New scientific breakthrough proves why acupuncture works

New scientific breakthrough proves why acupuncture works
Acupuncture scientific breakthrough

 

New groundbreaking research shows that the insertion of an acupuncture needle into the skin disrupts the branching point of nerves called C fibres. These C fibres transmit low-grade sensory information over very long distances by using Merkel cells as intermediaries. Dr. Morry Silberstein of the Curtin University of Technology will publish his research in the Journal of Theoretical Biology later this year.

We have never really had a scientific explanation for how acupuncture actually works,” he said. In the absence of a scientific rationale, acupuncture has not been widely used in the mainstream medical community. If we can explain the process scientifically, we can open it to full scientific scrutiny and develop ways to use it as a part of medical treatments.”

Dr. Silberstein mentions that they have known, for some time, that the acupuncture points show lower electrical resistance than other nearby areas of the skin. His research specifically pinpoints that the C fibres actually branch exactly at acupuncture points. Scientists don’t know exactly what role C fibres play in the nervous system, but Dr. Silverstein theorizes that the bundle of nerves exists to maintain arousal or wakefulness. The insertion of the acupuncture needle disrupts this circuit and numbs our sensitivity to pain.”

Acupuncture for pain relief is actually being taught to American Air Force physicians deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan (2009) by Dr. Richard Niemtzow MD, PhD, MPH and editor of Medical Acupuncture. His technique called “Battlefield Acupuncture” relieves severe pain for several days and is a variation of acupuncture, which inserts very tiny semi-permanent needles at specific acupoints on the skin of the ear that blocks pain signals from reaching the brain.

“This is one of the fastest pain attenuators in existence,” said Dr. Niemtzow, who is the Consultant for complementary and alternative medicine for the Surgeon General of the Air Force, and is affiliated with Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda. “The pain can be gone in five minutes.”

It has taken quite a long time for Western medicine to embrace acupuncture even though it was introduced in the early 1970’s after contacts with China improved.

Professor Tsuei mentions: “In 1972 the respected New York Times columnist James Reston underwent an emergency appendectomy while in China. He later wrote about acupuncture treatment for post-operative pain that was very successful. This report attracted attention and many American physicians and researchers went to China to observe and learn acupuncture techniques.”

Since then, only a few controlled studies were done in the West. Yale researchers proved its effectiveness for cocaine addiction in 2000 and published their findings in the August 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

A North Korean researcher, Kim Bonghan, published papers in the early 1960’s and his research was confirmed by the Japanese researchers Fujiwara and Yu in 1967. Unfortunately his research took almost 40 years to be confirmed through studies done on rats, rabbit and pigs with Stereo-microscope photographs and electron microsopy.

The amazing photo shows the stereomicroscopic image of acupuncture meridians:

“Assemblies of tubular structures 30 to 100 mm wide (red blood cells are 6-8 mm in diameter). Apparently these structures have remained undiscovered for so long because they are almost transparent and so thin that they are barely visible with low-magnification surgical microscopes. They are also easily confused with fibrin, which coagulates and obscures these structures when there is bleeding in dissected tissues. Now that they have been rediscovered, researchers are investigating their composition and function. The tubular structures that make up Bonghan channels contain a flowing liquid that includes abundant hyaluronic acid, a substance that cushions and lubricates the joints, eyes, skin and even heart valves. Also visible in the photographs are small granules of DNA or microcells about 1-2 mm in diameter that contain chromosomal material highly reactive to stem-cell antibody stains. When these cells were isolated and then induced to differentiate, they grew into cells of all three germ layers. These may be our body’s natural source of pluripotent adult stem cells, with the potential to develop into any cell in the body”

Russian researchers in 1991 at The Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Novosibirsk, USSR, in a research project lasting several years, discovered how the human body conducts light. They found that the light conducting ability of the human body exists only along the meridians, and can enter and exit only along the acupuncture points. Dr. Kaznachejew, a professor of physics said:

“This seems to prove that we have a light transferal system in our body somewhat like optical fiber. It appears that the light can even travel when the light canal is bent, or totally twisted. The light appears to be reflected from the inner surface, appearing to go in some sort of zigzag track. You can explain this through traditional electromagnetic light theory as it is used in optical fiber communications.”

This finding has been confirmed by a 1992 study in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a 2005 study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine where moxibustion and infrared thermography were used to trace meridian pathways.

There might be a “light body” after all.

See also: Fiber optics under New York City (short fiber optic tutorial and video in article)

Resources:

via Professor Hex’s blog

Meridians conduct light by Dr. Sergei Pankratov, Moskow, Published by Raum and Zeit, Germany, 1991.Translated from the German by Wolfgang Mitschrich

Bonghan Channels in Acupuncture By David Milbradt, LAc, Acupunture Today

Bonghan Duct and Acupuncture Meridian as Optical Channel of Biophoton

Curtin University of Technology

Scientific Evidence in Support of Acupuncture and Meridian Theory Professor Julia J. Tsuei M.D., F.A.C.O.G.

Medical acupuncture gaining acceptance by the US Air Force

Acupuncture is promising treatment for cocaine addiction, Yale researchers find

Photo Credit: Acupuncture Today: A stereomicroscopic image of the lymphatic vessel around the caudal vena cava of a rat. The photograph (left) and its illustration (right) show the novel threadlike structure (solid arrow) that passes throw the lymphatic valve (open arrow). The photograph was taken in vivo and in situ, and a piece of black paper was put under the lymphatic vessel to exhibit the target clearly. The scale bar is 100 mm.

Wikimedia Commons: Physican inserting needle

 

More About: Health · Alternative Medicine · Medicine · Science · Discoveries · Acupuncture via examiner.com

 

Maple Leafs

Today was the first truly chilly fall day when I wished I had dressed warmer every time I stepped outside. Makes for a bit of shivering, but with the heater on and warm blankets, it’s awfully cozy in our little apartment.

My alarm once again failed to go off this morning. Maybe it was worn out from all the snooze-ing I did yesterday, but Eli served as my alarm at 7 am (I had intended to get up an hour earlier and get in double whammy workout). As it was, I only had time for SYTYCD Tone (review still coming, I promise) and then rushed out the door to meet Nikki at Marco’s (who would’ve guessed?

She was just getting off the night shift but our schedules are so wacky we figured it would be good to catch each other as I’m starting my day and she’s eating her “dinner” before going to bed for the rest of the day.

I ordered the nonfat Cafe Brian, which is basically a mocha with some vanilla flavoring thrown in for good measure. Too sweet for some, but right up my alley.

I decided to splurge on breakfast and get the bacon and brie scramble (plus mushrooms and chives). A little heavier than I’ve ordered lately but it is soooo amazingly delicious. I substituted fresh fruit for the potatoes and had two slices of hazelnut toast.

It was a blast catching up with Nikki. Hi Nikki! Hope Night #2 is going well.

I headed home, hopped in the shower and then headed to a meeting about an upcoming presentation for my leadership class. A very productive 45 minutes later, I was back in my car and on my way home.

Lunch was a mini-smorgasbord. ‘Still wasn’t very hungry after my huge breakfast, so I made half a “BB n J” (BB for Barney Butter), on toasted TJ’s flaxseed bread.

On the side, a few carrots and mini bell peppers, with a dollop of garlic hummus for dipping.

And a box of vanilla soy milk…gotta have milk with my BB n J!

Plus two Kashi TLC crackers and two slices of cheddar that Steve snuck into my bowl.

I wasn’t feeling very good after lunch. I got hit with a little wave of nausea and was still exhausted from my Fall “Break”, so I ended up dozing for a little while. I dizzily got up and headed out to Starbucks to view an NCLEX review lecture, only to find out their wireless was down. Grrr!

I did a few housekeeping items while I was there and sipped on a tall nonfat mocha. I also ordered one of their lowfat raspberry muffins but was really disappointed. It tasted dry and completely un-flavorful, so I decided to toss most of it.

