Randomized sham controlled trial of cranial microcurrent stimulation for symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances in women receiving chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer

Purpose Women with breast cancer may experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances during chemotherapy. However, there are few modalities that address multiple, commonly occurring symptoms that may occur in individuals receiving cancer treatment. Cranial electrical stimulation (CES) is a treatment that is FDA cleared for depression, anxiety and insomnia. CES is applied via electrodes placed on the ear that deliver pulsed, low amplitude electrical current to the head. Methods This phase III randomized, sham-controlled study aimed to examine the effects of cranial microcurrent stimulation on symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances in women receiving chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. Patients were randomly assigned to either an actual or sham device and used the device daily for 1 h. The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00902330. Results The sample included N = 167 women with early-stage breast cancer. Symptom severity of depression, anxiety, and fatigue and sleep disturbances were generally mild to moderate. Levels of pain were low. Anxiety was highest prior to the initial chemotherapy and decreased over time. The primary outcome assessment (symptoms of depression, anxiety, fatigue, pain, sleep disturbances) revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups, actual CES vs. sham. Conclusion In this study, women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer experienced multiple symptoms in the mild to moderate range. Although there is no evidence for the routine use of CES during the chemotherapy period for symptom management in women with breast cancer, further symptom management modalities should be evaluated to mitigate symptoms of depression, anxiety, fatigue, pain and sleep disturbances over the course of chemotherapy

Continuum Derrida Approach to Drift and Diffusivity in Random Media

By means of rather general arguments, based on an approach due to Derrida that makes use of samples of finite size, we analyse the effective diffusivity and drift tensors in certain types of random medium in which the motion of the particles is controlled by molecular diffusion and a local flow field with known statistical properties. The power of the Derrida method is that it uses the equilibrium probability distribution, that exists for each {\em finite} sample, to compute asymptotic behaviour at large times in the {\em infinite} medium. In certain cases, where this equilibrium situation is associated with a vanishing microcurrent, our results demonstrate the equality of the renormalization processes for the effective drift and diffusivity tensors. This establishes, for those cases, a Ward identity previously verified only to two-loop order in perturbation theory in certain models. The technique can be applied also to media in which the diffusivity exhibits spatial fluctuations. We derive a simple relationship between the effective diffusivity in this case and that for an associated gradient drift problem that provides an interesting constraint on previously conjectured results.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, DAMTP-96-8

Effects of microcurrents and physical exercise on the abdominal fat in patients with coronary artery disease

Introduction Coronary artery disease is associated with decreased levels of physical activity, contributing to increases in abdominal fat and consequently increasing metabolic risk. The innovative use of microcurrents may be an effective method to increase the lipolytic rate of abdominal adipocytes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of utilizing microcurrents in a home-based exercise program in subjects with coronary artery disease to assess changes in total, subcutaneous and visceral abdominal adipose tissue. Methods This controlled trial included 44 subjects with myocardial infarction, randomly divided into Intervention Group 1 (IG1; n = 16), Intervention Group 2 (IG2; n = 12) and Control Group (CG; n = 16). IG1 performed a specific exercise program at home during 8 weeks, and IG2 additionally used microcurrents on the abdominal region before the exercise program. All groups were given health education sessions. Computed tomography was used to evaluate abdominal, subcutaneous and visceral fat, accelerometers to measure habitual physical activity and the semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for dietary intake. Results After 8 weeks, IG2 showed a significantly decrease in subcutaneous fat (p ≤ 0.05) when compared to CG. Concerning visceral fat, both intervention groups showed a significant decrease in comparison to the CG (p ≤ 0.05). No significant changes were found between groups on dietary intake and habitual physical activity, except for sedentary activity that decreased significantly for IG2 in comparison with CG (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion This specific home-based exercise program using microcurrent therapy for individuals with coronary artery disease showed improvements in visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat

Clay body wrap with microcurrent: effects in central adiposity

Introduction Increased fat mass is becoming more prevalent in women and its accumulation in the abdominal region can lead to numerous health risks such as diabetes mellitus. The clay body wrap using compounds such as green clay, green tea and magnesium sulfate, in addition to microcurrent, may reduce abdominal fat mass and minimize or prevent numerous health problems. Objective This study aims at measuring the influence of the clay body wrap with microcurrent and aerobic exercise on abdominal fat. Methods Nineteen female patients, randomized into intervention (n = 10) and control (n = 9) groups, were evaluated using ultrasound for visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat, calipers and abdominal region perimeter for subcutaneous fat and bioimpedance for weight, fat mass percentage and muscular mass. During 10 sessions (5 weeks, twice a week) both groups performed aerobic exercise in a cycloergometer and a clay body wrap with microcurrent was applied to the intervention group. Results When comparing both groups after 5 weeks of protocol, there was a significant decrease in the subcutaneous fat around left anterior superior iliac spine in the intervention group (ρ = 0.026 for a confidence interval 95%). When comparing initial and final abdominal fat in the intervention group, measured by ultrasound (subcutaneous and visceral fat) and by skinfold (subcutaneous fat), we detected a significant abdominal fat reduction. Conclusion This study demonstrated that the clay body wrap used with microcurrent and aerobic exercise can have a positive effect on central fat reduction

