Category Archives: Integrative Medicine

Regular exercising is difficult. Perhaps not for those who love it or are in charge of it, but therein lies the issue. Exercise advocates are typically those who are most committed to it. The joyful movement places an emphasis on enjoying your physical movements. It is well recognised that exercise has numerous positive effects on both physical and mental health, and by putting an emphasis on enjoyment, you are more likely to move your body frequently. The choice is a factor in joyful movement. Exercises frequently appear to be required: they are carried out to burn off meals and to punish your body in order to achieve an ideal physique. The benefits of rest, your right to it, and your freedom to participate in it or not are all acknowledged by joyful movement. (Also read: Yoga for joy: 5 poses to promote happy hormones, beat stress )

Dr. Katie Takayasu, Integrative Medicine Doctor and Wellness Coach, suggested the top five ways to find joy in working out in her Instagram post.

1. The joy workout

The resulting eight-and-a-half-minute Joy Workout lets you test these effects yourself. It leads you through six joy moves: reach, sway, bounce, shake, jump for joy and celebrate that looks like tossing confetti in the air.

2. Outdoor movement

Move outdoors, in a park or anywhere that gives you a dose of nature. Walking in a lively environment will boost your endorphins and you will feel happier and more enthusiastic. Even without any greenery around, spending time in sunlight and fresh air may help you feel better in your mind and body. Outdoor movements are beneficial for your overall health and well-being.

3. Group activities

When it comes to fitness, working out in group settings can boost motivation, burn more calories and make exercise fun. Move with other people, in a class or a training group, or casually, with friends or family.

4. Enjoy music

Move to the music, either through traditional exercises like jogging or cycling, or anything that gets your body moving like air guitar, drumming or singing karaoke.

5. Active games and sports

Make movement fun through play or competition, in any active game or sport. These activities create space for fun and healthy exercise. Playing a sport is a fun activity and keeps you fit mentally and physically. It engages the mind and body while energizing and de-stressing.

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Top 5 ways to find joy in working out - Hindustan Times

The Integrative Management of Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder for Whole Recovery-Yale and Organizations United (IMPOWR-YOU) Research Center, launched at Yale School of Medicine nearly one year ago with a transformative $11.8 million grant through the NIH Helping End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) initiative, is seeking to advance integrated treatments for individuals who experience the overlap of chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD) or opioid misuse. Central to this mission is the engagement of people with lived experience of chronic pain and OUD/opioid misuse, alongside their caregivers, in the design, implementation, and dissemination of the Centers research. Amplifying the voices of people with lived experience increases the chances that their unique needs can be better addressed by clinicians and researchers, shares Declan Barry, PhD, IMPOWR-YOU Center Co-Principal Investigator.

With this in mind, a number of organizations representing people with lived experience of chronic pain, OUD or opioid misuse form part of the Centers organizational structure. It is one part of a broader Partner Engagement Core facilitated by Robert Kerns, PhD, Ryan McNeil, PhD, and Melissa Weimer, DO, MCR, and tasked with advising on research priorities, ethics, methods, analysis, and dissemination. The Partner Engagement Core has been developed with the support of such partners as the American Chronic Pain Association, Chronic Pain Research Alliance, Medication Assisted Recovery Services and the National Alliance for Medication Assisted Recovery, and the National Urban Survivors Union. In addition, a Veteran Engagement Panel brings to the Core the unique perspectives of patients treated for chronic pain and OUD/opioid misuse at the Veterans Health Administration. Says Dr. Kerns, there is rapidly growing awareness and supportive evidence that clinical research can benefit from engagement of people with lived experience [] Partners can play key roles in identification of significant scientific knowledge and practice gaps and development of key research questions to address these gaps.

Joining people with lived experience in the Partner Engagement Core are additional organizations representing Health Services and Health Systems, and Community and Professional Groups. The former aims to foster bi-directional exchange with health services and health systems partners to advise on implementation strategies and barriers as well as systems, policy, and practice implications of the Centers research findings. The latter brings to the table an interdisciplinary collective of regional and national entities engaged in activities relevant to chronic pain, opioid use disorder and opioid misuse, to advise on barriers to and facilitators of research dissemination and integration into education and practice.

