Acupressure is being used to promote emotional health:

"How, then, does tapping on acupressure points help to overcome certain emotions?

Acupressure is similar to the practice of acupuncture, which is several thousand years old and began in the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures. Healers developed an awareness of certain locations in the body during meditation and by trial and error. These treatment points were handed down within families and it was observed that stimulation of these points by needles, heat, and pressure produced healing effects.

Chris Jarmey, founder and director of the European Shiatsu School, explains that Eastern medicine takes the view that diseases can be caused by internal issues (the emotions), external issues (the weather), and other problems, such as poisons, diet, and trauma.

"The most fundamental concept of Oriental medicine is that your body, mind, and spirit are all interdependent," Jarmey says. He adds that Eastern doctors do not see a physical ailment in isolation, but rather as a reflection of disharmony within a person's whole being."

Good article, full of helpful tips and guidelines about coping with menopause:

"Many women these days are turning to traditional Chinese medicine, which refers to menopause as a "second spring", for help.
"Menopause is not seen as such a negative thing in the east," says Stefan Hafner, who practises in Vaucluse, at Gnostic Healing in Woy Woy and at the Natural Way Health Centre in Gymea, all in NSW. "Women are no longer obligated to bear and raise children and can have a new life where they focus on themselves and their personal growth. Not having menstruation is also seen as not having to lose energy."

In traditional Chinese medicine, a decline of kidney "yin", that is responsible for nurturing and cooling, is often seen as the problem behind symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can address this. However, Hafner emphasises that all women need to be treated as individuals and that herbs and acupuncture, while effective, are only part of the picture.

"Diet is a very important factor too, as are energy renewing exercises such as tai chi and meditation."

Practitioners use products such as Golden Dawn, which includes the widely-touted sex drive booster horny goat weed among its ingredients, and herbs such as black cohosh, vitex agnus castus (chaste tree) and dong quai for their hormone balancing properties; ginseng and licorice to ensure the optimal functioning of the adrenal glands (for energy); sage (for night sweats and hot flushes), valerian and hops (insomnia) and calendula and evening primrose oil (for vaginal dryness).

Although herbal remedies are natural they do contain powerful ingredients, so always seek advice from a practitioner."

DAAN carries a number of women's health products.

Star anise, a common spice, is being studied for possible use in fighting the bird flu:

"With the spread of bird flu prompting fears of an epidemic or even pandemic that could kill humans by the million, a Chinese spice hitherto associated with the pleasures of aperitifs has suddenly assumed key medical significance.For the fruit known as star anise has an ingredient vital to a drug to fight the strain of avian flu that has already killed more than 60 people in Asia.Harvested in China and Vietnam and used as a spice, it provides flavouring for candies, pastis drinks and tobacco.But it also has a key pharmaceutical asset - shikimic acid, described by experts as the world's only weapon against bird flu."

Interesting discussion about how scientists are studying acupuncture to determine how it works:

"Hundreds of thousands of Americans attain pain relief through acupuncture each year, according to a recent national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and many, these days, seek the treatment at their doctor's suggestion. Mainstream medical interest in acupuncture has grown as the studies pile up: A National Institutes of Health statement, published in 1997, concluded that the procedure appeared most promising in treating nausea, then pain.

Yet despite this growing Western faith in an ancient Chinese practice, scientists and doctors understand remarkably little, in modern medical terms, about how the procedure works to provide lasting pain relief.

In recent years scientists have begun studying the body's biological responses to the treatment in hopes of shedding light on how a handful of needles and some heat lamps can perform as well as, or better than, Western medicine's strongest pain-killing drugs. They have come up with an array of theories to explain the technique's effectiveness, some of them widely accepted, others too new to assess.

"We're still in the early stages of understanding how it works," said Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of the Center for East-West Medicine at UCLA. Already, he adds, studies on the topic are raising interesting questions about the body's physical and emotional responses to pain — and might someday force Western medicine to reassess its understanding of the nauseous sensation."

Young office workers in China use traditional remedies to ward off colds and flu:

" A growing number of young and middle-aged office workers are turning to traditional Chinese medicine to ward off colds and flu this winter, and they don't even have to leave their offices to pick up a prescription. Doctors from a branch of Shuguang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Zhangjiang, Pudong District in Shanghai, have started to visit nearby office buildings to write prescriptions for and sell a popular winter medication.

About 500 employees from four to five big companies located near the hospital have invited doctors to stop by and put their prescription pads to use.

