Las personas que ven las cosas de forma egocéntrica son menos propensas a razonar con sabiduría, sugiere una investigación

LUNES, 18 de julio (HealthDay News) — La sabiduría se obtiene al ver las cosas desde la distancia, como una “mosca en la pared”, asegura un estudio reciente.

Al adoptar esta perspectiva de distancia psicológica, las personas son más propensas a razonar sabiamente en sus vidas diarias, hallaron investigadores de la Universidad de Michigan.

“Aunque los humanos se esfuerzan por ser sabios, con frecuencia no logran serlo cuando razonan sobre temas que tienen implicaciones personales profundas”, aseguró en un comunicado de prensa de la U-M el coautor del estudio Ethan Kross, psicólogo de la institución educativa.

Estudios anteriores han hallado que las personas con una perspectiva universal en realidad procesan la información de forma distinta que las que tienen una perspectiva más egocéntrica.

La investigación también ha mostrado que el dialectismo (darse cuenta de que el mundo es fluido y que es probable que el futuro cambie) y la humildad intelectual (reconocer el límite del conocimiento propio) son aspectos claves de un razonamiento sabio.

Al conducir este estudio reciente, que aparece en la edición en línea de la revistaJournal of Experimental Psychology: General, los investigadores examinaron cómo el uso de estos dos aspectos de la sabiduría (el dialectismo y la humildad intelectual) variaba en dos experimentos distintos.

Los investigadores pidieron a 57 estudiantes universitarios de último año y a recién graduados que no podían encontrar trabajo que eligieran tarjetas de un mazo que describía la recesión en EE. UU. y los niveles altos de desempleo, y pensaran cómo la economía les afectaría personalmente. Luego, se les asignó a razonar en voz alta sobre el tema desde una perspectiva egocéntrica o con distancia.

“Hallamos que los participantes que adoptaron una perspectiva de distancia eran significativamente más propensos a reconocer los límites de su conocimiento y a reconocer que era muy probable que el futuro cambiase”, señaló en el comunicado de prensa el coautor del estudio Igor Grossmann, estudiante doctoral en psicología de la U-M.

En un segundo estudio llevado a cabo justo antes de la elección presidencial de 2008 en EE. UU., los investigadores pidieron a 54 personas que estaban políticamente polarizadas que leyeran resúmenes de las opiniones de los candidatos sobre distintos temas políticos, y que se enfocaran en dos temas sobre los que tenían opiniones arraigadas. Entonces, se pidió a los participantes que razonaran en voz alta desde una perspectiva egocéntrica o con distancia sobre cómo esos temas evolucionarían si su candidato favorito perdía las elecciones.

El estudio halló que aquellos que adoptaron una perspectiva de distancia eran más propensos a razonar sabiamente. También se volvieron más cooperativos y menos polarizados en sus opiniones políticas, y algunos incluso eligieron participar en un grupo de discusión bipartito.

“Es importante señalar que estos cambios en el razonamiento y la conducta sabia ocurrieron en respuesta a manipulaciones relativamente sencillas”, anotó Kross. “Esto sugiere que quizás la gente no tenga que esforzarse demasiado para lograr razonar con sabiduría en la vida diaria”.

Los autores del estudio concluyeron que sus hallazgos proveen cierto conocimiento sobre la sabiduría. “Contribuyen a una comprensión más clara de cómo la distancia provee sabiduría, y aumentan el conocimiento sobre cómo funciona la sabiduría y cómo cultivarla en la vida diaria”, explicó Grossmann.

Artículo por HealthDay, traducido por Hispanicare

Neck pain is a common health problem in the United States.

People suffering from neck pain often turn to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies. Although therapeutic massage is one of the most popular CAM therapies for neck pain, little is known about its effectiveness for this condition.

In an NCCAM-funded study conducted at the Group Health Center in Seattle, 64 adults with neck pain persisting for at least 12 weeks were randomly assigned to receive either massage or a self-care book. The massage group had up to 10 treatments over a 10-week period, provided by licensed practitioners who used a variety of common Swedish and clinical massage techniques and also made typical self-care suggestions. After 4, 10, and 26 weeks, the researchers interviewed participants to assess function (Neck Disability Index), symptom bothersomeness, and other measures.