As the new Center stretches its legs, conduct of anchoring research studies, PAIN CHAMP, led by William Becker, MD, and Anne Black, PhD, and SC-POWR, led by Dr. Barry, is well underway. Both studies were developed and refined in collaboration with the Partner Engagement Core, which will continue to advise as participant recruitment begins. In addition, an initial pilot project evaluating proactive opioid stewardship in patients hospitalized with chronic pain, OUD, and/or opioid misuse is underway under the direction of Dr. Weimer. On September 8th, the Center awarded its next round of pilot funding to Joao P. De Aquino, MD, whose project will evaluate pain sensitivity and synaptic nerve density among people initiating treatment for chronic pain and OUD.

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Newly Established IMPOWR-YOU Center Engages Diverse Partners to Guide Research Aiming to Advance Treatments for Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder -...

This novel finding will help guide successful therapeutic design and strategies for acute kidney injury and chronic kidney disease.

Macrophages are immune cells that engulf and digest pathogens, cancer cells or cellular debris. The kidneys like other tissues in the body contain kidney resident macrophages, or KRMs, from the time of birth. These KRMs protect the kidney against infection or injury and help maintain tissue health by phagocytosis of debris or dying kidney cells.

In other organs, the locations of macrophages affect their functions. Now James George, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Alabama at Birmingham report for the first time that the mouse kidney contains seven distinct KRM populations located in spatially discrete microenvironments, and that each subpopulation has a unique transcriptomic signature a measure of which genes are active, which suggests distinct functions.

Stratification of KRMs into specific zones within the kidney was previously unknown, George said. The spatial location of macrophages impacts their function in other tissues, such as the lung, spleen and liver, and shapes their response to an immunological challenge. Although many disease states have known connections with KRMs and targeting populations holds great therapeutic promise, successful design and implementation of such strategies are limited by our current understanding of KRM regulation and response to injury as a function of time.

The UAB study, published in the journal JCI Insight, is an application of spatial transcriptomics, which Nature Methods crowned as the 2020 Method of the Year.

George, co-corresponding author Anupam Agarwal, M.D., and UAB colleagues traced these KRMs in normal kidneys, and in kidneys after experimental injury caused by restricting the blood flow for 19 minutes. Such acute kidney injury can lead to chronic kidney disease, so knowledge of changes in the KRM subpopulations after injury is an important part of the KRM atlas of the mouse kidney. Such an atlas will serve as a point of reference for future studies into the role of the resident macrophage system in the normal and injured kidney.

The injured kidneys were examined at 12 hours and at one, six and 28 days after injury.

Following insult, we tracked the subpopulations as they appeared to relocate throughout the tissue, suggesting possible locomotion by these cells in response to injury, George said. Macrophages have the ability to move, similar to amoebas.

At 28 days after injury, three of the macrophage subpopulations largely returned to the locations where they were found before injury, but four subpopulations remained scattered throughout the kidneys. Thus, George said, our data support a long-hypothesized dysregulation of the immune system following acute kidney injury that could be a major factor contributing to increased risk for chronic kidney disease following an acute kidney injury event.

Humans have more than 1 million nephrons in each of their two kidneys. A nephron is the tiny, functional unit of the kidney, removing fluid from the blood, and then returning most of that fluid back to the blood while retaining waste urine that will flow through the ureter to the bladder. Different portions of the nephron perform different functions, and the researchers found that the distinct macrophage populations were associated with distinct portions of the nephron.

The research began with single-cell RNA sequencing of 58,304 KRMs isolated from whole mouse kidneys. Through analysis of 3,000 variable genes, they identified seven major distinct subpopulations that have unique transcriptomic signatures the messenger RNAs transcribed from active genes.

Anupam Agarwal, M.D.The differentially expressed genes in six of the clusters indicated at least one specific function. For example, George said, The most significant gene ontology terms in Clusters 1, 3 and 6 were involved in anti-bacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal responses. Cluster 2 contained terms related to responses to iron, phagocytosis and wound healing, suggesting involvement in homeostatic functions. Clusters 0 and 4 mapped to few terms, but the analysis contained references to tumor necrosis factor and apoptosis.

