayanan S , Tennison J , Cohen L , Urso C , Subramaniam B , Bruera E .
Yoga-Based Breathing Techniques for Health Care Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic : Interests , Feasibility , and Acceptance . The Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine . 2021 ; 27 ( 8 ). https :// doi . org / 10.1089 / acm . 2020.0536
Objectives : The authors explored the feasibility of virtual yoga-based breathwork and meditation among health care workers ( HCW ) during the COVID-19 pandemic .
Methods : Consented employees of a large cancer center accessed a video of breathwork called “ Simha Kriya ” to be practiced for 4 weeks .
Results : Of 217 participants who expressed interest within 2 weeks , 90 were recruited to the study in 1 month and 100 in 2 months . Of 69 participants who provided data between weeks 1 and 4 , 77 % perceived the intervention as useful .
Conclusions : Yoga-based breathing practices were feasible and acceptable among HCW in the setting of a pandemic . ClinicalTrials . gov ID : NCT04482647
Nutrition
Ni J , Au M , Kong H . et al .
Lycium barbarum polysaccharides in ageing and its potential use for prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis : a systematic review . BMC Complement Med Ther . 2021 ; 21 ( 212 ) . https :// doi . org / 10.1186 / s12906-021- 03385-0
Background : Lycium barbarum polysaccharide ( LBP ), the most abundant functional component of wolfberry ( goji berriy ), is considered a potent antioxidant and an anti-ageing substance . This review aims to outline the hallmarks of ageing in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis ( OA ), followed by the current understanding of the senolytic effect of LBP and its potential use in the prevention and treatment of OA . This will be discussed through the lens of molecular biology and herbal medicine .
Methods : A literature search was performed from inception to March 2020 using following keywords : “ Lycium barbarum polysaccharide ”, “ DNA damage ”, “ antioxidant , anti-apoptosis , antiinflammation , anti-ageing , osteoarthritis , chondrocytes , fibroblasts , osteoblasts , osteoclasts , and “ bone mesenchymal stem cell ”. The initial search yielded 2287 papers , from which 35 studies were selected for final analysis after screening for topic relevancy by the authors .
Results : In literature different in vitro and in vivo ageing models are used to demonstrate LBP ’ s ability to reduce oxidative stress , restore mitochondrial function , mitigate DNA damage , and prevent cellular senescence . All the evidence hints that LBP theoretically attenuates senescent cell accumulation and suppresses the senescence-associated secretory phenotype as observed by the reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines , like interleukin-1beta , and matrixdegrading enzymes , such as MMP-1 and MMP-13 . However , there remains a lack of evidence on the disease-modifying effect of LBP in OA , although its chondroprotective , osteoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects were reported .
Conclusion : Our findings strongly support further investigations into the senolytic effect of LBP in the context of age-related OA .
Ho EY , Leung G , Chao MT , Chan D , Hsieh E , Pritzker S , Chi H-L , Huang S , Ruan Q , Seligman HK .
Integrative nutritional counselling combining Chinese medicine and biomedicine for Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes : A mixed-methods feasibility study . The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine . 2021 ; 27 ( 8 ). 1https :// doi . org / 10.1089 / acm . 2020.0558
Objectives : This study describes the development and feasibility of Integrative Nutritional Counseling ( INC ), a Chinese medicine ( CM )+ biomedicine-based nutrition curriculum for Chinese Americans with type 2 diabetes . Although Chinese Americans often incorporate CM principles into their diet , scant research has explored how to integrate CM with biomedical nutrition standards in a culturally appropriate manner or if such a program could improve diabetes selfmanagement .
162 | vol27 | no3 | JATMS