Biting into integrated quality improvement: medical student and staff blinded taste test for sodium reduction improving medical education and care?
Abstract
Over 90 % of Americans consume an excessive amount of sodium as a key salt ingredient, despite its contribution to morbidity and mortality. No known studies have analyzed the optimal salt reduction level for medical students and staff in characteristic restaurant recipes. Increased studies linking such quality improvement in medical education and care through lifestyle-based modifications with medical professionals in training may provide a promising model for competency-based medical education in the age of healthcare reform. A volunteer sample (n = 105) of medical students and staff was recr...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 18, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Homeopathy on the crossroads of traditional and integrative medicine in the Middle-East
Abstract
The Middle-East is characterized by a rich spectrum of complementary and traditional medicine therapies, which are used by patients in parallel with conventional medicine. Indigenous traditional medicine practices in the region focus mainly on herbal medicine and far less on the use of European-based complementary medicine modalities such as homeopathy. Little has been reported on the extent to which homeopathy is being used in the Middle-East, this despite an emerging body of basic science and clinical research on the subject from countries such as Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Lebanon. We comp...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 16, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Homeopathy and integrative medicine: keeping an open mind
Abstract
Some physicians have incorporated some forms of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) or related medicinal products in their clinical practices, suggesting that an unconventional treatment approach might be seen as an integration rather than as an alternative to standard medical practice. Among the various CAMs, homeopathy enjoys growing popularity with the lay population, but it is not acknowledged by academia or included in medical guidelines. The major problem is to establish the effectiveness of this clinical approach using the strict criteria of evidence-based medicine. This issue of ...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 16, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Homeopathy: from tradition to science?
Abstract
Homeopathy is a form of therapy based on the similarity (“similia similibus curantur”, like cures like), whose popularity is increasing but whose scientific basis is still under discussion. Starting from the premise that it is a “holistic” medicine, programmatically aimed at the whole person in its entirety and individuality, here we go through an overview of his history, basic concepts and scientific evidence. This therapy was founded by Samuel Hahnemann in the late 18th century, although similar concepts existed previously. It has spread around the world in the 19th century, in part bec...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 11, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
The concept of healing and integrative care
Abstract
Western medicine needs to redress the imbalance between its proven ability to control disease processes and body function, and its limited ability to enable and support self-regulation and self-healing. In short, it needs to acknowledge its vocation and its responsibility to heal, to make whole. It needs to understand that this ‘whole-making’ not only transcends the task of managing disease but makes our efforts more effective, and improves both well-being and clinical outcome. This requires us to reflect more deliberately on what ‘natural’ healing really means; on how healthcare c...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - December 10, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Experiences with an integrative approach to treating HIV/AIDS in East Africa
Abstract
HIV/AIDS is a multifaceted condition affecting the whole person and family, which requires an individualized and holistic approach, as defined by Person Centered Health Care. In East Africa, Homoeopathy for Health in Africa offers patients an integrative, holistic method to supplement standard medical treatment and mitigate the side effects of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs that often interfere with patient adherence to treatment and lead to drug resistance. Patients who have homoeopathy treatment as a supplement to ARVs report amelioration of side effect symptoms, increased energy and enhanced well...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 25, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Cooking up better doctors as teachers globally: a novel integrated nutrition and cooking class curriculum for pediatric residents to boost their competencies and attitudes in patient counseling
This study supports continued development of a longitudinal nationally scalable model of curriculum improvement from the premedical student stage of training to the attending physician stage. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 25, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Integration of homeopathy and complementary medicine in the public health system in Italy: national regulation and regional experiences
Abstract
Complementary medicine (CM) is being increasingly used by citizens across Europe as a means to maintain their health and to treat illness and disease. In Italy the reform of Title V of the Italian Constitution allows each Region to decide how to put into practice and organize the Public Healthcare System. The agreement among the Italian National Government, the Regions, and the Provinces of Trento and Bolzano on the terms and requirements for the quality certification of training and practice of acupuncture, herbal medicine, and homeopathy by medical doctors and dentists, signed on ...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 19, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Information and communication technology in chronic diseases: a patient’s opportunity
Abstract
The increasing aging population, the prevalence of chronic diseases and rising costs have brought about some unique health care challenge to our global society. In response to the unmet health care needs, researchers are actively seeking for innovative solutions that target for (1) prevention of diseases and (2) personalized diagnosis and treatment. It is envisaged that by taking preventive measures for health monitoring, diagnosing and treating patients with a personalized approach at an early stage of disease development, health care will be more cost effective and sustainable. The authors pr...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 10, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Practice guidelines that may kill
(Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 10, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
From evidence-based medicine to patient-centered medicine: legal medicine considerations about professional responsibility
Abstract
The adaptation of the guidelines to the specific case is not easy and it requires a significant effort by of the physician. We found many criticism, but particularly a logic (the patient-centered medicine) most appropriate to reasoning of legal medicine. The patient-centered medicine is a medicine that takes into account the individual case because it best meets the needs of law and with which the evidence based medicine must be integrated. (Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person)
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 4, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
A view from the other side: the hope in the eyes of the healer
Abstract
A physician affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) explores the meaning of his disease. The deterioration of his physical health and of his independence provided a new and deeper view of healing, as well as a new mission for his medical profession. He has become at the same time a “voice for the voiceless” and a source of hope and inspiration for patients and health professionals alike. Espousing the principle that healing is always possible even when the disease is incurable, the author proposes a three-prong approach to healing: symptom management, allegiance to the patient up to t...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - November 1, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Complicated and complex: the management of older cancer patients, a frame of reference to approach clinical complexity
Abstract
In this article, we propose a frame of reference to approach complexity in clinical practice. Complexity is becoming a more and more common issue, due to the aging of the population, increased prevalence of polymorbidity, dwindling pool of home caregivers, and the social and economic issues associated with age. The case of a 79-year-old woman with hemiparesis from a previous stroke, breast cancer, and chronic myelogenous leukemia is analyzed. From the analysis of the case, we concluded that: there was an urgent need of a person charged with making the final medical recommendations to an older ind...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 31, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Recipe for cancer education: a novel integrated cooking and nutrition education curriculum for medical students and physicians in dietary preventive and supplemental treatment for pancreatic cancer
Abstract
The poor outcomes surrounding pancreatic cancer (5 % 5-year survival) are rooted in the advanced nature of the cancer at diagnosis, aggressiveness of the tumor, technical challenges for surgical treatment, and the limitations of systemic therapies. Research on pancreatic cancer and diet has focused on the effects of bioactive food compounds upon major pathways in cancerous cell development, particularly with the active components of flavonoids, proteins, and vitamins. Such bioactive components, particularly found in fruits and vegetables, have been associated with increased sensitivity to chemot...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 23, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
Narrative and ethics education for nurses
This article illustrates the unique role of narrative medicine in the education of nursing students. Thirty-two students attending the university course for nursing were asked to describe in writing their clinical experience when prompted with the statement “from that event, in relation to treatment ethics, I learnt that …”. Thanks to narrative, the themes have gained a personal meaning as they emerged from a situation which involved the students emotionally. The students became endowed with the ability to face ethical dilemmas in different context and to deliver personalized care with empathy and compassion. (Source...
Source: Journal of Medicine and the Person - October 22, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: research
