Acupuncture Increases Blood Flow to the Brain

Acupuncture increases blood flow to the brain without raising arterial blood pressure or pulse rate. A new study, recently published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine  reports that  using acupuncture to increase blood flow to the brain has good implications for the treatment of  dizziness, hypertension, hypotension, deficient memory, ear ringing (tinnitus), headaches,

Yale Study: Acupuncture Reduced Hot Flashes By 30%

A Yale University/University of Pittsburg study of women with hot flashes brought on by conventional breast cancer treatment reveals that women who received acupuncture had a 30% reduction in hot flashes. You can read more about the randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial  by clicking here.

Acupuncture Could Help If There Was An Alien Invasion ;)

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I am a Star Trek fan. As a matter of fact, I am a fan of good science fiction wherever I find it. Recently I have been watching the show, Falling Skies. In this morbid fictional reality, Earth has been dominated for some time by Aliens called ‘skitters’ and Noah Wyle of ER fame leads the resistance.

So I started thinking, a character (played by a very

How Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Treats Autoimmune Disorders

By: Diane Joswick, L.Ac., MSOM
From: Acufinder.com 

Autoimmune diseases are a group of disorders in which the immune system attacks the body and destroys or alters tissues. There are more than eighty serious chronic illnesses in this category including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, thyroid disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Addison's disease, pernicious anemia, celiac

Acupuncture Works For Stress Relief

Let me introduce you to a great blogger who writes very helpful posts. Lynn Jaffee is a licensed acupuncturist and author. I have followed many of her posts on Acupuncture Health Insights. I am in strong agreement with many of her explanations and ways of thinking about Chinese Medicine.  This particular post - Why Acupuncture Works For Stress - provides a clear explanation of the effectiveness

Cupping Keeps Dancers Dancing

As many of you know, cupping is an effective treatment commonly used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Cupping involves placing sterile cups (they often look like a glass jelly jar) on the appropriate areas of your skin and suctioning out the air to create a vacuum. The underlying tissue becomes raised, or sucked, partway into the cup. This stimulates blood flow, lymph, and Qi to the affected

Hey Honey

When bees feast on flowers, the process of making honey begins. The flower nectar mixes with enzymes in the bees' saliva and turns it into honey. Then, the bees carry the honey back to the hive where they deposit it into the cells of the hive's walls. 

Honey has many health benefits, especially if it is raw. Raw honey can be used topically and is anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. 

Navy Needles

Stress disorders (some are very severe) are exploding in our servicemen and women.  Away from home in totally unfamiliar situations for long stretches, exposed to deadly situations, and confused by unknown cultures, women and men who serve in the armed forces are predictably likely candidates for psychological problems.  Unfortunately, the is still a stigma in the military about seeking

"Will Acupuncture Work for Me?"

The July/August 2011 issue of the Clinical Journal of Pain includes a German randomized-control study investigating potential patient characteristics that could predict positive outcomes to acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain. Nearly 10,000 individuals were included in the study, all of whom received routine standard therapies with half receiving acupuncture over a three-month period. Although not statistically significant, the acupuncture group showed greater pain relief than the routine treatment only group. Potential predictors of positive outcomes include living in a multi-person household, former positive experience with acupuncture, female gender, and failure of other therapies.

These results support the contention that acupuncture, like many other therapies, is a helpful modality that may work better in some people than in others, Naturally, more studies are necessary to further investigate potential effect modifiers, however there is no strong evidence that you have to believe in acupuncture for it to work or that a practitioner can tell acupuncture is going to work for an individual based solely on their demographics and health history.

Have A Happy July 4th Weekend!