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Music, in the physical world, is needed for organizing the disorganized matter. The physical world is disorganized. Through music matter vibrates harmoniously.

Music is a Divine way for success in the world. Through music higher beings reach us. You, if you sing, will contribute for more advanced creatures to come and help you. If you do not sing, they will not be interested in you.

Occult science recommends singing as a method for converting the negative energies into positive.

Music organizes the body and from there – the thought. It organizes the thought and from there – all cells. Music raises the vibrations of the organism.

Music is used from long ago as a method for transforming of the energies and for treatment.

Singing is an appeal of the human soul to Nature. Being responsive, it sends its reasonable building powers toward a person to help him recover sooner.

Today music can be harnessed as a method of treatment Ed Viagra Australia. If you make somebody, who is ill, sing a little every day, he will soon recover. On the other hand, if one, who is healthy, stops singing, he will easily fall ill. Music is the boundary between the physical and spiritual worlds. Through it, man can transform his energies. Through a song, a particular vital energy flows into the human body. If you are nervous, indisposed, start singing. Your condition will change right away. By singing such abilities are developed, which may not develop in another way.

In order one to be healthy and develop normally, he should gain an inner balance between the powers of the matter, of which his body is made, as well as between his thoughts and feelings. Music is one of the means for maintaining that balance. One, who knows the laws of natural music, can stop the destructive activity of the parasites in his body and improve his condition.

Singing is not entertainment, it is a means of toning up the energies. You shall sing to gain certain energies. If a patient does not sing, he will die prematurely. He should sing to provide the lost energy to his organism.

When one sings, he has to put in the song his soul and his spirit. They change the vibrations, raise them, and each increase of the vibrations has a healthy effect on the organism.

When you sing, Love, Wisdom and Truth must take part in your singing to express everything that God has put in you.

Many of the modern doctors, particularly in the West, treat patients by music. Bulgarians are pessimist by nature, that is why they have created horo-songs to take treatments for their pessimism. Joyful music has a healthy effect. There are sad songs that may make even a healthy person ill. Bulgarian horo-songs are healing.

At each pain capillaries contract. When you start singing, expansion happens and that contraction of capillaries stops, pains stop.

Music is a way for transforming human conditions. There are conditions that cannot be changed without music.

You have not used music yet as a means for healing and developing of your abilities. Through music you can produce power in yourself, remove discouragement, or remove your pains. You will sing one, two, three, four, five times a tone or the entire scale and you will see how your situation will improve.

National efforts are under way to link together large administrative databases to permit hypotheses concerning adverse associations to be tested more rigorously. To enable medical sleuths to detect the initial scent that leads them to track a lowfrequency adverse drug effect, more open and better reporting is needed. But fuller reporting of all adverse experiences without filtering on the basis of statistical significance or perceived causality would result in the publication of more tedious supplemental tables that primarily contribute to information overload. Similarly, Justice Sotomayor noted that such unfiltered information “could bury the shareholder in an avalanche of trivial information.”

However, in cases in which data showing initially seemingly unimportant imbalances eventually add up to a clear signal of an adverse action of a drug, transparent early reports could reduce the likelihood of litigious arguments concerning who knew what and when. Individual manufacturers should not be in the position of determining what information is considered material for public dissemination. Physicians are also well aware that our noninfallible but important recommendations are based on our best assessments of incomplete data, with levels of evidence ranging from firm to anecdotal. With the finality afforded by the Supreme Court decision in Matrixx, investors can be assured of increased access to statistically nonsignificant information regarding reports of adverse drug experiences. Although the medical establishment lacks legal authority, it could use its standards- setting powers to improve access to the same level of information. The resulting flood of data, though likely to represent biologic noise rather than evidence sufficient to establish even “probable cause,” would contribute to the total mix of available information and might, under some circumstances, influence reasonable prescribers and patients to alter their treatment plans: a sommelier, for example, might consider any report of anosmia to be material.

Dr. Pfeffer is a physician in the Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a professor at Harvard Medical School; and Ms. Bowler is a U.S. magistrate judge, U.S. District Court — all in Boston.

