Homoeopathy

Homoeopathy is a system of treating patients using very low dose preparations according to the principle: "like should be cured with like". This paper summarises the research evidence presented in a recent issue of Effective Health Care on the effectiveness of homoeopathy. Increasing numbers of patients are seeking information on complementary medicines from NHS health professionals. Results of a 1998 survey of use and expenditure on complementary medicine in England suggested that 28% of respondents had either visited a complementary therapist or had purchased an over the counter herbal or homoeopathic remedy in the past year. From this survey it was estimated that there could be over 470 000 recent users of homoeopathic remedies in England

Informational Support And Online Information Seeking: Examining The Association Between Factors Contributing To Healthy Eating Behavior.

This study explores the nature of the relationship between informational social support and components of online health information seeking and how this process influences college students’ healthy eating intentions. Results showed that social support was positively associated with online information seeking and more favorable impressions of nutrition/healthy diet information on the web. In addition, although socialsupport was not associated with healthy eating intentions, all three information-seeking measures significantly predicted this outcome – even after controlling for numerous health-related factors. Additional mediation tests showed that social support had an indirect impact on healthy eating intentions through use as well as through a multi-step process involving perceptions of online resources. Overall, these results suggest that by raising health consciousness, informational support may trigger online health information seeking leading to healthier lifestyle intentions

The Importance of Fallback Foods in Primate Ecology and Evolution

The role of fallback foods in shaping primate ranging, socioecology, and morphology has recently become a topic of particular interest to biological anthropologists. Although the use of fallback resources has been noted in the ecological and primatological literature for a number of decades, few attempts have been made to define fallback foods or to explore the utility of this concept for primate evolutionary biologists and ecologists. As a preface to this special issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology devoted to the topic of fallback foods in primate ecology and evolution, we discuss the development and use of the fallback concept and highlight its importance in primatology and paleoanthropology

The enigma of facial asymmetry:is there a gender specific pattern of facedness?

Although facial symmetry correlates with facial attractiveness, human faces are often far from symmetrical with one side frequently being larger than the other (Kowner, 1998). Smith (2000) reported that male and female faces were asymmetrical in opposite directions, with males having a larger area on the left side compared to the right side, and females having a larger right side compared to the left side. The present study attempted to replicate and extend this finding. Two databases of facial images from Stirling and St Andrews Universities, consisting of 180 and 122 faces respectively, and a third set of 62 faces collected at Abertay University, were used to examine Smith's findings. Smith's unique method of calculating the size of each hemiface was applied to each set. For the Stirling and St Andrews sets a computer program did this automatically and for the Abertay set it was done manually. No significant overall effect of gender on facial area asymmetry was found. However, the St Andrews sample demonstrated a similar effect to that found by Smith, with females having a significantly larger mean area of right hemiface and males having a larger left hemiface. In addition, for the Abertay faces handedness had a significant effect on facial asymmetry with right-handers having a larger left side of the face. These findings give limited support for Smith's results but also suggest that finding such an asymmetry may depend on some as yet unidentified factors inherent in some methods of image collection

Early CRT monitoring using time-domain optical coherence tomography does not add to visual acuity for predicting visual loss in patients with central retinal vein occlusion treated with intravitreal ranibizumab:A secondary analysis of trial data

Our primary purpose was to assess the clinical (predictive) validity of central retinal thickness (CRT) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 1 week and 1 month after starting treatment with ranibizumab for central retinal vein occlusion. The authors also assessed detectability of response to treatment

Prevalence of incidental breast cancer and precursor lesions in autopsy studies: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Autopsy studies demonstrate the prevalence pool of incidental breast cancer in the population, but estimates are uncertain due to small numbers in any primary study. We aimed to conduct a systematic review of autopsy studies to estimate the prevalence of incidental breast cancer and precursors. Methods Relevant articles were identified through searching PubMed and Embase from inception up to April 2016, and backward and forward citations. We included autopsy studies of women with no history of breast pathology, which included systematic histological examination of at least one breast, and which allowed calculation of the prevalence of incidental breast cancer or precursor lesions. Data were pooled using logistic regression models with random intercepts (non-linear mixed models). Results We included 13 studies from 1948 to 2010, contributing 2363 autopsies with 99 cases of incidental cancer or precursor lesions. More thorough histological examination (≥20 histological sections) was a strong predictor of incidental in-situ cancer and atypical hyperplasia (OR = 126·8 and 21·3 respectively, p < 0·001), but not invasive cancer (OR = 1·1, p = 0·75). The estimated mean prevalence of incidental cancer or precursor lesion was 19·5% (0·85% invasive cancer + 8·9% in-situ cancer + 9·8% atypical hyperplasia). Conclusion Our systematic review in ten countries over six decades found that incidental detection of cancer in situ and breast cancer precursors is common in women not known to have breast disease during life. The large prevalence pool of undetected cancer in-situ and atypical hyperplasia in these autopsy studies suggests screening programs should be cautious about introducing more sensitive tests that may increase detection of these lesions

Identifying groundwater - dependent wetlands of the Broome Sandstone aquifer in the La Grange groundwater area

This report identifies wetlands that are likely to be dependent on the Broome Sandstone aquifer within the La Grange groundwater allocation area. The Broome Sandstone aquifer is the dominant groundwater resource in the area. With potential agricultural growth of this area, it is necessary to understand, monitor and manage the aquifer and its dependent wetlands. This report describes how we created a watertable surface that was used to identify wetlands and to determine which of the previously mapped wetlands are likely to be sourced from the Broome Sandstone aquifer. A watertable surface was created from 148 points taken from bore data. The accuracy of this watertable surface was validated with drilling data. The results of the drilling show a strong correlation with the modelled surface, which in turn was able to identify 43 groundwater-dependent wetlands (some of which were previously unmapped) and validate 85 previously mapped wetlands as also being groundwater-dependent

Re-examining LGBT Resources on College Counseling Center Websites: An Over-time and Cross-country Analysis

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students continue to perceive a hostile climate on college campuses. For students facing these challenges, the university college counseling center website (CCW) may serve as a critical resource. This study provides an updated content analysis of the prevalence of LGBT communication on CCWs. Results showed that there remains a lack of LGBT-specific information about services provided on US CCWs. Furthermore, over-time analyses of 2008 and 2013 data showed that there have been no significant increases in any LGBT communication, and CCWs from religious schools continue to provide significantly less LGBT-related communication than nonreligious institutions. Separate analyses of UK CCWs showed that these websites were more likely than US CCWs to make any mention of LGBT issues but less likely to note group counseling services, links to LGBT-specific pamphlets, and educational outreach services offered. Overall, given attractive features of online health information, as well as the extent that students value CCWs, institutions must pursue stronger efforts to promote LGBT-related web counseling information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR