Feb 05

Acupuncture and joint relief

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More evidence is presented in a recent study on the effectiveness of acupuncture in relieving joint symptoms in breast cancer treatment.

Acupuncture May Improve Joint Symptoms in Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Aromatase Inhibitors
For women treated with aromatase inhibitors for early breast cancer, acupuncture may help to relieve the joint pain and stiffness that sometimes accompanies these drugs. The results of this study were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

The majority of breast cancers are hormone receptor-positive. These cancers are stimulated to grow by the circulating female hormones estrogen and/or progesterone. Treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer often includes hormonal therapies that suppress or block the action of estrogen. These therapies include tamoxifen [Nolvadex®] as well as agents known as aromatase inhibitors. Tamoxifen acts by blocking estrogen receptors, whereas aromatase inhibitors suppress the production of estrogen in postmenopausal women.

Joint pain and stiffness are one of the potential side effects of aromatase inhibitor therapy. Successful management of this side effect could improve quality of life and reduce the likelihood that patients will discontinue aromatase inhibitor therapy.

Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that aims to improve health by stimulating specific points of the body.[1]

To explore the effects of acupuncture on aromatase inhibitor-associated joint pain, researchers conducted a study among 43 women.[2] All of the study participants were receiving an aromatase inhibitor for early breast cancer, and all reported musculoskeletal pain.

Study participants were assigned to receive either true acupuncture or sham acupuncture twice a week for six weeks. Sham acupuncture involved superficial needle insertion at nonacupoint locations.

Women treated with true acupuncture experienced improvement in joint pain and stiffness over the course of the study. No such improvement was observed among women treated with sham acupuncture.

The results of this study suggest that acupuncture may help women manage the joint pain and stiffness that can accompany aromatase inhibitor treatment.

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Feb 01

Get more sleep

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Many of us are suffering from lack of sleep, this article explains how traditional Chinese medicine can help have a more restful evening.

This month HuffPost Living has featured an abundance of great articles on the importance of sleep, with excellent tips on how to enhance your slumber from experts in a variety of fields.

An approach that can also aid in the quest for a good night’s sleep is that of Chinese Medicine. This ancient healing system has offered relief to the sleep challenged for thousands of years. While new to many, Chinese Medicine is mainstream in China, and it is used today for a wide range of conditions by an estimated one-fourth of the world’s population.

The Roots of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine is considered the oldest, most continuously practiced, professional, literate medicine in the world. Written records date back over 2000 years, although the medicine is believed to go back even further. Some experts believe Chinese Medicine is at least 5000 years old.

Chinese Medicine employs acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional therapy, tuina (pronounced “twee nah”) massage, acupressure, and qigong.

The Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) is considered the Bible of Chinese Medicine, emphasizing medical theory and acupuncture. Some scholars estimate that it dates back to the first century B.C. In addition, The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica Classic) details the medicinal uses of 365 herbs and is believed to have been compiled around 200 A.D. Many of the protocols mentioned in these ancient texts are still used today.

Chinese Medicine and the West

The development of East-West relations has promoted the use and interest of Chinese Medicine in the United States. During the past 30 years, the practice of Chinese Medicine has dramatically increased here. The National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) has reported that visits to Chinese Medicine practitioners in the U.S. tripled from 1997 to 2007.

At the same time, the United States is seeing an increase in the practice of integrative medicine. University centers and hospitals are offering Chinese Medicine. Integration has been common in China, where Chinese Medicine is often practiced side-by-side with Western Medicine.

The Chinese Medicine Approach to Sleep

Insomnia comes in various forms, such as trouble falling sleep, difficulty staying asleep, and having dream-disturbed sleep. When a Chinese Medicine practitioner is gathering information to put together a treatment plan, the pattern of the sleep disturbance as well as health and lifestyle issues will be taken into consideration.

A Chinese Medicine practitioner might use the term “calm the shen” when describing a treatment principle. “Shen” is best translated as the spirit of the person in a nonreligious sense. When evaluating Shen, the Chinese Medicine practitioner is looking for the emotional state and presence (or lack) of radiance, calm, and balance. Often with sleep disturbances, the patient will be experiencing patterns of stress, anxiety, or agitation. Chinese Medicine would call this “disturbed shen.”

Treatment for insomnia from a Chinese Medicine practitioner could include one or more of the following therapies: acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional counseling, Chinese massage (acupressure/tuina), and qigong.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into specific points of the body to reduce pain, to promote relaxation, and to treat various health concerns. Insomnia and sleep disorders are common reasons why people visit an acupuncturist.

