Massage & Bodywork

January/February 2011

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NCCAM Launches Clinical Digest The National Center on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) launched a new monthly enewsletter to summarize current findings on CAM's efficacy on particular health conditions. The newsletter launched in September 2010 and has several categories, including clinical guidelines, an overview of scientific literature, fact sheets for patients, and a research spotlight on various NCCAM-sponsored research. You can subscribe to the newsletter at www.nccam.nih. gov. NCCAM was founded in 1998 as the federal government's lead agency for research into complementary and alternative medicine, and has an operating budget of $128 million. Single Massage Proven Effective A study from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reports significant biological changes as the result of a single massage. Researchers took 53 healthy adults and split them into two groups: 29 received a 45-minute, deep-tissue, Swedish massage, while the other 24 got a light massage session. The volunteers were fitted with intravenous catheters to measure blood chemistry both before and after the massage. Both groups experienced positive, though different, changes. The Swedish recipients showed significantly decreased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, and an elevated number of lymphocites, the white blood cells crucial to the immune system. The light massage recipients experienced elevations in oxytocin, a hormone linked with contentment. The research was funded by the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and published in the October 2010 issue of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. New Website for Zero Balancing The Zero Balancing Health Association (ZBHA) launched www.zerobalancing.com to provide information about its mind-body therapy. The site will connect users to more than 400 Zero Balancing practitioners across North America and will let bodyworkers locate more than 30 beginner and advanced courses offered by Zero Balancing faculty members. The website will also host a Zero Balancing FAQ, an online store, news articles, and testimonials about the therapy. Zero Balancing was developed by Fritz Smith in the early 1970s and involves the use of finger pressure and gentle traction on areas of body tension. earn CE hours at your convenience: abmp's online education center, www.abmp.com 19

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