Acupuncture helps symptoms associated with Menopause - ABC News.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Stick out your tongue!!!
(original post at www.acupuncture.com)
By Maoshing Ni, L.Ac., D.O.M., Ph.D.
Wonder if you're coming down with a cold? Stick out your tongue and say "Ah!" Or at least give it a glance. Your tongue is one of the easiest ways to check in with your health status. I recently posted a blog about how to read your face to determine the condition of your health. The tongue is such an important diagnostic tool for Chinese medicine practitioners that it merits a full article.
How Chinese medicine uses the tongue to interpret your health The tongue is one of the most important diagnostic areas in ancient medical traditions. What makes the tongue such a great diagnostic tool? Your tongue, containing water, electrolytes, mucus, and enzymes, is a very sensitive organ and its appearance changes with many physical changes in the body. In Chinese medicine, the tongue is a "map" of the internal body. Like the face, the tongue is divided into five-element zones that correspond to your internal organ networks.
Signs and symptoms
Here is what you want to see: A normal tongue should be pink, muscular without tooth marking or discoloration, and have a very thin clear coating that exhibits proper salivary secretions. Monitor your evolving health level by noticing color, shape, and coating changes in specific zones.
You can diagnose underlying problems by analyzing the regions of your tongue; these show you which organ network is affected.
1. Tongue tip
The fire element zone, which corresponds to the heart-small intestine network, is located at the tip of the tongue. This includes matters of the heart, both emotions and the physical health. In Chinese medicine, the spirit is said to reside in the heart network. Stress and anxiety will show up as red color and red dots on the tip of the tongue. Increasing heat signs means hyperactivity in the heart network due to stress and tension.
2. Sides of your tongue
The sides of your tongue display the wood element. Teeth markings on the sides of the tongue usually mean stagnant energy in the liver network. You may also notice a bluish-green or purplish hue or spots in this zone.
3. Behind the tongue tip
The band-like area across the tongue and just behind the tip is the metal element zone, which corresponds to the respiratory and the immune systems. When this area turns reddish, or when red pin-sized dots occur, it usually means a respiratory infection is on its way or is settling into the body. Paleness in the metal zone may reflect a weakened immune system. In rare fungal infections of the lungs, there may appear a brownish black coating over this zone, which was the case with several of my patients who suffer from lesions in their lungs.
4. Center of the tongue
This area is the earth element zone, and it is related to the stomach-spleen-pancreas n
etwork. Problems of the digestive system most often show up here in the center of the tongue. G.E.R.D. -- stomach and esophagus acid reflux that keeps many people awake at night -- may be seen with redness and a yellowish coating in the center of the tongue. Subtle changes in this area may indicate digestive problems that have not surfaced yet; observe this area and take prophylactic steps if necessary.
5. Back of your tongue
The back of the tongue reflects many of the body's functions, but is mainly the domain of the wat
er element, or kidney-bladder network, which includes the hormonal system and sexual glands. The two large, elevated papilla on the back of the tongue are a normal part of the taste buds. What you should look for is color and coating. For example, when I see a thick yellow coating at the back-center of the tongue in my female patients, I know that they are very likely to get a bladder infection. I tell them to immediately start drinking 8 to 12 glasses of filtered water a day, take 5,000 mg of vitamin C, and to drink cranberry juice or take its extract -- this regimen will typically help prevent a bladder infection. More often than not, those who didn't follow this preventive treatment will call me a few days later with an infection.
Your body alerts you to imbalances in many more ways than just your tongue. Ideally, you should confirm your findings from your tongue with observations from others, such as the eyes, face, and nails. I hope this article helps you translate your tongue!
From Jon: Many of you have asked me in the past why I ask to look at your tongue during the course of our initial and sometimes subsequent intake examinations. I hope this helps to shed a little light on the art of "tongue diagnosis" and why it is such an important part of the Chinese Medicine diagnostic process. As always, I welcome your questions!
In good health,
-Jon
Monday, March 1, 2010
9000 Needles
This is the trailer for a documentary that is going to be in very limited release this year. It's about a champion body builder, Devin Dearth, who suffers a paralyzing stroke and the journey that his family goes on to rebuild his life. A journey that takes them to China, and the world of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I have to admit, this trailer brought tears to my eyes...
Monday, February 15, 2010
More Scientific Research on Acupuncture
Acupuncture works by making the brain, rather than the body, no longer experience pain, according to new research.
By Andrew Hough
Scientists who scanned the brains of volunteers as they were given the Chinese therapy found it deactivated pathways that govern pain.
