Integrative Gynecology and Women’s Healthcare
1National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
2National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
3National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
4Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA
5Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Integrative Gynecology and Women’s Healthcare
Description
Complementary treatment approaches are increasingly requested by women to relieve their gynecological disorders, reduce side effects of conventional hormonal or cancer treatment, and enhance health-related quality of life. Integrative gynecology that combines conventional treatment with evidence-based complementary therapies and mind/body medicine has become a growing field of health care that strives to serve this demand. As many women do not disclose their complementary therapies use to their gynecologists or oncologists, treatment plans are often not coordinated. Thus, this raises the risk of adverse events and interactions of complementary with conventional therapies. An informed collaboration of conventional and complementary treatment providers is important to optimize health outcomes and safety.
This special issue is dedicated to research that focuses on integrative gynecology interventions that combine conventional and complementary approaches to optimize patients' health outcomes. We are also interested in articles that explore aspects of estrogenic actions of herbs in reproductive system in humans and in animal models as well. Both original research and high-quality systematic reviews are welcome.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Conception, implementation process, and evaluation of integrative gynecology programs
- Basic research on mechanisms and models of integrative gynecology
- Clinical trials of complementary therapies and/or mind/body medicine either alone or combined with conventional treatment for gynecological disorders ( including vaginal candidiasis, trichomoniasis, and other infection diseases )
- Complementary approaches for managing side effects of gynecological cancer and/or conventional cancer treatment
- Interactions of complementary with conventional therapies ( interactions between herbs or phytoestrogen and hormonal therapy are especially welcome)
- Potential synergism of natural products in the treatment of gynecological cancer
- Patients' perceptions of integrative gynecology programs