As I continue in this role as interim Editor-in-Chief of Pediatric Annals, I have the opportunity to learn more about new approaches to the diagnosis and management of general pediatric clinical problems. In this issue, guest editor Dr. William P. French and his team of experts present an impressively written group of articles about aspects of pediatric mental health and the integral role of th...

There are different kinds of online systems on the Internet for people who need support and develop new knowledge. Online communities and Ask the Expert systems are two such systems. In the health care area, the number of users of these systems has increased at a rapid pace. Interactions with medical trained experts take place online, and people with concerns about similar health problems come ...

This contribution offers an overview of the 'third research paradigm', its historical roots and its relevance for health informatics. Using illustrative studies, we explore the concepts of triangulation and integration of quantitative and qualitative data and refute common philosophical objections to mixing different types of knowledge. We consider how the mixed method paradigm relates to two p...

The modern physician is using pharmaceuticals as his prime tool. Unfortunately, this tool is much less efficient than you might expect from the biochemical theory. The belief in drugs as the solution to the health problems of mankind, overlooking important existing knowledge on quality of life, personal development, and holistic healing seems to be one good reason why approximately every second...

Over the past decade, governmental agencies, medical schools, influential voices in the media, and the public at large have seen a remarkable surge of interest in alternative medicine in the United States. While many therapies focus on unproven but otherwise spiritually neutral approaches (for example, nutritional supplements), others arise from or validate worldviews — especially the monism ("...

The field of holistic medicine is in need of a scientific approach. We need holistic medicine--and we even need it to be spiritual to include the depths of human existence--but we need it to be a little less "cosmic" in order to encompass the whole human being. Many important research questions and challenges, empirical as well as theoretical, demand the attention from medical researchers. Like...

Evidence is accruing of associations between male reproductive health disorders and chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The links between reproductive health and general health are under-recognised by medical practitioners and the general public. Windows of opportunity exist for a more holistic approach to men's health when men present with reproductive health s...

Fraud presents an immense problem for health insurance companies and the only way to fight fraud, is by using specialized fraud management systems. Current research community has focused great efforts on different fraud detection techniques, while neglecting other also important activities of fraud management. We propose a holistic approach that focuses on all 6 activities of fraud management, ...

In clinical practice, patients can present with many different diseases, often both somatic and mental. Holistic medicine will try to see the diseases as a whole, as symptoms of a more fundamental imbalance in the state of being. The holistic physician must help the patient to recover existence and a good relationship with self. According to the life mission theory, theory of character, and hol...

The life of Giuseppe Moscati (1880-1927) as a man, as a physician and as a scientist may be framed within the cultural climate of Positivism, which spread over the last years of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th Century. His activity contributed to patients' care improvement; in addition to meticulous drug regimens, he also prescribed a methodology of spiritual care, involving medi...