After 10 weeks, the massage group was more likely than the self-care-book group to have clinically significant improvement in function and symptoms. At 26 weeks, the massage group tended to be more likely to report improvement in function but not in specific symptoms. For both function and symptoms, mean differences between the two groups were strongest at 4 weeks and not evident by 26 weeks. At all followup points, the massage group was more likely than the self-care-book group to report global improvement ratings of “better” or “much better.” At 26 weeks, medication use had increased 14 percent for the self-care-book group but had not changed for the massage group. There were no serious adverse experiences reported.

The researchers concluded that therapeutic massage is safe and may have benefits for treating chronic neck pain, at least in the short term. They recommended studies to determine optimal massage treatment, as well as larger, more comprehensive studies to follow patients for at least 1 year.

Reference

• Sherman KJ, Cherkin DC, Hawkes RJ, et al. Randomized trial of therapeutic massage for chronic neck pain. Clinical Journal of Pain. 2009;25(3):233–238.

Additional Resources

• NCCAM has information available on massage therapy.
• The National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus Web has information available on neck pain.

Both relaxation and structural massage worked in the short term, researchers report

TUESDAY, July 5 (HealthDay News) — Massage therapy may be better than medication or exercise for easing low back pain in the short term, a new government-funded study suggests.

Seattle researchers recruited 401 patients, mostly middle-aged, female and white, all of whom had chronic low back pain.

Those who received a series of either relaxation massage or structural massage were better able to work and be active for up to a year than those getting “usual medical care,” which included painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxants or physical therapy, the researchers found.

Lead study author Daniel Cherkin, director of Group Health Research Institute, said he had expected structural massage, which manipulates specific pain-related back muscles and ligaments, would prove superior to relaxation or so-called Swedish massage, which aims to promote a feeling of body-wide relaxation.

Structural massage, which focuses on soft-tissue abnormalities, requires more training and may be more likely to be paid for by health insurance plans, which may equate it with physical therapy, said Cherkin.

“I thought structural massage would have been at least a little better, and that’s not the case,” Cherkin said. “If you’re having continuing problems with back pain even after trying usual medical care, massage may be a good thing to do. I think the results are pretty strong.”

The study, funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is published in the July 5 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: structural massage, relaxation massage or usual care. Those in the massage groups were given hour-long massage treatments weekly for 10 weeks.

At 10 weeks, more than one-third of those who received either type of massage said their back pain was much better or gone, compared to only one in 25 patients who received usual care, the study said. Those in the massage groups were also twice as likely in that period to have spent fewer days in bed, used less anti-inflammatory medication and engaged in more activity than the standard care group.

Six months out, both types of massage were still linked to improved function, Cherkin said, but after one year, pain and function was almost equal in all three groups.

Noting that most Americans will experience low back pain during their lifetime, Cherkin said another benefit of massage is its relative safety.

“Maybe one of 10 patients felt pain during or after massage, but most of those thought it was a ‘good pain,’” he said. “A good massage therapist will be in tune with the patient and will ask what hurts.”

One of the study’s weaknesses was that those who were assigned to usual care knew that others were receiving massage therapy and may have been disappointed to be excluded, tainting their reported improvement, said Dr. Robert Duarte, director of the Pain and Headache Treatment Center at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Manhasset, N.Y.

“I think massage therapy can be useful for patients with back pain, but more as a … supplemental therapy,” Duarte added.

Un estudio halla que un estrés menor puede desencadenar problemas mentales en los que se enfrentaron a la adversidad temprano en la vida

MIÉRCOLES, 6 de julio (HealthDay News) — Las personas que experimentan adversidades graves a principios de la vida y las que han tenido episodios anteriores de depresión se deprimen con mayor facilidad que otras cuando se enfrentan a contratiempos relativamente menores, afirman investigadores.

Investigaciones anteriores han encontrado que alrededor de treinta por ciento de las personas con depresión por primera vez y sesenta por ciento de las que tienen antecedentes de depresión desarrollan el trastorno tras un evento negativo que la mayoría de personas lograría superar.

“Hace tiempo sabemos que algunas personas son más propensas a experimentar problemas de salud mental y física que otras”, apuntó en un comunicado de prensa de la Universidad de California en Los Ángeles George Slavich, profesor asistente del Centro Cousins de Psiconeuroinmunología de la universidad.