These disparate gene ontology mappings suggest that each cluster executes a distinct transcriptional program that could be a function of the location in which each cluster resides.

The locations for the clusters were found by placing a thin slice of the kidney on a Visium Spatial Gene Expression microscope slide that is about one-quarter of an inch square. The technology in the Visium system allowed the researchers to locate where in the kidney anatomy each subpopulation resides based on their transcriptomic signatures.

Two of the clusters in normal kidneys were located in the cortex, the outer region of the kidney. Four were in the medulla, the area below the cortex, and one was in the papilla, or central region of the kidney. One example of the importance of location was the coordinated positioning of three subclusters to protect the kidney from infection. The transcriptomes and locations of Clusters 1, 3 and 6 depict a strategic immune barrier from the ureter, the most common origin of kidney infections, George said.

Importantly, the KRM transcriptomic atlas at 28 days after injury with many KRM subpopulations no longer expressing their original profiles and existing within new locations was persistently altered. Given the continued disruption in transcriptional and spatial distribution beyond acute injury, KRMs may influence the transition to chronic kidney disease, George said. A single acute kidney injury event drastically increases the risk for the development of chronic kidney disease, although the mechanisms that underlie that transition remain unclear.

At UAB, George is a professor in the Department of Surgery, and Agarwal is a professor in the Department of Medicine Division of Nephrology. Co-first authors of the study, Resident macrophage subpopulations occupy distinct microenvironments in the kidney, are Matthew D. Cheung and Elise N. Erman, UAB Department of Surgery.

Other authors besides George, Agarwal, Cheung and Erman are Kyle H. Moore, Jeremie M. Lever, Jennifer R. LaFontaine and Rafay Karim, UAB Department of Surgery; Zhang Li and Bradley K. Yoder, UAB Department of Cellular, Developmental and Integrative Biology; and Gelare Ghajar-Rahimi, Shanrun Liu and Zhengqin Yang, UAB Department of Medicine.

Support came from National Institutes of Health grants DK079337, DK59600, DK118932, GM-008361 and AI007051; and American Heart Association grants 906401 and 827257.

At UAB, George holds the UAB Cardiovascular Surgical Research Chair, and Agarwal is interim dean of the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine. Surgery, Medicine, and Cellular, Developmental and Integrative Biology are departments in the Heersink School of Medicine.

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Kidney resident macrophages have distinct subpopulations and occupy distinct microenvironments - University of Alabama at Birmingham

Treatments for psoriasis fall into four categories: topicals, phototherapy, systemics and complementary or integrative medicine, according to the NPF. The choice of therapy depends on the severity of the disease, says Dr. Green.

Topical treatments are creams applied directly to the affected area, slowing the rapid production of skin cells and reducing inflammation. The most common topical medications are topical steroids, which contain an anti-inflammatory ingredient to heal swelling and redness and usually require a prescription from your doctor. However, topical steroids cant be used in some areas because they may cause side effects like bruising, pigmentation and redness.

In 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new, nonsteroidal topical cream for adults for the first time in 25 years called tapinarof. Patients can use this treatment from head to toe without any limitations, which is great for those who have mild to moderate psoriasis, says Dr. Green.

The FDA has also approved several over-the-counter topical treatments for psoriasis, such as lotions, shampoos, tars and bath foams that often contain coal tar and salicylic acid.

Phototherapy is a type of light therapy that a dermatologist may prescribe if topical treatments are ineffective. This therapy involves regularly exposing the skin to ultraviolet (UV) light, particularly UVB light. UVB rays are found in natural sunlight and slow the growth of skin cells.

There are several types of phototherapy, and its most effective when patients receive therapy at least two to five times a week for several weeks, according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD). Phototherapy is not prescribed for patients with skin cancer or in the case of any condition or medication that makes them more sensitive to UV light.

Systemic treatments are prescription drugs taken orally or through an injection or infusion and are usually prescribed when topicals and phototherapy are unsuccessful. These drugs, known as biologics or biosimilars, work throughout the body to target specific molecules inside immune cells and correct the overactive immune response causing psoriasis flares.

Biologics and biosimilars include medicines that come from live organisms, including animal cells and microorganisms like yeast and bacteria. Both treatments are highly regulated by the FDA and deemed by the organization to be safe and effective.