With the arrival of winter, many Chinese take gaofang, which is usually a mixture of herbs, donkey-skin gum, deer-ear gum, crystal sugar and honey to prevent and fight off chronic diseases. People normally take it from before "winter solstice" on the lunar calendar to mid January.

A prescription is needed to buy the concoction, and pharmacies can custom-tailor the medication based on their prescription. After boiling the concoction and letting it cool, the final product is cut to an appropriate size and packaged."

A good article about how to prepare your body for winter:

"Eat for the winter season. To replenish and store, eat nutritionally dense foods. Root vegetables, dark leafy greens prepared in rich broth soups and stews build blood and repair tissue. Winter is not the time for cold raw foods which are great for spring cleansing and eliminating. Rather winter is the time to deepen the well of nourishment within. Eat seasonal pumpkins, squash, apples, pears and mushrooms warm, simply cooked foods.

Exercise for the Season. Rather than continue the same exercise program throughout the year, fine tune or shift to quieter movements. Qi Gong, tai chi, restorative yoga, continuum movement, all provide an internal exploration fitting for winter. Reflective, the winter season is a time to turn towards your self and nourish your inner creative juices. Nest and prepare for quiet winter gatherings, slow down rather than reeve up for the winter holidays so they reflect the values and traditions dear to your heart.

Winter is a good time for regular acupuncture, massage, acupressure or other healing modalities that restore and rejuvenate. Bathing is a restorative activity, perfect in winter. Taking the time to prepare and immerse your self in a steaming bath encourages relaxation and contemplation."

A recent study suggests Chinese medicine can be an effective for asthma:

"A plant-based compound using extracts of three herbs, dubbed the anti-asthma herbal medicine intervention (ASHMI), significantly improves lung function in patients with moderate to severe asthma. Moreover, the agent produces results comparable to those achieved with the steroid drug prednisone, according to researchers in the United States and China.

“This is the first well-controlled study in which an anti-asthma Chinese herbal medicine has been found to be as effective as a corticosteroid drug,” senior investigator Dr. Xiu-Min Li told Reuters Health."

A study shows that acupuressure can help keep you alert:

""The study showed that a stimulation acupressure regimen leads to a statistically significant reduction in sleepiness compared to an acupressure regimen that focuses on relaxation," Harris said.

The study was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

"The idea that acupressure can have effects on human alertness needs more study, including research that can examine the scope of influence acupressure can have on alertness and fatigue," Harris noted. "Ideally, research in the future will help us determine whether acupressure also can have an impact on performance in the classroom as well.""

An interesting article about Tumeric, a spice often used in cooking, that has many healthy properties:

"In recent years, turmeric, known as the queen of herbs, has become known for its healing powers following much research on its therapeutic properties. Curcumin, the yellow pigment in the root, is the primary pharmacological agent in turmeric.

Benefiting our brains

Turmeric has been used extensively in traditional Indian medicine to treat a variety of ailments. It is also a spice commonly used in cooking.

Interestingly, in the elderly Indian population whose diet has turmeric as a common spice, they have very low incidence of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s (online edition of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dec. 2004).

Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that occurs gradually and results in memory loss, unusual behaviour, personality changes and a decline in thinking abilities.

Research has narrowed down to curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, which could work by inhibiting the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer patients.

Curcumin has a low molecular weight and polar structure, which allows it to penetrate the blood-brain barrier effectively and binds to the harmful beta amyloid. Curcumin is also capable of break up existing plaques."

Some tips about incorporating feng shui principles when traveling:

"However, especially if you frequent just one chain of hotels, the rooms begin to look identical no matter where you are. Here are some tips to enhance your room, your travel experiences, and your Feng Shui luck.

There are several small items that you can pack in your suitcase to personalize your hotel room.

Fragrance can be important. If you use a room freshener or scented candles at home, bring similar products to use in your room.

Also pack small, framed photos of family members and close friends. If you have pictures of your house or local landscapes the remind you of home, bring those with you as well. Display them near your bed or on the dresser where you'll see them when you wake up in the morning.

Most hotel rooms offer a copy of the Bible. Many Marriott hotels also provide copies of the Book of Mormon. However, if you like to read other inspirational materials to start or conclude your day, be sure to pack them in your suitcase."

New research suggest acupuncture is effective in treating headaches:

"When it comes to treating headaches, acupuncture may one day be as common a remedy as taking aspirin. In fact, the ancient Chinese treatment is gaining respect in the medical community as a therapy for aching heads.

In fact, a new study at the University of North Carolina adds to a growing body of clinical research supporting acupuncture's role as a headache therapy.