“Por ejemplo, aunque algunas personas se deprimen tras romper una relación, otras no. En este estudio, buscábamos identificar los factores asociados con este fenómeno y examinar si una mayor sensibilidad al estrés podría tener algo que ver”.

Este nuevo estudio incluyó a 26 hombres y 74 mujeres deprimidos que fueron entrevistados sobre eventos adversos que habían experimentado en la juventud, cuántas veces se habían deprimido y situaciones estresantes recientes.

Slavich y colegas hallaron que niveles bastante bajos de estrés vital podían desencadenar depresión en personas que habían perdido a uno de sus padres o que se habían separado de uno de sus padres durante al menos un año antes de los 18, y en personas que habían experimentado más episodios de depresión en sus vidas.

El estudio, que aparece en una edición en línea reciente de la revista Journal of Psychiatric Research, plantea la pregunta de cómo la adversidad a principios de la vida y la depresión previa aumentan la sensibilidad al estrés.

Tal vez las personas que experimentan adversidades tempranas o brotes repetidos de depresión desarrollan creencias negativas sobre sí mismos o el mundo, y esas creencias las controlan en situaciones estresantes subsiguientes, sugirieron los investigadores.

O tal vez la adversidad temprana y la depresión tengan un efecto biológico que reduce el umbral de aparición de la depresión, añadieron.

Artículo por HealthDay, traducido por Hispanicare

Mindful eating may help with weight loss

A small yet growing body of research suggests that a slower, more thoughtful way of eating could help with weight problems and maybe steer some people away from processed food and unhealthy choices.

This alternative approach has been dubbed “mindful eating.” It’s based on the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, which involves being fully aware of what is happening within and around you at the moment. Mindfulness techniques have also been offered as a way to relieve stress and alleviate problems like high blood pressure and chronic gastrointestinal difficulties.

Applied to eating, mindfulness includes noticing the colors, smells, flavors, and textures of your food; chewing slowly; getting rid of distractions like TV or reading; and learning to cope with guilt and anxiety about food. Some elements of mindful eating hark back to Horace Fletcher, an early 20th century food faddist who believed chewing food thoroughly would solve many different kinds of health problems.

The mind–gut connection

Digestion involves a complex series of hormonal signals between the gut and the nervous system, and it seems to take about 20 minutes for the brain to register satiety (fullness). If someone eats too quickly, satiety may occur after overeating instead of putting a stop to it. There’s also reason to believe that eating while we’re distracted by activities like driving or typing may slow down or stop digestion similar to how the “fight or flight” response does. And if we’re not digesting well, we may be missing out on the full nutritive value of some of the food we’re consuming.

A treatment for bingers

Several studies have shown mindful eating strategies might help treat eating disorders and possibly help with weight loss. Psychologist Jean Kristeller at Indiana State University and colleagues at Duke University conducted an NIH-funded study of mindful eating techniques for the treatment of binge eating.

The randomized controlled study included 150 binge eaters and compared a mindfulness-based therapy to a standard psychoeducational treatment and a control group. Both active treatments produced declines in binging and depression, but the mindfulness-based therapy seemed to help people enjoy their food more and have less sense of struggle about controlling their eating. Those who meditated more (both at mealtimes and throughout the day) got more out of the program.

The NIH is funding additional research by Kristeller and Ruth Wolever of Duke on the effectiveness of mindfulness-based approaches for weight loss and maintenance. Several other studies on mindful eating are under way around the country.

A starter kit for mindful eating

Experts suggest starting gradually with mindful eating, eating one meal a day or week in a slower, more attentive manner. Here are some tips (and tricks) that may help you get started:

• Set your kitchen timer to 20 minutes, and take that time to eat a normal-sized meal.
• Try eating with your non-dominant hand; if you’re a righty, hold your fork in your left hand when lifting food to your mouth.
• Use chopsticks if you don’t normally use them.
• Eat silently for five minutes, thinking about what it took to produce that meal, from the sun’s rays to the farmer to the grocer to the cook.
• Take small bites and chew well.
• Before opening the fridge or cabinet, take a breath and ask yourself, “Am I really hungry?” Do something else, like reading or going on a short walk.

We are proud to introduce our new lifetime weight loss program!

