DAAN Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Chinese herbal medicine is used in treating depression.

“There are different types of depression, ranging from the normal ‘blues’ to mild depression (dysthymia) to major depression. Women have a much higher incidence than man. Normal depressed mood is a healthy reaction to, say a death in the family, changes in life or work, temporary financial problems etc. It often stimulates the person to make changes that will render the situation bearable. Persons with more debilitating depression have feelings of doom and gloom, despair and hopelessness. They will cry for no apparent reason, have loss of appetite, are tired and want to sleep all the time but may also have difficulty doing so. Another usual complaint is loss of interest in activities they previously found pleasurable. For some, thoughts of suicide are prevalent. People with manic depressive disorder, or bipolar disorder, have alternating bouts of depression with episodes of intense excitement and mania.”

Tags: General, East and West, Disease by DAAN
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Chinese medicine can alleviate your headache.

“More than 45 million people in the United States experience chronic, recurring headaches, and, of these, 28 million also suffer migraines. Approximately 4 percent of adults experience headaches almost daily.”

Tags: Acupuncture, Herbs by DAAN
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Alternative medicine is gaining popularity in Australia, especially acupuncture.

DAAN offers acupuncture treatment, please contact us to set up an appointment.

“ALTERNATIVE therapies could become part of mainstream medicine within five years, following the funding of a Queensland research centre.
Prof Luis Vitetta, from the University of Queensland’s medical school, said GPs should prepare for the change by taking courses in natural medicine, including acupuncture, aromatherapy and reflexology.

The National Institute of Complementary Medicine has awarded Prof Vitetta $660,000 to set up a clinic at UQ for the research of alternative treatments.”

Tags: Acupuncture, DAAN by DAAN
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Researchers in Europe have evidence that acupuncture treatments can help relieve hot flashes caused by Tamoxifen, a common drug used to treat breast cancer:

“Acupuncture reduced by half the hot flushes caused by tamoxifen in a small clinical trial involving 59 breast cancer patients after surgery. Relief was experienced both day and night, and the reduction in hot flushes was seen 3 months after the last acupuncture treatment.

These results were presented today at the European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC) in Berlin, Germany, by Jill Hervik, a physiotherapist and acupuncturist at the Vestfold Central Hospital, Tønsberg, Norway. She was working with Odd Mjåland, MD, PhD, from Sørlandet Hospital in Kristiansand, Norway.

Acupuncture is being used increasingly in Western countries to treat hot flushes associated with the menopause, Ms. Hervik commented, and this study shows that it “seems to provide effective relief from hot flushes, both day and night, for women taking tamoxifen after surgery for breast cancer.”

The treatment effect seems to coincide with a general improvement in well-being, as measured by the Kupperman Index, which assesses quality of life, she told a press briefing. Acupuncture is inexpensive and does not cause adverse side effects, she pointed out. “Our results suggest that acupuncture could be used more widely for treating breast cancer patients suffering from symptoms related to their anti-estrogen medication.”"

Tags: Acupuncture, Women's Health by DAAN
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Studies suggest that ginseng could help with cancer pain:

“American ginseng may reduce fatigue and increase overall psychological well-being in cancer patients, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, N.Y., and presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

“We hope that Wisconsin ginseng may offer us a much-needed treatment to improve our patients’ quality of life, and we look forward to further evaluation,” said lead researcher Debra Barton of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group.

Researchers treated 282 cancer patients with a daily dose of either a placebo or of 750, 1,000 or 2,000 milligrams of Wisconsin ginseng. They found that treatment with the placebo or the 750-mg dose caused very little improvement in measures of fatigue or physical or psychological well-being. Treatment with the higher doses, however, led to an improvement in overall energy and vitality levels, a decrease in fatigue and an improvement in overall emotional, mental, physical and spiritual well-being.

Extreme fatigue is a common symptom among cancer patients, one that often cannot be remedied by increased rest or sleep.

