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This media piece is intended to promote the work of the Pan African Acupuncture a non profit organization based in Brookline, Massachusetts. It will be used to solicit financial and institutional support for the organization. It follows ExecutiveDirector Richard Mandell and volunteer trainers from...

“Low back pain is the leading cause of years lived with disability globally, but most interventions have only short-lasting, small to moderate effects.” “It has been clear for decades that back pain is influenced by not only physical factors such as strength and posture...

Researchers say ‘studies not good enough’ to know whether medications work or not for painhttps://amp.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/10/little-evidence-whether-or-not-most-antidepressants-work-for-chronic-pain

Using drugs like ibuprofen and steroids to relieve short-term health problems could increase the chances of developing chronic pain, new research suggests.https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/may/11/short-term-use-of-ibuprofen-may-increase-chance-of-chronic-pain-study-suggests

A recent systematic review shows acupuncture be more effective than sham acupuncture for nasal symptom (He et al 2022). A high-quality study carried out in Germany concluded “Acupuncture appeared to significantly reduce the number of days of antihistamine use while improving RQoL and SAR...

A refutation of the pressure propulsion premise of heart function.http://trigunamedia.com/The%20heart%20is%20not%20a%20pump.pdf A great article on the heart.

The School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) conducted a clinical observation of scalp acupuncture treatment for 68 children with autism. The findings indicated that 66 patients have shown improvements after treatment, resulting in an overall efficacy rate of 97%....

Uitgeverij AnkhHermes stelt de hele inhoud van het boek “Geneeswijzen in Nederland” gratis ter beschikking voor consumenten. Dit is een compleet handboek/naslagwerk over de mogelijkheden van natuurlijk geneeswijzen bij lichamelijke, mentale en emotionele klachten. Het handboek omvat de volgende methodes: “Geneeswijzen in Nederland” biedt...

A great article by Charlie Buck.

By Charlie Buck.

Jordan Peterson’s thoughts on ADHD. If we live in a society that is not normal or healthy, should we use drugs to make children adept to it, or should we change schools to allow for more playful exploration, creativity and physicality?

New data shows 70% of Brits prefer alternative therapy over painkillers. Sarah Major from The British Acupuncture Council explains why she feels acupuncture is a better alternative to ‘popping pills’.

https://www.459arw.afrc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3327117/459th-arw-military-and-family-readiness-office-supports-resiliency-with-acupunc/

Webinar on Acupuncture-cost-effectiveness – April 4, 19:30 pm (GMT +1). The ETCMA Research Task Force will be holding an event webinar on the Cost Effectiveness of Acupuncture. Sign up here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-HETk17HdvCoE6Szrl_UXp3cQpltPCGZyj9zM9Cegb_HB9w/viewform?usp=sf_link Upon registration, the ZOOM codes will be sent to you.

Doc Hay: A Chinese Herbalist Combating the 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic in Americahttps://www.tcmworld.eu/news/doc-hay-a-chinese-herbalist-combating-the-19181919-influenza-pandemic-in-america-1024.html

acupuncture #evidence

EvidenceHunt is a new way to search for clinical evidence, using artificial intelligence. https://evidencehunt.com/ research #evidence #medicine #artificialintelligence

Doctor Manaka was a brilliant acupuncturist and surgeon, and the techniques he developed are very effective and valuable. However, his explanatory model leaves much to be desired. The problem is, that if we rely on models that explain what we do, and those models...

The book “infant feeding matters” by Maureen Minchin, about infant feeding & immune disorder, 800 pages of solid information, is available for free (donation appreciated) here: https://infantfeedingmatters.com/ and highly recommended.

Growth in acupuncture clinical trials over the years. Many thanks to John McDonald for this.

Great to see these simple, non-pharmacological interventions getting traction. It would be a bit of a strech to say that this is “based on Traditional Chinese Medicine”, but it is certainly true, that a similar understanding of the body, as a self-healing, dynamic whole,...