Complementary medicine expert Dr Hugh MacPherson, of the University of York, said: "These results provide objective scientific evidence that acupuncture has specific effects within the brain which hopefully will lead to a better understanding of how acupuncture works."
Dr MacPherson and colleagues explained when a patient receives acupuncture treatment a sensation called deqi can be obtained. Scientific analysis showed this switches off areas within the brain that are associated with the processing of pain.
Dr MacPherson said: "We carried out two tests of acupuncture on our participants, one where the needles are inserted at a shallow depth which is the practise in Japan and the other where they went in much deeper which is the Chinese tradition.
"We found 10 out of the 17 experienced 'deqi' while the others didn't, and this appeared to help in deactivating areas in the brain that are associated with pain.
"The Chinese have been using acupuncture for 2,000 years for wide ranging illnesses but we have only touched the surface at the moment.
"We believe it can help relieve a number of conditions, including depression which we have recruited 640 people for another study where half will receive acupuncture and the others counselling."
Last summer acupuncture was recommended for the first time by the drugs watchdog NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) as a treatment option for NHS patients with lower back pain.
Guidelines now state that GPs should "consider offering a course of acupuncture comprising a maximum of ten sessions over a period of up to twelve weeks" for patients with this common condition.
Co researcher Dr Aziz Asghar, a neuroscientist at Hull York Medical School, added: "The results are fascinating. Whether such brain deactivations constitute a mechanism which underlies or contributes to the therapeutic effect of acupuncture is an intriguing possibility which requires further research."
The team is currently researching if acupuncture has the ability to successfully treat irritable bowel syndrome and depression. Previous studies have indicated the holistic treatment works on knee pain and migraines.
Dr MacPherson and colleagues say their research could help to clear the way for acupuncture to be more broadly accepted as a treatment option on the NHS for a number of medical conditions.
Monday, June 22, 2009
An Article on Happiness
By Adam Khan
People felt richer in the 1950s - when houses averaged 1100 square feet - than they do now, when they average 2000 square feet.
There were no VCRs, no microwaves, no cable TV, no PCs, no video games, hardly any dishwashers, and in most homes only the father brought in an income. Yet according to surveys, our reported level of happiness peaked in 1957 and has gone down as our level of wealth has gone up. The reason is simple: You and I don’t need much to be happy. `
Most of us are doing too much, working too hard, trying to make “enough” money. But it costs us time. And after a certain point - a point we have all passed a long time ago - you get less and less happiness for more and more expenditure of time to earn money. And that is time taken away from time spent with your loved ones, where a good deal of happiness does come from.
Those moments of simple human interaction - talking, playing a game, taking a walk, cooking together - those are the real riches of life. You’ve been exposed to barrage of advertising, something like a million ads by the time you’re twenty. And those advertising people are experts on human nature. They’ve read all the studies showing what influences people, and they carefully design their advertisements to pull your attention and then to convince you their product would make you happy.
They have been trying to manipulate your values since you were a kid.
They’ve been trying to get you to believe having things is what will make you happy. Most of us are way too busy, and that’s just perfect as far as the advertisers are concerned. We’re out working to earn more money so we have more to spend on products. If we would learn to curb our desire for so much stuff, we wouldn’t have to work as much, so we’d be able to spend more unscheduled time with our loved ones.
You already know this, I’m sure. But the more you hear something the more of an impact it will make on your feelings and behavior. Ask any advertiser. You want more time? You want more enjoyment? There is a way, but it will require a little discipline: do without. You’ll be a lot richer.
Remind yourself you don’t need much to be happy.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Acupuncture Found Effective for Back Pain
Study finds it superior to usual care.
By Tina Beychok
There seems to be no question that Americans spend a great deal of money dealing with back pain. According to research, we spend at least $37 billion annually on medical care for back pain.1,2 Furthermore, the economy suffers another $19.8 billion in lost worker productivity due to back pain.3
In response to this, there has been extensive research on the use of acupuncture for treating back pain. A 2008 literature review concluded that there was "strong evidence" for the use of acupuncture as an adjunct to conventional therapy for lower back pain.4 Now, a new study published in the May 11, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine has added even further to the literature on the value of acupuncture in treating back pain.5
Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, and colleagues examined a group of 638 patients suffering from back pain to determine not only if acupuncture is superior to usual care for treating back pain, but to see if needle insertion at individualized points is the mechanism of action by which acupuncture works best. A total of 10 acupuncture treatments was provided over the course of eight weeks.
