on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in they relate to complementary and alternative. medicine (CAM) alternative medicine as researchers try to …
News from ORCCAMIND
ORCCAMIND 1st Annual Education Conference
ORCCAMINDs annual education conference, titled Perspectives on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Neurological Disorders, took place on October 20 and 21, 2000, at Oregon Health Science University OHSU The event drew an audience of approximately 200 people for the scientific, clinical and public sessions Highlights of the event included a variety of presentations on oxidative injury, multidisciplinary panels allopathic, chiropractic, naturopathic, traditional Chinese medicine on headache and back pain, and presentations on evidence-based medicine, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimers disease as they relate to complementary and alternative medicine CAM This years conference, scheduled for Friday, October 26 and Saturday, October 27, will follow a similar professional/ public format The conference will focus on botanicals To receive a brochure, please contact the center or visit the ORCCAMIND Web site Conference materials
will become available in August 2001
Spring/Summer Issue 2001
of the award The Career Development Program provides up to twoyear grants to foster the career development of clinical and basic scientists who have a long-term commitment to research in complementary and alternative medicine in neurological disorders Individuals holding a doctoral degree in any clinical or nonclinical field are eligible to apply Application announcements for fiscal year 2001/2002 are expected to be available by September 2001 Application deadline is Jan 16, 2002 Special consideration may be given for applications received before this date For more information, please visit the Web site or call the center for details
1999/2000 Award Updates
Career Development Awardee:
Lactoferrin Therapy and Alzheimers Disease, Ann Blair, PhD, National College of Naturopathic Medicine Dr Blair has obtained some preliminary data concerning lactoferrin levels in cerebrospinal fluid She began enrolling subjects with
Alzheimers disease in the pilot clinical trial in June 2001
Developmental Research Awardees:
Grant Awards
The ORCCAMIND mission is to conduct and foster research on the effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine CAM therapies in neurological diseases One way in which we meet this goal is to provide funding opportunities within our Developmental Research and Career Development Programs The Developmental Research Program provides up to one-year grants to support research assessing the effectiveness of CAM therapies for neurologic diseases, where data is lacking or limited CAM practitioners, physicians, other health care providers, and clinical and basic researchers are eligible to apply Current doctoral candidates are eligible to apply, provided the fellowship is completed by the start date
Treatment of MS-Specific Fatigue with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Richard Hammerschlag, PhD, Oregon College of Oriental Medicine By late Spring a placebo-selection study will be
performed to determine which of several noninvasive mock needling procedures is rated as most like acupuncture by acupuncture-naive volunteer subjects The outcome will determine which procedure will be used for placebo acupuncture The actual pilot study on MS patients will begin by early fall continued on next page
Where Healing, Teaching and Discovery Come Together
Potential Drug Interactions Between Herbal Supplements and OTC Medications, Dennis Koop, PhD, Oregon Health Science University Dr Koops project has begun to acquire some data generated from liver enzyme analysis Effects of Oral Creatine Monohydrate Supplementation on Muscular Strength and Body Composition Among Patients With Neuromuscular Disease, Kerry Kuehl, MD, Oregon Health Science University This is a small, double-blind, randomized, placebocontrolled pilot study looking at the effects of creatine on body composition and muscular strength ALS patients have significantly improved muscle mass and quadriceps muscle
strength after four weeks of taking five grams of creatine per day Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in the Oldest Old: Spectroscopic Norms, Markers of Progression to Alzheimers Disease, and Response to Treatment of Ginkgo Biloba Extract, David Spencer, MD, Oregon Health Science University Dr Spencer currently is enrolling subjects and has processed approximately 20 spectroscopies to date
2000/2001 Awards
Career Development Awardee:
Naturopathy: A Complementary Treatment of MS, Lynn Shinto, ND
Developmental Research Awardees:
Maternal Dietary Supplementation With Vitamin E During Pregnancy in the Prevention of Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Cerebral White Matter Injury, Stephen Back, MD, PhD, Oregon Health Science University A Pre-Clinical Trial of Phytoestrogens in an animal model of MS, Bruce Bebo, PhD, Oregon Health Science University Dose-Response in Chiropractic Care for Chronic Low Back Pain, Mitch Haas, DC, Western States Chiropractic College Alpha-Lipoic Acid to Treat
Physical and Mental Fatigue in Parkinsons Disease, Jau-Shin Lou, MD, PhD, Oregon Health Science University
ORCCAMIND Project Updates
Project 1: Natural Anti-Oxidants in the Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis Project 2: Preventing Cognitive Decline With Alternative Therapies
The purpose of this project is to assess three natural antioxidant regimens, ginkgo biloba, alpha-lipoic acid/ essential fatty acids and vitamin E/selenium, for their potential as treatments for MS The results of this study will serve as the basis for a Phase III trial to assess the long-term effectiveness of natural antioxidant therapy in MS Project 1 has made substantial progress within its first year of funding A series of experiments were performed to test the effects of the first antioxidant, alpha lipoic acid ALA, on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis EAE in SJL mice These initial studies have revealed that ALA has significant effects on EAE in terms of decreasing neurological impairment in the animals
as well as altering the pathology In order to pursue this finding in more detail, new federal grant funding was obtained from the Department of Veteran Affairs
