The growth of alternative medicine and its insurgence into the realms of the biomedical system raises a number of questions about the nature of evidence. Calls for 'gold standard' randomised controlled trial evidence, by both biomedical and political establishments, to legitimise the integration of alternative medicine into healthcare systems, can be interpreted as deeply political. In this pap...

The use of complementary and alternative medicine by asthma patients receiving care in an urban tertiary centre in nigeria.

The n-of-1 trial is a particularly flexible form of randomized controlled trial that involves a single patient receiving multiple episodes of alternative therapies. Although n-of-1 trials are only applicable in certain treatment areas, the collection of economic data within such trials may provide unique advantages. This paper illustrates the issues around the use of economic n-of-1 trials with...

It is well recognized that physicians' relationships with their patients can have healing effects, but the skills in this area of medical practice are understudied. This article reports on research designed to identify a core set of healing skills. The authors interviewed 50 practitioners, who were identified by their peers as "healers," representing both allopathic and complementary medicine a...

This paper reports on a research study into the professional interface between health promotion and complementary and alternative medicine. The study was conducted in the UK, the USA and, to a lesser extent, Eastern Europe. Professionals from both sides of the interface were interviewed. The findings suggest that health promoters committed to individual empowerment and community action are the ...

The regeneration of axons relies on a previously unknown mechanism that involves the regulation of alternative splicing by CELF proteins.

Short-oligonucleotide arrays typically contain multiple probes per gene. In genetical genomics applications a statistical model for the individual probe signals can help in separating "true" differential mRNA expression from "ghost" effects caused by polymorphisms, misdesigned probes, and batch effects. It can also help in detecting alternative splicing, start, or termination.