In the recent unanimous decision in Matrixx Initiatives v. Siracusano, the U.S. Supreme Court applied the “fair preponderance of the evidence” standard of proof used for civil matters, in which a particular conclusion is deemed “more likely than not” to be justified. At issue was whether Matrixx had violated federal securities laws by failing to disclose to shareholders sporadic reports of anosmia associated with the use of its Zicam nasal spray before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about that association in 2009. The question before the Court was not whether the drug caused the loss of smell, but rather whether the company failed to provide material information to the investor plaintiffs that would have led a “reasonable shareholder” to alter his or her investment strategy. The initial trial court was persuaded by the company’s primary argument that the evidence suggesting that its product caused anosmia did not reach statistical significance and therefore should not have been considered material. In upholding the ruling of the appellate court, which had reversed the trial court’s decision, the Supreme Court ruled that whether or not it was considered statistically significant, the information about the seemingly infrequent occurrences of loss of smell after use of the product was indeed material to investors. Speaking for the undivided Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor also acknowledged that the mere existence of reports of adverse events associated with a drug does not prove causality — but asserted that such a high level of proof did not have to be achieved. Similarly, under the Code of Federal Regulations for the FDA, warnings and precautions regarding the safety of drugs must be revised to include information on “a clinically significant hazard as soon as there is reasonable evidence of a causal association with a drug; a causal relationship need not have been definitely established.” There is no requirement for statistical significance.

Clinicians are well aware that to be considered material, information regarding drug safety does not have to reach the same level of certainty that we demand for demonstrating efficacy. We understand that clinical trials that are designed to prove that a drug is effective use preplanned statistical analyses focused on a specific, carefully defined and adjudicated primary end point. Moreover, the number of subjects who will have to experience this targeted event for researchers to adequately test whether it occurs at the same rate as it does in a comparison group (the trial’s statistical power) is also established before the study begins. This same carefully constructed statistical framework is not, and understandably cannot be, used for evaluating unplanned and uncommon adverse events. When studying safety, we search for signals of imbalances and attempt to piece together multiple underpowered comparisons to obtain a better estimate of the risk. Sorting the wheat of true adverse drug effects from the chaff of biologic variability and chance associations is exceedingly difficult. A staggering and increasing number of reports are received by the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) each year — more than half a million in 2009.

The legal and medical systems both strive for truth while acknowledging that there are no absolutes. Both systems require evidence, which they categorize in a hierarchy of levels, on which to base decisions that can have major effects on the quality and even quantity of people’s lives. In law, the strictest standard of proof applies in criminal matters, in which the presumption of innocence requires that guilt be established “beyond a reasonable doubt” to attempt to rule out the possibility of convicting an innocent person — though of course the application of this level of proof carries the risk of occasional acquittal of a defendant who is actually guilty. A lower, but still relatively stringent, standard of proof, that of “clear and convincing” evidence, applies to certain discrete civil matters and criminal matters such as the setting of bail. A still lower standard requiring conclusions based on a “fair preponderance of the evidence” applies in the great majority of civil matters, and an even lower standard in which only “probable cause” must be established permits certain criminal proceedings to be initiated. These levels of legal proof have analogies in medicine. Clinical trials use alpha (significance) levels, confidence intervals, and statistical power to gauge levels of certainty. To reject the null hypothesis (that a result occurred merely by chance) and deem an intervention effective in a clinical trial, the level of proof analogous to law’s “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard would require an extremely stringent alpha level to permit researchers to claim a statistically significant effect, with the offsetting risk that a truly effective intervention would sometimes be deemed ineffective. Instead, most randomized clinical trials are designed to achieve a somewhat lower level of evidence that in legal jargon might be called “clear and convincing,” making conclusions drawn from it highly probable or reasonably certain.

Although errors can be made by both the judicial system and the medical research system, the former provides the opportunity to appeal a court’s decision, and in the latter, reproducibility or independent confirmation of a result greatly enhances the reliability of findings. Unlike the categorical decisions of the courts, which immediately carry the weight of the law regardless of their popularity, the results of a clinical trial can have greater or lesser impact depending on their eventual degree of acceptance by the medical community. The data from clinical trials are generally initially disseminated in peerreviewed medical journals, at scientific meetings, or both. The ultimate influence of a study then depends on the interpretation of the importance of its results by national guideline-setting committees, as well as by more local physician groups at journal clubs, morning reports, and rounds. In such scholarly dissections of the trial data, statistical tests represent only one aspect of the intense scrutiny applied in assessing the quality and robustness of the findings.

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) have unique characteristics relating to energy density and metabolism giving them advantages over more common long-chain triglycerides (LCT). Human consumption of MCT oils is low since naturally occurring sources of MCTs are rare; however, those sources include milk fat, palm kernel oil and coconut oil.

MCTs are less energy dense and highly ketogenic compared to LCTs. First, the energy density of MCTs is less than that of LCTs due to their shorter chain length. MCTs provide about ten percent fewer calories than LCTs; 8.3 Cal per gram for MCTs versus 9 Cal per gram for LCTs. MCTs also differ from LCTs in their metabolic pathway because they are easily oxidized and utilized as energy, with little tendency to deposit as body fat. Consequently, the intake of MCTs can decrease caloric intake and potentially decrease body weight and body fat in the long term.

