February 2006 [Volume 5, Issue 2]

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In this issue of To Your Health:

• Making Massage a New Year's Resolution
• New Study Finds Ginseng Effective in Preventing Colds, Reducing Symptoms
• Answers to Your Massage Questions: Highlights From This Month's "Ask a Massage Therapist" Online Forum

We all know the drill. For some, it's become a tradition. Before the ball is finished descending in Times Square and the confetti has yet to hit the floor, most of us already have made our New Year's resolutions and possibly broken them. But, let's give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. Every December, as we indulge in various holiday treats, we promise ourselves that once the New Year arrives, we will take better care of our bodies, minds and spirits.

The reasons behind these resolutions vary from person to person, but invariably, they are a reaction to the differing stresses that play such a major part in our daily lives. Job stress, family issues and a host of other outside factors provide the motivation to get in shape and learn to cope. And according to a recent study, many Americans are making massage one of their top New Year's resolutions.

The "New Year, New You" study, a telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. adults sponsored by Brookstone, found that a majority of Americans said they experienced more stress in 2005 than the previous year (56 percent), and that they are seeking new methods to deal with that increased stress methods such as massage therapy.

Three out of four Americans (75 percent) claim their New Year's resolution is to focus on taking better care of themselves and achieving a more complete work/life balance. The study found that a majority of Americans believe massage is an effective way to relieve stress and a great way to relax as compared to other methods such as drinking a glass of wine or another alcoholic beverage or even exercising.

The study revealed that 76 percent of respondents believe relaxation is very important to health and wellness, with 73 percent of respondents rating massage as either extremely relaxing or very relaxing, compared to 51 percent who said exercise was extremely relaxing and 29 percent who opted for a glass of wine or a cocktail to relax. Sixty-nine percent of respondents agreed that regular massage therapy is an important part of overall physical health and well-being, and 52 percent said they would like to receive a massage product or service as a gift.

"Massage is no longer viewed as an indulgence, but as a significant component to achieving overall health and wellness and relaxation," said Roger Padgett, a spokesperson for Brookstone. "People are beginning to recognize that massage helps to improve circulation, alleviate tension and contribute to a more comfortable and stress-free lifestyle."

Like free energy and the Loch Ness Monster, the search for a cure to the common cold continues to bedevil mankind. Stroll through any supermarket, and one is likely to find an entire aisle packed floor to ceiling with an array of cold remedies, all promising to relieve the sneezing, coughing, stuffiness, congestion, watery eyes, runny nose and other ailments a person with a cold might endure.

The amount of suffering caused by the common cold is staggering, leading, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to more lost productivity and time missed from work than any other illness. In the U.S. alone, it has been estimated that up to one billion colds occur annually - an average of 3.4 colds per year for every person living in the U.S. Drugs such as analgesics, antihistamines and decongestants are used to combat cold symptoms, but the effectiveness of these products is limited, and the drugs themselves do little to prevent a person from catching a cold in the first place. As a result, many people have begun to seek safer, natural alternatives to traditional cold remedies.

One natural alternative that has received a great deal of attention is ginseng. Previous research has shown that North American ginseng (panax quinquefolium) contains substances that stimulate the immune system, improving the body's ability to fight off certain viruses and bacteria. While some scientists have criticized the quality of this research, a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggests standardized ginseng extracts can reduce both the amount and severity of colds people suffer significantly, and that the extracts work as well as many antiviral medications currently used to treat or prevent colds and influenza.

In the study, 279 volunteers from Edmonton, Alberta were randomly assigned to two groups. Patients in the first group received a standardized extract containing 80 percent poly-furanosyl-pyranosyl-saccharides and 10 percent protein from the roots of North American ginseng. The extract was then freeze-dried and encapsulated to contain 200 milligrams per capsule. Patients in the second group were administered a placebo consisting of rice powder, which also was encapsulated and identical in shape and size to the ginseng extract.

Subjects in both groups were instructed to take two capsules per day for a period of four months, beginning in November and following the start of the influenza season.

