Complementary and alternative medicine for mental disorders among African Americans, black Caribbeans, and whites.

OBJECTIVES: This study examined racial and ethnic differences in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for the treatment of mental and substance use disorders. METHODS: Data were from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL) and the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R). The analytic sample included 631 African Americans and 245 black Caribbeans from the NSAL and 1,393 non-Hispanic whites from the NCS-R who met criteria for a mood, anxiety, or substance use disorder in the past 12 months. Logistic regression was used to examine racial and ethnic differences in the use of any CAM and in the use of CAM only versus the use of CAM plus services in another treatment sector. RESULTS: Thirty-four percent of respondents used some form of CAM. Whites were more likely than blacks to use any CAM, although there was no racial or ethnic difference in CAM use only versus CAM use plus traditional services. A higher proportion of blacks than whites used prayer and other spiritual practices. Among those with a mood disorder, black Caribbeans were less likely than African Americans to use any CAM. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study were similar to those of previous studies that examined physical illness in relation to CAM use in terms of its overall prevalence, the predominant use of CAM in conjunction with traditional service providers, and racial and ethnic differences in the use of CAM. The use of prayer was a major factor in differences between blacks and whites in CAM use; however, there were also differences among black Americans that warrant further research.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78173/1/1342.pd

Neurofibromatosis

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is one of the most common genetic disorders. Inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion, this phacomatosis is classified into two genetically distinct subtypes characterized by multiple cutaneous lesions and tumors of the peripheral and central nervous system. Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), also referred to as Recklinghausen's disease, affects about 1 in 3500 individuals and presents with a variety of characteristic abnormalities of the skin and the peripheral nervous system. Neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), previously termed central neurofibromatosis, is much more rare occurring in less than 1 in 25 000 individuals. Often first clinical signs of NF2 become apparent in the late teens with a sudden loss of hearing due to the development of bi-or unilateral vestibular schwannomas. In addition NF2 patients may suffer from further nervous tissue tumors such as meningiomas or gliomas. This review summarizes the characteristic features of the two forms of NF and outlines commonalities and distinctions between NF1 and NF2

Comparative study of GC-MS characterization, antioxidant activity and hyaluronidase inhibition of different species of Lavandula and Thymus essential oils

The chemical compositions of essential oils of Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula latifolia, Lavandula hybrida cultivar Grosso and cultivar Super, Thymus zygis with high proportions of thymol and linalool and Thymus hyemalis, from Murcia country (Spain), were studied in relative (%), absolute (mM) and chiral concentrations by GC/MS. Hyaluronidase inhibition and antioxidant activities of the essential oils were evaluated using ABTS(center dot+), DPPH center dot, ORAC, chelating power, hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, TBARS and reducing power assays. Linalool and linalyl acetate were the most abundant components in the Lavandula genus whereas thymol, linalool and 1,8-cineole were the most abundant molecules in the respective Thymus species. Chiral determination of the main components showed (+)-enantiomers like terpinen-4-ol, beta-pinene, borneol and a-terpineol and (-)-enantiomers like linalool, linalyl acetate and camphene in Lavandula sp. In the case of Thymus sp. (+)-enantiomers like a-pinene, limonene, terpinen-4-ol and a-terpineol and (-)-enantiomers like borneol were found. Essential oils containing thymol were found especially powerful in all assays but chelating power, ORAC and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays. The capacity for inhibiting hyaluronidase showed that T. zygis with a high proportion of thymol was the most effective inhibitor. Essential oils containing thymol and linalool/linalyl acetate have a potential use as antioxidant agents. Thymol shows strong inhibition of hyaluronidase. Copyright (C) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Longitudinal evaluation of quality of life in 288 patients with Neurofibromatosis 2

Advances in molecular biology have resulted in novel therapy for neurofibromatosis 2-related (NF2) tumours, highlighting the need for robust outcome measures. The disease-focused NF2 impact on quality of life (NFTI-QOL) patient questionnaire was assessed as an outcome measure for treatment in a multi-centre study. NFTI-QOL was related to clinician-rated severity (ClinSev) and genetic severity (GenSev) over repeated visits. Data were evaluated for 288 NF2 patients (n = 464 visits) attending the English national NF2 clinics from 2010 to 2012. The male-to-female ratio was equal and the mean age was 42.2 (SD 17.8) years. The analysis included NFTI-QOL eight-item score, ClinSev graded as mild, moderate, or severe, and GenSev as a rank order of the number of NF2 mutations (graded as mild, moderate, severe). The mean (SD) 8.7 (5.4) score for NFTI-QOL for either a first visit or all visits 9.2 (5.4) was similar to the published norm of 9.4 (5.5), with no significant relationships with age or gender. NFTI-QOL internal reliability was good, with a Cronbach’s alpha score of 0.85 and test re-test reliability r = 0.84. NFTI related to ClinSev (r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.46 for all visits), but weakly to GenSev (r = 0.16, p < 0.05; r = 0.15 for all visits). ClinSev related to GenSev (r = 0.41, p < 0.001; r = 0.42 for all visits). NFTI-QOL showed a good reliability and ability to detect significant longitudinal changes in the QOL of individuals. The moderate relationships of NFTI-QOL with clinician- and genetic-rated severity suggest that NFTI-QOL taps into NF2 patient experiences that are not encompassed by ClinSev rating or genotype

Estimating the Cost of Type 1 Diabetes in the U.S.: A Propensity Score Matching Method

Diabetes costs represent a large burden to both patients and the health care system. However, few studies that examine the economic consequences of diabetes have distinguished between the two major forms, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, despite differences in underlying pathologies. Combining the two diseases implies that there is no difference between the costs of type 1 and type 2 diabetes to a patient. In this study, we examine the costs of type 1 diabetes, which is often overlooked due to the larger population of type 2 patients, and compare them to the estimated costs of diabetes reported in the literature.Using a nationally representative dataset, we estimate yearly and lifetime medical and indirect costs of type 1 diabetes by implementing a matching method to compare a patient with type 1 diabetes to a similar individual without the disease. We find that each year type 1 diabetes costs this country $14.4 billion (11.5-17.3) in medical costs and lost income. In terms of lost income, type 1 patients incur a disproportionate share of type 1 and type 2 costs. Further, if the disease were eliminated by therapeutic intervention, an estimated$10.6 billion (7.2-14.0) incurred by a new cohort and $422.9 billion (327.2-519.4) incurred by the existing number of type 1 diabetic patients over their lifetime would be avoided.We find that the costs attributed to type 1 diabetes are disproportionately higher than the number of type 1 patients compared with type 2 patients, suggesting that combining the two diseases when estimating costs is not appropriate. This study and another recent contribution provides a necessary first step in estimating the substantial costs of type 1 diabetes on the U.S

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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