The study of more than 70 chronic headache sufferers found that those who added a six-week course of acupuncture to their medical treatment reported less pain and better quality of life compared to those who didn't get the therapy.

"Adding acupuncture to their treatment clearly improved their situation," said acupuncture researcher Dr. Remy Coeytaux.""

If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, or will be visiting, contact DAAN to arrange an acupucture treatment.

An important article about an online forum about breast cancer and Chinese medicine:

"Tweet: What is the standard for treating breast cancer in traditional Chinese medicine? Is the cure rate the same or different from in the west?

Dr. Chang: This is assuming that Chinese medicine has the same protocols as Western medicine. It does not. There is no standard regimen. It's not like conventional Western medicine, with a limited number of standards.

Chinese medicine depends highly on the individual practitioner and the patient. In a way there is no standard of treatment in traditional Chinese medicine for breast cancer. Therefore I think it's difficult to talk about cure rates for breast cancer in general. Maybe a response rate, but again I think the person raising the question may expect too much from medicine. I don't think we can quote a particular rate for Chinese medicine because it's so individualized. A lot of things we assume in the West like clinical trials and standardization of care do not yet exist in Chinese medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine goes back a few thousand years and breast cancer was rare, even a hundred years ago. Cancer was rare. If you look at traditional Chinese medicine textbooks, it hardly appears. It is sometimes called, "a hardness," a "firmness," a "lump." There are whole textbooks devoted to salmonella or typhoid, but nothing on breast cancer. So, there's no standard as you would expect. It's not a disease that affected hundreds of thousands of people."

Read the entire article.

An interesting article chronicling one woman's experience with acupuncture:

"So the question remains: how, exactly, does acupuncture achieve and maintain healing?

"Acupuncture points function something like a valve system on a machine," explains Neil. "At certain times there might be an excess or a deficiency of energy in certain channels of the body, and by accessing these physical 'valves', we can regulate the flow of energy between the individual and the environment." Although the body should be able to do this naturally, there are times when things get so out of wack that it needs a bit of external aid. Depending on the specific condition of the individual, needles can be manipulated according to reinforcing or reducing techniques to restore harmonious energy flow, or are simply employed to open the 'valves' so that the body can achieve regulation on its own.

A far cry indeed from the scientific approach of western medicine, and it is small wonder that modern medical devotees have a hard time swallowing such an alternative, albeit ancient, approach. But despite the dubious opinions of some, acupuncture's very existence in the contemporary world is a sign of the power behind the pin prick. The survival of this healing art - over thousands of years and through banning in its country of origin during both the Manchurian Qing and Kuomintang eras - speaks for itself."

Some good tips for boosting your immune system. The top 5:

" 10 easy steps to boost your immune system

1. Nutrition – think variety. Eat a wide range of different fruit and vegetables as the different colours indicate different compounds. A typical immune-boosting diet will include the following per day: five servings of fruit and vegetables, seeds, cold pressed oils, garlic, rich protein foods and whole grains. Make sure you include enough fish in your diet as it contains high quality protein necessary for cell growth and repair. Saltwater fish provide not only protein, but also omega-3 fatty acids. Sardines, trout, herring, tuna, butterfish and yellowtail are good sources. Research indicates that fish oil reduces inflammatory reactions and thereby regulates immune function. The strength of your immune system depends on the quality of your food. Eating small meals every few hours minimises excessive intake and will boost your energy levels. Many herbs and spices such as turmeric, origanum, coriander, basil, mint, rosemary and cayenne pepper have antioxidant properties.

2. Exercise and light – exercise supports the immune system by decreasing stress hormone production. You can start by walking for 30 minutes a day. Exercising outdoors increases your exposure to natural light. Natural light is not just important because it makes vitamin D. In the book entitled Boost Your Immune System, nutritionist Patrick Holford and immunologist Jennifer Meek say, ‘In the skin there are cells which produce a very powerful immune-boosting substance called interleukin-1 (IL-1). This rapidly increases the number of T-cells by encouraging them to reproduce. IL-1 is stimulated by natural daylight’.1

3. Sleep – a good night’s sleep is an elixir and helps one cope with a stressful lifestyle. Quality sleep helps us cognitively and emotionally.

4. Drink water – without it your system becomes sluggish to say the least!

5. Avoid – certain environmental hazards can trigger autoimmune diseases. Toxins can either suppress the immune system, or cause it to overreact. Asthma and allergies are signs of an overactive immune system. As far as possible choose organically grown foods, and read the labels on the rest!"

Read the whole article.