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202302/13/WS63e984b0a31057c47ebae555.html

Suggesting a mechanism for acupuncture as a global percutaneous needle fasciotomy that respects tensegrity principles for treating fibromyalgia – Shiloh Plauthttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.952159/full

Between 2001 and 2017, around 30000 women in The Netherlands were treated with the Essure device for sterilisation.This experimental device has caused health complaints in some of these women, including: https://trusttheevidence.substack.com/p/essure-deadly-devices

Acupuncture has been found to reduce pain and anxiety in patients with cancer of gynecological origin (including ovarian and uterine cancer). This was published in a new study in the medical journal CANCER.This is a joint study for the integrated medicine unit in the...

Today we unite the global cancer communityToday we raise awarenessToday we inspire changeToday we fight for fairnessToday we help #CloseTheCareGap So that everyday, everyone, everywhere has access to cancer care. ✨ https://www.worldcancerday.org/ WorldCancerDay #cancer #acupuncture

Meteorological patterns suggest crop fungus may cause Kawasaki disease. https://www.science.org/content/article/mysterious-illness-may-be-carried-wind

https://dilbert.com/strip/1989-11-25

Wonderful essay on the background of the modern Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture.https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/birth-tcm-acupuncture-owing-lot-herbal-doctor-who-scorned-brook-cheng/

Sheldrake gave a talk entitled The Science Delusion at TEDx Whitechapel, Jan 12, 2013. The theme for the night was Visions for Transition: Challenging existing paradigms and redefining values (for a more beautiful world). In response to protests from two materialists in the US,...

So I tried ChatGPT. Q:how to integrate acupuncture in modern health careA:Integrating acupuncture into modern healthcare can be done in several ways:1) Incorporating acupuncture into traditional medical treatments: Acupuncture can be used as an adjunct therapy alongside conventional medical treatments for conditions such as...

So I tried ChatGPT. Q: write on japanese acupuncture in the style of a haiku A: Needles in skin deep Easing pain and tension away Nature’s healing sleep

So I tried OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial intelligence. Q: how can we prove that acupuncture works A: Proving that acupuncture works can be challenging because it is a complex and multifaceted practice. To prove the effectiveness of acupuncture, scientists typically use randomized controlled trials (RCTs)...

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05525-z.epdf

#acupuncture#Nepal#ARP#compassion

At the end of the year, we may be reflecting upon what is right and what is wrong in the world. Here is an overview of the four different kinds of healthcare systems in the world. We may or may not be happy with...

The British Medical Journal (BMJ) now has a whole section on acupuncture, which includes guidance on clinical trials, economic analysis, and development of clinical practice guidelines. Acupuncture is now recommended in many countries as a viable treatment strategy for the management of various conditions...

The WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) is a knowledge centre for traditional medicine. As part of WHO’s overall traditional medicine strategy, it has a strategic focus on evidence and learning, data and analytics, sustainability and equity, and innovation and technology to optimize...

https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/acupuncture-joint-pain-relief acupuncture #jointpain #pain #webmd

Biophysical scientist and acupuncturist Claire Foley has written a paper on the known mechanisms behind acupuncture, and this has been published in the Medical Acupuncture journal. It is called “A Biophysical Model for Cardiovascular Effects of Acupuncture – Underlying Mechanisms Based on First Principles”,...

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/why-do-we-always-seem-to-catch-a-cold-or-flu-in-cold-weather-a-new-study-explains

“What GPs… need, is better access for their patients to alternative, non-pharmacological treatments, which can be patchy across the country.”Acupuncture is now officially recommended in the UK by NICE for the treatment of chronic pain, migraines and headaches. Acupuncture also regularly outperforms usual care/conventional...

Here’s some very good info about preparing pumpkin and it’s value, by French man Lokmane Benaicha, who’s been studying in China for over a decade. Thank you Bruce Bentley to bringing it to my attention!It’s about treating COUGH. There’s another recipe with ginger, turnip...