Then I ran a couple errands on the way home and came home to finish up my studying for the day. I’m still behind after last week, but making headway.

Steve is really sore after his second acupuncture appointment…it seems like all the tension that had been building up in his body is releasing but that it’s causing some discomfort along the way. Almost like post-workout soreness. I had something similar happen along the way, but I am a fervent believer in acupuncture and what it can do for your body. After only four sessions, my back pain was completely fixed and hasn’t come back since, unless I sit funny.

Since the boy was hurtin’ and worn out (acupuncture also makes you really doze-y and drowsy), I put together dinner.

Featuring the peanut sauce I promised you’d see again, I sauteed up some shrimp and TJ’s stir fry veggies, then mixed in the sauce and served atop brown rice. It was DELISH!

Dessert was two TJ’s maple leaf cookies.

I’m all about the fall-themed flavors this year!

Tomorrow I am volunteering to give H1N1 flu shots to fellow nursing students. They had originally planned three clinics for the entire campus community, but there is such a shortage that those had to be cancelled and the small stock that is available is being offered to nursing students first, since we’re on the front lines. I figured it was a very public health-y thing for me to do…plus volunteers get first priority for the vaccines.

Nighty nite!

Topanga Canyon.

The grey-haired woman looked startled like a young boy caught checking out porn. She had a short grandma haircut, which led me to immediately distrust her, was wearing a bastardized version of the tribal garb from somewhere she’d surely never visited and nondescript world music blared softly throughout the office.

A friend had surprised me with a visit earlier that day, and we had taken a drive into Topanga Canyon. Brandon had posited the idea simply: “Fuck it. We’ve got nothing better to do. I’ve heard it’s cool, but that was coming from hippies. We might be screwed.” I couldn’t argue with that.

We had entered the office of the New Age faith healer because of her large “ACUPUNCTURE” sign. We were both curious about the rates she had to charge to afford such incongruously blunt advertising. If it was cheap, I figured I might even go ahead and have her jab some needles in my ass.

Our interest waned quickly when she acted skittish upon our arrival. I didn’t give a shit if she was passing a slow day at work with her drug of choice, but I wasn’t going sticking pins in my stomach to cure the beer shits while her whole body was vibrating because I was convinced she’d misfire and impale my penis.

“What can I do for you?” Her eyes darted back and forth between Brandon and me. Right as she asked, an embarrassed-looking bald man with a tool box rushed out of the back room and out the front door without so much as a word. Brandon and I held back laughs. Smoking meth and fucking the local handyman on a massage table at noon on a Tuesday would make anyone act sketchy.

Brandon took the lead. “Well, we’re not really sure what you offer, but we’re interested in your acupuncture services.”

“Hmm. Do you have health insurance it’s usually one hundred dollars a session I usually do different parts of your body to target your ailments but I can do a comprehensive treatment it depends on what you want.” The woman had completely given up the use of periods. She kept wringing her hands and shifting back and forth.

Brandon got a pamphlet and we left. I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on the guy’s face.

“Do you think we interrupted the local midday nookie right there?”

He grabbed my shoulder. “No chance in hell were they getting down. Did you see that guy’s face? He was legitimately frightened. He was running out of there.”

“Shit, that would explain why she was acting so nervous. Probably was about to steal his organs or something. And it looks like he’s not local, the company listed on his truck is from Venice.” This last point was hard to confirm as the man was racing out of the parking lot.

We wandered into a bunch of shops, all with the same tourist Bohemian feel, same music and same overpowering scent of old incense. Groundhog Day at the hippie retirement home is a truly special kind of hell.

“You know what I just realized?” Brandon said as we left yet another “One Earth Shoppe.” “There hasn’t been a single item on sale for a man. Come to think of it, I haven’t even seen another man since we’ve been here.”

“Aside from that guy with the tool box. No wonder he was scared as shit. They don’t like men in this town. That crazy old bird was probably trying to kill him right as we walked in.”

