BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies最新文献

{"title":"Challenges of blinding in clinical balneology trials: a scoping review.","authors":"Katalin Szendi, Szimonetta Lohner, Ágnes Szenczi, Edit Murányi, Károly Berényi, Balázs Németh","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04878-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-04878-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In evidence-based medicine, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trials are considered the 'gold standard' of study design. Efforts must be made to advance evidence-based balneology in a similar manner. The objective of this scoping review was to assess the intervention types of experimental and control groups used in clinical balneology trials to map the proportion of open-label, single- and double-blind studies.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Eligibility criteria: i) prospective interventional clinical trial, ii) focused on the therapeutic effect of natural medicinal and mineral water, iii) administered head-out immersion, iv) compared with any other intervention or no treatment, v) in adult patients, and vi) with no restrictions on study design or language. Two authors independently searched the Medline, Embase and Cochrane databases for trials published in any language between 1990 and 12 February 2025.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The 109, included trials were categorized into eight groups according to the treatment of the experimental and control groups and the use of blinding. Studies in the lower categories (1, 2, 3) completely lack blinding. In categories 4a-b-c, tap water control was used in parallel with medicinal/mineral water. Category 4c was the first category where the 'gold standard' of evidence-based medicine was implemented. Finally, in the last two categories (5a-b), validated placebo water was used. Low-category papers constituted the largest group, accounting for 74% of the total number of publications. From 1990 to the present, only 11% of publications chose the double-blind setup. Most higher category papers were published in Hungary. Over time, there has been no clear improvement in study design.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Future balneological research should prioritize rigorous experimental designs, particularly by incorporating validated placebo water and double-blind methodologies. Without these improvements, the ability to draw reliable conclusions about the true efficacy of balneotherapy remains limited.</p><p><strong>Registration: </strong>The scoping review protocol was registered prospectively in OSF registries (Registration DOI https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF . IO/XHS4B, internet Archive link https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-xhs4b-v1 , Date registered June 26, 2022).</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"132"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11992841/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143960128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic activities of saffron and eryngium honey extracts.","authors":"Azadeh Teimury, Elahe Mahmoodi Khaledi, Elahe Seyed Hosseini","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04867-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-04867-1","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Saffron and Eryngium honeys are unique types of monofloral honeys collected from eastern and center of Iran. In present study, first, we investigated melissopalynological and physicochemical parameters in honey samples. Then we extracted the phenolic compounds and evaluated in vitro antioxidant by FRAP assay and anti-inflammatory activities by lipopolysaccharide induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Phenolic extracts reduced nitric oxide and the secretion of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFSF9 in the inflamed cells, and by reducing the NF-kB and increasing Nrf2 gene expression, showed an anti-inflammatory effect, but in general, Eryngium honey showed higher anti-inflammatory properties. Also, by studying the expression of Bcl-2, Bax and HO-1 genes, we showed that there is a relationship between inflammation and apoptosis in macrophage cells that the phenolic compounds showed their anti-apoptotic properties. Eryngium honey had a better performance in anti-apoptotic properties. Moreover, promising results indicate that Iranian honeys could be an important source of phenolic compounds presenting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, which can have health-promoting properties if included in the diet and medicine.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"131"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11987237/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143964419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing iIndications for herbal medicinal products: a comparative analysis of EMA monographs and database records.","authors":"Hai Anh Nguyen, Jennifer Doerfler, Jens Buentzel, Christian Keinki, Jutta Huebner","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04852-8","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-04852-8","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Adverse effects are common during cancer treatment and herbal medicinal products (HMPs) are one way to manage symptoms caused by conventional therapy.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This assessment focused on comparing HMP indications listed in European Medicines Agency (EMA) monographs with findings in Medline and the Cochrane Library. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there is evidence that HMP indications may be transferred from non-cancer patients to cancer patients for the treatment of therapy-induced symptoms.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study design included a comprehensive review of the relevant literature.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The systematic literature search identified 96 clinical trials from a total of 726 records that met all the inclusion criteria. An analysis was performed on two groups: the EMA indication group vs. the non-EMA-indication group. The EMA indication group comprises trials whose endpoints align with the indications outlined in EMA monographs, representing a slight majority of 58.3% of all eligible clinical trials. In contrast, 41.7% of all studies were found to have non-EMA-indications, i.e. indications for cancer patients not listed in EMA monographs. Approximately 71.1% of all phytopharmaceuticals are approved as traditional use HMPs (THMPs).