The literature supports that MCT oil increases energy expenditure and decreases body fat in the majority of studies in both animals and humans. In addition, MCTs may have a greater effect in overweight subjects as opposed to normal weight or obese subjects. Overall, short-term intakes of MCT oil have been shown to promote weight loss; however, chronic intakes of MCTs have shown various effects on energy expenditure, body weight, and fat mass. Yet, appetite control may play a bigger role in weight loss in long-term feedings of MCTs. The exact mechanism for the satiating effects of MCT is unknown, but may perhaps be explained by the distinctive energy density of MCT or the increase in fat oxidation. These studies suggest that replacing LCT with MCT oil could generate body fat loss over long periods of time, with or without reduced energy intake.

Studies provide varying results concerning the influence of MCT on lipid metabolism such as increased TG concentrations. In addition, several studies have reported that MCTs do not affect blood cholesterol levels(94,95,98-100); however, others have reported hypercholesterolemic effects of MCTs due to their high saturated fat content. Therefore, the incorporation of other functional foods, such as conventional oils, essential fatty acids or plant sterol may minimize the risk of negative effects of MCT on blood lipids while optimizing decreases in body weight and body fat accumulation. In addition, the ingestion of MCT incorporated into the diet does not appear to cause any adverse symptoms.

MCTs are easily included in food products without negatively affecting their taste or producing undesirable effects. MCT production is cost-effective compared to other oil-based functional foods. The short-term efficacy of MCT is proven; however, long-term effects of MCT still need to be examined more carefully. Overall, MCT shows a good AECES model and demonstrates the greatest potential for use as a functional fat for weight control.

All cooking oils naturally contain small quantities of diacylglycerols (DAG), ranging from 0.8% in rapeseed oil to 9.5% in cottonseed oil.39 In addition, DAG is produced in the digestive tract as a metabolic intermediate, as 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol (1,2-DAG) or 2,3-diacyl-sn-glycerol (2,3-DAG), after the ingestion of TG.40 In recent years manufacturers have developed an enzymatic process to produce 1,3-diacyl-sn-glycerol (1,3-DAG) by migration of the acyl group with the reverse reaction of the 1,3-specific lipase. DAG oil can be easily incorporated into food products since it is similar in taste, appearance, and fatty acid composition to other oils.

It is the specific structural differences of DAG isomers and not the fatty acid composition of DAG or TG that appear to explain the different action on lipid metabolism and body weight. The main end products of lipase action on 1,3-DAG are glycerol and free fatty acids, which may be less readily re-synthesized to chylomicron TG. Moreover, larger amounts of fatty acids from digested DAG may be released into the portal circulation rather than being incorporated into chylomicrons, compared with TG oils. In addition to producing lower TG content of chylomicrons, lower serum TG levels in a fasted state and in the postprandial state occur after DAG ingestion. This hepatic exposure to fatty acids by increasing DAG intake may lead to greater fat oxidation by the liver than following TG intake. Enhanced fat oxidation may lead to increased satiety. Thus, decreasing caloric intake may induce a decrease in weight and fat loss in long-term DAG feedings.

While certain studies indicate that 1,3-DAG has a positive outcome in animal and human trials, other studies show no effect on body weight63-67 or TG levels. This lack of effect may be due to insufficient doses used (10% in the diet) or the heterogeneity across subjects used including overweight or obese versus normal weight individuals. Overweight and obese subjects could have defective fat oxidation; thus, higher fat oxidation may produce greater weight loss. Although the use of DAG oils for weight control is promising, much remains to be clarified regarding the mechanism of dietary DAG.

DAG oil studies do not indicate any severe adverse health effects related to its consumption. However, it still remains to be seen how DAG oil intake will affect humans on a long-term basis as well as synergistically with other nutrients.

Overall, DAG oils are easily incorporated into foods without affecting palatability, but have slightly higher costs than conventional oils. The AECES model for DAG shows it being a generally appropriate functional food for weight control; however, DAG oil has not yet been a huge success with consumer acceptance due to conflicting studies on the efficacy of the product. Overall, DAG oil demonstrates potential as a weight loss agent, but future research is needed to elucidate mechanisms responsible for its action on weight loss.

p>Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a collective term for a group of positional and geometrical conjugated dienoic isomers of linoleic acid that are found in dairy products and meat.3 The cis-9, trans-11 CLA is the principal dietary CLA form, but lower levels of the other isomers (trans-10, cis-12 CLA, trans-9, trans-11 CLA, and trans-10, trans-12-CLA) are present in food CLA sources. Naturally, CLA is produced in the rumen of ruminant animals by the fermentative bacteria that isomerize linoleic acid into CLA.

