Why Acupuncture aids spinal recovery

Rats with damaged spines can walk again thanks to acupuncture. But it's not due to improvements in their energy flow or "chi". Instead, the ancient treatment seems to stop nerve cell death by reducing inflammation.

Acupuncture's scientific credentials are growing. Trials show that it improves sensory and motor functions in people with spinal cord injuries.

To find out why, Doo Choi and his colleagues at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, damaged the spines of 75 rats. One-third were given acupuncture in two locations: Shuigou – between their snout and mouth, and Yanglingquan – in the upper hind leg. Others received no treatment or "simulated acupuncture".

After 35 days, the acupuncture group were able to stand at a steeper incline than the others and walk better. Staining their paws with ink revealed that their forelimb-hindlimb coordination was fairly consistent and that there was very little toe dragging, whereas the control groups still dragged their feet.

Inflamed spines

The rats in the acupuncture group also had less nerve cell death and lower levels of proteins known to induce inflammation after spinal cord injury and make neural damage worse.

One explanation is that sharp needles prompt a stress response that dampens down inflammation. In humans, the inflammation that follows spinal cord injury is known to be responsible for nerve cell death.

Zhen Zheng of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia says the results are "very encouraging". But she says we don't yet know if the results will apply to humans.

For example, the acupuncture treatment on the rats was given almost immediately after injury, but most patients don't seek acupuncture until at least three months after damage to their spines.

Journal reference: Neurobiology of Disease, DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2010.04.003

1 in 6 people suffer from chronic headaches

Randomised controlled trials confirm that Acupuncture is a viable treatment for headaches and migraines.
It is more effective then medication in reducing the severity and frequency of chronic headaches, according to a new analysis conducted by Duke University Medical Center researchers.
In 17 studies comparing acupuncture to medication, the researchers found that 62% of the acupuncture patients reported headache relief compared to only 45% of people taking medication. These acupuncture patients also reported a feeling of general well-being compared to the medication group.

Acupuncture reduces side effects of chemo therapy

In a Queensland first the Mater Hospital is combining conventional treatments with complementary medicine to help reduce the side effects of chemo therapy.

Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA) Member Chris McKeon is involved in the pilot study at the Mater Adult Hospital which offers complementary therapies such as acupuncture and massage, to ease the side effects of cancer treatments.

Chris McKeon says, ‘Acupuncture can help with fatigue and pain they (patients) are experiencing and also aids with nausea and vomiting’.

The trial is made possible financially by funds raised by the ride for Smiddy Charity, but driving this pilot trail further will take a lot more generosity.

The Mater Oncology Unit sees 750 patients per month, if this pilot trial is successful and the funding comes in it’s hoped all of their patients will have free access to these services.

Crohn's disease

In a study published in the journal, Digestion, acupuncture was found effective for treating Crohn's disease.
Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disease which involves chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. The main symptoms of Crohn's disease are abdominal pain, fever, fatigue and persistent, watery diarrhea. Symptoms range from mild to severe, and can come and go with periods of flare-ups.

In this German study, 51 patients with mild to moderately active Crohn's disease had a decrease in disease activity after receiving 10 sessions of acupuncture. Study members also showed an improvement in general well-being and reported an improvement in quality of life.

Originally posted by Diane Joswick (Acufinder)

Acupuncture for colds and flu

Acupuncture, being used a lot for prevention of disease, is one of the best treatments to prevent colds and flu entering the body. Winter being the season where we are most likely to get a cold, is a good time to get constitutional treatments. If, on the other hand you already have symptoms of a cold, like sore throat, chills and fever, body aches and/or a runny nose, Acupuncture is still useful by tonifying the body’s defences and immune system and shorten the length of the disease. Some Chinese herbal formulas are particularly useful in preventing colds and flu’s, while others  are more effective in getting you better more naturally.

Seasonal Acupuncture treatments 4x per year will also prepare you for the next season. As nature changes, we change. Think about it!

New Evidence that Acupuncture Works for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain

Researchers at the University of Michigan Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center are first to provide evidence of acupuncture's effect on opoid receptors.
Acupuncture has been used in East-Asian medicine for thousands of years to treat pain, possibly by activating the body’s natural painkillers. But how it works at the cellular level is largely unknown.

Using brain imaging, a University of Michigan study is the first to provide evidence that traditional Chinese acupuncture affects the brain’s long-term ability to regulate pain. The results appear online ahead of publication in the September issue of Journal of NeuroImage.

In the study, researchers at the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center showed acupuncture increased the binding availability of mu-opoid receptors (MOR) in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals – specifically the cingulate, insula, caudate, thalamus and amygdala.

Opioid painkillers, such as morphine, codeine and other medications, are thought to work by binding to these opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord.

"The increased binding availability of these receptors was associated with reductions in pain," says Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., researcher at the U-M Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center and a research assistant professor of anesthesiology at the U-M Medical School.