The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) lists insomnia as a condition for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown. Continuous research is underway to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for sleep issues. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a review of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture treatment for insomnia. After looking at 46 randomized trials, the conclusion was that acupuncture appears to be effective in the treatment of insomnia, and larger, rigorously designed trials are warranted.

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Jan 31

Acupuncture for PTSD

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In the search for ways to cope with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some patients are finding relief with acupuncture:

When you think of post- traumatic stress, you probably don’t think of feet.

But it’s one of the first places Dr. Lori Jones looks. This English-born acupuncturist says it may look odd – but she nestles needles into specific points on the body. She says that promotes healing.

“We’re not only physical beings,” she explained, “We have our minds and we have our emotions, and when you put the needle in, you can affect those.”

Dr. Jones says she can treat mental and emotional issues — from attention deficit to autism, to post-traumatic stress disorder.

“The incredible thing with using acupuncture is that we have – and certainly my experience is – 97% of any client who comes to me with PTSD gets better within a few weeks. That’s a pretty phenomenal statement.”

She says ally is one of those clients.

“I was actually shot 8 times, in my back and in my arms,” the woman said, quite calmly. Her only physical sign of that robbery last summer is this sling on her arm. But she constantly worries about who is on the other side of her door.

“It’s basically a huge nightmare, is what it is,” she said. “And it’s just something you have to work through, and that’s what I’m doing right now.”

But she says the needles go deeper than her skin. “It just works,” she shrugged. “I can’t tell you how, I just know.”

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Jan 24

Electro-acupuncture for arthritis of the knee

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A recent study shows that some patients with arthritis may benefit from electo-acupuncture, a procedure where electric impulses are delivered by the acupuncture needles to provide more stimulation of the acupuncture pints:

he study, published in the journal Pain, looked at the effects of electro-acupuncture among 40 adults with knee osteoarthritis — the common “wear-and-tear” form of arthritis in which the cartilage cushioning the joints breaks down.

Electro-acupuncture is similar to traditional acupuncture, where fine needles are inserted into specific points in the skin. What’s different is that the practitioner fits the needles with clips that are attached to a small device that delivers a continuous electrical impulse to stimulate the acupuncture point.

Among the patients in the current study, those who had a daily electro-acupuncture session for 10 consecutive days reported greater improvement in their pain compared with patients who received a “sham” version of the therapy.

Patients in that latter group received acupuncture, but the needles were inserted at random points on the skin rather than traditional acupuncture sites. And while the needles were attached to the electrical device, it was not actually turned on.

The findings suggest that true electro-acupuncture may offer at least short-term pain relief to knee arthritis sufferers, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Sadia Ahsin of the Army Medical College Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

Acupuncture has been used for more than 2,000 years in Chinese medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. According to traditional medicine, specific acupuncture points on the skin are connected to internal pathways that conduct energy, or qi (“chee”), and stimulating these points with a fine needle promotes the healthy flow of qi.

Modern research has suggested that acupuncture may help ease pain by altering signals among nerve cells or affecting the release of various chemicals of the central nervous system, such as pain-killing endorphins.

In their study, Ahsin and colleagues found that electro-acupuncture appeared to raise patients’ blood levels of endorphins and lower their levels of the hormone cortisol, which tends to rise during physical or mental stress. So it’s possible that these changes explain the greater pain relief, according to the researchers.

Larger, longer-term studies are still needed to see whether electro-acupuncture can have lasting benefits — and to find out how often patients would need treatment to gain those benefits.

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Jan 23

Facelifts with acupuncture?

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It may sound strange, but many people are using acupuncture to get a ‘facelift” and achieve a more youthful appearance, without resorting to surgery:

Interested in getting a face lift? Rather than chasing the latest fad, you might consider an alternative. Traditional Chinese Medicine has been using its tools and talents for thousands of years for cosmetic purposes. Doctors first developed this art in the process of treating patients with acupuncture who had suffered facial paralysis. It quickly became evident that the specific placement of acupuncture needles not only had a therapeutic effect, but also created dramatic cosmetic results.

Face lifts are by far the most common elective cosmetic surgery. Though common, surgical face lifts carry risks, can have permanent and unforeseen consequences, and often create an unnatural look. And chemical peels? In addition to burning your skin, those chemicals are absorbed directly into the bloodstream. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard enough time keeping chemicals out of my air, water, and food to go dumping them into my face.

