Regeneration of muscle following cryosurgery of the tongue

Regeneration of muscle following low-temperature destruction of tissue has not been extensively studied. Using light and transmission electron microscopy an investigation of this phenomenon was made in hamster tongue. Healing commenced 1 week after the operation and was of the continuous regeneration type in the least damaged muscle fibers. Healing was of the discontinuous or embryonic type in severely damaged muscle and myoblasts formed either within old intact endomysial tubes or separate from them. Healing with minimal scarring was well advanced 6 weeks after the operation.     

Healing the body and the soul through visualization: a technique used by the Community Healing Team of Cape Dorset, Nunavut

As Alice Kimiksana indicated, the Healing Circle or Healing Teams evolved to help First Nations people who attended residential schools deal with the aftermath of the abuse many of them suffered there. They use a variety of interventions, some traditional and some more Western in origin, for an innovative approach to a very serious problem. One technique developed by Western psychology, but very useful and adaptable in other cultural settings, is guided imagery or visualization. Often used for performance enhancement in sports, it is also applicable to other situations from medical settings to mental health treatment. In this presentation, Novaliinga Kingwatsiaq of Kingnait (Cape Dorset) led the audience through a modified version of a visualization used by her Community Healing Team. (During visualization one assumes a relaxed state with one’s eyes closed and imagines oneself in the context of a story told by the person guiding the imagery.) The imagery she chose is both symbolically and culturally appropriate. Most audience members were unfamiliar with the process of visualization, and several indicated that they were intrigued by the experience. Kumaarjuk Pii introduced Novaliinga Kingwatsiaq and translated for her.     

Healing Powers and Modernity: Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies; Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing; Was ist ein Schamane?/What is a Shaman? Shamans, Healers, and Medicine Men from a Western Point of View

Healing Powers and Modernity: Traditional Medicine, Shamanism, and Science in Asian Societies. Linda H. Connor and Geoffrey Samuel. eds. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 2001. xiii. 283 pp.
Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing. Michael Winkelman. Westport, CT: Bergin and Garvey, 2000. 336 pp.
Was ist ein Schamane?/What is. Shaman? Shamans, Healers, and Medicine Men from. Western Point of View. Amélie Schenk and Christian Rätsch. eds. Berlin: Society for Ethnomedicine, Curare/ Sonderband, 1999. 260 pp.     

An endogenous sodium current may mediate wound healing in Xenopus neurulae

We have studied healing of Xenopus neurulae in order to investigate the role of endogenous sodium-carried electric currents in wound closure. Transected embryos healed completely within 7 hr in an artificial pond water medium. Wound closure was biphasic, with a rapid purse string-like contraction that was independent of sodium concentration followed by a slower sodium-dependent phase. The initial contraction was reversibly inhibited by cytochalasin B. Healing was prevented when neurulae were wounded and left to heal in sodium-free medium. Healing was also prevented in the presence of amiloride, benzamil, or ouabain, drugs that inhibit sodium flux through the epithelium. The transepithelial potential measured in intact neurulae fell rapidly and reversibly by 70% in response to 10 microM amiloride. Currents measured leaving the wound also decreased by 70% following amiloride addition. Our results indicate that at least one phase of wound healing in Xenopus neurulae is dependent upon an endogenous sodium-carried electric current. We hypothesize that the current may act by guiding epithelial cells to the wound site.     

Circle of healing: traditional storytelling, part one

The session began with three presenters - LouAnn Benson, Walter Porter, and Lisa Dolchok - all of whom are or have been affiliated with the Circle of Healing Program at Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska. The Southcentral Foundation is a Native Health Corporation that administers what used to be the Indian Health Service Hospital and Medical Center. In the Circle of Healing Program, the Southcentral Foundation has designed and implemented an approach to health care that allows its patients simultaneously to access Western medicine, traditional Native healing, and other alternative approaches to health care, such as acupuncture. An important figure in this effort is Dr. Robert Morgan, a psychologist who has worked with the program for several years, and who helped suggest presenters for this part of the program. Originally, Bob planned to be present in Quebec City, but family priorities meant a change in plans. Bob's absence had a silver lining, however, because in his stead he sent LouAnn Benson, one of his able colleagues, who talked about the program from the perspective of an insider.     

pH,healing rate and symptom relief in acid-related diseases.