Ginseng has a long history of use in Asian and indigenous American cultures. In modern times, it is most often used to increase energy levels and stamina and to reduce stress or fatigue. It also reportedly can aid in the treatment of cancer and diabetes and can reduce obesity risk.”

Tags: Ginseng by DAAN
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An interesting article about traditional Tibetan medicine:

“Tibetan medicine plays an important role in the Tibetan’s daily life. It’s regarded as a holistic system, which addresses the needs of the body, mind and spirit.

Tonzhub says although Tibetan medicine is based on a different pathology compared with other medical theories, its unique characteristics makes it an inseparable part in today’s medical world.

Tonzhub said, “Traditional Tibetan medicine is purely natural and unpolluted. It has unique curative effect. I believe Tibetan medicine will play a bigger role in China and the world in the 21 century.”

Traditional Tibetan Medicine has some similarities with both traditional Indian and Chinese medicine. Meanwhile, it has a genesis, history, and development of its own, which is rooted in the Tibetan landscape, the indigenous culture, and the spirit of the Tibetan people.

These Tangkas record the development of the Tibetan medicine for the past 1000 or so years. Even today, they are still of great research value in our modern economic and social life.

One of the unique features of Traditional Tibetan Medicine is that although it is generally practiced alongside Buddhism, it contains a comprehensive philosophy, cosmology with spiritual practices. In addition, Tibetan medicine encompasses a wealth of knowledge on anatomy and physiology, embryology and pathology. The science of Traditional Tibetan Medicine includes diversified herbal pharmacy, as well as external therapies which are little-known in the western world. “

Tags: Herbs, Culture by DAAN
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Good article about depression from a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspective:

“‘’Depression'’ in Chinese medicine is defined as a disorder caused by emotional constraint with stagnation of Qi (energy), with typical symptoms such as: lowering of the spirits, irritability, inclination to cry, distention and pain in hypochondria area, insomnia and sometimes a feeling of a foreign body in the throat (A plumb stone throat). It is not the exact equivalent of depression in Western medicine, but they share common features. The first medical book, ‘’the yellow emperor’s classic of internal Medicine'’ (I’ve referred to many times in previous articles) already contained theories on the origin of depression. In TCM, mental and/or emotional problems such as depression are attributed to an imbalance or blockage in one or more of the internal organs (Zang-Fu) Some of the more common patterns of disharmony that can manifest as depression are:

· Stagnation of Liver Qi with such symptoms as uneasiness, hypochondriac distention, belching, anorexia etc.
· Accumulation of phlegm with symptoms such as distention and pain in the flanks, depressed mood,
· Heart yin deficiency with symptoms such as Palpitations, forgetfulness, insomnia etc..

Usually people begin to experience some signs and symptoms such as the ones mentioned above. left untreated, the disorder will spread and involve other organs. That is why in TCM we recommend early diagnosis and treatment. The longer a person waits to be treated, the more treatments he or she will need. Acupuncture is used as the main modality, but is often supplemented with Chinese herbal formulas. A new pilot study in the university of Arizona confirmed that TCM is a promising treatment for mild to major depression. 70% of participants experienced at least 50% reduction of symptoms, comparable to the success rates of psychotherapy and medication. This was the first (to my knowledge) randomized, controlled double blinded study of Acupuncture’s effectiveness for depression reported in Western scientific literature. ”

Tags: Acupuncture, Disease by DAAN
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A tour of tea shops in Hong Kong:

“I started my tea trail at the Cat St trinket markets, a neighbourhood studded with tiny shops selling tiny teapots and even tinier teacups – about the size of a shot glass.

There’s a Chinese legend about getting drunk from drinking too much tea, but I’d need a bigger cup before that happened.

The shelves of the tea shops are decorated with ornate fine china styled with motifs of dragons, goldfish and the wise figure of Luk Yu. This eighth-century poet documented his passion for the cultivation and culture of tea, his status among centuries of Chinese connoisseurs reaching the realms of deity. An afternoon of shopping in Sheung Wan left me ready to relax and take the weight off my feet.