The purpose of this project is to study the effect of standardized ginkgo biloba extract GBE on cognitive decline in people age 85 years or older the oldest old The project has recruited and begun testing subjects Approximately 60 subjects have been enrolled to date Subjects are receiving either GBE extract or placebo The project has obtained MRI scans, and cognitive and serum/blood samples for oxidative injury markers
Project 3: Yoga: Effect on Attention in Aging and Multiple Sclerosis
The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of a six-month exercise program or six-month yoga class to a waiting list control group in 150 healthy seniors as well as a group of subjects with MS The project began in late 1999 The first 20 seniors continued on back page
Conference on Complementary, Alternative and Integrative Medicine
Research
An international scientific conference on complementary, alternative and integrative medicine research was held May 17-19, 2001, in San Francisco, Calif The following ORCCAMIND researchers presented abstracts at the meeting: Dennis Bourdette, MD, associate director of ORCCAMIND, director of OHSUs Multiple Sclerosis Center of Oregon, professor of neurology and interim chairman of neurology at Oregon Health Science University, Testing the Therapeutic Potential of Natural Antioxidants Using an Animal Model of Multiple Sclerosis The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the usefulness of screening natural antioxidants for their potential as a treatment for multiple sclerosis MS using an animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis EAE Because free radical injury may be involved in the pathogenesis of MS, natural antioxidants might be beneficial in MS Given the high cost of conducting treatment trials in MS, a method is needed to decide which of the many natural
antioxidants are worthy of study in patients Testing antioxidants in EAE is a costeffective method of identifying agents that might be effective in MS The results of this study demonstrate that natural antioxidants have varying effects on EAE Alpha lipoic acid can completely suppress EAE when given at a sufficiently high dose Vitamin E has only a modest effect on EAE while acetyl-L-carnitine is ineffective Screening natural antioxidants in EAE should help in making decisions regarding which agents are worth pursuing in clinical trials in MS Richard Hammerschlag, PhD, research director of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis-Specific Fatigue With Traditional Chinese Medicine: Development of a Randomized Controlled Pilot Study The presence of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine as a participating institution within ORCCAMIND has led to a proposal to test Traditional Chinese Medicine TCM for MS-specific fatigue since this traditional medical system
is frequently successful for treating chronic conditions The initial aims were to devise a cost-effective pilot trial that would test TCM as a diagnostic and treatment system and would provide hint of efficacy data useful for designing a larger trial The goals were best served by inclusion of a randomly assigned placebo group that would receive placebo herbal capsules and noninvasive simulated acupuncture at dorsal-surface sites out of the line of sight of prone patients A set of acupoints and herbal formulas for the verum group were selected for each of three TCM subgroup differentiations so that, without using a totally individualized protocol as in TCM clinical practice, the study might still reflect the traditional form of diagnosis Shirley Kishiyama, MA, research associate, Oregon Health Science University, Patterns of Dietary Supplement Usage in Healthy Elder Study Populations of Rural and Urban Oregon As part of three ongoing projects among healthy seniors, the use of dietary
supplements is recorded The data were gathered in part to assess factors in the study of various outcome measures, such as measurements of oxidative injury, tests of cognitive ability or clinical symptoms of dementia Results thus far show high rates of supplemental intake among seniors, which presumably reflects the publics awareness and ready use of dietary supplements, including botanicals This high usage rate, even in an extremely old rural population 100 participants older than 85 years, will impact human studies in complementary and alternative medicine as researchers try to catch up to a public already using dietary supplements
ORCCAMIND
Oregon Health Science University 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, CR-120 Portland, OR 97201-3098
Contact Us
Wed like to hear from you Please contact us with any questions or comments about the center: ORCCAMIND Oregon Health Science University 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, CR-120 Portland, OR 97201-3098 phone: 503 494-9519 fax: 503 494-9520
e-mail: orcamind@ohsuedu e-mail — note only one c online: http://wwwohsuedu/orccamind
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OHSU includes the schools of dentistry, medicine and nursing; OHSU Hospital and Doernbecher Childrens Hospital; numerous primary care and specialty clinics; multiple research institutes and centers; and several outreach and public service programs OHSU is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution 5/0117
ORCCAMIND Project Updates
continued from page 2 completed their intervention and final six-month assessments in October 2000 The second cohort of 30 seniors received baseline testing in January-February 2001 The treatment phase for the second group began in February 2001 The multiple sclerosis MS portion of the project completed formal baseline assessments in
August 2000 for the first MS group and the intervention groups began in September The first group of MS subjects completed their six-month testing in March 2001
Project 4: Antioxidant Therapy in an Animal Model of Alzheimers Disease
The purpose of this project is to use antioxidant therapies in control mice and a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimers disease Currently the transgenic mice have been treated with ginkgo biloba extract During behavioral testing, the treated animals did better on the Morris water maze than the control mice
Source:thenhf.com
