Dr Andrew Weil discusses health, health care, integrative medicine, natural medicine, swine flu, dieting, and more.

New research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston suggests that ancient Chinese herbal formulas used primarily for cardiovascular indications including heart disease may produce large amounts of artery-widening nitric oxide.
Findings of the preclinical study by scientists in the university’s Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human [...]

According to a recent study, Acupuncture and exercise can relieve Polycystic ovary syndrome, The study was done at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Nearly 10% of women of reproductive age have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The syndrome expresses itself as a large number of small immature cysts on the ovaries that cause a disturbance [...]

Homeopathy risks being subsumed by modern medicine, argues a historian of science. Not only does this means that homeopathy’s heroes have become mere footnotes in history, but it could limit homeopathy’s potential to contribute to the treatment of today’s pressing medical problems, she says.
Lyn Brierley-Jones, a historian of medicine at the University of Durham, will [...]

Chinese researchers have unlocked the mechanism of an emerging mind-body technique that produces measurable changes in attention and stress reduction in just five days of practice.
In October 2007, researchers led by visiting University of Oregan (UO) professor Yi-Yuan Tang and UO psychologist Michael Posner found that doing IBMT prior to a mental math test led [...]

According to research from the University of Rochester Medical Center, ginger root can be used to ease the nausea in people undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
Ginger is a perennial plant that grows in India, China, Mexico, and several other countries. The rhizome (underground stem) is used as both a spice and in herbal medicine. [...]

A new study finds what seems like it would be obvious, but may get the medical industry to treat patients better.
The study finds that listening to music may benefit patients who suffer severe stress and anxiety associated with having and undergoing treatment for coronary heart disease. A Cochrane Systematic Review found that listening [...]

Artificial heart pacemakers have saved and extended the lives of thousands of people, but they have their shortcomings – such as a fixed pulse rate and a limited life. Could a permanent biological solution be possible?
Richard Robinson and colleagues at New York’s Columbia and Stony Brook Universities certainly think so, and their work published in [...]

Originating from Africa, India, and the Middle East, frankincense oil has been found to have many medicinal benefits. Now, an enriched extract of the Somalian Frankincense herb Boswellia carteri has been shown to kill off bladder cancer cells. Research presented in the open access journal, BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, demonstrates that this herb [...]

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, generally is viewed as an irritant that produces a burning sensation when applied to a sensitive area of the body, such as the cornea.
Paradoxically, the same compound is a natural pain reliever. Capsaicin creams are natural pain-relieving folk medicines, commonly found over the counter, and are effective for [...]