Our six month program will provide you with the information, support, recipes and guidance that you will need to lose up to 8 pounds per month. Most importantly, our program isn’t a diet but rather an entire new way for you to eat, for life. We tailor the food you will eat to your needs, educate you on how to shop and prepare your food and teach you how to embrace new, healthier habits. 

What’s included?

Our six month program bundles many of services into one comprehensive package focused on achieving an optimal weight and healthy lifestyle. 

3 Alternative Medicine Consultations

An initial consultation for a complete diagnosis, a follow up consultation halfway through the program, and a final consultation at the end of the six months. 

3 Healthy Eating Consultations

You will receive three one hour consultations that will educate you on what to eat, how to prepare it and even how to shop at the grocery store. 

2 Emotional Intelligence Consultations

Our emotional intelligence consultation, consisting of an initial and follow up appointments focusing on a personality test, will highlight your personality traits and demonstrate how best to incorporate the new habits you will be learning into your everyday life. 

Recipes 

We will also provide you with a set of recipes so that you know how to prepare healthy meals at home and what you should be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 

Talita Kum Natural Care Products

Our Lifetime Weigh Loss Program is all inclusive, which means that $300 worth of carefully selected Natural Care products will be provided as part of the program. 

Pricing

Lifetime Weight Loss Program* $999/ all inclusive, payable in 3/$333 payments

*Contact our clinic for rules & regulations. Results will vary from individual to individual. Cost of recommended natural care products are included in price.

Starting today our alternative medicine consultation, emotional intelligence consultation and counseling services will be available worldwide through our new virtual appointment platform. To set up an appointment, call or send us an email. 

At the present time virtual appointments are only available worldwide for current patients and non-U.S. residents or citizens living outside of the United States.

LUNES, 9 de mayo (HealthDay News/HolaDoctor) — Una sencilla técnica de meditación pueda ayudar a aliviar el tormento que sufren los pacientes de una enfermedad intestinal crónica, según un estudio reciente.

La investigación, llevada a cabo en la Universidad de Carolina del Norte en Chapel Hill, encontró que las mujeres con síndrome del intestino irritable que practicaban la “meditación de práctica reflexiva y consciente” (mindful) tenían una reducción en los síntomas de 38 por ciento, sobrepasando con creces la reducción de casi doce por ciento de las mujeres que participaban en un grupo de respaldo tradicional.

Además, la meditación ayudó a reducir la angustia psicológica y mejoró la calidad de vida, según encontró el estudio.

Uno de los autores del estudio dijo que la práctica, que se basa en una técnica budista de meditación, “faculta” a los pacientes a manejar una enfermedad que es difícil de tratar.

“Tratar el SII [síndrome del intestino irritable] no es fácil, incluso con los mejores métodos médicos estándares”, señaló Olafur Palsson, coautor del estudio, profesor asociado, psicólogo clínico e investigador del departamento de gastroenterología de la universidad. “Es crónico, y con el tiempo, es difícil de tratar porque es complejo”.

La meditación de práctica reflexiva y consciente ayuda a los practicantes a relajarse al enfocarse en el momento, prestar atención a la respiración, el cuerpo y los pensamientos a medida que ocurren, sin realizar juicios.

“Es una forma distinta de usar la mente y ser consciente”, explicó Palsson. Anotó que más de doscientos hospitales de todo el país ofrecen el programa de capacitación en meditación de práctica reflexiva y consciente.

El aprendizaje de esta técnica conlleva disciplina, pero “luego de un tiempo, se vuelve algo natural”, comentó Palsson. Añadió que “no se trata de un tratamiento clínico, es algo más educativo”.

Los hallazgos debían ser presentados el sábado durante la reunión de la Semana de las Enfermedades Digestivas en Chicago. La investigación presentada en reuniones médicas debe considerarse como preliminar, dado que no se ha sometido al escrutinio típico de la publicación en revistas médicas. Además, el número de participantes del estudio fue pequeño, y los hallazgos deben ser confirmados por estudios de mayor tamaño.

El síndrome del intestino irritable es una enfermedad crónica común que puede comenzar desde la adolescencia y convertirse en una afección de por vida. Entre los síntomas se encuentran dolor abdominal, calambres, diarrea y estreñimiento. Los casos pueden ir de leves a graves. Difiere de la enfermedad intestinal inflamatoria, una afección más grave con un nombre similar.