Not to worry, the techniques utilized in Chinese medicine offers the aesthetically conscious consumer a very safe, affordable alternative. Facial rejuvenation experts are able to use acupuncture and Chinese herbs to greatly enhance skin tone, luster, and elasticity. Traditional Chinese physicians are able to work with your own body mechanics to restore your inherent, natural radiance and vitality – thus the term facial rejuvenation. True beauty can’t be faked or forced – it only comes from within. Chinese medicine understands that true beauty is only possible with physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Your physician will not only help you to look healthier and more youthful, but feel that way as well. Living with grace and beauty – this is the treatment philosophy that life beauty makes the human body beautiful. Don’t fake beauty – feel it and live it.

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Jan 21

Acupuncture boosts libido

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Acupuncture can boost libido and enhances one’s sexual pleasure.

The Henry Ford Hospital study revealed that acupuncture, when compared to drug therapy, has a longer-lasting effect on the reduction of hot flashes and night sweats for women receiving hormone therapy for breast cancer treatment.

Women also report that acupuncture improves their energy and clarity of thought, and improve their sense of well-being.

“Acupuncture offers patients a safe, effective and durable treatment option for hot flashes, something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors. Compared to drug therapy, acupuncture actually has benefits, as opposed to more side effects,” said study lead author Eleanor Walker, M.D., division director of breast services in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Henry Ford Hospital.

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During the study, Walker and her research team recruited 50 patients tested the use of acupuncture to combat vasomotor symptoms in breast cancer patients as an alternative to drug therapy.

The patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or venlafaxine treatment for 12 weeks.

At the end of 12 weeks, all patients stopped their therapy and were followed for one year.

The study found that both groups initially experienced a 50 percent decline in hot flashes and depressive symptoms, indicating that acupuncture is as effective as drug therapy.

However, the acupuncture group continued to experience minimal hot flashes, while the drug therapy group had a significant increase in hot flashes.

The acupuncture group did not experience an increase in the frequency of their hot flashes until three months post-treatment.

The study is published online in the Journal of Oncology.

Source: Indian Express

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Jan 20

Acupuncture reduces painful side effects of breast cancer treatments

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Acupuncture is found to be effective in reducing painful side effects of breast cancer treatments.

A new medical study finds that acupuncture, an ancient form of healing that has been around for thousands of years, is as good as, or better than modern medicine in helping ease the side effects of breast cancer treatment.

Acupuncture may alleviate some unpleasant side effects of hormone therapy.The findings, which were presented today at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology’s annual meeting in Boston, suggest that this ancient therapy can give cancer patients a wide range of benefits above modern medicine.

Cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, which kills breast cancer cells, can wreak havoc on a woman’s body, throwing many into menopause with severe symptoms.

“I got about two hot flashes an hour,” said Susan Azar, 43, a breast cancer survivor. “Very intense ones where you would break out in a sweat.”

The “conventional” remedy for Azar’s chemotherapy-induced hot flashes is a daily anti-depressant. But these pills can produce side effects of their own, including dizziness, nausea and constipation.

In an effort to find a way to alleviate some of chemotherapy’s symptoms, Azar enrolled in a clinical trial to receive acupuncture once or twice a week, for 30- to 45-minute sessions.

“Two to three weeks into the study, you start to notice the hot flashes, the intensity and the frequency would decline,” Azar said.

Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese therapy, practiced for thousands of years, uses very thin needles to reduce pressure at specific points. Most patients do not feel any pain from the needles.

Most women in the study said they saw the same dramatic effect from the acupuncture treatment as Azar did.

“Acupuncture is equal to drug therapy in decreasing hot flashes,” said Dr. Eleanor Walker at the Henry Ford Hospital and lead author of the study. And even better, she said, it has no side

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Jan 20

Acupuncture for wellness

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Many people have turned to acupuncture for health and wellness.

Three people explain to SYLVIA THOMPSON how acupuncture has helped them cope better with health conditions

IN THE past 10 years or so, acupuncture has become one of the most popular and widely accepted treatment approaches outside the conventional medical model in Europe and the United States.

In her book, Alternative Medicine? (Oxford University Press), Roberta Bivins writes that “although acupuncture’s mechanism remained mysterious to Western medicine – and is unexplained in biomedical terms today – it was not deemed as quackery”. She describes waves of popularity from the 1820s to the 1960s.

Recent scientific studies comparing acupuncture to Western medical treatments for various medical conditions (eg post-operative pain, migraine) have also heightened its profile.