Suppression of gastric acid secretion is widely used and logical for the treatment of acid-related diseases. Healing of duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer and gastroesophageal reflux disease is correlated significantly with the degree and the duration of suppression of intragastric acidity over 24 hours and with the length of the treatment. To date, proton pump inhibitors are the most effective agents among the currently available antisecretory drugs in offering the highest healing rate and fastest resolution of symptoms. Combinations of an antisecretory drug with one or more antimicrobial agents accelerate healing of peptic ulcers.     

Pilgrimage and Healing

Pilgrimage and Healing . Jill Dubisch and Michael Winkelman, eds. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2005. 268 pp.     

Healing the Modern in a Central Javanese City.

Healing the Modern in. Central Javanese City. Steve Ferzacca. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2001. 280 pp.     

Shamanism: Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing

Shamanism: Traditional and Contemporary Approaches to the Mastery of Spirits and Healing. Merete Demant Jakobsen. New York: Berghahn Books, 1999. 274 pp.     

Evolution of Sickness and Healing

Evolution of Sickness and Healing. Horacio Fábrega Jr. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997 (cloth), xv. 364pp.     

Healing Dramas and Clinical Plots: The Narrative Structure of Experience

Healing Dramas and Clinical Plots: The Narrative Structure of Experience. Cheryl Mattingly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. xiii. 192.     

Symbolic Heat: Gender, Health and Worship among the Tamils of South India and Sri Lanka.; Relocated Lives: Displacement and Resettlement in the Mahaweli Project, Sri Lanka.; Amiable Incoherence: Manipulating Histories and Modernities in a Batticaloa Hindu Temple.

Healing Dramas and Clinical Plots: The Narrative Structure of Experience. Cheryl Mattingly. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. 192 pp.     

Double blind comparative study of omeprazole 10 mg and 30 mg daily for healing duodenal ulcers.

Healing of duodenal ulcers was assessed in 66 patients who received omeprazole either 10 mg or 30 mg daily for four weeks in a double blind study. Healing was rapid in both groups. At two weeks the ulcers in 15 of the 30 patients taking 10 mg daily had healed compared with 28 of the 36 (78%) taking 30 mg daily (p less than 0.03). At four weeks the respective proportions had risen to 83% (25/30) and 94% (33/35) (p greater than 0.05). In non-smokers the proportion of ulcers healed did not differ significantly with the two doses, although there was a trend for less healing at two weeks with 10 mg daily; in smokers significantly fewer ulcers (p less than 0.05) were healed with 10 mg than 30 mg daily at two weeks (7/16 (44%) v 17/21 (81%] and at four weeks (12/16 (75%) v all 21 (100%]. Adverse reactions were few and transient and were considered unlikely to be due to omeprazole.     

The Gift of Life: Female Spirituality and Healing in Northern Peru

The Gift of Life: Female Spirituality and Healing in Northern Peru. Bonnie Glass-Coffin. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1998. 256 pp.     

Healing Ways: Navajo Health Care in the Twentieth Century

Healing Ways: Navajo Health Care in the Twentieth Century. Wade Davies. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 2001. xv. 248 pp.     

Religion and Healing in America

Religion and Healing in America. Linda L. Barnes and Susan S. Sered, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 535 pp.     

USE OF THE SUTURE LOCK PLATE FOR STERNAL APPROXIMATION IN CHILDREN

Sternal closure after median sternotomy in the pediatric age group may be accomplished with non-resorbable sutures or stainless steel wire. The former has the disadvantages of chronic sinus formation and the latter may either break or cause pressure on the skin. The Pill-Wolvek Suture Lock Plate was used as an alternative method in 26 patients aged from seven days to six years. It has the advantage of greater strength and avoids the problem of prominent twisted wire ends. Healing has been excellent and there have been no complications attributed to the wires.     

Narrative and the Cultural Construction of Illness and Healing

Narrative and the Cultural Construction of Illness and Healing. Cheryl Mattingly and Linda C. Garro. eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. ix. 270pp.     

Divination and Healing: Potent Vision

Divination and Healing: Potent Vision . Michael Winkelman and Philip M. Peek, eds. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2004. viii + 295 pp.     

Trends in Religious Healing and the Integration of Biomedicine and Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States and Around the Globe: A Review

Religion and Healing in America . Linda L. Barnes and Susan S. Sered, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005 (cloth and paper). xvi + 535 pp.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States Institute of Medicine . Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2005 (cloth). xx + 337 pp.
Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine . Marilyn Schlitz and Tina Amorok with Marc S. Micozzi, eds. St. Louis: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, 2005 (cloth and paper). lx + 583 pp.
Negotiating the Holistic Turn: The Domestication of Alternative Medicine . Judith Fadlon. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. x + 157 pp.