One implication of this research is that patients with chronic pain treated with acupuncture might be more responsive to opioid medications since the receptors seem to have more binding availability, Harris says.

These findings could spur a new direction in the field of acupuncture research following recent controversy over large studies showing that sham acupuncture is as effective as real acupuncture in reducing chronic pain.

The study participants included 20 women who had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, for at least a year, and experienced pain at least 50 percent of the time. During the study they agreed not to take any new medications for their fibromyalgia pain.

Patients had position emission tomography, or PET, scans of the brain during the first treatment and then repeated a month later after the eighth treatment.

Reference: Journal of NeuroImage, Volume 47, Issue 3, September 2009, Pages 1077-1085 doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.05.083

Helping Arthritis with Acupuncture and Chinese medicine

 The majority of people with joint pain are diagnosed with Arthritis, which is a general term for a number of conditions that involve swollen, painful and/or stiff joints. In the West, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) are the preferred treatment for Arthritis. In the East, Acupuncture and Chinese herbs have been used for over 2000 years to treat joint and musculo-skeletal diseases, including Arthritis.
 Arthritis in Western medicine:Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, gout, tempero mandibular joint syndrome etc. Are all types of Arthritis differentiated in Western medicine. The most commonly seen forms are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis: the pain of osteoarthritis is due to the gradual loss of protective cartilage in the joints. This is caused by changes within the cells of the cartilage through physical injury, mechanical stress or metabolic abnormality. The cartilage thins gradually and may even breakdown leaving the ends of bones unprotected producing pain and further degeneration.
Rheumatoid arthritis: Rheumatoid arthritis is the most severe type of inflammatory joint disease. It is an auto-immune disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, damaging joints and the surrounding tissue. Painful, stiff and deformed joints of the hands, arms, feet and legs are commonly seen. Apart from NSAIDS, other drugs are used such as gold compounds and steroid based drugs like corticosteroids and immune-suppressive drugs. The side effects of these drugs range from stomach irritability and bleeding stomach ulcers to weight gain, facial puffiness and thinning of the skin and bone.
Arthritis in Chinese medicine: Arthritis is known in Chinese medicine as ‘’Bi’’ syndrome, Bi meaning painful obstruction. We say it is the result of the body being ‘’invaded’’ by external climatological factors such as wind, cold, heat and/or dampness. The symptoms manifested by the individual depend on which external pathogenic factor is strongest. Following is a listing of the four main patterns of Bi syndrome. Wind Bi: Exposure to wind for prolonged time is an important cause of the Wind pattern of arthritis. Any Wind pattern is characterised by movement of symptoms hence its alternative name wandering Bi, last week it was shoulder pain, this week it’s the knees. There is joint soreness and pain which can move from joint to joint. Joint movement is limited, and there is often fever, as well as aversion to wind or windy weather. Cold Bi: Joints which are cold to touch and frequently swollen too are referred to as cold Bi. With this type of By, the pain has a fixed location rather than moving about. One can get relief from applying heat to the area and exposure to cold will definitely aggravate the condition. Damp Bi: The damp pattern of arthritis is characterised by pain, soreness and swelling in muscles and joints, with a feeling of heaviness and numbness in the limbs. The pain has a fixed location and is aggravated by damp weather. When these patients move to a hot dry climate they often feel better. Hot Bi: This type of Bi is commonly seen in Rheumatoid arthritis and gouty arthritis. It is characterised by severe pain and hot-red-swollen joints. Pain tends to be worse at night. Other symptoms may include fever thirst and anxiety. I have classified arthritis into nice neat groups, in clinical practice it is not really like that and I would often see joint pain which is a mixture, in fact this tends to be the norm rather than the exception. Different types of arthritis respond different to acupuncture. However acupuncture is an excellent treatment choice for all types of arthritis because arthritis is characterised by obstruction and acupuncture moves obstruction! More and more scientifically designed clinical studies support the use of acupuncture for arthritis. A recent study examined the effects of acupuncture on 32 osteoarthritis patients waiting for knee replacement surgery. After 9 weeks, patients receiving acupuncture treatment reported a decrease in pain, while pain increased in untreated patients. The patients with acupuncture treatment were able to walk farther and faster, compared to the untreated group. Success of the treatment depends also on how effectively acupuncture can re-harmonise the body. It the arthritis is very deep-seated then at best, acupuncture may be able to offer pain relief and help the disease from progressing further. If the systemic imbalance is not so severe, then acupuncture may be able to offer a cure.

Vall de cavall

For the first day of the year i visited Ganimed,one of my favorite horses at Vall de cavall. This is arguably the best horse stud in the area. There is also a very good restaurant i could recomment, especially in summer. Beautiful settings!!
www.vall-de-cavall.com/