En Estados Unidos, la enfermedad es más común en las mujeres, y alrededor de una de cada seis personas sufre de la afección, según los Institutos Nacionales de Salud. Se cree que surge de una predisposición genética y que es desencadenada por el estrés, una infección gastrointestinal o la cirugía gastrointestinal.

Entre los tratamientos se encuentran fármacos antiespasmódicos para relajar el colon, y medicamentos para reducir el estreñimiento y la diarrea. Se aconseja a los pacientes evitar bebidas y comidas que estimulen los intestinos, como el alcohol, las bebidas con cafeína, algunos granos, el chocolate y la leche.

Pero la enfermedad varía de una persona a otra, y un solo régimen no ayuda a todos, según las autoridades de salud.

Para el estudio, 75 mujeres de 19 a 71 años de edad, con una edad promedio de casi 43, se dividieron al azar en dos grupos. Un grupo participó en una sesión de entrenamiento en meditación de práctica reflexiva y consciente, y el otro en un grupo de apoyo tradicional, ambos con una duración de ocho semanas.

Los grupos calificaron por adelantado el beneficio potencial o “credibilidad” de los tratamientos de forma más o menos igual, según el estudio.

Pero al final de las ocho semanas, el grupo de meditación presentó una reducción de 26.4 por ciento en la “gravedad general de los síntomas”, frente a una reducción del 6.2 por ciento en el grupo de apoyo. Para el final de los tres meses, la disparidad persistía ya que la mejora aumentó a una reducción del 38.2 por ciento en los síntomas para el grupo de meditación, frente a una reducción de 11.8 por ciento en el grupo de terapia, encontró el estudio.

Los autores del estudio también anotaron que la meditación de práctica reflexiva y consciente es barata y está ampliamente disponible.

Una experta elogió los resultados de la investigación como originales y potentes.

“Es una muestra pequeña, pero me impresionó. Hacer esto con tratamientos que no están bien definidos no es fácil”, afirmó la Dra. Albena Halpert, gastroenteróloga y profesora asistente de medicina de la Facultad de medicina de la Universidad de Boston. “Otros estudios han observado las opciones de tratamiento psicológico, pero este es el primero que estudió la práctica reflexiva y consciente, y los resultados son robustos”.

Halpert apuntó que le sorprendió que ambos grupos calificaran el beneficio potencial de la opción de tratamiento que iban a recibir por igual.

“Se puede considerar un efecto placebo o cualquier cosa, pero para que el tratamiento funcione hay que creer en él”, dijo Halpert. “Es interesante que la gente pensara que [el tratamiento en práctica reflexiva y consciente] tendría el mismo beneficio que el grupo de apoyo”.

Un estilo de vida que fomente la creatividad contribuye al desarrollo de habilidades que pueden ser útiles en nuestra vida personal y profesional.

La creatividad (denominada también inventiva, pensamiento original, imaginación constructiva o pensamiento divergente) es la generación de nuevas ideas o conceptos, o de nuevas asociaciones entre ideas y conceptos conocidos que dan lugar a soluciones originales.

Las cuatro características más importantes del pensamiento creativo son:

• La fluidez.
• La flexibilidad.
• La originalidad.
• La elaboración.

Pensamiento divergente y convergente

En el proceso de enfrentamiento y solución de problemas se puede utilizar el pensamiento divergente (creativo) para mirar desde diferentes perspectivas y encontrar más de una solución para un desafío o problema, o se puede usar el pensamiento convergente para encontrar una solución única, en una sola dirección o plano.

Cómo ser creativos

La creatividad no está reservada solo para los artistas profesionales. Cualquier persona puede aplicarla en su vida diaria, en cualquier actividad. Veamos ejemplos de actividades creativas:

• El Parkour, una disciplina deportiva para practicar en la ciudad, cuya premisa filosófica es que cualquier obstáculo físico o mental puede ser superado. A base de movimientos físicos, el Parkour busca aumentar en el practicante la capacidad de resolver problemas y la toma de conciencia de su entorno.
• La creación literaria es, en sí misma, una vía para establecer lazos de cohesión entre las personas, así como una forma de desarrollar la originalidad y la imaginación.
• Aprender un idioma permite continuar desarrollando la capacidad cerebral, al incorporar nuevas palabras, formas gramaticales y elementos de otra cultura. El aprendizaje fomenta también el ejercicio de la memoria y de la flexibilidad
• La meditación ayuda a la concentración, ejercita la memoria, fortalece el sistema inmunológico y reduce el estrés, mejorando la fluidez en el pensamiento.
• Aprender a tocar un instrumento mejora la coordinación, incrementa la concentración, favorece la originalidad y la fluidez creativa.