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The efforts of the EMA represent a fundamental step toward securing the quality of HMPs in the European Union (EU). However, a more systematic approach to conducting studies in such a tradition-bound field is required to generate evidence on HMPs. Given the absence of sufficient data, it is not possible to make a definitive statement on the transferability of HMP scopes listed in EMA monographs to the management of treatment-related symptoms in cancer patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"130"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11980217/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143973824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of socioeconomic characteristics on Sudanese women's use of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine for self-management of infertility.","authors":"Suhad Abdelhamid Mohamed Babikir, Elnazeer Ibrahim Mohammad Hamedelniel, Gamal Osman Elhassan, Abubakr Abdelraouf Alfadl","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04865-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-025-04865-3","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Although Sudanese women have rich experience in the use of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, literature discussing the use for self-management of infertility is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to fill this gap by examining the associations of the socioeconomic characteristics of Sudanese women with, as well as their predictability of, the use of traditional, complementary and integrative medicine for self-management of infertility.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a cross-sectional study involving 203 infertile women attending infertility clinics in Khartoum State, Sudan. The interviewers administered the questionnaire in two parts: the first sought to collect data on self-management strategies for infertility, and the second sought to collect personal data from the respondents. Associations between socioeconomic characteristics and the use of self-management strategies for the treatment of infertility were assessed via one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), whereas determinants of that usage were assessed via simple linear regression.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The majority of the respondents were in the two middle-aged groups (28-37 years and 38-47 years). Few of the respondents had less than just a primary education (3.0%), while those with higher education represented almost half of the sample (49.8%). ANOVA revealed that while only education level was independently associated with the factors that influence Sudanese women's selection of infertility self-management strategies (p = 0.008 and p = 0.030), all socioeconomic characteristics were associated with the types of strategies Sudanese women use for self-management of their infertility. The simple linear regression results revealed that all socioeconomic factors had predictive power (p < 0.05) when correlated with Sudanese women's perceptions of strategies used for self-management of infertility.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Socioeconomic factors that potentially impact Sudanese women's strategies used in the self-management of infertility were identified. The results highlighted the associations of Sudanese women's strategies used in self-management of infertility with the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents. The study offered policymakers with information to re-examine the loose or relaxed rules governing traditional, complementary and integrative medicine use in the societies of developing countries in general and Sudan in particular, as the culture of these societies seems to encourage the use of self-management strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"129"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11980058/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143971829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of aqueous extract of Eucalyptus Microtheca on Acanthamoeba genotype T5, an in vitro study.","authors":"Frough Ashtari, Mahmoud Mahami-Oskouei, Adel Spotin, Ehsan Ahmadpour, Hadi Aali, Hamid Mahmoodpour, Mohammad Hasan Kohansal","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04869-z","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12906-025-04869-z","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Acanthamoeba is a resilient protozoan that causes serious diseases such as Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK). Due to the ineffectiveness of many drugs against this parasite, plant extracts provide a promising alternative in the treatment process. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the aqueous extract of Eucalyptus microtheca against Acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts in vitro.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In the current experimental study, Acanthamoeba isolate was cultured in a non-nutritive agar (NNA) medium. Aqueous extracts of Eucalyptus microtheca were prepared at concentrations of 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/ mL, with exposure times of 30, 60, 90, and 120 min for trophozoites and 24, 48, and 72 h for cysts. Chlorhexidine (0.02%) and PBS served as positive and negative controls, respectively. Viability was assessed using 1% eosin dye.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Our study revealed that the aqueous extract of Eucalyptus microtheca significantly reduced the number of both trophozoites and cysts. At 80 mg/ mL, the extract completely eliminated cysts (100%) after 24 h and reduced trophozoites by 99.33% within 120 min.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study indicates that Eucalyptus microtheca aqueous extract possesses significant anti-Acanthamoeba properties, with effects strongly associated with concentration and exposure time (p < 0.001).</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"127"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11980311/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative effectiveness of Tuina therapy versus manual physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Peihong Ma, Luping Liu, Sina Li, Meiling Cai, Siyu Han, Zhiwen Weng, Qianji Chen, Yixuan Gao, Lingyun Zhang, Guiyun Wu, Xiaoming Yang, Yang Zhang, Duoduo Li, Changxin Liu, Ya'nan Sun, Shiyan Yan, Xiyou Wang, Changhe Yu","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04850-w","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12906-025-04850-w","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Tuina therapy (Tuina) is commonly utilized for managing knee osteoarthritis (KOA), yet the available evidence is limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Tuina compared to widely accepted manual physical therapy (mPT) for patients with KOA.