Can the ancient healing art of acupuncture help relieve the persistent pain of osteoarthritis? Recently, a landmark study demonstrated that acupuncture not only provides pain relief, but also improves function for people suffering with osteoarthritis of the knee, the most common form of the disease.
Some cancer patients experience side effects that can interfere with their lives, from the disease or from the treatment. More and more cancer patients are turning to acupuncture to help them feel better.
A new acupuncture technique is helping some people decrease the appearance of wrinkles and look years younger.
Brooklyn hospital turns to acupuncture as homeopathic option to anesthetics for mothers-to-be. Acupuncture is being combined with Western medicine during labor and delivery at the Brooklyn hospital in what officials there say could become a viable option to pain-relieving drugs.
Trichotillomania (TTM) is an impulse control disorder characterised by the repeated urge to pull out scalp hair, eyelashes, nose hair, ear hair, eyebrows or other body hair. It is believed to be related to obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The cause of trichotillomania is not known. Because hair has prominent symbolic importance in most cultures and has been equated with beauty in women and power in men, it is not surprising that various psychological interpretations of hair pulling have been proposed. Some emphasize principles of learning and conditioning as critical mechanisms in the genesis and development of trichotillomania. Other explanations suggest that biological factors play significant roles. So far, the validity of these explanations has not been established using systematic scientific methods. It is likely that more than one mechanism is responsible for the disorder.
Trichotillomania is hair loss caused by compulsive pulling and/or twisting of the hair until it breaks off. The hair may be lost in round patches or diffusely across the scalp. The effect is an uneven appearance. Other hairy areas may be plucked, such as the eyebrows, eyelashes, or body hair.
Broadly stated, cognitive-behavior therapy is based on learning theory which has shown that as we practice new behaviors and thoughts in response to familiar emotions or situations, our brain’s physical structure actually changes, too. We develop new neural pathways and, with repetition, the new behavior becomes an automatic response.
One form of treatment for Trichotillomania is Habit Reversal Training. Many patients who pull their hair don?t realize that they are doing this; it is a conditioned response. With Habit Reversal Training doctors train the individual to learn to recognize their impulse to pull and also teach them to redirect this impulse. Patients who feel the urge to pick at their hair are taught to visualize something that will get their mindset off of picking at their hair. Once they are aware of what they are doing then they are able to focus and stop themselves from the urge of picking.
A protein that seems to be pivotal in lifting depression has been discovered by a Nobel Laureate researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).