La creatividad y el mundo del trabajo

Desarrollar el pensamiento creativo también favorece el desarrollo de capacidades que pueden ser muy útiles a la hora de buscar empleo en épocas de crisis, al tiempo que satisfacen la necesidad de crecimiento y cambio del ser humano.

El perfil emprendedor es propio de personas capaces de “pensar fuera de la caja”, que encuentran soluciones originales y factibles para problemas actuales, capaces de manejar varios idiomas y que muestran flexibilidad en sus enfoques. Los empleadores también aprecian estas características.La identificación de nuestras fortalezas y capacidades personales, desarrolladas en empleos previos o durante el tiempo libre, nos permite ampliar el portafolio personal de habilidades que pueden ser utilizadas en el presente (quizás para encontrar un empleo diferente) o en el futuro, si nos planteamos cambiar de actividad o profesión, o incluso iniciar un negocio propio.

Starting today, if you refer a friend we will provide you with a free bottle of our proprietary aromatherapy, a $14 value. You must currently be our patient and you will receive the free aromatherapy after the first visit by the person that you referred. Just be sure to let your friend know that you referred them so that we can make a note and provide you with your free bottle of aromatherapy after their first visit.

Supplies are limited and we reserve the right to end this promotion at any time without notice. We will provide you with the aromatherapy of our choice. You must pick up your aromatherapy at our clinic. Promotion begins on July 1, 2011 and applies only when a current patient refers a new patient. We must be notified by the new patient of the referral at the time the first appointment is booked. 

Montori and Amit Sood are not the only voices of support for alternative approaches at the Mayo Clinic, a medical center renowned not only for the excellence of its medical care, and for the relatively low cost of that care, but also for a culture that is fanatical about doing whatever is best for each patient over all other considerations. With its soaring, graceful buildings and an almost pious, midwestern earnestness about patient care, the Mayo Clinic feels a bit like the mother church for modern medicine. I met with a range of prominent physicians there to discuss their views on the growing presence of integrative medicine in mainstream medical care, including at the Mayo Clinic itself, which houses what it calls the Complementary and Integrative Medicine program.

One of them was Morie Gertz, a hematologist, who chairs the Mayo Clinic’s internal-medicine department. “Most of the doctors here were top of their medical-school class, top of their residency, blah, blah, blah,” he told me. “That’s technical mastery. That doesn’t make them effective healers. Over the past 30 years, I’ve seen hundreds of patients who clearly feel they’ve benefited from alternative therapies. It’s not my job to tell them they shouldn’t feel better. And I wouldn’t tell patients they shouldn’t try alternative medicine if they want to—we need to follow the clues patients give us about what might help them. If a patient chooses to walk away from the therapy I’ve prescribed and go to an alternative therapist instead, that’s not the fault of alternative medicine; it’s because I’ve failed as a doctor to do a good job of making my case in terms that are important to the patient.”

Gertz is among the many physicians who dismiss the lack of supportive randomized-trial data as a reason to write off alternative medicine. “The randomized trial is a very high bar,” he says. “Eighty percent of what I do here isn’t based on randomized-trial data.” Physicians routinely write “off-label” prescriptions, Gertz says—that is, prescriptions that call for drugs to treat conditions for which those drugs have not been officially approved. It’s a perfectly legal and ethical practice, and even one that physicians consider essential, accounting for about a fifth of all U.S. prescriptions. “It’s off-label not because it doesn’t work, but because there’s no good randomized-trial data on it. In the same way, we may not have great evidence that alternative medicine works, but that’s very different from saying it doesn’t work.”