They were asked to take both capsules each morning after breakfast with a glass of water, and were instructed not to take any other cold medication unless advised by their family physician. Each evening, the participants completed a diary that recorded the severity of 10 cold-related symptoms* on a scale of 0-3, with 3 indicating "severe symptoms." Summing the daily scores for all symptoms produced a total symptom score. If a person's total symptom score exceeded 14 for two days, that person was considered to have a "verified cold."

Patient diaries were used to determine the total number of verified colds reported by each subject, along with medication use and instances of adverse side-effects. In addition, daily total symptom scores were used to determine symptom severity, the number of days that cold symptoms were reported, and the duration of each cold.

The mean number of verified colds per person was significantly less among patients taking ginseng capsules (0.68) than patients given a placebo (0.93). In addition, fewer subjects in the ginseng group (54.6 percent) reported contracting at least one cold during the study period compared to the placebo group (63.8 percent). While this difference was not considered significant, the difference in the number of people who suffered recurrent colds was: only 10 percent of people in the ginseng group reported having two or more colds, compared to 22.8 percent in the control group.

The total symptom scores of all colds experienced during the study period also varied significantly. Patients who received ginseng had an average total symptom score of 77.5; in the placebo group, the average total symptom score was 112.3. In addition, patients in the ginseng group experienced significantly fewer days with cold symptoms than placebo patients (10.8 versus 16.5), and the average length of each cold was much shorter for ginseng patients (8.7 days) than for placebo patients (11.1 days). These results appeared similar to those seen in studies of well-known prescription cold medications.

"Our results can be compared with those for many of the common antiviral drugs such as rimantadine, amantadine, zanamivir or oseltamivir for the prevention or treatment of influenza," the researchers wrote.

Use of supplementary medications was similar between both groups. Twenty-nine percent of the ginseng patients reported taking NSAIDs or antibiotics to help treat their colds and flu, as did 33 percent of the patients taking a placebo. The frequency of adverse events also was similar (6.1 percent in the ginseng group, 8.7 percent in the placebo group).

Because the study was not designed to distinguish an influenza infection from that of a common cold, the scientists stopped short of saying the extract was effective in treating both colds and flu equally. In addition, the exact mechanism of action of ginseng on colds remained unclear, and the substances in ginseng responsible for reducing cold symptoms were not identified fully. As a result, the authors recommended that future studies be conducted to determine the safety and effectiveness of ginseng extracts in other populations that might be susceptible to colds and flu, such as children, the elderly and people with depressed immune systems.

Nevertheless, the researchers believe a standardized extract of North American ginseng can be a safe, effective and "attractive" natural remedy for treating colds and reducing cold-related symptoms.

*Cold symptoms evaluated during the study period included sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion, malaise, fever, headache, hoarseness, earaches and cough.

Question: I am a fairly new therapist and have a friend that has just been diagnosed with progressive MS. She has been told she probably won't go into remission and there is no cocktail to really help her. She is around 50 years-old, and would like me to work with her once a week. She does a lot of her own exercising and also goes to physical therapy. Her problems are all on her left side, but not affecting her from her neck up at all. I am just curious how I should proceed with her massages and what pressure is suitable besides what she can handle. Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated because I want to do everything that I possibly can to make her live better.

Answer: Massage can be beneficial for your client in dealing with the stress of having MS. The best times for her to come in will be when she's not in a lot of pain. Use light, soothing massage strokes and gentle passive ROM is helpful.

Your client will also probably be on cortocosteroids, so her immune system can be weakened, just be careful not to be sick or disinfect thoroughly if you suspect a client who comes in before the one with MS was sick.

A couple of my clients have this disease and really enjoy their massage sessions.

Rajam Roose

Note: Information provided in this Q&A section is drawn from the "Ask a Massage Therapist" online forum, in which massage therapists field questions relative to the massage profession. Readers are encouraged to post their questions at www.massagetoday.com/ask/. Answers should not be misconstrued as a diagnosis, prognosis or treatment recommendation and do not in any way constitute the practice of massage therapy or any other health care profession. Readers should consult their own health care providers for medical advice.

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