And, in Ireland, the recent amalgamation of several professional associations to form two main bodies representing acupuncturists – the Acupuncture Council of Ireland (www.acupuncturecouncil.ie) and the Acupuncture Foundation Professional Association (www.acupro.ie) – has helped give the therapy better professional status.

This month, both organisations are holding public talks, demonstrations and promotions on the use of acupuncture for weight loss and smoking cessation and other conditions (see websites for details).

Below, we talk to three people who use acupuncture as part of their treatment approach for back pain, multiple sclerosis/arthritis and general health maintenance.

Joan Casey (45) is a former engineer who now works as a teacher of English as a second language.

Casey first went to an acupuncturist about 12 years ago after she stopped working in a well paid but highly pressurised job in the corporate sector.

“I was burnt out at the time and going for acupuncture helped me get some clarity about what to do next,” she explains.

“At first, the sessions helped with the exhaustion but then I realised that they also helped me deal with emotional stuff that I hadn’t recognised before. I felt lightened and energised afterwards.”

Over the next five years or so, Casey ran her own organic wine business and turned to acupuncture for support. “It’s easy to drift off track of your own well-being and I found that my acupuncturist, Anna Mary Luttrel, could read where I was at health-wise. I would go to her when things were off balance and then not go again for a few years,” she explains.

In September of last year, Casey returned to her acupuncturist when she felt run down. “I also wanted to give up cigarettes so firstly we worked together to build up my energy levels. I gave up cigarettes four weeks ago and I continue to go for acupuncture once a week to help me adjust to that,” she explains.

Working now as a teacher of English as a second language, Casey is planning to go to Japan for a four-month teaching post.

“Basically, I use acupuncture for health maintenance. I haven’t been to a GP since I started having acupuncture.”

John Brennan (54) works as a farrier in Co Limerick.

Jan 19

Cancer patients using TCM with Western treatments

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In a research study, more than half of the cancer patients are using Traditional Chinese Medicine together with their Western treatment.

A survey done in Hong Kong found that more than half of the cancer patients studied combined Western medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine with the Western treatment they were undergoing (reported in 7th Space Interactive ).

Data was collected from almost 800 cancer patients in Hong Kong. Of those, 42.9% used Western medicine practices for cancer treatment exclusively. The remaining 57.1% used at least one form of Traditional Chinese Medicine and 5 patients used TCM exclusively. Interestingly, many of the cancer patients did not tell their doctors that they were using TCM along with the Western treatments. The Chinese patients were not comfortable talking about their preferences, at least with their doctors who are practicing Western medicine. 

 Some of my patients have experienced the same discomfort talking to their Western medical doctors about alternative treatments, but they are becoming fewer and fewer. Today, more physicians are knowledgeable about TCM, many are comfortable and some are actively curious. I believe that patients have led this change and am happy to see us move toward a more integrative approach to health care.

Jan 19

Facial acupuncture as an alternative to botox

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Facial acupuncture could provide same results for those who are seeking a more youthful appearance.

If you want to achieve noticeable results from a facial, it needs to be drastic.

The traditional combination of cleansing, toning and a facemask may leave you feeling relaxed and your skin looking rosy, but in reality it will make more difference to your mood than your skin and – in my experience – the results will be gone by the following day. Acupuncturist Annee de Mamiel, however, is a results-driven therapist.

After taking your medical history, Annee uses Chinese medicine principles to assess your body’s areas of weakness before identifying problem areas on your face.

Next, she inserts very fine disposable needles into the specific points mine were in my forehead and jawline, mainly – to create a ‘micro-trauma’, prompting increased blood flow and nutrients to flow to the area, kickstarting the skin’s rejuvenation process.

Needles are also placed in specific sites around the body before Annee gets to work with a Tui’na, a stimulating Chinese massage. The needles stay in for about 30-45 minutes.

The final stage of the process occurs after they are removed, when your face is massaged with a bespoke oil before you wander back to the relaxation room for a specially blended medicinal tea.

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I am a great believer in acupuncture, but I didn’t really know what to expect from a facial using it. Annee tells me that people normally book a course of treatments to see the best results, but that after just one sessionmy face would appear more ‘open’.

Amazingly, when I looked in the mirror, the lines from my nose to my mouth had completely disappeared, as if I’d had some sort of filler.

Annee believes facial acupuncture can provide results equivalent to Botox, and if I had these results based upon one treatment, I can believe her.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beauty/article-1244023/Treatment-week-How-facial-acupuncture-results-good-Botox.html#ixzz0cyh1W5RC

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