A short walk from the Star Ferry Terminal at Victoria Harbour is the Peninsula Hotel, where the service at afternoon tea could hardly be better if Queen Elizabeth visited daily.

The best cup of tea at the Peninsula is not the Earl Grey with cucumber sandwiches, but the one you get upstairs while waiting for a massage treatment at the Peninsula Spa.

What cup of tea wouldn’t be remembered fondly when you’re immersed in a world of sandstone and silk, awaiting the skilled hands of Hong Kong’s best masseurs?”

Visit DAAN’s product pages for a list of all the teas we carry. We’ve also put together some more detailed info about teas here.

Tags: Tea by DAAN
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A recent study indicates Chinese herbs are better at relieving menstrual pain than Western drugs:

“Chinese herbal medicine appears to be more effective at relieving menstrual cramps and pain than pharmaceutical drugs, acupuncture or heat compression therapy, according to a new study conducted by Australian researchers and published in the journal Cochrane Library.

“All available measures of effectiveness confirmed the overall superiority of Chinese herbal medicine to placebo, no treatment, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, oral contraceptive pills, acupuncture and heat compression,” said lead researcher Xiaoshu Zhu, from the Center for Complementary Medicine Research at the University of Western Sydney.

Researchers conducted an analysis of data from 39 different randomized, controlled trials that involved a total of 3,475 women. Women in these trials were given traditional Chinese herbs including cinnamon bark (rougui), Chinese angelica root (danggui), fennel fruit (huixiang), licorice root (gancao), Szechuan lovage root (chuanxiong), Chinese motherwort (yimucao), nut-grass rhizome (xiangfu), red peony root (chishao) and white peony root (baishao). The treatments were carried out in a traditional way to regulate energy (qi) and blood, warm the body and improve liver and kidney functioning.

The researchers found that Chinese herbal treatments led to a significant reduction in the symptoms of menstrual cramps, and that the degree of pain reduction was higher than that from other treatments. In one study, 53 percent of women receiving Chinese herbal treatment reported decreased pain, in comparison with only 26 percent of the women receiving a placebo treatment.”

DAAN has put together some more information about herbs for menstrual pain here. Also visit our product pages for some good products for women’s health.

Tags: Women's Health, Herbs by DAAN
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An interesting article about an acupuncture practitioner in Appalachia explaining how acupuncture works:

“The thought of having needles or pins placed from head to toe is enough to make some cringe - unless they are a fan of acupuncture.

“The idea behind acupuncture is that we have a vital life force running through us through channels, much like a stream,” oriental medicine doctor and licensed acupuncturist Robert E. Robinson said.

“Thousands of years ago, Chinese men and women discovered the art of stimulating the energy and organs of the body through the application of pressure and heat,” Robinson said. “They used special points which formed patterns on the surface of the body. These points are known today as ‘acupuncture meridians.’”

Through “the application of very fine needles or heat on these pathways, one is able to influence the body’s natural flow of energy known as “qi” [pronounced “chee”].”

There are 365 main points of acupuncture and over 1000 “extra points.”

The ear alone has 200 points used to control various parts of the entire body.

Walking into an acupuncture clinic, it is likely that the smell of burning moxa, commonly known as mugwort, will be present.

The scent and heat of it is used to stimulate blood flow allowing for a smoother qi, Robinson said.

Acupuncture needles range in size from one to 10.

A size-one needle is the needle of choice for Robinson, and is hardly larger than a strand of fishing line; comparably, a size-10 needle closely resembles the size of a cross stitch needle.

“The Japanese believe you don’t need to feel the needle for the treatment to be effective and I want as little discomfort for the patient as possible,” Robinson said. “Many say they can’t feel it until they get to the hands or feet where there are more nerve endings.”

Robinson described the sensation as that of a mosquito bite that quickly fades.

Robinson believes that acupuncture can be used to treat almost anything.”

Tags: Acupuncture by DAAN
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