The best way to prevent psoriasis flares is to follow your dermatologists treatment recommendations, moisturize well and avoid trauma to the skin. Lowering stress can also help, says Dr. Stevenson.

The AAD suggests practicing stress-relieving activities, such as yoga, meditation and attending support groups. Lifestyle changes like reducing alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, avoiding skin exposure to dry, cold weather, treating infections and avoiding cutting yourself while shaving can also help prevent flares. Dietary considerations, such as increasing fruits and vegetables and avoiding foods that are high in fat, sugars, sodium and meat as well as limiting processed foods, may play an important role in minimizing psoriasis symptoms, according to an article in Immunity.

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What Is Psoriasis And Can It Be Treated? - Forbes

Women Earn Less From Drug, Device Firms

Female physicians earn far less in compensation from drug and medical device companies than do their male peers, new research shows.

In fact, the gender-based pay disparity widened from 2013 to 2019, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery by faculty from the University of California and Weill Cornell Medicine surgery departments.

The study analyzed publicly reported financial compensation data in the Open Payments database from the 15 highest-grossing drug and medical device companies.

Big disparity: Female physicians received $41,320 on average compared with the $1,226,377 paid to male physicians, the study found.

Clear difference: Men received higher payments even after adjusting for academic rank, specialty, and the number of articles published, the study found.

New Rules on Nondrug Cancer Pain Therapy

New recommendations for the management of adult cancer pain give more attention to nondrug techniques such as massage, acupuncture, and music therapy.

The new guidelines were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and include discussion of integrative pain management techniques in a joint effort between the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the Society of Integrative Oncology (SIO).

The recommendations reflect a growing body of evidence suggesting that integrative therapies can be useful in cancer pain management.

Step forward: PreviousASCO guidelines only touched on evidence related to nonpharmacologic options for pain management.

Guidance needed: Clear clinical guidance on when and when not to use nondrug approaches is lacking, said Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, co-chair of the SIO Clinical Practice Guideline Committee.

Coffee Cuts Cardio Illness

A new study found that two to three cups of coffee daily may reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and death.

Caffeinated ground and instant coffee were linked with reduced risk for new-onset arrhythmia, includingatrial fibrillation, according to an analysis of the prospective UK Biobank published in theEuropean Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Drinking up to five cups of coffee per day was associated with significant reductions in the risk for incidentcoronary heart disease, congestive cardiac failure, and ischemic stroke, with the lowest risk for people who consumed two to three cups per day.

Risk reduction: Death from any cause was significantly reduced for all coffee consumption, with the greatest risk reduction observed in people who drank two to three cups per day, whether caffeinated or not.

Why coffee? Caffeinehas antiarrhythmic properties throughadenosineA1 and A2A receptor inhibition. Coffee also has vasodilatory effects and contains antioxidant polyphenols, which reduce oxidative stress and modulate metabolism.

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Women and Drug Pay; Nondrug Pain Therapy; and Why Coffee Is Good - Medscape

The Best in the World was created by the Tulsa World to name the best of everything in Tulsa.

For years, the contest allowed Tulsans to nominate and then vote on more than 200 categories in 15 areas: automotive, beauty and wellness, community, drink, education, finance, food and dining, fun and leisure, health care, health-care professionals, home and garden, people of the year, pets, services and shopping.

This year we had more than 92,000 votes for this contest. Here is the complete list of winners for the 2022 Best in the World Contest, presented by the Tulsa World.

Automotive

Best Auto Dealership: Don Carlton Honda

Best Auto Detailer: Red Beard's Detail Shop

Best Auto Glass Repair: Safelite AutoGlass

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Best Auto Paint: Gerber Collision & Glass