Mechanisms of action of CLA include: enhanced thermogenesis, increased satiety, augmented fat oxidation, reduced fat cell size as well as fat deposition, increased apoptosis of adipocytes and altered preadipocyte differentiation. Potentially, the combination or additive effects of all these mechanisms of action of CLA may lead to changes in weight and body fat, as no single mechanism fully explains CLA action.

Studies have shown that CLA, specifically the trans-10, cis-12 isomer, can reduce body weight and fat mass. Most animal studies associated with feeding CLA have shown that CLA lowers body fat and energy retention as well as increases energy expenditure, thereby decreasing weight(7-10); yet, others have shown no effects on weight.(11-14) This may be due to the dose or the CLA isomers used in animal studies. Results demonstrate that body weight and/or fat mass of animals were not affected when they were supplemented with low amounts of CLA mixture (0.5% in the diet), which contained about equal amounts of the trans-10, cis-12 isomer and cis-9, trans-11 isomer. Yet, weight gain was similar to control when high amounts of CLA mixture with mostly the cis-9, trans-11 isomer were given. However, most human studies have not been able to replicate the magnitude of weight lost. Only a few human studies suggest that CLA supplementation has reduced body fat and other studies did not show any effect. The variety of species used in studies may also explain the discrepancy of results obtained.

In animals, CLA supplements appear to have some undesirable side effects such as induced insulin resistance as well as fatty liver and spleen. These animal studies also demonstrate that CLA may have detrimental effects on plasma lipids. Human studies also show evidence that CLA may adversely influence health, in particular insulin sensitivity and blood lipids, but the results are conflicting. CLA is widely available in capsule form that improves its oxidative stability, therefore having an appropriate matrix, cost, and sensory quality for consumers. However, the efficacy of CLA is questionable because the animal evidence is more convincing than the human data. The lack of clarity on the mechanism of action can explain the inconsistencies in the research results. In addition, human studies should be carried out to determine the long-term effects of CLA and whether any adverse outcomes occur. In summary, the data available from literature demonstrates a poor AECES model. More research is needed to investigate the efficacy and the safety aspects before CLA will have optimal consumer acceptance.

Numerous functional foods have been examined for their potential as weight-loss agents. To evaluate the future of functional foods, the AECES model has been developed to verify the following: Acceptability, Ease of formatting, Cost-effectiveness, Efficacy and Safety. The goal of this review is to assess three oil-based weightloss functional foods, including: conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), diacylglycerols (DAG) and medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), in terms of the AECES model for consumer acceptability. First, CLA is an overall poor AECES model due to its weaknesses in the efficacy and safety aspects since most of the evidence of CLA is based on animal studies. Secondly, oils rich in DAG, specifically the 1,3-isoform, have an appropriate AECES model. Although, the efficacy still needs more research to determine the exact mechanisms of action for DAG-rich oils. Thirdly, MCT oils exhibit a good AECES model; nevertheless, the long-term efficacy of MCT needs to be further explored. The capability of these three functional oils as effective anti-obesity agents is substantial, yet further investigation should be conducted to determine the missing gaps in research and to accomplish satisfactory AECES model for market acceptance.

Obesity is at the forefront of global health issues as it directly contributes to many chronic illnesses. Excess weight is the result of an imbalance between energy intake (EI) and energy expenditure (EE), by which surplus EI is stored as triacylglycerol (TG) in adipose tissue. Overweight and obese consumers often turn to natural health products to help support and maintain their weightloss program. Although the weight management industry is large, most of the weight-loss supplements on the market have not been scientifically proven to be effective.(1) Recently, several natural health products have shown promise in the treatment of obesity, some of which are oil rich in conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), diacylglycerols (DAG) and mediumchain triglycerides (MCT).

The AECES model has been developed by experts in the nutrition field to determine the future of functional foods in the marketplace. Five criteria can be used to evaluate the potential of functional foods and nutraceuticals, including: acceptability, ease of formatting, cost-effectiveness, efficacy and safety. This is known as the AECES model. A “good” AECES model includes the following characteristics: easily incorporated into a suitable matrix and diet, acceptable cost to manufacturer and consumer, ability to produce a desired effect and lack of major side effects. All the components of the AECES model are closely interrelated sharing the same final goal: consumer acceptability of the functional food. The range of “appropriate” to “poor” in the AECES model would be assigned to functional foods that either lack data or provide some negative research results in one or more of the model criteria, which would lead to decreased consumer acceptance of the functional food. The purpose of this review is to examine the role of functional foods in health promotion, in relation to body weight and circulating lipid levels, such as oils rich in CLA, DAG and MCT oils. Particularly, this review is intended to evaluate these functional oils in terms of the AECES model for consumer suitability.