Study Design
The researchers started by dividing the patients into four groups:
Individualized acupuncture: This treatment was prescribed by the diagnostician at the beginning of each visit. There were no constraints on number of needles, depth of insertion or needle manipulation. Needles were retained for 18 minutes. Seventy-four distinct points were used.
Standardized acupuncture: This protocol used a standardized acupuncture prescription considered effective for chronic low back pain, including Du 3, Bladder 23 on either side, low back Ashi point, Bladder 40 on ether side and Kidney 3 on either side. All points were needled for 20 minutes, with needle stimulation at 10 minutes and again just prior to removal.
Simulated acupuncture: This technique used a toothpick in a needle guide tube. All acupuncture points were stimulated with toothpicks at 10 minutes and again at 20 minutes, just before they were "removed." The acupuncturists simulated insertion and removal of needles at the eight acupuncture points used in the standardized treatment.
Usual care: Participants in this group only received the care, if any, they and their physicians chose. This was mainly mostly medications, and primary care, and physical therapy visits. All participants received a self-care book with information on managing flare-ups, exercises and lifestyle modifications.
Results
At 8-week follow up, all groups of patients showed improvement. However, the "usual care" group only improved by 2.1 points (scored on a disability questionnaire), as opposed to the individualized, standardized and simulated acupuncture groups, which improved by 4.4, 4.5 and 4.4 points, respectively. The greater improvement for the acupuncture groups over usual care continued all the way to 52 weeks, at the end of the study. Of those patients receiving real acupuncture, only 11 reported any side effects.
Interestingly, at the end of the study, there was little difference between the four acupuncture treatment groups in terms of effectiveness. The researchers speculated that this may mean that acupuncture's actual mechanism of action may not be clear and that further research is warranted.
Nevertheless, they concluded, "Compared with usual care, individualized acupuncture, standardized acupuncture and simulated acupuncture had beneficial and persisting effects on chronic back pain. These treatments resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in function. ... For clinicians and patients seeking a relatively safe and effective treatment for a condition for which conventional treatments are often ineffective, various methods of acupuncture point stimulation appear to be reasonable options, even though the mechanism of action remains unclear.
According to Josephine P. Briggs, MD, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, "The findings of this research show that acupuncture-like treatments, including simulated acupuncture, can elicit positive responses. This adds to the growing body of evidence that there is something meaningful taking place during acupuncture treatments outside of actual needling. Future research is needed to delve deeper into what is evoking these responses."
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Challenge of a Healthy Heart
The Challenge of a Healthy Heart
By Edsel Tan, L.Ac.
The heart is the monarch of all organs. It pumps blood every moment of our lives, nourishing our living tissues with nutrients and oxygen. Pumping is caused by a flow of electricity through the heart that cyclically repeats itself. Nurturing the heart nurtures the body as a whole. This is a challenge in today's society as heart disease is one of the leading causes of illness.
A healthy heart is determined by both uncontrollable and controllable factors. Uncontrollable factors are hereditary. Controllable factors include diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices. The two factors are interrelated, since modifying controllable factors can help maintain uncontrollable factors, such as a genetic predisposition to heart disease.
The heart is the primary organ of our cardiovascular system which includes a vast network of arteries and veins that work together delivering oxygen-rich blood to the body and oxygen-poor blood to the lungs. In order to keep the heart healthy, we need to keep this vast network of arteries and veins healthy.
The food we consume determines how our genes are expressed. Eating healthy foods sets the causes and conditions for our genes to express themselves through an optimum physiology.
Living according to our most fundamental nature is the foundation of radiant health. The following is recommended:
AVOID - high fat, high cholesterol foods, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, chocolate, sugar, butter, red meat, fried foods, soft drinks, spicy foods, white flour.
EAT - fiber, brown rice, pearl barley, vegetables, fish, turkey, chicken, garlic, onions, sea cucumber, lotus root, seaweed, shiitake mushrooms, black fungus, Chinese black dates, hawthorn berries, cassia seeds, chrysanthemum, vinegar, water chestnuts, mung beans, lecithin, raw nuts, olive oil.
A consistent program of 45-60 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week strengthens the heart by lowering blood pressure, reducing body fat, lowering the risk of diabetes, and reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. People who are sedentary in their daily lives are more likely to have heart disease compared with people who are active. Obesity is a major factor in heart disease.
Finally, a healthy mindset that is not attached to stressful, anxious, negative, angry or hostile thought patterns reduces the causes and conditions for dis-ease. Let's stay positive, be true to ourselves, and take good care of our hearts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