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Between Oct 2019 and Oct 2021, patients with KOA (Kellgren-Lawrence score II or III) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive Tuina or mPT, with eight 20-min sessions over 3 weeks. Assessments were performed at baseline, week 4, 8, and 16. The primary outcome was the change of total Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) from baseline to week 4. Secondary outcomes included WOMAC subscales, knee pain measures, performance-based tests, quality-of-life measures, and safety assessments. Patients, evaluators, and statisticians were blinded to treatment group assignment. All main analyses were by intention-to-treat.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 140 patients allocated to Tuina or mPT, 127 completed the treatment. There was significant intervention × time interaction observed in the WOMAC-total (F(2, 266) = 3.87, P = 0.02), there was no statistically significant between groups at week 4 (between-group difference: -1.00, 95%CI: -5.33 to 3.33, P = 0.79, Bonferroni correction). By week 8, Tuina showed significantly consistent improvement compared to mPT (between-group difference: -4.33, 95%CI: -8.34 to -0.31, P = 0.03, Bonferroni correction), whereas there were no statistically significant differences between groups at week 16 (between-group difference: 0.74, 95%CI: -3.67 to 5.15, P = 0.37, Bonferroni correction). Most secondary outcomes showed no significant between-group differences, except for the Timed Up and Go Test Time favoring mPT (0.94, 95%CI: 0.03 to 1.85, P = 0.04). No serious adverse events occurred. One patient in the mPT group took the medication and no patients received other therapies for KOA.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Tuina produced beneficial effectiveness similar to mPT in treating KOA.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>NCT03966248, Registered on 29/05/2019, ClinicalTrials.gov.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"128"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11980076/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using patient-reported outcomes in clinical studies for cardiovascular diseases of Traditional Chinese medicine worldwide: a cross-sectional study.","authors":"Hao Liu, Xinmiao Guan, Yuanyuan Lin, Minjing Luo, Changhao Liang, Xinyue Zhang, Hongguo Rong, Yutong Fei","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04864-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12906-025-04864-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and purpose: </strong>Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent a major global health challenge. Clinical research is increasingly leveraging patient perspectives to evaluate the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating these conditions. This study reviews and summarizes the application and characteristics of Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in TCM for CVD, the overarching goal is to provide a resource that can guide potential research directions for PROs endpoints in future TCM CVD clinical research.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We searched clinical studies of TCM for CVD from the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform registered between January 1, 2010, and February 22, 2025. The outcome types, whether PRO measures (PROMs) explicitly mentioned, study design, clinical study phases,age, gender, and geographic region were analyzed. We classified the studies that explicitly specified PROs into 15 categories based on the International Classification of Diseases-11 (ICD-11),and compared their PROMs with the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 636 TCM CVD studies were included, of which 394 employed PROs. However, 103 studies did not specify the PROMs utilized, including 33 that involved TCM syndrome scores. None of the most frequently used PROMs were TCM-specific. The most frequently studied disease categories - chronic coronary heart diseases and heart failure - employed PROMs that were basically aligned with COMET recommendations. In contrast, other disease categories were not aligned with COMET.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In TCM clinical research on CVD, PROs have been commonly adopted as outcome measures, with usage steadily increasing. However, the application of TCM-specific PROMs remains limited, revealing a significant gap. PROMs recommended by COMET should be further investigated across a broader range of CVD categories. Furthermore, there is an urgent need for patient-centered research on TCM syndrome scores, highlighting the importance of developing robust, standardized TCM-specific PROMs tailored to this field.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"125"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11966848/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143779148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Yeast hydrolysate and exercise ameliorate high-fat diet-induced obesity in C57BL/6 mice.","authors":"Nari Kim, Yejin Ahn, Eun-Jin Jung, Hyeon-Son Choi, Hyung Joo Suh, Yeok Boo Chang","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04856-4","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12906-025-04856-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Yeast hydrolysate (YH) has been shown to be effective in inhibiting fat accumulation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of YH and exercise on high-fat diet-induced obesity and their underlying mechanisms in C57BL/6J mice.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this study, 6-week-old C57BL/6 mice were divided into 7 groups; a normal group fed a normal chow diet, an HFD group (CON) fed ad libitum, an exercise group (15m/min, 30min), an HFD supplemented with low dose of YH (100 mg/kg, YHL), an HFD supplemented with high dose of YH (200 mg/kg, YHH), and a combination of exercise and YHH group. After 12 weeks of HFD and YH administration, white adipocytes and liver tissue were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Both YH and exercise significantly reduced the weight of the body and adipose tissues; however, the greatest effect was observed when YH and exercise were combined. Similarly, most reduction in adipocyte size and fat formation in the liver was notable following the combination of YH and exercise. Furthermore, both YH and exercise effectively downregulated lipid synthesis genes, namely fatty acid synthase (FAS), acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), and HMG-CoA reductase (HMGCR), and SREBP1 and SREBP2 proteins. YH and/or exercise also significantly increased the mRNA levels of hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1), both of which are related to fatty acid oxidation. In addition, pAMPKα and PPARα levels were significantly increased by YH and exercise, with the greatest increase noted following the combination of YH and exercise. Additionally, YH and exercise combined caused the most significant increase in the antioxidant response, as evidenced by nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) upregulation at protein and mRNA levels. Their combination also exhibited strongest suppression of inflammatory responses via the downregulation of NF-κB, TNF-α, and IL-1β at protein and mRNA levels. Collectively, YH and exercise combination showed an inhibitory effect on obesity, leading to decreased lipogenesis and increased lipolysis, with favorable regulation of antioxidant and inflammatory responses.