Pulse
Briefs
East Meets West in South Minneapolis
On Wednesdays and Saturdays, University of Minnesota medical students team up with students of acupuncture and Oriental medicine, chiropractic, massage therapy, psychology, health coaching, and nursing to provide free integrative health care to residents of one of the poorest neighborhoods in south Minneapolis.
Working under the supervision of faculty, they run the Pillsbury House Integrated Health Clinic at the corner of 35th Street and Chicago Avenue. The clinic, which opened in November of 2007, was the idea of Michael Wiles, D.C., dean of Northwestern Health Sciences University’s chiropractic program, and Carter Lebares, M.D., who is now a first-year general surgery resident at the University of Minnesota. The two met at a University of Minnesota forum on integrative medicine. Wiles heard Lebares, then a medical student, talk about her work teaching Minneapolis teens about healthy relationships and avoiding unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
“That was the peanut butter and jelly moment,” says Lebares. “When Mike heard me describe my program, he asked if I would be willing to work with him to do something in an underserved neighborhood.”
Today, between 50 and 70 patients, many of whom have chronic health conditions, are seen at the clinic each week. They go through an initial assessment, then meet with students from the various disciplines to learn about treatment options. A patient who is trying to quit smoking might hear a medical student talk about medications, an acupuncture student explain pressure-release points, and a massage therapy student discuss ways to relieve stress. The students then work with faculty and the patient to choose the most appropriate treatments.
Lebares says getting busy medical students involved has been a challenge. Students from Northwestern are required to participate as part of their curriculum. Karen Lawson, M.D., who teaches integrative medicine at the university, has worked to make the clinic experience an elective for third- and fourth-year students.
Others from the medical school have shown interest as well. Lebares recently led a group of faculty looking for ways to promote humanism in surgery on a tour of the clinic, during which they went through the same kind of holistic assessment patients do. “It gave them a sense first hand of what this experience has to offer,” she says.—Kim Kiser
Minnesota Hosts International CAM Conference
Nearly 700 people will be gathering in Minneapolis May 12-15 for the North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine (CAM), sponsored by the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine.
The conference is a milestone, according to Mary Jo Kreitzer, Ph.D., one of its organizers. Kreitzer, who directs the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, says it reflects the growing interest in CAM research as well as the growing body of evidence. It also reflects Minnesota’s stature in the CAM realm. “Our community is really perceived to be a leader internationally,” she says.
Participants, who are coming from as far away as Bangladesh and Brazil, will have the opportunity to take in presentations (250 abstracts were accepted for poster presentations) and plenary sessions on topics ranging from CAM’s cost-effectiveness to military research. They also may tour a number of local health care facilities including the Center for Spirituality and Healing, Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Woodwinds Hospital, and Northwestern Health Sciences University.
More information is available online at www.imconsortium-conference.org/org/participating_organizations.php.
Clues from Animals
How can you tell if a plant has medicinal value? Watch the animals, says Eloy Rodriguez, Ph.D., a Cornell
University professor who is working to develop biomedicines for treating diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and breast cancer.
Rodriguez, who has conducted field and laboratory research in Africa, India, South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, spoke at the University of Minnesota in April about how plant compounds are being used to treat and prevent illness.
A biochemist, Rodriguez became interested in the medicinal value of plants after a colleague in Tanzania sent him samples of a leaf that caused gorillas to grimace when they ate it. He discovered that the gorillas consumed the bad-tasting plant because it contained a compound that killed disease-causing parasites. Rodriguez’ finding led to a later discovery that the compound inhibited the growth of solid breast and colon cancer tumors.
Rodriguez shared other stories about animals using plants to prevent illness. Capuchin monkeys, for example, rub leaves from a tree in the black pepper family over their fur to kill mites. This has led to the testing of a compound in the leaves as a potential pest repellent.
“One way to figure out which plants to study is to look at the insects. If they’re feeding on a plant, that’s an indication that the plant is biologically active and the insects are storing the active molecule as a way to defend themselves,” he told the audience. Rodriguez calls this process of animals using plants to medicate themselves “zoopharmacognosy.”—Kim Kiser
Vitamin Sales Soar
An article in the April 5 New York Times notes that sales of vitamins and other supplements have surged as the economy has tanked. Sales of supplements rose nearly 8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 over the same period in 2007, according to a Chicago-based research firm. The article suggests that cash-strapped consumers are choosing less-expensive supplements over prescription drugs and doctor visits. A new take on consumer-directed health care?