Reality, Reason, and Action In and Beyond Chinese Medicine: Terry Lectures 2017by Judith Farquhar.These lectures draw on the science and practice of traditional Chinese medicine to address enduring and troublesome ontological, epistemological, and ethical questions. Chinese medicine has often been taken to be “mystical”...

Philosopher Charles Eisenstein with yet another great essay.He discusses the problem that in medicine, as in agriculture, the focus is often on details: specific treatments or diseases, that offer specific challenges. While that may or may not be true, such a discussion ignores the...

To the point is a 30-minute documentary that highlights the growing body of scientific evidence that acupuncture is an effective treatment for a variety of health conditions.

Pulmonary fibrosis will become one of the complications of COVID patients. It is clinically observed that most patients have different degrees of post-inflammatory pulmonary fibrosis when discharged from the hospital. The post-inflammatory pulmonary fibrosis of severely ill patients is particularly significant. Therefore, the rehabilitation...

The Journal of Global Health Reports has published a study facilitated by the Acupuncture Relief Project. The article, titled “Non-communicable disease risk factors and prevalence within Thaha, Makwanpur, Nepal” was a major undertaking the organisation and is hoped to contribute to a more comprehensive...

Now on NATURE Podcast: How electric acupuncture zaps inflammation in mice.The neurons behind acupuncture’s effect on inflammation, and how antibiotics affect gut bacteria.https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02806-x

“Diseases caused by pollution were responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths in 2015—16% of all deaths worldwide— three times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence. In...

The “Tiger Warmer” is a very useful tool to use at home. In essence, it is an incense holder, that is used to heat areas on the body. My friend David Euler shows how it can be used in children and adults to treat...

Cupping is one of the auxiliary techniques that we use. Scientific research is not only done into acupuncture, but also into techniques like cupping. This is an MRI image of a suction cup applied to the skin, showing how muscle and fascia is pulled...

Thanks for this, Igor Simonov!Chinese Medicine uses carrots to inhibit viral infection due to increasing of interferon levels in blood which inhibits viral mRNA after consumption of decoction of carrots . Two carrots (200g) chopped in pieces and boiled for 15 min in 1/2...

A new scoping review of nearly 200 publications covering the relationships between autism spectrum disorder and the brain–gut–microbiome system was published online today in Nutrients.The review synthesizes the growing body of research suggesting that gut microbiota—the trillions of microorganisms living within the human digestive...

So what is medicine for? Andrew Miles explores this, among with the question of the relationship between medicine and science, in this essay “Medicine of the Whole Person: away from scientistic reductionism and towards the embrace of the complexin clinical practice”https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43022670_On_a_Medicine_of_the_Whole_Person_Away_from_scientistic_reductionism_and_towards_the_embrace_of_the_complex_in_clinical_practice

Interessant nieuws voor acupuncturisten en andere zorgprofessionals in de TCM: een moxabehandeling op de navel lijkt het darmmicrobioom te versterken, zo blijkt uit onderzoek. Dit onderzoek werd verricht bij patiënten met een Damp-constitutie. https://www.vnig.nl/nieuws/wetenschap/het-effect-van-moxa-op-het-darmmicrobioom-bij-een-damp-constitutie

It is worth remembering that acupuncture still is one of the best studied therapies, and that is has a lot of scientific evidence behind it. Contrary to the ill informed opinion that is so often touted as truth, the data is clear.

In our hubris, we often think we are the centrepiece of the world, with everything else on the planet being set pieces as the background for our performance. This view is the basis for fantasies about humans able to control nature, to prevail over...

Philosopher Charles Eisenstein with yet another great essay.He discusses the problem that in medicine, as in agriculture, the focus is often on details: specific treatments or diseases, that offer specific challenges. While that may or may not be true, such a discussion ignores the...

