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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

Maternal drinking leads to kids bad behaviour

Categories: Lifestyle research

Drinking during pregnancy has adverse behavioural consequences for the offspring. A longitudinal study questioned 4,912 mothers about their drinking habits while pregnant and assessed 8,621 of their offspring for behavioural problems between the ages of four and eleven. Children whose mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy were found to have more attention and impulsivity problems than children wh ...

Smoking in pregnancy linked to male infertility

Categories: Lifestyle research

Smoking during pregnancy adversely affects the reproductive systems of male foetuses, according to Scottish scientists. Their study looked at the expression of genes in male foetal tissue (testes, blood and liver), comparing pregnancies of mothers who smoked with those that did not. Levels of expression of a gene called DHH, which is specific to the Sertoli cells of the testes, was found to be sig ...

Obesity reduces male fertility

Categories: Lifestyle research

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health in the US have found that men with increased body mass index (BMI) are significantly more likely to be infertile than normal-weight men. The study of more than 25,000 couples found that men classed as clinically obese (BMI>30) were 36% more likely to be infertile than men of normal weight. Those who were classed as overweight (BMI 25-29.9) were ...

Organic tomatoes really are healthier

Categories: Lifestyle research

A 10-year study comparing organic tomatoes with conventionally grown ones suggests that they may be healthier, confirming pro-organic opinion. Levels of the antioxidant flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol, which have been linked to reduced rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia, increased significantly over time in samples from organic treatments, whereas they did not vary with conve ...

A little chocolate does blood pressure good

Categories: Lifestyle research

Regular eating of small amounts of dark chocolate may help lower blood pressure. In a German study, 44 volunteers with mildly raised blood pressure ate just over six grams of dark chocolate (one square from German chocolate bar Ritter Sport) or the same amount of white chocolate daily for five months. Systolic blood pressure decreased by an average of three points and diastolic pressure dropped al ...

Icsi boys have lower testosterone

Categories: Lifestyle research

A study by Danish researchers has found that intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) significantly decreases the level of testosterone in male children conceived using the assisted reproductive technique. The study examined over a thousand male babies and compared testosterone levels of boys conceived via ICSI with those of naturally conceived males, at birth and three months of age. Serum testost ...

The appendix is a bug nursery

Categories: Lifestyle research

Researchers at Duke University think they have finally found out what the human appendix is for. It may act as a 'safe house' for beneficial gut bacteria, facilitating recolonisation of the intestines in the event of a catastrophic pathogen event wiping out the rest of the gut's microflora. (Biofilms in the large bowel suggest an apparent function of the human vermiform appendix. J Theor Biol. 200 ...

Blondes make men dumb

Categories: Lifestyle research

Men who encounter fair-haired women have their own 'blonde moment'. Scientists found that men's scores in general knowledge tests fell after they were shown photos of blondes. The French researchers believe that the men's mental performance drops in response to stereotypes - they believe they are dealing with someone less intelligent and mimic that behaviour. (Blonde like me: When self-construals ...

Healthy lifestyle = healthy heart

Categories: Lifestyle research

Women can significantly cut their risk of having a heart attack by eating healthily, drinking moderately, staying physically active, maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking. A prospective Swedish cohort study followed over 24,000 postmenopausal women for six years. Women who kept to a healthy diet - a high intake of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fish, and legumes - combined with a small am ...

Old Wives Tales

Categories: General discussion, Comment

Some clever people can be really ... well, a bit dim. The Voice of Young Science organised a demonstration on September 8th at Whitehall in London to protest against proposals for a registration scheme for practitioners of traditional medicine (Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and other Traditional Medicine Systems). They've come up with the hilarious idea of issuing "Dip ...

Benefits of brief meditation training

Categories: Qigong

Just four days of meditation training can improve a person's cognition and mood, according to an American study. After four daily 20-minute sessions of either meditation training or listening to a recorded book (active control), the 69 participants, all of whom had no prior meditation experience were assessed with measures of mood, verbal fluency, visual coding, and working memory. Both interventi ...

The effects of Qigong meditation on the prefrontal cortex

Categories: Qigong

A Canadian study has provided evidence that qigong meditation has a significant effect on the activation of the brain's prefrontal cortex. The effect of qigong meditation on the haemodynamics of the prefrontal cortex was investigated using spectroscopy, during meditation by qigong practitioners, and by non-practitioners instructed in the technique. Practitioners showed a significant increase in pr ...

External qigong can ease chronic pain

Categories: Qigong

External qigong treatment (EQT) can significantly reduce subjective feelings of pain in patients suffering from a variety of chronic pain conditions. Fifty participants were randomised to receive either EQT or equivalent attention time (EAT) in weekly 30-min sessions for four consecutive weeks. Most patients were also receiving other treatments concurrently. Compared to the EAT group, EQT particip ...

Qigong improves addiction treatment outcomes

Categories: Substance abuse, Qigong

A small pilot study from the USA suggests that qigong meditation can contribute positively to addiction treatment outcomes, with results at least as good as those of an established stress management program. 248 participants undergoing residential treatment for substance abuse chose to participate in either meditation or Stress Management and Relaxation Training (SMART) twice a day as part of the ...

Tai chi has multiple benefits in rheumatoid arthritis

Categories: Arthritis , Tai chi

A Norwegian study has used both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine how group tai chi exercise impacted on disease activity, physical function, health status and experience in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Fifteen patients were instructed in TC twice weekly for 12 weeks. TC led to improved lower-limb muscle function at the end of intervention and at 12 weeks follow-up. Qualitativ ...

Tai chi improves psychological well-being

Categories: Psychological / emotional, Tai chi

A systematic review carried out by US researchers has found that tai chi appears to be associated with improvements in many aspects of psychological health. Forty studies totaling 3817 subjects were subjected to meta-analysis. The results showed that regular TC significantly increased psychological well-being, including reduction of stress, anxiety, and depression, enhanced mood and increased self ...

Health benefits of qigong and tai chi

Categories: Qigong, Tai chi

American authors have carried out a comprehensive review of the health benefits of qigong and tai chi. Seventy-seven articles met their inclusion criteria. Nine outcome category groupings emerged: bone density, cardiopulmonary effects, physical function, falls and related risk factors, quality of life, self-efficacy, patient-reported outcomes, psychological symptoms, and immune function. The autho ...

Tai chi benefits women with osteoarthritis

Categories: Arthritis , Tai chi

Korean researchers have shown that tai chi was able to improve bone density and muscle strength and decrease fear of falling, when practised by older women suffering from osteoarthritis. Eighty-two women were randomly assigned to either a TC group or a control group. After a six-month study period, subjects in the TC group had significantly greater knee extensor endurance and significantly greater ...

Tai chi improves physical performance in peripheral neuropathy

Categories: Neurological, Tai chi

American researchers have found that long-term tai chi exercise improves physical performance among people with peripheral neuropathy. Twenty-five patients completed 24 consecutive weeks of modified, group-based TC. After six weeks of TC, participants showed increased six-minute walk, timed up-and-go, and leg strength performance. Continued improvement was observed in the timed up-and-go. Plantar ...

Tai chi leads to better heart disease prognosis

Categories: Heart / Cardiac, Tai chi

Taking part in a six-month tai chi (TC) exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation program may lead to a better prognosis for cardiac events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Fifty-four Taiwanese patients were randomised to usual care or usual care plus TC (weekly 90 minute sessions of Yang style TC) for six months. A treadmill exercise test was performed to evaluate their exercise test r ...