Andrographis for the relief of acute respiratory infections In this study, Andrographis Paniculata was examined for its uses in cough, cold, and influenza (1). The authors suggest it should be helpful in respiratory tract infections (RTIs). They performed a systematic review to evaluate its clinical effectiveness. They searched numerous medical databases and the primary outcomes were improvement in ARTI symptoms and adverse events. They performed statistical analyses. The results showed that 33 randomized controlled trials were included. Most examined Andrographis as a monotherapy or as a herbal mixture. It was shown to improve cough and sore throat when compared to placebo. The authors conclude that it had statistically significant effect in improving overall symptoms of ARTIs when compared to placebo, usual care, and other herbal therapies.

Herbs for obese patients with type 2 diabetes Berberine is a component of the herb Berberis aristata, and shows effects on cholesterol, blood sugar, and insulin (1). It has low bioavailability, so it was combined with milk thistle in this study. The study was placebo controlled and aimed to see if this combination could help patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients were tested before and after taking the herb, over 6 months. All parameters tested, including fasting blood glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, cholesterol, and abdominal fat, improved. The authors conclude that this herbal combination effectively helps obese patients with type 2 diabetes, across all parameters that were measured.

Japanese Herbal Medicine for Gastrointestinal Cancer This study was a systematic review on the use of Daikenchuto (DKT) on gastrointestinal motility in patients undergoing abdominal surgery, to see if it could help relieve postoperative ileus (1). The researchers identified pertinent studies in several medical databases and applied statistical analyses. The results showed that there were 7 studies with 1134 patients who were included. Overall, DKT significantly reduced the occurrence of postoperative ileus, in comparison to those who did not receive it, or those who received placebo.

Smoking cessation intervention in patients with chronic diseases This study aimed to evaluate the effects of psychological intervention and psychological plus drug intervention on smoking cessation among male smokers with single chronic diseases (1). A total of 509 male smokers were divided into psychological group and psychological plus drugs groups according to their will. The physicians provided free individual counseling and follow-up interviews with brief counseling for all the subjects. In addition to mental intervention, patients in psychological plus drug group also received bupropion hydrochloride or varenicline tartrate to quit smoking. The results showed that the psychological intervention and psychological plus drugs intervention exerted good effects on smoking cessation in a short time (1 month). Nevertheless, the advantages did not appear during long-time (6 months) follow-up.

A robot dance partner for older adults Dance has been shown to be beneficial for the health of older adults. Robots can facilitate healthy aging by engaging older adults in partner dance-based exercise (1). The authors conducted a study with 16 healthy older adults to investigate their acceptance of robots for partner dance-based exercise. Participants successfully led a human-scale wheeled robot with arms. Participants led the robot by maintaining physical contact and applying forces to the robot's end effectors. Throughout the study, the robot used admittance control to successfully dance with older adults, demonstrating the feasibility of this method. Overall, the results suggest that robots could successfully engage older adults in partner dance-based exercise.

The effect of care intervention for obese patients with type 2 diabetes This study was designed to evaluate the effect of care intervention on body weight and glycemic parameters in obese type 2 diabetic patients (1). Patients in control group received conventional care, while patients in the intervention group received dietary, exercise, and psychology interventions on the basis of conventional care. Twelve months follow-up was performed to compare the changes of body weight and glycemic parameters in the 2 groups. The results showed that all outcome measures were improved in the intervention group compared to the control group. Body weight and BMI were also reduced.

Dietary vitamin D deficiency and nasal inflammation Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps have been shown to be vitamin D deficient, which is associated with worse disease and increased polyp size (1). This study looked at the impact of vitamin D deficiency on this association. Airway function, sinonasal immune cell infiltrate and sinonasal VD3 metabolism profiles were then examined. The results showed that vitamin D deficiency causes changes in sinonasal immunity, while selectively worsening inflammation. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with altered sinonasal vitamin D metabolism, causing reductions in local levels of the active vitamin D3 metabolite, even with adequate circulating levels.

Association between folate and risk of head and neck cancer This meta-analysis reviewed the results of various studies that researched folate intake and risk of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (1). Searches were conducted on various medical databases. 9 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The results showed that the pooled odds ratio for assessing the risk of cancer and folate intake in the highest level versus lowest level was 0.505. The linearity model of dose-response analysis indicated that with increased 100 μg/d folate intake, the risk of cancer decreased 4.3% degree. These results indicate that folate is a protective nutrient against carcinogenesis.

