Compared with usual treatment, battlefield auricular acupuncture was associated with reduced sore throat pain for 24 hours and decreased use of pain medication for up to 48 hours. There was no apparent effect on hours missed from work.
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The CEO of Aetna Health, Mark Bertolini, had a horrible ski accident that left him in great pain. In his long recovery, he discovered that he couldn’t function well under the adverse effects of the opioids and other medications that regular medicine and insurance companies support. He found relief in yoga, acupuncture, meditation, and the services of a naturopathic doctor. The stories are all too familiar.
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Tibetan Medicine, particularly, has evolved into its own art & science, woven together with Mahayana Buddhist practice. It works with herbs, with needles, pulse diagnosis and many other techniques. And, it works with the sacred.
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The article explains the scientific reasons for the diaphragm muscle being an important crossroads for information involving the entire body. The diaphragm muscle extends from the trigeminal system to the pelvic floor, passing from the thoracic diaphragm to the floor of the mouth. Like many structures in the human body, the diaphragm muscle has more than one function, and has links throughout the body, and provides the network necessary for breathing. To assess and treat this muscle effectively, it is necessary to be aware of its anatomic, fascial, and neurologic complexity in the control of breathing. The patient is never a symptom localized, but a system that adapts to a corporeal dysfunction.
AA VV, Anatomia dell’uomo, 4 ed, Edi.ermes, Milano [Several authors, Human Anatomy, Fourth Edition, edition EdiErmes]. www.eenet.it. Bordoni, B., & Zanier, E. (2013). Anatomic connections of the diaphragm: Influence of respiration on the body system. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 6, 281-291. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S45443
Butter tea is a traditional food from Tibet where the caloric and micronutrient value of yak butter provided much-need sustenance against rugged terrain, bitter cold weather and a lifestyle marked by the physical hardship of mountain living. Natives to the area would drink cups and cups of the bitter, milky tea throughout the day for sustenance.
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The acupuncture classic Zhen Jiu Da Cheng (Great Compendium on Acupuncture and Moxibustion) dictates that the Governor meridian should be targeted in the treatment of brain illnesses; the Baihui and Shenting acupoints are both located along this meridian. Administering acupuncture on these acupoints can improve qi and blood circulation along the Governor meridian, reinforce the Yang element, and fight depression. It is worth noting that the Baihui, Shenting and Sishencong acupoints are located on the frontal lobe surface projection zone.
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When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. After a year of adjusting medications and supplements to control a heart rhythm condition in my patient, "Billie," she came in with a big smile and a bounce. In this case, she was the teacher.
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The Mayo Clinic teamed up with Beyond Verbal, a voice analytics company, to identify links between vocal features and coronary artery disease. CAD is the most common heart disease, where plaque builds up in the arteries, causing heart attacks. The study’s diagnostic tool found that a single biomarker in the voice signal was associated with a 19-fold increased likelihood of CAD.
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Piercing a vein or small artery at the tip of the body-finger tips, toes, or top of the ears-is a technique well-known among acupuncturists. To the uninitiated Westerner, this therapy may seem even stranger than standard needling that is explained as a method of adjusting the flow of qi in the vessels. In this case, a few drops of blood let out from one or more peripheral points by quickly stabbing the skin with a lance is said to have significant effects.
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The changing setting in which Chinese medicine is practiced in modern versus ancient times, especially with the advent of advanced technological medical diagnostics, has raised questions as to the value of pulse diagnosis. Should its use be limited to confirming a diagnosis reached by other means? Or, does the pulse information add critical information that can greatly alter the treatment strategy? Training in pulse diagnosis is often quite limited; further, the requisites for carrying out a traditional style diagnosis are sometimes absent from the clinical setting, making the results of the pulse taking less certain. How does one get the desired information under such circumstances?
Image sourced from ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363593398/figure/fig1/AS:11431281085586999@1663787000891/Traditional-Chinese-medicine-pulse-diagnosis-diagram.jpg
Wild rice with Astragalus, Turmeric buttermilk biscuits, spiced pumpkin and Reishi Mushroom pie.