Opinie: ‘Alternatieve therapie kan bijdragen aan kostenbeheersing zorg’Door meer aandacht aan preventie te besteden kunnen we de almaar stijgende zorgkosten beter in de hand houden. Toch moeten we niet vergeten dat ook op het terrein van de behandeling winst valt te boeken, stelt Kees...

Cold baths and cold showers, even plunging into ice baths, have become very popular lately, as a suppositiously healthy way to “boost the immune system” and for general health.In traditional medicine, we see this very differently: Cold is one of the main problems that...

In Chinese medicine, acupuncture dates back more than 2000 years. The Military Health System has developed a modern modification of this ancient practice, known as Battlefield Acupuncture, or BFA.Military health care providers are finding that ear acupuncture, which involves inserting small needles into different...

Acupuncture’s mechanisms for treating cancer pain are thought to be similar to those for treating other painful conditions, whether the pain is categorised as acute or chronic.

After undergoing a CT scan and being diagnosed with myositis of the jaw muscles, Bassoon received localized anti-inflammatory injections and then began physical therapy and acupuncture treatment. https://www.fox5dc.com/news/sea-turtle-gets-acupuncture-treatment-at-national-aquarium

Manual acupuncture + usual care was found to be more effective than usual care alone for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Interestingly, manual acupuncture was found to be most effective component (RR = 1.38 (95% CI, 1.12 to 1.70)) when added to usual care. Results...

Research on acupuncture has been extensive, and so far, robust evidence supports its effectiveness for some, but not all, conditions. According to one analysis published in February 2022 in the BMJ that analyzed more than 2,000 scientific reviews of acupuncture therapies, the science is...

https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/acupuncture-sleep

A case report of immediate effects of acupuncture on neuropathic cancer breakthrough pain, by dr Matthias Huemer.Highlights:• Acupuncture can have immediate effects on neuropathic cancer pain.• Acupuncture may be a fast way to improve the pain management of neuropathic pain.• Acupunctures analgesic effect seems...

A brief video about Bessel Van Der Kolk’s book “The Body Keeps the Score”. Bessel is a psychiatrist, but he has become a strong promoter of yoga and meditation as a way to heal traumatic stress that has been stored in the body.Meditation and...

Cough medicine, helping to move bowel when constipatedPears with brown sugar or honey steamed for 30 min. Take half of the pear twice a day outside of meals. Store in the fridge. Treats long lasting cough, gives yin to the lungs, produces sputum, removes...

Prof. dr. Bob de Wit houdt zich dagelijks bezig met het begrijpen van de toekomst. Zijn verwachting is dat we naar een andere maatschappijvorm gaan en hij legtuit waarom hij dat denkt en wat voor gevolgen dat heeft voor de gezondheidszorg.

A free (!) ebook “Emotions across Cultures: Ancient China and Greece”, edited by: David Konstan. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110784312/html

We need new stories. Our society so badly needs new stories.Here is a link to a crowdfunding campaign for a documentary film that explores birth beyond the industrial model and restores the mystery and miracle of birth. The way our culture does childbirth is...

Sebastian Rushworth is a physician from Sweden, and a proponent of evidence based medicine. He thinks that medical diagnosis and treatment should be guided by the scientific evidence, not by expert opinion, personal anecdote or by salespeople working for pharmaceutical companies.His most recent blog...

A wonderful article by my friend Clare Foley, about the blessings and challenges of human consciousness, and ways to deal with it.https://www.alustforlife.com/tools/out-of-your-mind-and-off-your-head

PTSD is a complex problem, for which acupuncture has a great track record for dealing with it. Let’s hope traditional treatments, like acupuncture, will be part of mainstream treatment options.https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-07-cross-disciplinary-team-explores-nervous-ptsd.html

In the EU parliament, a meeting has been held bout the use of Integrative Medicine for Covid and Long Covid. Among the speakers were a neurologist/acupuncturist, an oncologist/homeopath and other medical experts. Contrary to many people’s belief, on a high political level, steps are...