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study suggests the potential use of a combination of physical activity and YH supplementation to control obesity and related metabolic diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"126"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11967133/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143779149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The impact of group music therapy on anxiety, stress, and wellbeing levels, and chemotherapy-induced side effects for oncology patients and their caregivers during chemotherapy: a retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Andrés Salgado-Vasco, Juliana Torres-Morales, Clara Inés Durán-Rojas, Lucy Yolima Beltrán-Sánchez, Moshé Amarillo, Mark Ettenberger","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04837-7","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12906-025-04837-7","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Cancer is currently the second most common cause of death worldwide and is often treated with chemotherapy. Music therapy is a widely used adjunct therapy offered in oncology settings to attenuate negative impacts of treatment on patient's physical and mental health; however, music therapy research during chemotherapy is relatively scarce. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of group music therapy sessions with patients and caregivers on their perceived anxiety, stress, and wellbeing levels and the perception of chemotherapy-induced side effects for patients.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>This is a retrospective cohort study following the STROBE guidelines. From April to October 2022, 41 group music therapy sessions including 141 patients and 51 caregivers were conducted. Participants filled out pre- and post-intervention Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) assessing their anxiety, stress, and wellbeing levels, and for patients the intensity of chemotherapy-induced side effects.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results show a statistically significant decrease of anxiety and stress levels (p < .001), an increase in well-being of patients and caregivers (p < .001, p = .009), and a decrease in patients' perceived intensity of chemotherapy-induced side effects (p = .003). Calculated effect sizes were moderate for anxiety, stress, and well-being levels, and small for chemotherapy-induced side effects.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>This is the first study regarding group music therapy sessions for cancer patients and their caregivers during chemotherapy in Colombia. Music therapy has been found to be a valuable strategy to reduce psychological distress in this population and to provide opportunities for fostering self-care and social interaction.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Music therapy should be considered as a valuable complementary therapy during chemotherapy. However, it is crucial to conduct prospective studies with parallel group designs to confirm these preliminary findings.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"124"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11966791/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143771376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of laughter on focus and stress in middle-aged adults: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial.","authors":"Tatsuya Yamakoshi, Ryo Sakamoto, Takafumi Fukuda, Ayana Kanatome, Atsuko Koyama, Yasuhisa Ano","doi":"10.1186/s12906-025-04863-5","DOIUrl":"10.1186/s12906-025-04863-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Disorders associated with mental health significantly impact disability-adjusted life year values and represent an ongoing problem in stressed societies. Worsening mental health also affects cognitive function and quality of life. Increasing attention has thus been attracted to preventive measures for mental and brain health in daily life. This has created a growing interest in care using laughter. This study assessed the effects of a short-term, laughter-based intervention on the mental health and cognitive functions of middle-aged adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study applied a single-blind, crossover-controlled trial design. Cognitive tasks (e.g., digit vigilance) were performed after participants viewed a video clip of approximately four minutes (comedic or control video), and the resulting scores were treated as the primary endpoint. The secondary endpoints included cerebral blood flow in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (measured using NIRS), heart rate variability (calculated from ECG), subjective mood assessment, and salivary stress biomarkers (e.g., α-amylase activity).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study was conducted on 25 healthy Japanese-speaking adults aged 40 to 65. Results revealed a significant increase in digit vigilance scores. Compared to viewing the control video, participants evinced a trend toward an increase in serial seven subtraction scores after viewing the comedic video. No significant differences were found for other cognitive tasks. The cerebral blood flow was also significantly higher in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the cognitive tasks performed after the participants viewed the comedic video compared to the control video. The outcomes of heart rate variability, subjective mood state assessment, and salivary stress markers also suggested that the comedic video intervention could subsequently contribute to the activation of parasympathetic activity and reduce psychological stress levels.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The outcomes indicated that interventions using short comedic videos can improve focus and may reduce psychological stress. These results support the clinical benefits of humor, which can be utilized as a simple, non-invasive approach to promoting the health of middle-aged adults.</p><p><strong>Trial registration: </strong>The study was approved by the ethics committee of Kirin Holdings Company (No. 2020-014) and registered in the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN) database (Registration No. UMIN000043332; http://www.umin.ac.jp/ctr/ ) on February 15, 2021.</p>","PeriodicalId":9128,"journal":{"name":"BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies","volume":"25 1","pages":"123"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11959982/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763021","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}