“This is basically The Wicker Man. Hang on, I’m going to use the bathroom.” The door was locked. “Damn, should have seen that coming.”

“No shit. That’s where they hide all of the bodies. I bet there’s a hundred guys in there shivering completely naked, waiting to be eaten.”

Suddenly we realized that the little man on the bathroom sign had his head ripped clean off.

We walked by a pair of teenagers on a bench sharing a pair of headphones. They sat there catatonically, unblinking and unmoving with the tinny shrill of pop metal leaking into the silence of the parking lot.

We came across an old house converted into a costume shop. The inside lit solely by cobweb-covered Christmas lights. The house was soaked with the unmistakable musty smell off the throwaway clothes that lined every open space. We walked through a few rooms and couldn’t find anyone else.

“Can a help you guys?” We both jumped as a marginally attractive tall blond appeared seemingly from behind a rack of pleather pants. She was wearing a porn star’s clear plastic heels, oddly shaped green satin spandex shorts that made her ass look it had given up on life and a gold sequin tube top that still managed to be tight despite her gaunt frame. Her protruding hip bones wiggled at us menacingly.

“Do you have any men’s clothing?”

“We might have some stuff over there.” She waved in the vague direction of coats hanging next to a rusty suit of armor and disappeared.

The coats were mostly fur-rimmed and all buttoned the wrong way. Neither of us was interested in looking like a fat mob wife, and thus decided to continue our search for any sign of manhood somewhere else. In the front room we found the girl laughing while she dressed a giggling 16 year old boy in a silver cocktail dress. Figuring he was already a goner, we hurried out, jumped in the car and sped off.

“Hot flying fuck! All the jokes are true! There’s no men in this town, they’ve killed them all! Drive, you sonofabitch, drive!”

“I’m trying! Oh man, this is the male apocalypse! Did you see that girl licking her chops staring at that poor kid in the god damned dress?”

Speeding upward through the canyon, we eventually calmed down and started laughing. We were obviously being jackasses. Surely we hadn’t just narrowly escaped the clutches of a man-hating cult of female cannibals that rivals the floppy-titted Italian women in the ‘70s soft-core Vampiros Lesbos. Our point was proven when we passed a sign advertising “Will Geer’s Theatricum Botanicum.”

“Hey, look! Will!  That’s a guy’s name! There’s a dude in this God forsaken hell hole. Let’s go say hi.”

After flipping around and cutting off yet another crazy-eyed old woman – this time with blond dreadlocks – in a VW camper van, we drove down a narrow brush- and tree-lined path. The road suddenly opened up into a large dirt parking lot. Surrounding a run-down wooden building were numerous water-starved decorative gardens.

We parked and stayed in the car to see if anyone would appear. When everything was still quiet after a few minutes, I started to get out. Brandon grabbed my arm.

“Wait a second. Look at this woman.”

I turned around and watched a pale brunette slowly walk barefoot across the grounds in a long white cotton dress. As she passed behind our car she turned her head slowly to give us a long, unmoving stare. She didn’t say a word.

I’m pretty sure she blinked when she was sprayed with gravel as we hauled ass out of there.

Cresting a mountain as we exited the canyon, we descended into the comforting cloud of smut that permanently hangs over the Valley. Passing the mansions and sports cars paid for with porn profits, we cheered and high fived. Somehow we had escaped the acrylic-nailed claws of bloodthirsty women. Finally, thankfully, we were back in a land that appreciates men.

Blepharospasm and acupuncture--initial results of a treatment trial--Abstract from www.PubMed.gov

Wien Med Wochenschr. 1998;148(19):457-8.[Article in German]

Nepp J, Wenzel T, Kuchar A, Steinkogler FJ.

