Our author and article quality has never been better. We continue our mission to provide the most relevant clinical information and concepts on restorative medicine.
We begin this issue with an original research article.
Aravind Bagade, MD, and his team present a phenomenal study evaluating attention and verbal memory in yoga practicing pre-adolescents. In this study, students who practiced yoga were assessed against a control group of students who did not involve any yogic practices for differences in scores of Trail making tests, Stroop color task, and digit memory tests. The authors conclude that the students who practiced yoga showed better performance in visual attention, selective attention, verbal memory, and auditory attention compared with the controls.
This issue also contains a number of impressive review articles.
Vitamin K is an essential nutrient that plays an important role in a number of biological systems. Tal Friedman, ND, presents a review article discussing the evidence for vitamin K in bone health and in cardiovascular health. He illustrates how a number of otherwise healthy persons may not be consuming adequate amounts of menaquinones and are at greater risk for bone and cardiovascular-related illnesses. The evidence behind various therapeutic ranges is discussed critically.
Regina Druz, MD, presents a review of the revascularization conundrum in patients with stable ischemic heart disease. As many more patients live on with stable forms of coronary artery disease (CAD), it is imperative that practitioners understand current evidence for and against revascularization, and develop a holistic, integrative approach to CAD. In this review article based on the NIH-funded ISCHEMIA trial (NCT01471522), the author examines current knowledge guiding decision-making in chronic CAD, and expands upon potential use of integrative approaches to chronic CAD.
Iodine has been used to restore thyroid function in those with autoimmune thyroid disease. Robyn Murphy, ND, Caroline Turek, MD, and Leigh Arseneau, ND, present a review on the role of iodine deficiency and subsequent repletion. The authors show that the loss of regulatory mechanisms due to preexisting iodine deficiency followed by iodine repletion, as opposed to iodine excess, is a causal factor in the development of thyroid autoimmunity.
There has been interesting research developing on patients who are infected with chikungunya virus (CHIKV). They exhibit specific characteristics and it is thought that the presence of CHIKV IgM and IgG antibodies plays an important role in a new type of rheumatoid arthritis. Pedro Adrover-López, MD, Michael Gonzalez, NMD, DSc, PhD, FACN, Jorge Miranda-Massari, Pharm D, Jorge Duconge, PhD, and Miguel Berdiel, MD, present an article discussing the inflammatory sequelae after CHIKV infection. They also present a proposed restorative medicine treatment, complete with evidence reviews, dosing strategies, and mechanism of action.
Edward Lichten, MD, presents a review article and medical hypothesis that seeks to establish causation for endometriosis and offers numerous novel treatment recommendations. The author discusses the role of xenoestrogens and how new epigenetic research links exposure to disease.
Michelle Adams, BS, MHSNc, Michael Gonzalez, NMD, DSc, PhD, FACN, Jorge Miranda-Massari, Pharm D, Jorge Duconge PhD, Jose Rodrigeuz-Gomez, MD, DSc, PhD, Miguel Berdiel, MD, and Kenneth Cintron, MD, FAAOS, ABoIM, present an article on the integrative approaches to hypertension. They perform a comprehensive review of 29 different antihypertensive nutrients and botanicals. The efficacy of each treatment option is discussed with regards to the ability to provide a reduction in systolic or diastolic blood pressure.
I would personally like to thank all of the contributors and our readers who continue to make the Journal of Restorative Medicine a great success. I would like to thank all of our peer reviewers for their efforts in improving the quality of our publication. I would like to thank our Executive Associate Editor, Chris Habib, ND, and our Chief Scientific Officer, Sadeq Quraishi, MD, MHA, MMSc, for all their work on this issue. We look forward to continued success and hope that clinicians and scientists will continue to contribute their best research for our readership. We are grateful to support the advancement in knowledge of natural health products and of restorative medicine.