If traditional acupuncture seems very different from what you know, then that is because it is! It was developed by a very different people, people that saw the world like this, and who thought different as well.That does not mean that we cannot use...

Congratulationswith this publication, Sandro Graca and Claudia Citkovitz!“From Bench to Bedside and Back Again: Developments in the Evidence-Informed Practice (and Practice-Informed Research) of Acupuncture”https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/jicm.2022.0630

(This essay can also be found at https://essays.synthesishealth.co/how-the-world-came-to-ice/)As someone fascinated by the epistemology of medicine, I frequently come across an intriguing, pervasive value judgment that Industrial Medicine inflicts on traditional methods of caring for the sick, which is that direct observation and anecdote is...

Acupressure for Labour Preparation by Sarah Tewhey L.Ac http://www.sarahtewhey.com/downloads A simple five-page guide to acupressure for labour preparation which hopefully birthing people and their partners, along with doulas, nurses, midwives and doctors will find useful!

Metformin is a very commonly used drug used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus. The latest NHS guidelines (1) point out that this can commonly lead to reduced vitamin B12 levels, which than can lead to many neurological problems, including fatigue, lethargy, pins and...

Gastrointestinal problems, Irritable Bowl Syndrome, constipation, allergies, Crohn’s disease, etc., are all connected to the gut. On the alternative medicine corners of the internet, the advise given is mostly about food and supplements.While eating good food is an important pillar of health, there can...

The Whole Person Research Workshop by National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health discussed examples of research studies in these three areas from diverse fields and explored methodologies potentially appropriate for whole person research.https://www.nccih.nih.gov/news/events/methodological-approaches-for-whole-person-research

“Chiropractic care and acupuncture are recommended in numerous best practice guidelines as first-line treatments for pain. Both are increasingly covered in commercial health plans, and patients are seeking non-drug approaches to managing their pain and chronic diseases. However, arbitrary limits on Medicare coverage mean...

Among the Seattle Storm’s players and the other sports training staff members, Melony Cable is known as “Magic Mel.” The nickname is still a little embarrassing for the Storm’s team acupuncturist. But over the years, she’s come to accept it as a sign of...

Generally, three scholarly traditions can be recognised in medicine: These great achievements of humankind represent medical systems that over centuries have grown by academic discourse. Other medical practices have served patients round the world as well, yet these have not had the enrichment of...

Moxa is one of the great pillars of traditional Chinese medicine, yet much less known in the West than its younger, more slender sister, acupuncture. It has many different forms an applications, and Felip Caudet is an expert on several of them. In this...

“Ask the average person in a western nation what it means to cure a disease and what will they answer? Chances are they think a cure means a solution. You get sick with something, you take a treatment, then you’re no longer sick. Ask...

Drinkable rivers

Recent onderzoek maakte duidelijk, dat een gebrek aan serotonine niet de oorzaak is van depressie. Maar wat dan wel? Dr. Austin Perlmutter geeft een aantal mogelijkheden. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-brain/202207/if-serotonin-doesnt-cause-depression-then-what-does

A key feature of nature–based health interventions is that a single intervention can affect people in multiple ways and, therefore, potentially improve wellbeing across a range of domains. For example, nature prescriptions can both promote physical activity leading to many positive health outcomes, while...

A common criticism of acupuncture is that the acupuncture channels or meridians don’t exist and are metaphysical concepts. Dr Vivien Shaw argues quite the opposite. Her research compared the original descriptions of the meridians in the Mawangdui medical texts (300–200 BCE) with dissections to...

Terry Shaneyfelt has a wonderful collection of materials on Evidence Based Medicine, including some very nice Youtube videos on what lead time bias is, how to critically appraise a harm study, and confidence intervals. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the subject.

Recognized by major hospitals and organizations worldwide including The WHO, acupuncture has been used for millennia to treat physical and mental pain.

10 Fascinating Facts About Your Heart 1. How many times does a heart beat during the day? On average, an adult’s heart beats: – 72 times a minute – 100,000 times a day – 36,000,000 times a year 2. What is the weight of...

