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(Sorry this is so long!)This article was published a while back: Alternative medicine: Think outside the pillbox By John C. Drake, Atlanta Journal-Constitution ATLANTA - When the treatment seems worse than the disease, patients start looking for alternatives. Annette Adams' search began after she learned she had Parkinson's disease in her late 30s. It forced the mother and software consultant into early retirement, but she was worried about taking the serious medications that can intensify the tremors associated with the disease. Her search led her to Emory University researchers who are using federal money to test whether mind-body techniques, such as tai chi and meditation, are as effective as medication in improving muscle control and balance for Parkinson's patients. "I want to avoid the more severe drugs for as long as possible," she said. The Emory research reflects a growing trend in medicine away from total dependence on drugs, surgery and radiation so that doctors can incorporate more alternative methods. Critics most often note there is not enough reputable research into whether herbal remedies, mind-body techniques, spirituality and even music therapy are as good as or even better than traditional medical practices. That's why a center at the National Institutes of Health is throwing a growing portion of its research dollars at projects like Emory's. Since 1992, federal funding for the NIH's alternative medicine center has increased from $2 million a year to more than $100 million, leading the effort to build the body of scientific evidence necessary to validate or shoot down alternative practices. As many as seven in 10 Americans say they regularly use some form of unconventional health care, according to a Harvard University study. "I think people, more and more, are recognizing that you don't want to be a slab of meat on the surgeon's table," said Jackie Wootton, director of the Maryland-based Alternative Medicine Foundation. "It's so disempowering just to take a drug." Emory researchers are attempting to add to the body of evidence supporting alternative care by comparing to aerobic exercise the effect of two Chinese martial arts on the symptoms and signs of Parkinson's disease -- the condition that has affected Michael J. Fox and Muhammad Ali. Millions of dollars have gone into research on traditional treatments ranging from improved prescription medications to deep-brain stimulation, a type of brain surgery. Emory research already has shown that aerobic exercise can help muscle control for Parkinson's patients. Scientists now want to know whether that improvement is a result of improved physical fitness or a change in the brain's signals to the muscles. If exercise can improve the brain's signals, martial arts also might have that effect, researchers say. They are recruiting Parkinson's patients and separating them into three groups. One group is put through an exercise regimen that is strictly physical, like walking and running on a treadmill. A second group will learn tai chi chuan, a slow-movement martial art that focuses on balance and coordination. The third group will learn qi gong, a meditative practice, similar to yoga, that involves very little movement. Scientists hope the research will show that traditional Eastern methods of mind-body control can improve patients' confidence by altering the way they control their movement. Dr. Jorge Juncos, an Emory neurologist who is the study's principal investigator, said American medicine traditionally has focused on finding the right medicine to fix individual problems, while Eastern practices have focused on ensuring balance and harmony throughout the body. This has fed a sort of "East vs. West" mentality in medical research, he said. "It's a product of how we have viewed our own health ," Juncos said. "The system is focusing too much on disease." But this appears to be changing, as more doctors encourage patients to actively participate in their treatment and incorporate complementary tactics. "I think there is a reconciling that can be done, but there is a need to provide objective evidence," Juncos said. The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is funding the study and dozens of others nationwide. The center's efforts gradually have gained more respect and interest in the medical community since it opened as the Office of Alternative Medicine in 1992 with a budget of $2 million. "The hostility toward the Office of Alternative Medicine was enormous," said Wootton, who worked in the office when it opened. In addition to the study comparing tai chi, qi gong and aerobic exercise, which received $1.1 million in NIH funds, Emory also is using federal money for two other Parkinson's-related studies. One study, garnering a $760,000 NIH grant, is examining magnetic stimulation in treating depression, which affects nearly half of all Parkinson's patients. The third Emory study, funded with $898,000 from NIH, is tracking the effects of an herbal root called valerian on sleep disturbances in Parkinson's patients. For many doctors, the distinction between conventional and alternative medicine is beginning to blur, as patients incorporate better nutrition and exercise into their lives. Dr. Ladd McNamara, an Alpharetta, Ga., gynecologist, said he has been encouraging his patients to use natural soy-based hormones and vitamins and minerals for years, though he doesn't consider this alternative medicine. He prefers to call it the "new wave" of traditional medicine. "This is the way medicine is going," he said. "It's going to preventative medicine and nutritional medicine." Other research projects across the country that the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is funding include studies of acupuncture, high-intensity light therapy, spirituality, botanicals and yoga in addition to the Chinese exercises being studied at Emory. In some cases, like Parkinson's, alternatives are being investigated because conventional treatments have so little to offer patients. Parkinson's is a progressive disorder leading to the degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. It inhibits balance and muscle control and affects more than 1 million people in the United States, according to the American Parkinson Disease Association. The most common treatment is medication, including levodopa (L-dopa), which is used to treat symptoms but does not curb the disease's progression. It also has some side effects, and its effectiveness decreases with time. "Modern medicine can't help Parkinson's disease patients, so you have to go back to nature," said Dr. Tingsen Xu, an associate professor at Emory and tai chi chuan grandmaster. Annette Adams' battle with Parkinson's began in her late 30s, when she first noticed a tremor in her left hand and began having trouble typing. Doctors initially offered other explanations, but after her symptoms worsened, they diagnosed Parkinson's in May 2001. Uncomfortable with the potential side effects of drugs, she volunteered for several studies at Emory's Center for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Neurodegenerative Diseases. In exchange for the free therapy, participants agree to follow the requirements of the program. "The complementary stuff is not a cure," Adams said. "I'm looking for something to help me move. L-dopa makes us move so much that we can't control it." Researchers are completing the first of three phases in the study. In each phase, participants are randomly placed in one of the three classes with eight to 10 students per class. The classes last 16 weeks and patients' coordination and fitness are checked throughout the study. They are recruiting now for the second phase. Even if the project fulfills the hopes of its researchers, they do not anticipate mind/body techniques ever replacing medicinal treatments. But if tai chi and qi gong prove effective at stemming the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, it could mean decreasing dependence on these medications. For the study, Juncos enlisted the help of two Atlanta researchers with experience teaching martial arts: Xu for tai chi and Dr. Ron Milestone for qi gong. "It would be just as easy to increase medication, but in the long run, all medications wear out in effect," Milestone said. Researchers hope to have a final assessment of their research by next year. Cox News Service, July 30, 2002 http://www.coxnews.com/newsservice/stories/2002/0730-ALT-MED-COX.html ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The research must have had favorable results, because they are recruiting for Phase II/III presently: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00029809?order=30 Here's a little background: The long-term goal of this project is to study the effects of different exercise modalities on Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is a disorder whose primary disability stems from motor dysfunction including balance. Recent studies have shown that the risk of falling in the elderly can be reduced through the practice of the Chinese complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) such as T'ai Chi Chuan (TCC). This finding may be highly significant to PD. Although a recent report from Emory suggests PD patients can do well with aerobic (walk-run) exercise training (AET), it is still unclear whether the potential anti-Parkinsonian effect of such modalities is secondary to improved physical fitness (CRF), motor control or both. CAM interventions such as TCC may offer a unique opportunity to examine these fundamental questions. ~ ~ ~ ~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom and Ro Mail" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 10:30 PM Subject: Yoga or Tai Chi? > My wife's neurologist started talking to her about taking yoga or Tai Chi to improve balance and a sense of where her body is. How has it helped others. Does anyone have any pros or cons or recommendations of > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > one or the other? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn