Journal of Alternative Medicine Research Volume 1, Issue 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Alternative medicine: A new peer-reviewed international journal with a mission 1 Søren Ventegodt and Joav Merrick Functional brain model: A nested hierarchical and parallel organization during development and evolution 5 Vinod D Deshmukh Bryophytes: Potential medicinal natural products 15 Amrit Pal Singh and Sanjiv Duggal Zootherapy as an alternative therapeutic in South America 21 Rômulo Romeu da Nóbrega Alves, Carla Calixto da Silva, Raynner Rilke Duarte Barboza and Wedson de Medeiros Silva Souto Rationality and irrationality in ryke geerd hamer’s system for treatment of metastatic cancer revisited 47 Søren Ventegodt, Niels Jørgen Andersen, Isack Kandel and Joav Merrick The therapeutic value of antipsychotic drugs: A critical analysis of cochrane meta-analyses of the therapeutic value of anti-psychotic drugs used in Denmark 59 Søren Ventegodt, Isack Kandel and Joav Merrick The right of the patient to refuse medical care 67 Isack Kandel, Nurit Fiskon and Joav Merrick Improving homeopathic practice using bayes’ theorem and likelihood ratio 79 Alexander LB Rutten Clinical holistic medicine: A case of induced spontaneous remission in a patient with non-hodgkin b-lymphoma 97 Søren Ventegodt, Susan Jacobsen and Joav Merrick Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Hauppauge, New York 2009 Journal of Alternative Medicine Research The Journal of Alternative Medicine Research is a peer-reviewed journal published by Nova Science Publishers aimed at the scientific community interested in the broad area of integrative, complementary, and alternative medicine. This Journal provides an international, multidisciplinary forum with a holistic approach to health issues, health and medicine, social policy, service aspects, developmental aspects, epidemiology, rehabilitation, social issues, quality of life, and all other aspects of human development over the whole age spectrum. The Journal of Alternative Medicine Research covers all aspects of health and human development in the form of review articles, original articles, case reports, short communications, letters to the Editor, and book reviews. Manuscripts will be reviewed from disciplines all over the world. The international Editorial Board is dedicated to producing a high- quality scientific journal of interest to researchers and practitioners from many disciplines. Editor-in-Chief Professor Joav Merrick, MD, MMedSci, DMSc, Specialist in Pediatrics, Child Health and Human Development, Medical Director, Division for Mental Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel, E-mail: [email protected] Associate Editor Søren Ventegodt, MD, MMedSci, MSc, Director, Quality of Life Research Center, Copenhagen, Denmark, E-mail: [email protected] Editorial Board Professor Niels Jørgen Andersen, MSc, Porsgrunn, Norway Cora Collette Breuner, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Adolescent Medicine Section Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Seattle, WA USA Bernard Brom, MB ChB (UCT), CEDH (France), Dip Acup, South African Journal of Natural Medicine, Die Boord, South Africa Vinod D Deshmukh, MD PhD, Neurologist, Flagler Hospital, St. Augustine, Florida Dr. P. Christian Endler, Prof. a. D., Interuniversity College, Interuniversitäres Kolleg Graz / Schloss Seggau, Austria Prof. Joop T.V.M. de Jong, MD, PhD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Kathi J Kemper, MD, MPH, Caryl J Guth Chair for Holistic and Integrative Medicine Professor, Pediatrics and Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC Prof. Dr. Karl W. Kratky, University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Wien, Austria Mohammed Morad, MD, Specialist in family medicine, Medical Director, Clalit Health Services Shatal Clinic, Rehov, Beer Sheva Menachem Oberbaum, MD, FFHom (Lond), Director, The Center for Integrative Complementary Medicine, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel Teodor T. Postolache, MD, Associate Professor, Director, Mood and Anxiety Program (MAP), Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA Patricia Schofield, RGN, PhD, PGDipEd, DipN, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Advanced Studies in Nursing, Department of General Practice and Primary Care, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill Health Centre, Aberdeen, UK Daniel T.L. Shek, PhD, FHKPs.S, BBS, JP, Professor, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, P.R.C. David Spiegel, MD, Jack, Lulu, and Sam Willson Professor in the School of Medicine Associate Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA Journal of Alternative Medicine Research ISSN: 1939-5868 Volume 1, Issue 1, pp 1-3 © 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Alternative medicine: A new peer-reviewed international journal with a mission Søren Ventegodt, MD∗, MMedSci, Introduction EU-MSc1,2,3,4,5 and Joav Merrick, MD, MmedSci, DMSc5,6,7,8 Alternative medicine is medicine that is not 1Quality of Life Research Center, Classensgade 11C, 1 biomedicine, but alternative to it, so this is a new journal with a different focus and to some extent a sal, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark 2Research Clinic for Holistic Medicine focus on non-drug medicine, but we will accept any 3Nordic School of Holistic Medicine, Copenhagen, sound paper after peer-review in the field of Denmark integrative, alternative or complementary medcine. In 4Scandinavian Foundation for Holistic Medicine, the context of this editorial we want to define non- Sandvika, Norway drug medicine in the broadest possible way, as 5Interuniversity College, Graz, Austria interventions that induce healing, or as Aaron 6National Institute of Child Health and Human Antonovsky (1923-1994) called it with a fancier word Development saying basically the same: salutogenesis. 7Office of the Medical Director, Division for Mental Salutogenesis as the reverse process of pathogenesis, Retardation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Jerusalem, Israel so it is not a mysterious concept, it simply means 8Kentucky Children’s Hospital, University of Kentucky, getting well again. Lexington, United States In our own personal focus of interest we would like to receive research papers on any kind of talk and touch therapy that really helps the patients. In the context of non-drug medicine we are not that interested in therapy that is strongly connected to a specific culture, i.e. Native American Medical rituals like the sweat lodge ritual, or Chinese medicine with needles or burning ashes, as we doubt that they will do the same for people from Europe and the rest of the world in general, but we do most definitely acknowledge, that these procedures works wonders in the USA and China. Neither will we exclude traditional psychoanalysis and similar therapies, in spite of lack of documentation of very good results for almost a hundred years. Inefficient cures, however well established, are not our primary focus and interest, but they might be developed into something very efficient, and an important factor is, that they are know to be safe already. In our own research and ∗ Correspondence: Søren Ventegodt, MD, MMedSci, MSc, practice we want to focus on therapy that effectively Director, Quality of Life Research Center, Classensgade 11C, 1 sal, DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark. Tel: +45- induces healing of man regardless if the healing 33-141113; Fax: +45-33-141123; E-mail: happens in body, mind, feelings, sexuality, spirit, or [email protected] 2 Søren Ventegodt and Joav Merrick the whole human existence, the latter being the better achieve full potential and good health, even when of cause. suffering from a chronic illness or disease. What we hope to see in this journal Primum non nocera We want to receive good papers documenting In Wikipedia you will find that the origin of the above improved health – physically and mentally, socially phrase is not widely known and contrary to popular and spiritually. We want to see studies that document belief, the phrase is not in the Hippocratic Oath. outcomes like improved global quality of life, life However, it is often described as a Latin paraphrase satisfaction, happiness (QOL being the most by Galen of a Hippocratic aphorism (despite the fact important outcome), self-rated and objective physical that Galen also wrote in Greek rather than Latin). The and mental health (self-rated health being the second closest approximation to the phrase that can be found most important outcome), social ability, sexual in the Hippocratic Corpus is "to help, or at least to do ability, working ability, or studying ability (sexual no harm," taken from Epidemics, Bk I, Sect V. and working ability being the third most important It seems that primum non nocere was introduced outcomes). into American and British medical culture by We want to present fine science from philosophy, Worthington Hooker (1806-1867) in his 1847 book theory, tools for therapy and research, and “Physician and patient”, where he attributed it to the documentation of effect. We accept both clinical Parisian pathologist and clinician Auguste François randomized trials (CRTs) and clinical studies, where Chomel (1788–1858), the successor of René- the chronic patients serve as their own control, which Théophile-Hyacinthe Läennec (1781-1826), the is of equal value as documentation. Actually we inventor of the stethoscope in 1816, in the chair of believe that the latter is better, as we then know for medical pathology. Apparently, the axiom was part of sure that these people were really helped, and it Chomel's oral teaching. Others have traced the makes research simple minimizing bias. Case reports expression back to an attribution to Thomas are also welcome. Sydenham (1624–1689) in a book by Thomas Inman We want to see relevant cures for the sufferings (1860), but the fact is that it has for the past several that torment the modern man: Poor quality of life, low hundred of years been one of the basic principles of working ability, chronic pains, social dysfunction, medicine and should continue to always be in the recidivate infections, allergy, sexual dysfunctions, mind and practice of every physician treating patients. mental diseases like depression, borderline We want medicine to be harmless and affordable personality, and schizophrenia, all kinds of for everybody. Good medicine is cheep and without deterioration of health and ability – from myopia and side effects. We know today that most drugs only cure caries to dementia - and of cause serious somatic one patient our of five, 10 or 20 patients diseases like cancer and coronary heart disease. (NNT=number need to treat=5-20). We know that We want to bring medicine for the sick to the there are drugs that give serious adverse effects more physicians and therapists of the world today and often that they actually cure, while other drugs are tomorrow. We want to bring tools for personal able to help patients and for many patients with development of the people, who did not successfully chronic disease drugs are not able to cure or complete their personal and psychosexual rehabilitate them. It is therefore essential that medical development, and ended up useless for other people practice continue to upheld the concept of “primum and society. We want to document that we human non nocera-first do no harm” also with the new beings can help each other, when we come as biomedical drugs that are introduced and monitoring therapists that work from our hearts. We what to work and utilization should be ethical and confrom to the to bring change and hope to medicine and build a high standard of not doing harm. bridge between the good old traditional medicine and the new biomedicine in order to help the patients to Alternative medicine 3 Drugs and the industry Invitation We would also want to contribute to save the world or We invite every therapist, researcher and even at least do our part as best as we can. Many of the philosophers, economists, human rights people and financial problems we see in our world today are many more to contribute with reviews, original somehow related to the high cost of biomedicine. It research, case reports and short communications, but seems that the large US-automobile industry is thus would also be interested in providing space for special failing apart, because health insurance for the workers issues over time with the following topics: have become so expensive, that the US industry cannot compete. Many US hospitals now charge • Methods for the documentation of efficacy of uninsured patients 7,000 USD for one day for non-drug medicine treatment, forcing everybody to have an insurance. • Efficacy of non-drug medicine There has been several indications also that the • Side effects of non-drug medicine insurance companies work together with • Non-drug medicine for somatic diseases - pharmacutical industry and this way they are able to chronic pain, allergies, dictate the use of drugs. European countries with • infections, autoimmune diseases socialized medicine and non-drug medicine has been • Non-drug medicine for cancer and coronary repressed systematically during the last decades, so heart disease complementary medicine must be paid by the patients • Non-drug medicine for mental diseases and themselves. The consequense is that only 10 % or so schizophrenia of the national health budget goes to complementary • Non-drug medicine for sexual dysfunctions treatments, where a few thousand dollars or Euros • Repression of non-drug medicine, medical evidently could help a large number of diseases and knowledge, and non-drug illnesses that drugs cannot cure - chronic pain being • therapist's human rights an example. 50 or so CRTs have already documented • Power in medicine - money and politics in the effect of physical therapy. medicine We have seen on a small scale that touch therapy • Sexology, the tradition of the sexological and talk-therapy, for people with illness treated before examination, and new tools for manual this treatment by biomedical specialists unable to help sexology the patients, have been able to help 50% of the patients. The last decades of research in We are open for other ideas concerning special complementary medicine give us reason to believe issues and if you contact us we will explain the that many diseases can be helped or maybe even in procedure and practical aspects. Besides from special some instances cured this way. We need to be aware issues we also hope that we people in the field will of the political and financial issues in medicine. We take up the glove and submit good papers for peer- know that there are huge commercial interests and review and publication. have seen examples of suppression and systematic misinformation about non-drug medicine, so we are not happy that science is related to politics and financial interests, but we know very well that it is. Journal of Alternative Medicine Research ISSN: 1939-5868 Volume 1, Issue 1, pp 5-13 © 2009 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Functional brain model: A nested hierarchical and parallel organization during development and evolution Vinod D Deshmukh, MD PhD∗ Abstract Associate Professor of Neurology (retired), University of Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, A functional brain model is proposed, based on United States of America neurobiology, nested hierarchy and parallel organization, evident during animal development and evolution. The drive for behavior is survival of the individual and genes (species). Brain has evolved to better serve these goals. Based on this model, behaving brain is classified into: I) Invertebrate brain, II) a) Vertebrate Oro-Pharyngeal Brain, b) Cephalo-Truncal Brain, and c) Neo-Cortical Brain. Seven postulates are discussed for the evolutionary development of 1) medullo-spinal region, 2) visceral networks, 3) somatic networks, 4) sensory-motor integration, 5) memory, 6) attentive facing, and 7) creativity. A behavioral hierarchy results in reflex, conditioned, sensory-guided, memory-guided, rule-based, self-generated, and creative behaviors with emergence of cognition, speech, imagery, self-consciousness, creativity and altruism. The proposed brain model is based on the functional behavior development and evolution of invertebrate and vertebrate animals including humans. It is founded on a hierarchy of simple, essential to more complex, creative behaviors in all animals. The more simple behaviors include ionic-osmotic homeostasis, respiration, swallowing, feeding, sleeping and waking. Whereas, the more complex behaviors include vocalizing, communicating by verbal and nonverbal gestures, symbols, language, memory, mentation, self-awareness, intention/volition with purposeful actions, decision making, planning, social-emotional intelligence, creativity and altruism. Understanding this brain model will enhance our understanding of animal and human behavior and conscious mentation. Keywords: Brain models, bauplan, pharyngeal arches, oro- pharyngeal brain, cephalo-truncal brain, neo-cortical brain, vertebrate brain, invertebrate brain, neurology. Introduction ∗ Correspondence: Vinod D Deshmukh, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology (retired), 3600 Rustic Lane, Traditionally, the brain is anatomically divided into I) Jacksonville, Florida 32217 United States. E-mail: rhombencephalon, which includes myelencephalon [email protected] 6 Vinod D. Deshmukh and metencephalon, II) mesencephalon and III) II-c) Neo-Cortical Brain (NCB). OPB includes prosencephalon, which includes diencephalon and medullary and caudal ponto-cerebellar regions. CTB telencephalon. This current division does not correctly includes rostral pons, midbrain and limbic-allocortical fit the complex hierarchy of animal behavior and regions and NCB includes telencephalic, hemispheric human self-consciousness. A unified behavioral brain and bi-hemispheric, global networks. The NHPO model is currently lacking. Thus, we are left with a organization operates at all functional brain levels. sense of awe, facing a daunting complexity of The parallel processing operates within a single countless interactive neurons with innumerable NHPO level, whereas, nested hierarchy manifests connections and neural networks with the between the five vertical levels. This functional brain manifestation of a variety of simple and complex model is illustrated in the Figure and its structural and animal behaviors and mentations. The wondrous behavioral details are given in tables 1-4. unfolding of brain and behavior during animal This brain model is based on sound principles of development and evolution are even more perplexing. behavioral neurobiology (1), which not only deals In this article, a Functional Brain Model (FBM) is with how brain works and how animals behave, but proposed, which is based on nested hierarchy and also why they behave, the way they do. Every animal parallel organization (NHPO). Seven specific has a behavioral body plan or a bauplan. The bauplan postulates are described in details. Based on this depends on animal’s genetic make-up and its mode of model, behaving brain is classified into: I) living in the environment. Invertebrate brain, II-a) Vertebrate Oro-Pharyngeal Brain (OPB), II-b) Cephalo-Truncal Brain (CTB), and Figure 1. Nested hierarchy and parallel organization (NHPO) of brain and behavior. I-V represent NHP organizational levels. The lowest ellipse represents the spinal cord. Level I: medulla, Level II: pons-cerebellum, Level III: mid brain, Level IV: limbic-allocortex and Level V: multimodal neocortex. Hexagons represent neuronal ensembles and cortical functional modules. Single arrows show the direction of afferent and efferent connections and triple arrows represent commissural connections between cerebral hemispheres and subcortical structures.