Best Auto Repair: Atlas Automotive

Best Auto Wrap: Outlaw Kustomz

Best Carwash: Tommy's Express Car Wash

Best Collision Repair/Body Shop: Gerber Collision & Glass

Best Limousine Service: VIP Limousine

Best Motorcycle Dealer: Myers-Duren Harley-Davidson

Best Oil Change: Jiffy Lube Oil Change

Best RV Dealer: Dave's Claremore RV

Best Tire Shop: Cecil & Sons Discount Tires

Best Wrecker Service: AAA

Beauty & Fitness

Best Barber Shop: All Good Barber Shop

Best Beauty Supply: Ulta Beauty

Best Cosmetic Surgery Center: Kimiko Medical Aesthetics

Best Day Spa: Emerge Medical & Well Spa

Best Gym/Fitness Center: Sports Performance Institute

Best Hair Salon: Ihloff Salon & Day Spa

Best Medical Spa: Soul Aesthetics

Best Nail Salon: Luxe Nail Bar

Best Place for a Massage: Emerge Medical & Well Spa

Best Place for Eyelash Extensions: Emerge Medical & Well Spa

Best Skin Care Facility: Soul Aesthetics

Best Tanning Salon: InnerGlow

Best Weight Loss Center: Emerge Integrative Medicine

Best Yoga Studio: Be Love Yoga Studio Tulsa

Community

Best Art Organization: AHHA

Best Customer Service: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa

Best Hotel/Motel: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa

Best Lake Resort: Shangri La Resort

Best Non-Profit Organization: George Kaiser Family Foundation

Best Place to Work: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa

Drink

Best Bar/Lounge: Track 5. - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino

Best Local Brewery: Broken Arrow Brewing Company

Best Local Coffee Shop: Coffee House on Cherry Street

Best Margarita: 3 Tequilas

Education

Best Arts School: DanceWorkz Tulsa

Best College/University: Oral Roberts University

Best Daycare: The Synagogue | Congregation B'nai Emunah

Best Learning Center/Tutor: Kumon Math and Reading Center of TULSA - SOUTH

Best Martial Arts School: Jenks Martial Arts Academy

Best Preschool/Early Learning Center: Happy Hands Education Center

Best Private School (K-12): Monte Cassino Catholic School

Best Vocational School: Tulsa Technology Center

Finance

Best Accounting Firm: Tax Teks

Best Bank: First Oklahoma Bank

Best Credit Union: TTCU Federal Credit Union

Best Loan Company: Gateway First Bank

Best Tax Service: Desi Tax Service LLC

Best Wealth Management: Scissortail Wealth Management

Food & Dining

Bakery/Baked Goods: Merritt's Bakery

Best Asian Food: JINYA Ramen Bar - Tulsa

Best Authentic Mexican Food: Los Cabos Mexican Grill and Cantina

Best Bakery: Merritt's Bakery

Best Buffet: Texas de Brazil

Best Burger: Arnold's Old Fashioned Hamburgers

Best Casino Dining: Hard Rock Hotel And Casino Tulsa

Best Catering Company: Andolinis

Best Chocolatier: Glacier Chocolate & Coffee

Best Donut Shop: Daylight Donuts

Best Family Restaurant: The Bros. Houligan

Best Fine Dining: McGill's on 19

Best Food Truck: The Po'boy roller llc

Best Frozen Dessert: Braum's Ice Cream & Dairy Store

Best Happy Hour: Hodges Bend

Best Hot Dog/Coney: Coney I-Lander

Best Indian Food: India Palace

Best Italian Food: Mondo's Ristorante Italian

Best Outdoor Dining: East Village Bohemian Pizzeria

Best Pizza: Hideaway Pizza

Best Place for Breakfast: Neighborhood JAM

Best Place for Dinner: Nola's ...Creole & Cocktails

Best Place for Lunch: Queenies

Best Sandwich Shop/Deli: Trenchers Delicatessen

Best Seafood: White River Fish Market

Best Service/Waitstaff: McGill's on 19

Best Shaved Ice: Josh's Sno Shack

Best Sports Bar/Grill: Elgin Park

Best Steak: McGill's on 19

Best Tex-Mex Mexican Food: Ted's Caf Escondido

Fun & Leisure

Best Casino: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa

Best Craft/Hobby Store: Hobby Lobby

Best Escape Room: Eleventh Hour Enigma

Best Family Entertainment: Tulsa Drillers Baseball

Best Large Live Entertainment Venue: BOK Center

Best Local Entertainment: Cain's Ballroom

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Best in the World 2022 winners presented by the Tulsa World - Tulsa World