I would like to take this opportunity to also thank Dr. David Tallman for taking on the task of publishing the journal. Without David’s commitment, this journal’s publication in hard copy format would not have been possible. I can say that given the track record of NDNR, I have every confidence that this journal will be something we can be proud of. Furthermore, we are absolutely committed to having no external financial or industry influence impinge on the editorial integrity of IntJNM. The editorial board of IntJNM brings together a number of highly dedicated and accomplished clinicians and clinician/ researchers who have volunteered to guide and support the journal. As well as providing important content contribution, the editorial board will provide the essential core service of peer review for the articles that are submitted to IntJNM. I am honored to work with such an expert group of individuals. Finally, I would like to offer profound thanks to our senior Associate Medical Editor, Dr. Diana Buehler, for her thorough and generous work as copy editor.

Success of this journal requires active support by the professional body. We need authors who will take the time to document their work and to share it with our colleagues. In addition, we need an engaged audience of subscribers who will actively support the journal. I urge you to explore the journal’s website at www.intjnm.org (add it as a favorite in your preferred websurfer), and most importantly to subscribe. To all potential authors, I encourage you to become involved with this publication. Please write, critique, review, debate, and share your insights and concerns. A simple letter to the editor can be very short, but still generate excellent discussion; take the time to comment on a paper you’ve read or raise an issue of importance to the profession and you will be enriched by the process. As with any peer-reviewed journal, I can’t guarantee that everything will get published, but you will get a fair appraisal. A final word to naturopathic researchers and academics; we want to be a preferred forum for publication so that you can communicate with your colleagues. Let’s work together to make this journal a dynamic part of the evolution of naturopathic medicine.

It was great to see and review a cross-sectional survey of students enrolled at one of the naturopathic colleges in order to test an important hypothesis. Work by Dr. Tippens and colleagues at NCNM has demonstrated that soy allergy may be more likely amongst people who consumed soy formula as a child compared to those who did not. It is interesting to find that the same effect was not demonstrated for dairy allergy; however, further work needs to explore this question (as well as that for soy).

Related to polarization in the immune system, Gillingham and Lescheid provide a wonderful discussion on the Th1/Th2 division and how imbalances can be corrected by targeted probiotic therapy. This kind of in-depth review allows for real understanding of the pathological and biochemical origin of diseases like Crohn’s and the propensity towards atopy, thus enabling more informed therapeutic choices that may truly address root cause.

Dillingham and Rao provide a thorough discussion of the evidence, application, and pharmacokinetics of lycopene. From epidemiology to mechanism of action, the paper provides a strong rationale for using this vegetable-based antioxidant in clinical practice.

A comprehensive review is provided by Drs. Kassis, Santosa, and Jones on the topic of dietary fiber for a variety of health complaints. Dietary interventions that emphasize this staple approach should never be far from mind and a full review of this topic is appreciated. A final review by Drs. Rudkowska and Jones looks closely at the use of fats for weight control, a clear and pressing clinical concern. It is encouraging to see the collaboration of a student with a licensed ND as in the write-up of the case report by Sara Love and Dr. Weizer. The report gives an account of how naturopathic care may well have resolved a patient’s chemotherapy-induced neuropathy. In addition to being an interesting and educational case, this report provides evidence of a successful mentorship. Drs. Kao and Levytam have provided an interesting discussion of a ‘Eubiotic’ diet and its application elucidated in a case report. Of note, this case report and its poster presentation won first prize for a case report competition held by The Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors in Halifax.

The final article in the issue fits within a more classically educational role in that it specifically offers a rough guideline for writing a case report. The intent that Dr. Leung and I have with this article is not to be prescriptive on how to write a case report, but rather to provide assistance where it might help most. In the spirit of good education, the idea is to have a tool to enable rather than a set of rules to follow.

I would like to take a moment to extend my deep gratitude to the authors of this issue. They have waited a long time to see their work published and we appreciate their patience and loyalty to the idea and existence of this journal to not have sought publication elsewhere. The material published here is excellent and demonstrates a variety that well matches the scope of our medicine and the challenges we continue to face as a profession.