Moxafrica is a British charity set up in 2008 to investigate the use of moxibustion therapy for the treatment of tuberculosis, particularly drug-resistant TB, in resource-poor environments. Next week, they are going to the ‘Bellhaven Harm Reduction Centre’ in the centre of Durban, to...

An overview of guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology composed by the Society for Integrative Oncology , which gives an overview of the current evidence base for therapies like acupuncture in the care of oncology patients.

https://www.moxafrica.org/single-post/world-antimicrobial-awareness-week-waaw-november-18-26-part-1

https://www.moxafrica.org/single-post/world-antimicrobial-awareness-week-november-18-26-day-2-the-nature-of-the-threat-of-amr

https://www.moxafrica.org/single-post/amr-awareness-week-day-4-one-health-stakeholders-best-practices-what-s-that-all-about

https://www.moxafrica.org/single-post/amr-awareness-week-day-5-the-lack-of-new-antibiotics-and-the-dubious-role-of-big-pharma

https://www.moxafrica.org/single-post/amr-awareness-week-day-7-how-can-we-as-individuals-help-reduce-the-risks-to-ourselves

A paper published last week by Levine et al in Human Reproductive Update states that sperm counts have now dropped 62.3% over a 50 year period (up from 59.3%) and are continuing to drop at a rate of 2.64% (4.7m sperm/year).https://www.focusonreproduction.eu/article/ESHRE-News-Sperm-count-decline

Two studies comparing injections commonly used to relieve the pain of knee osteoarthritis found that corticosteroid injections were associated with the progression of the disease. Results of both studies were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221129/Corticosteroid-injections-associated-with-progression-of-knee-osteoarthritis.aspx

Depression can be a crippling condition, and it can be hard to navigate solutions. Many patients struggle with they question if they should try taking medication for their mental health problems, and this predicament itself can produce much anxiety and increase the problem.Still, we...

Most industrial medicine lacks high quality scientific support, and a majority of studies on the majority of treatments do not evaluate safety and harms of the interventions that its sponsors are selling.“In this large sample of 1567 interventions studied within Cochrane reviews, only 5.6%...

“In de media lezen we over te lage salarissen, werkdruk en mismanagement, maar zelden over hoe moeilijk het is om mensen echt te helpen, jezelf te blijven in een weinig ondersteunend systeem en structureel en constructief te reflecteren op alles wat je meemaakt.Het serieus...

The answer is simple: Drink when you’re thirsty. Prioritize water, and try to avoid sugary drinks, which can cause metabolic problems. Coffee and tea are fine as well.“If you’re paying attention to your body and drinking when you feel like you need to, then...

Two studies comparing injections commonly used to relieve the pain of #knee #osteoarthritis found that #corticosteroid #injections were associated with the progression of the #disease. Results of both studies were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (#RSNA).https://www.news-medical.net/news/20221129/Corticosteroid-injections-associated-with-progression-of-knee-osteoarthritis.aspx

Depression can be a crippling condition, and it can be hard to navigate solutions. Many patients struggle with they question if they should try taking medication for their mental health problems, and this predicament itself can produce much anxiety and increase the problem.Still, we...

Most healthcare interventions tested in Cochrane Reviews are not effective according to high quality evidence: a systematic review and meta-analysisMost industrial medicine lacks high quality scientific support, and a majority of studies on the majority of treatments do not evaluate safety and harms of...

“In de media lezen we over te lage salarissen, werkdruk en mismanagement, maar zelden over hoe moeilijk het is om mensen echt te helpen, jezelf te blijven in een weinig ondersteunend systeem en structureel en constructief te reflecteren op alles wat je meemaakt.Het serieus...

So how much water should you drink? The answer is simple: Drink when you’re thirsty. Prioritize water, and try to avoid sugary drinks, which can cause metabolic problems. Coffee and tea are fine as well.“If you’re paying attention to your body and drinking when...