Acknowledgement to Reviewers of OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine in 2021

The editors of OBM Integrative and Complementary Medicine would like to express their sincere gratitude to the following reviewers for assessing manuscripts in 2021. We greatly appreciate the contribution of expert reviewers, which is crucial to the journal's editorial process. We aim to recognize reviewer contributions through several mechanisms, of which the annual publication of reviewer names is one. Reviewers receive a voucher entitling them to a discount on their next LIDSEN publication and can download a certificate of recognition directly from our submission system. Additionally, reviewers can sign up to the service Publons (https://publons.com) to receive recognition. Of course, in these initiatives we are careful not to compromise reviewer confidentiality. Many reviewers see their work as a voluntary and often unseen part of their role as researchers. We are grateful to the time reviewers donate to our journals and the contribution they make.

The Use of Complementary Medicine During Childbearing Years: A Multi-Country Study of Women From the Middle East استفاده ازطبمکمل دردورانباروری:یکمطالعهچند کشوری درزنان خاور میانهاستخدام الطب التكميلي خلال سنوات الإنجاب: دراسة متعددة البلدان لنساء من الشرق الأوسط

The prevalence of self-prescribed complementary medicine (CM) use is an area of concern across the Middle East. We conducted a descriptive qualitative study to describe women’s use of CM during their childbearing years in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The study conducted using face to face audio-recorded interviews with 70 participants. Our findings showed that women used several herbal plants to ease pain and discomfort during menstruation and/or during pregnancy and in postpartum care. Acupuncture, meditation, and massage were less likely to be used by women. The impact of CM was often described in relation to perceived usefulness and safety of herbs. Cultural beliefs and roles of women contributed to the use of herbs among women. Given the high use of herbal medicine, there is a need for discussion about the potential of adverse effects of some plants or their metabolites following self-medication during the childbearing years.

Intellectual mapping of studies on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): A machine learning study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Background: This study examines the relationship between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other medical conditions and their role in the development or treatment of this disorder OBJECTIVE A co-word analysis study examines the status and intellectual structure of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Furthermore, given the multiplicity of outputs obtained from this type of study, the results can be connected to various fields related to the disease, and other related diseases can be identified through visualization. Drawing the intellectual structure in emerging and declining fields, the level of development and maturity, thematic networks and determining the thematic relationship of OCD with other diseases, the role of genetic factors, the role of complementary medicine in the treatment of this disease, etc. are among some contributions of this research project METHODS Materials and Methods: The articles published from 1975 to 2021 were retrieved by searching the related keywords in multiple databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and Embase according to their thematic coverage and scope. Finally, after removing repeated articles and standardization, a total of 1820 papers were analyzed using R and SciMAT software. RESULTS A total of 4191 keywords plus (ID) and 3242 author keywords (DE) were reported in the journals. Moreover, these articles were published by 7482 authors, of which 111 articles were written by single authors and the collaborative coefficient (CC) was 4.36. Neuropsychopharmacology International Clinical, Psychopharmacology, and Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology are the most influential journals publishing OCD articles. CONCLUSIONS Given the increasing prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCDs), finding the most effective methods with the lowest prescribed dose of the drug and the most therapeutic effect is extremely important. To this end, the present study indicated that the prognosis of inherited OCD disorders, as well as the response to treatment, can be examined by analyzing the genetic sequence and finding polymorphism cases. Furthermore, complementary medicine as one of the scientific schools plays an important role in OCD diagnosis and adjuvant treatment using food and herbs and other treatment methods.

Modified prolotherapy by 5% dextrose: Two years experiences of a traditional and complementary medicine practice center in Turkey

BACKGROUND: Prolotherapy (PrT) is an increasingly popular regenerative injection treatment for the management of musculoskeletal injuries. The diagnostic injection is a method for selecting suitable patients to apply PrT using subcutaneous 5% dextrose solution. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess the PrT usage and modifications in the treatment of chronic low back pain and lumbar disc herniation and to define diagnostic injection procedure for PrT. METHOD: Two thousand three hundred and eighty-two patients with low back pain or lumbar disc herniation were evaluated at the Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practice Center in Ankara, Turkey. Six hundred fifty-four patients were included in the study. Diagnostic injections were performed on all patients who were thought to be eligible candidates for PrT indications. A 4-or-6 week interval was allowed between treatment sessions. RESULTS: Xix hundred and fifty-four patient treatments were completed. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores decreased to 5.1 ± 1.4 while 7.2 ± 1.1 before the diagnostic injection (p< 000.1). The VAS scores decreased from 7.2 ± 1.1 before the treatment to 0.9 ± 0.9 after 52 weeks of the treatment (p< 000.1). Thirty-four patients’ treatments resulted in poor clinical results (5.2%), and 620 of the patients’ pain improved (94.8%). CONCLUSION: PrT can be regarded as a safe way of providing a meaningful improvement in pain and musculoskeletal function compared to the initial status. Diagnostic injection is an easy way to eliminate patients and may become a favorite treatment modality. 5% dextrose is a more simple and painless solution for PrT and also has a high success.

Evaluation of the economic impact of the care of childrem affected by IRR on the average expenses fo families

Complementary medicine is more and more used in children and though its clinical outcome has not been clearly assessed. The aim of our group is to evaluate, besides clinical result, the role of biotherapies in a bio-psycho-social environment. In another study we compare the quality of life in families with children affected by atopic dermatitis, who received biotherapic treatment, before and after, by DFIQ. Preliminary results of this study show a clear improvement of indexes for these families. So, in this psycho-social perspective we led this other study, aiming at evaluating the treatment costs in children of age 3 to 6 attending kindergarten and affected by Recurrent Respiratory Infection (IRR), the so called “ever sick children”. The expenses evaluation difference was considered between families who use allopathic therapy, and families who use complementary therapies, from January to April. So far , as the first results are being gathered , the emerging impression referring to some of the sheets points out that some of the pure complementary medicine utilizes shows significant costs as the season starts , but on the long run meet lowering expenses both about illness ( sick child ) and social charges ( school and working days loss ). The Complementary Medicine treated children show a significantly smaller number of diseases all over the examined season. The average cost of conventional care treatment stands between 100 and 150 euro during the 4 months , while the charge of CAM was 100 -150 euro of actual cost . The expenses for CAM treatments are associated to a smaller number of diseases and therefore, as for social costs, CAM user´s expenses prove less charging.