This study looked at acupuncture, alone or in combination with pharmacotherapy, to patients presenting to emergency departments with acute low back pain, migraine, or ankle sprain ⁽¹⁾ . A pragmatic, multicentre, randomised, assessor-blinded, equivalence and non-inferiority trial of analgesia was conducted. The primary outcome measures were pain at one hour, using a validated scale. The results showed that equivalence and non-inferiority of treatment groups was found overall and for the low back pain and ankle sprain groups in both intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses15.6% of patients had clinically relevant pain relief and 36.9% had statistically relevant pain relief at 1 hour. The authors conclude that the effectiveness of acupuncture in providing acute analgesia for patients with back pain and ankle sprain was comparable with that of pharmacotherapy. Acupuncture is a safe and acceptable form of analgesia, but none of the examined therapies provided optimal acute analgesia.

Resveratrol, a phytoestrogen, can improve cognitive function in postmenopausal women by enhancing cerebral vasodilator responsiveness ⁽¹⁾ . In this study, the authors examine the effects of supplementation on cognition and compare resveratrol to other phytoestrogens. Databases were searched and randomized controlled trials were included in an analysis. Six soy isoflavone studies showed positive cognitive effects of medium size. Greater benefits were seen in women who were less than 10 years postmenopausal and supplemented for less than 6 months. 150-200mg of resveratrol daily for at least 14 weeks showed benefits. No benefits were seen in three studies using red clover or grape formulations. The authors conclude that supplementation with either soy isoflavone or resveratrol improved executive function and memory domains of cognitively normal older adults in half of the included studies, mostly with medium effect sizes. The cognitive benefit of resveratrol was related to improved cerebral perfusion.

Studies have shown antioxidant properties of Selenium. More focus is being placed on the association between Selenium exposure and risk of metabolic disease, including cholesterol levels ⁽¹⁾ . This study looked at toenail Selenium levels and dyslipidemia or lipid levels and to examine the effect of dietary supplement use. This was done in Korean adults. The results showed that there was no association between toenail Selenium levels and dyslipidemia or individual lipid profiles. The association was modified with dietary supplement use. In those using supplements, higher toenail Selenium was associated with a higher prevalence of lipid dysregulation, whereas non-users had a lower prevalence. The authors conclude that supplementation risks should be evaluated.

The acupuncture point CV12 (Zhongwan) was needled in this study and the impact on blood sugar was evaluated ⁽¹⁾ . Placebo was also used by needling in a separate location. The needle was retained for 30 minutes. The results showed a significant reduction in random blood glucose levels in the acupuncture group compared to baseline. No such change was observed in the placebo group. The authors conclude that 30 minutes of needling CV12 may be useful in reducing blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetics.

Vitamin C is antioxidative and can modify the actions of genes. Blueberry was studied to see if it possibly worked in a similar way ⁽¹⁾ . In this study, the participants consumed vitamin C or blueberry juice. Lab tests were conducted to look at urine and specific DNA sites. The results showed that urinary levels of 8-OHdG were reduced by blueberry rather than by vitamin C. The methylation of MTHFR was decreased in blueberry consumers. The authors conclude that blueberry juice shows similar anti-oxidative or anti-premutagenic activity to vitamin C and the potential as a methylation inhibitor for the MTHFR and DNMT1.

In this study, the authors looked at functional dyspepsia (FD) and acupuncture (1). An overview of systematic reviews (SRs) and network meta-analyses (NMA) were performed to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of different acupuncture and related therapies. The results showed that manual acupuncture has marginally stronger effect in alleviating global FD symptoms, compared to domperidone or itopride. Results from NMA showed combination of manual acupuncture and clebopride has the highest probability in alleviating patient reported global FD symptom. Combination of manual acupuncture and clebopride has the highest probability of being the most effective treatment for FD symptoms.

In this study, the authors systematically review the literature on biotin efficacy in hair and nail growth (1). They reviewed databases. They found 18 reported cases of biotin use for hair and nail changes. In all cases, patients receiving biotin supplementation had an underlying pathology for poor hair or nail growth. All cases showed evidence of clinical improvement after receiving biotin. The authors conclude that though its use as a hair and nail growth supplement is prevalent, research demonstrating the efficacy of biotin is limited. In cases of acquired and inherited causes of biotin deficiency as well as pathologies, such as brittle nail syndrome or uncombable hair, biotin supplementation may be of benefit. However, they propose these cases are uncommon and that there is lack of sufficient evidence for supplementation in healthy individuals.