Universitätsklinik für Augenheilkunde und Optometrie, Wien. johannes.nepp@akh-wien.ac.at

Blepharospasm is a dystonia of the orbicularis muscle. The background is still unknown, but it appears together with organic and psychic diseases. The therapy with botulinum toxine is symptomatically but efficient. Because of the relaxing effect on the psychological and autonomous nervous disorders we performed a pilot study with acupuncture. There was a neurological observation first, then a ophthalmologic examination of the ocular surface. Blepharospasm was measured by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the social disorders by the Elston-Score. We performed acupuncture treatment 10 times once weekly. The used points were local points with higher sensitivity, and points with empiric relaxation effect. 5 patients were included. The mean of Elston score was 3 before acupuncture and 4 after acupuncture. The VAS increased from 33.3 to 69/100 points. But there were fluctuations of dystonias. In conclusion acupuncture maybe a good method for this difficult disease additionally.

DPO9 (boring but where I am right now)

It’s DPO9. I feel like last cycle’s DPO9 was just yesterday. I feel like it’s too soon to be preparing myself for the eventuality of failure yet again. I feel like I don’t have the energy or stamina to be doing this yet again.

I also feel less hopeful and less worried. As usually is the case with me, anxiety ebbs and depression flows. When the nervous energy of my anxiety is all used up I’m left exhausted and hopeless, feeling depressed instead of worried. That is where I am right now. Last cycle was all about hope and the anxiety that accompanies it. This cycle is all about hopelessness and the depression that feeds off it. Part of me, a big part of me, just wants it to be DPO14 so I can get my period and DPO14 can morph seamlessly into CD1 of yet another cycle and I can deal with the emotional fallout that goes with that transition.

I got my progesterone checked this cycle. I’ve been a little concerned that my temps have not been as high as they were pre- ectopic pregnancy. When I tried to get my progesterone test the cycle after my ectopic, I got confused about my O date (actually FF got me confused) and I actually ended up testing two days before AF. It was really low then, but since I was pretty sure I had pushed my O date back and had really tested on DPO12, I wasn’t too worried. Still, I like to know, I like to be sure. I missed last cycle because I had friends flying into town DPO7 and just didn’t think I could sneak away to Kaiser’s lab.

So Wednesday night I went in and got my arm stuck for the umpteenth time. There is an air of melancholy to that lab, at least for me. The only experiences I’ve had there were beta’s draws after my ectopic as I waited for my hCG levels to reach <2. I can look around the room and remember every chair where I stifled tears, every corner where I covered my face with tissues hoping desperately that people wouldn’t notice. I hate that lab waiting room. I hate the stations and the blue pillow where you place your arm and how they always ask for your name, even though they can see you match your photo I.D. and how you never know if it’s going to hurt or not until it already has. Going in there yesterday just reminded me that I’m still not pregnant, I’m still struggling to pick up the pieces after my lost pregnancy, I’m still not successful.

Anyway, getting past the pity party, my progesterone was 12.3. I remember my first level was 11.1 and I was told that was “okay”. So I guess 12.3 is also “okay.” Nothing special, but okay. I guess I should appreciate that I still seem to be ovulating and that my progesterone level is normal. Sometimes you have to be grateful for the little things.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a crazy weekend, with four people at the house and an insane football game. But Cal got trampled last Saturday and none of my friends wanted to come up and watch the same happen in person, so it’s just my good friend at the apartment, and my sister who’s seeing a concert in the park. I’m so thankful that this weekend was deflated. I’m so happy I’m not hosting so many drunk and desolate boys mourning the loss of yet another season of Cal Football. I’m so glad that I can get some grad school work done on Sunday. I’m so glad that Monday I won’t be a wreck.

I have an acupuncture appointment today. I’ll be asking her about the new development of constantly sore boobs starting at DPO2. I do not like this at all. Sore boobs drive me crazy (when they aren’t a pregnancy symptom) and I’ve been told they signal hormone imbalance so I guess my acupuncturist will be earning her keep again. I hope she’ll have something productive to say. I’ve felt lately like it’s all kind of pointless.