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Although massage is one of the most popular complementary and alternative medical (CAM) treatments for anxiety, its effectiveness has never been rigorously evaluated for a diagnosed anxiety disorder. This study evaluates the effectiveness of therapeutic massage for persons with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
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Phlegm is a product of the body's activities acting upon qi and moisture taken in with food and beverages; it is "congealed moisture." Unlike qi, phlegm is always viewed by Chinese physicians as substantive and stagnating rather than light and flowing, though there are two kinds of phlegm: the visible, which has greater accumulation of matter, and the invisible, which is finely divided, though not as fine as qi. Phlegm is, in some ways, comparable to another body humor, blood, which is also produced by the body's activities acting upon qi, and is a sticky substance that shares some of the same potential pathologies with phlegm: deficiency, inadequate circulation, firm coagulation, and complexing with heat or cold factors.
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Dragons (Chinese: long) are a potent and prominent symbol in Chinese culture. The origin of the dragon image is unknown because it is so ancient. However, it is not unreasonable to assume that some of the massive fossilized bones encountered in several parts of China, including dinosaur and mammoth bones, were thought by ancient people to be those of huge dragons.
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"We found that immune cells in the spleen can contribute to chronic anxiety following psychological stress," said Daniel McKim, a graduate student at The Ohio State University and the lead author of the study.
"Our findings emphasize the possibility that the immune system represents a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of mental health conditions."
Credit: George Hodan/public domain. Scientists are uncovering clues. Image sourced from Science X. Available at: https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2014/stress.jpg
On virtually every other street corner, in every city or town or village in India, there is a chai wallah — a tea vendor who supplies the piping hot, milky brew that fuels the country.And because everybody — politicians, rickshaw drivers, schoolteachers — needs a daily cuppa, chai wallahs get to meet people from every walk of life.
Ravi, a chai wallah in the south Indian city of Pollachi. Photo courtesy of Zach Marks and Resham Gellatly. Image sourced from NPR. Available at: https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2016/06/13/9.pollachi_smaller_custom-f67d9f788f02f112013d8771b5e6a64de81f2ece.jpg?s=800&c=85&f=webp
Considerable health benefit is attributed to Ku Ding Cha. In traditional Chinese medicine terms, it is used to disperse wind-heat, clear the head and the eyes, and resolve toxin, thus being used for common cold, rhinitis, itching eyes, red eyes, and headache. In addition, it is said to calm fidgets and alleviate thirst, especially when one is suffering from a disease that causes fever or severe diarrhea. It transforms phlegm and alleviates coughing, thus used in treating bronchitis. Finally, it is said to invigorate digestion and improve mental focus and memory.
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Generally, alopecia is interpreted by Chinese doctors as the result of a deficiency syndrome, specifically involving blood deficiency, with generation of internal wind or invasion of external wind that affects the head; the situation is sometimes complicated by blood stasis and/or blood heat. The belief that there is an influence of wind in the etiology of the hair loss is reflected in the Chinese name for the disease, which is youfeng, literally oil-wind. The reference to oil, which can also mean glossy, is an expression characterizing the smooth, shiny scalp appearance where the hair has been lost. The Chinese name has led to some humorous translations; in the package insert for Alopecia Areata Pills, the primary indication is for "grease hair dropping."
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In a recent paper published in the journal Trends in Neuroscience, Oxford psychiatrists urge the scientific community to look beyond probiotics to consider a wider class of “psychobiotics” ― a new scientific term referring to any intervention that has an effect on mental health by way of changes in the gut microbiome.
Photo by TLFurrer via Getty Images. Scientists are looking to gut bacteria to improve mood and cognition. Image sourced from HuffPost. Available at: https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/581a00ff190000a304c306c3.jpeg?ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp
Herb/Dietary Supplements (HDS) are the most popular Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) modality used by cancer patients and the only type which involves the ingestion of substances which may interfere with the efficacy and safety of conventional medicines. This study aimed to assess the level of use of HDS in cancer patients undergoing treatment in the UK, and their perceptions of their effects, using 127 case histories of patients who were taking HDS. Previous studies have evaluated the risks of interactions between HDS and conventional drugs on the basis on numbers of patient using HDSs, so our study aimed to further this exploration by examining the actual drug combinations taken by individual patients and their potential safety.
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