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Acupunture is cliniclly effective in treating depression, a new study in UK                                       September 29, 2013

The study is led by Hugh MacPherson from the University of York in the UK. He and his colleagues recruited 755 people with moderate or severe depression. The researchers split participants into three groups: 302 were randomly assigned to receive 12 weekly acupuncture sessions, another 302 received weekly counseling sessions and 151 received usual care only. At the outset, participants had an average depression score of 16 on a scale from 0 to 27, with higher scores symbolizing more severe depression.

After three months, scores of people assigned to the acupuncture group fell to 9. Scores of the counseling group fell to 11  and scores of the usual care group fell to 13. 

Participants who received acupuncture saw larger improvements over three months than those who had neither treatment. Those benefits remained for an additional three months after the treatments stopped.

Cardiovascular Medicine, Statins, Linked to Cataracts                                                                           September 22, 2013

According to the study published online in JAMA Ophthalmology, Statins clear cholesterol from the blood but they may do so at increased risk of developing cataracts, a new propensity score-matched study suggested, reported by Ishak Mansi, MD, of the VA North Texas Health System at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, and colleagues.

Vaccine 'clears HIV-like virus' in monkeys                                                                                                  September 15, 2013

Research published in the journal Nature has shown that vaccinated monkeys can clear infection of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), an aggressive form of virus, which is up to 100 times more deadly than HIV, from their bodies.

It was effective in nine of the 16 monkeys that were inoculated.

The US scientists say they now want to use a similar approach to test a vaccine for HIV in humans.

Acupuncture Found Beneficial to Post-Stroke Victims                                                                              September 8, 2013

Acupuncture, particularly when combined with rehabilitation training, has been found to be effective in the treatment of post-stroke spastic hemiplegia, according to an August 7, 2013 article titled "Acupuncture Helps Stroke Recovers—New Research,” re-published in the August 15 edition of HOPE and taken from the August 7 edition of Healthcare Medicine Institute.

A Key Protein to Age-Related Memory Loss                                                                                                   September 1, 2013

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center examined brains that donated from people who died without signs of neurologic disease. They discovered that a certain gene in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, the brain's memory center , produces less of a key protein -- RbAp48 in older people. The researchers took a closer look at mice, which become forgetful as they age in much the same way that people do. They discovered that cutting levels of the protein made healthy young mice perform worse on the memory tasks just like old mice naturally do. More intriguing, the memory loss was reversible: Boosting the protein made forgetful old mice as sharp as the youngsters again, the researchers reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine. 

 

The research offers a hint that what we now consider the normal forgetfulness of old age might eventually be treatable.

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