Effects of aerobic exercise associated with abdominal microcurrent: a preliminary study

To analyze the short- and long-term effects of microcurrent used with aerobic exercise on abdominal fat (visceral and subcutaneous). Methods: Forty-two female students from a university population were randomly assigned into five group: intervention group (IG) 1 (n=9), IG2 (n=9), IG3 (n=7), IG4 (n=8), and placebo group (PG) (n=9). An intervention program of 10 sessions encompassing microcurrent and aerobic exercise (performed with a cycloergometer) was applied in all groups, with slightly differences between them. In IG1 and IG2, microcurrent with transcutaneous electrodes was applied, with different frequency values; 30-minute exercise on the cycloergometer was subsequently performed. IG3 used the same protocol as IG1 but with different electrodes (percutaneous), while in IG4 the microcurrent was applied simultaneously with the cycloergometer exercise. Finally, the PG used the IG1 protocol but with the microcurrent device switched off. All groups were evaluated through ultrasound and abdominal perimeter measurement for visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat assessment; through calipers for skinfolds measurement; through bioimpedance to evaluate weight, fat mass percentage, and muscular mass; and through blood analyses to measure cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose levels. After intervention sessions, visceral fat decreased significantly in IG1 compared with the PG. Subcutaneous fat was reduced significantly in all groups compared with the PG. After 4 weeks, almost all results were maintained. The addition of microcurrent to aerobic exercise may reduce fat more than does aerobic exercise alone

The Efficacy of Microcurrent Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation as Compared to Placebo in Reducing Pain Caused by Diabetic Neuropathy: A Systematic Review

Background: Pain caused by diabetic neuropathy is a common complication in diabetic patients. Microcurrent therapy is currently being used as an alternative treatment option for painful diabetic neuropathy, yet little research has been done to date on the efficacy of this treatment option in randomized controlled trials as compared to placebo. This systematic review was performed because there is no general consensus regarding the efficacy of this appealing treatment option for painful diabetic neuropathy Method: An exhaustive literature search using Medline, Cinahl, Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews Multifile, and Google Scholar was performed. The following search terms with common synonyms were used: microcurrent and diabetic neuropathy. Only randomized controlled trials were used. Results: Three articles were found that addressed the question of interest and met all eligibility criteria. Two of the three studies showed that microcurrent therapy and placebo significantly reduced pain but one was not more efficacious than the other. The other study found microcurrent therapy was more efficacious than placebo. All studies received a GRADE quality of evidence rating of low. Conclusion: At this time there is not enough high quality evidence to say with any certainty that microcurrent therapy is more efficacious than placebo in reducing pain caused by diabetic neuropathy. The three RCTs that have been performed to date, have been small and have conflicting results. The results do indicate a large placebo effect which should not be discounted when considering the utility of microcurrent therapy

The shear viscosity of a two-dimensional emulsion of drops using a multiple-relaxation-time-step lattice Boltzmann method

An extended Benzi-Dellar lattice Boltzmann equation scheme (R. Benzi, S. Succi and M. Vergassola, Europhys. Lett. 13, 727 (1990), R. Benzi, S. Succi and M. Vergassola, Phys. Rep. 222, 145 (1992), P. M. Dellar, Phys Rev. E 65 036309 (2002)) is developed and applied to the problem of confirming, at low Re and drop fluid concentration, c, the variation of effective shear viscosity, Data obtained with our enhanced multi-component lattice Boltzmann method, using average shear stress and hydrodynamic dissipation agree well, once appropriate corrections to Landau's volume average shear stress (L. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Fluid Mechanics, Sixth Edition, Pergamon Press ) are applied. Simulation results also confirm the expected form for f(_i; _2) and provide a reasonable estimate of its parameters. Most significantly, perhaps the generality of our data support the validity of Taylor's disputed simplification (G. I. Taylor. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 1932 138 133-146) to reduce the effect of one hydrodynamic boundary condition (on the continuity of the normal contraction of stress) to an assumption that interfacial tension is sufficiently strong to maintain a spherical drop shape