Well I know this hasn’t been a very upbeat post, but I promised I’d end every post with some Buenas Noticias so here goes…

Buenas Noticias – I was able to get to the lunch room relatively early and a mom had made my favorite baked treat – Golden Gram squares with chocolate and marshmallows. I had enough time to eat, chat, do my dishes and get back to my classroom without feeling rushed. That is always to be appreciated.

Acupuncture and the treatment of Obesity

One of the methods for natural weight loss is acupuncture, which does not require the use of medication and is proven. Acupuncture works for restoring the perfect balance of electric currents in the body.

This technique started more than 5 thousand years in China, and today is highly developed, even with the use of electronic equipment. Because of their high efficacy, acupuncture has spread in several countries.

Acupuncture has two basic strategies to assist in weight loss. The method of most traditional treatment is to regard obesity as a result of bad eating habits, and can be compared to smoking. This method uses the auriculoacupuncture.

Treatment of obesity by auriculoacupuncture, is to deploy ear conventional needles, fastened with tape specific, which are changed weekly (ideally be changed every 4 days).

Alternatively, we can apply removable needles, using as an aid in the treatment acupressure, which involves the application of small metal pellets or seeds, fixed by tape on the ear. The alternative method uses a set of points on the body, carefully selected, according to the therapeutic needs of the patient.

The treatment involves the application of removable needles at specific points of the body, according to individual needs. After this therapy, can be used to supplement therapy, the moa.

These treatments should be performed once or twice a week, according to the evolution of therapy. People with a tendency to obesity may experience weight gain after completion of treatment with acupuncture, because of its incorrect eating habits, there is great chance to return to the status of initial weight.

Thus, every patient should thoroughly review their lifestyle, eating habits, to resume the practice of physical exercises and provides for the re-treatment a few times a year.

Acupuncture: Another shot worth taking this flu season?

The flu shot isn’t for everyone. And we’re not talking about the inoculation’s limited availability, but rather about the practices of natural-health-leaning New Yorkers who’d prefer to prevent illness more holistically.

So we asked Noah Rubinstein (pictured here), a former professor at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine and leading practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine with an office in Union Square, what acupuncture can do this to keep us healthy this flu season. Do thirty little acupuncture needles equal one shot in arm?

What can acupuncture do to combat N1H1?
Some studies being done on the 1918 plague (a chemical version of which has been injected into mice) have shown that our own immune response may play a role in making us sick by attacking both the virus and the host. This is a simplified answer, but the thinking is that a well-regulated response can be as important as a strong one.

How does acupuncture help regulate the immune system’s response to a virus?
A healthy immune system is like a defending army that needs to be strong, but it must also respond to threats appropriately—it’s the difference between targeting the bad guys versus everything in sight. One thing we see with acupuncture, which works with the body’s qi or energetic system, including nerve pathways and hormonal signals, is that it boosts one’s natural defenses and plays a vital role in regulating them, so the bug is what the body targets, not you.

Are you a fan of all the hand-washing that’s being advocated? Yes, wash your hands often. Not like Lady MacBeth, but frequently and appropriately. And be cognizant of contact—wash after riding the subway or coming out of a meeting. Keep your hands moisturized with a non-petroleum-based lotion. This might seem irrelevant, but it’s important for the integrity of your hands to prevent dryness. Where there’s a crack in the skin, there’s an opening into your system.

What if you’re sick?
Plan ahead. Not in a hysterical way. But it eases stress to prepare, and that makes healing easier for the body. So I’d recommend to have a few organic soups and broths in the cupboard, as well as Pedialyte, which will keep you hydrated. Yes, even adults. Keep paper masks sealed in a baggie in your bag. These are to keep others away from you when you’re ill and your immunity is low. No one wants to sit next to Mask Lady on the train.

For acupuncture appointments and rates, contact Noah Rubinstein, 80 E. 11th St., at Broadway, Ste. 410; 212-387-8788 ; www.noahrubinstein.com

Have you tried acupuncture for colds or other health reasons? Tell us, here!