Effect Of Naturopathy Treatments And Yogic Practices On Cervical Spondylosis--A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Cervical spondylosis is a degenerative disease of cervical spine. The conventional management offered in this condition focuses upon pain, muscle relaxation and restoration of movements. This approach however has not been found adequate in many cases. CASE CHARACTERISTICS: This is a case of cervical spondylosis treated with naturopathy and yogic practices in an OP set up. Earlier to this treatment, the patient was on conventional medicine. INTERVENTION: The patient was given naturopathy treatments in form of cold spinal pack followed by other procedures and some yogic practices consisting of asanas, pranayam and relaxation for 30 minutes for a period of one month with an improvement in symptoms. OUTCOME: The present case report showed encouraging effects of naturopathic and yogic intervention on cervical spondylosis.

Evaluating the Impact of a Pragmatic Nutrition Awareness Program for Expectant Mothers upon Birth Weight of the Newborn.

Poor maternal nutritional status and substandard antenatal care, which result in increased women's risk, low birth weight and stillbirth, afflict many countries with weak or emerging economies even today. Studies that address the effect of extending nutrition awareness among pregnant women to the net outcome of pregnancy remain scarce. We aimed to compare and contrast the effect of a pragmatic nutrition awareness program for expectant mothers (NAPEM) on birth weight of the newborn with a control group who received no such nutrition awareness activity. The effect of variables of mode of newborn delivery, associated complications at birth, and APGAR score of the newborn were also assessed. A pragmatic intervention trial of an antenatal care (ANC) program that consisted in nutrition awareness was conducted involving 53 pregnant women. Awareness was given through one-to-one interview and through informational literature provided to the participants in the local language. A hospital registry for deliveries undertaken during the study period was screened for identification of variables. A control group of matched pregnant women (n = 53) was obtained from the same hospital registry from preceding years, when the nutrition awareness program was not executed. A statistically significant improvement in birth weight of the newborn was observed in the intervention group, where expectant mothers were made aware about desired nutrition during pregnancy. A reduced incidence of complications associated with pregnancy was also observed in the intervention group. Providing awareness about nutritional requirements during pregnancy and suggesting the pragmatic ways to meet them was shown to be one possible effective measure to deal with pregnancy-related undernutrition. We show the efficacy of the intervention for underprivileged regions of India marked by inadequate health care delivery and lower socio-economical standards. We discuss our findings in the context of available evidence-based guidelines.

Non-pharmacological management of nasal polyp: a case report.

Nasal polyp causes difficulty in breathing due to blockage of nasal passage. The pathogenesis of nasal polyposis is not known. The primary medical therapy available for nasal polyposis is steroid administration. Antihistamines, decongestants and cromolyn sodium provide little benefit. With this background of nasal polyp pathophysiology and the existing management, a case of nasal polyp was treated with the cleansing process of yoga i.e. neti kriya and naturopathy with good result. This isolated case report warrants a need for controlled clinical trial of neti kriya to establish its role in the management of nasal polyposis.

Requirement of scientific documentation for the development of Naturopathy.

Past few decades have witnessed explosion of knowledge in almost every field. This has resulted not only in the advancement of the subjects in particular but also have influenced the growth of various allied subjects. The present paper explains about the advancement of science through efforts made in specific areas and also through discoveries in different allied fields having an indirect influence upon the subject in proper. In Naturopathy this seems that though nothing particular is added to the basic thoughts or fundamental principles of the subject yet the entire treatment understanding is revolutionised under the influence of scientific discoveries of past few decades. Advent of information technology has further added to the boom of knowledge and many times this seems impossible to utilize these informations for the good of human being because these are not logically arranged in our minds. In the above background, the author tries to define documentation stating that we have today ocean of information and knowledge about various things- living or dead, plants, animals or human beings; the geographical conditions or changing weather and environment. What required to be done is to extract the relevant knowledge and information required to enrich the subject. The author compares documentation with churning of milk to extract butter. Documentation, in fact, is churning of ocean of information to extract the specific, most appropriate, relevant and defined information and knowledge related to the particular subject . The paper besides discussing the definition of documentation, highlights the areas of Naturopathy requiring an urgent necessity to make proper documentations. Paper also discusses the present status of Naturopathy in India, proposes short-term and long-term goals to be achieved and plans the strategies for achieving them. The most important aspect of the paper is due understanding of the limitations of Naturopathy but a constant effort to improve the same with the growth made in various discipline of science so far.