This notion that alternative medicine is a legitimate response to mainstream medicine’s real shortcomings is one I heard, in variations, from everyone I spoke with at the Mayo Clinic. Keith Lindor, a liver specialist, even went a bit further. “I see how often there’s little we can do with specific therapies to help patients,” he told me. “One of the most common complaints we see from patients is chronic abdominal pain, and we only figure out what’s wrong 10 percent of the time. These people deserve a chance to be helped by someone who takes a different approach.”

His own positive view of alternative practitioners was shaped early in his career, when he spent time working alongside a Native American medicine man at a reservation clinic. “I had been trained to aggressively treat patients with drugs that often only made them even more ill,” he says. “But he could often do much better with just a press of his hand.” When Lindor himself developed severe neck pain from long hours doing procedures, a doctor suggested drug injections into the base of his skull, but he ultimately found relief from several sessions of massage. The beneficial effects of alternative therapies on Mayo Clinic patients, he says, have been observable in shorter hospital stays, in lower levels of self-administered painkillers, and in reduced tissue inflammation, which is a general indicator that the immune system is better holding its own.

Lindor’s opinion is perhaps of special significance, because he is also the dean of the Mayo Clinic’s medical school. Ultimately, what today’s medical students think about alternative medicine will be more important to the future of medicine than what anyone else thinks of it. Mayo Medical School has woven alternative medicine into its curriculum. And its students seem eager to learn more. Among the dozen or so “interest groups” the student body has set up to arrange further discussion and education outside the normal curriculum is one focused on alternative medicine, attracting about a third of the students, on par with the other groups. “I’m probably not interested in being an alternative practitioner, but I want to learn more about it so I can have a better conversation with patients,” says Lauren Jansons, the ebullient second-year student who heads the group. “As physicians, we learn to identify disease and treat it. What we’re not always taught is to identify with patients, to understand what they’re thinking and feeling, even though that’s important to human nature. It’s an approach that motivates people to be more active in their treatment and healing, and we can channel that.”

In fact, a more open-minded consideration of alternative-medicine practices has become par for the course at medical schools. In recent years, the American Medical Student Association has co-sponsored an annual International Integrative Medicine Day, which, according to this year’s press release, “will increase awareness and availability of integrative medicine, promote inter-professional collaboration, encourage self-care, foster cultural awareness and enhance patient-physician communication” (an “infiltration of quackademic medicine,” blogged David Gorski, a surgical oncologist at Wayne State University and one of the more prickly anti-alternative-medicine warriors, in despair).

Before leaving the Mayo Clinic, I stopped in to watch a small mountain of muscle named Ryan Berry receive massage therapy, through the integrative-medicine program, to address the discomfort he was experiencing two days after extensive thoracic surgery. When I came in, Ryan, who is 34, was stiff with pain, and seemed sewn to the chair in which he had been propped up. He clutched the arms of the chair, grimacing with each shallow breath. Over soothing music, the therapist spent several minutes talking with Ryan, getting him to discuss, through clenched teeth, the details of his pain. When she finally started the treatment, she seemed to barely brush her hands against the top of his back. But within a minute, his hands started to release their death grip, his teeth unclenched, and he was slumping a bit. Within three minutes, he was breathing deeply and slowly, his hands were open and limp, he was sunk down in the chair, and his grimace had been replaced with a hint of a smile. Personally, I doubt it mattered much where exactly the therapist placed her hands and how she moved them, which means a randomized trial would have found the treatment to be no better than sham massage. But it was as compelling a picture of suffering relieved as I have ever seen.

Scenes like that one, witnessed by more and more doctors in clinical settings, make it obvious why the front lines of medicine are pushing toward a less rigid stance on alternative medicine, if slowly, and in pockets. Open-mindedness can strike in even the most unexpected of places. Steven Salzberg happened to mention to me in passing that he didn’t consider hypnosis to be an alternative practice. I asked him why he left it off his long list of shams and frauds, and he seemed surprised, as if he had never considered the possibility that it might not be a legitimate therapy. “I don’t know,” he said. “I guess it’s because my father was an academic clinical psychologist, and he used it in his work.” Had he looked at studies on the effectiveness of hypnosis? “Not very closely,” he said. “But I believe it works.”

David H. Freedman is the author of Wrong: Why Experts Keep Failing Us—And How to Know When Not to Trust Them. He has been an Atlantic contributor since 1998.