The Psychobiology of Pain

At its worst, acute pain can be unimaginably intense and stressful, and chronic pain can wreck havoc on a person's quality of life. Because pain is such a universal problem Traditional Chinese medical practitioners devote a considerable amount of time treating it. Read more from original article..

Green Tea and Cancer

The latest research have revealed that green tea contains a compound that shows great promise for the development of drugs to treat two types of tumours and a deadly congenital disease. The discovery is the result of research led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Thomas Smith at The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and his colleagues at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Their findings are published in the recent article,"Green Tea Polyphenols Control Dysregulated Glutamate Dehydrogenase In Transgenic Mice By Hijacking The ADP Activation Site” in The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Read original article here

Study - Acupuncture helps ease hot flashes

Resent research studied 14 men who were suffering hot flashes a side effect of anti cancer treatments and studied the positive effects of acupuncture on these sometimes sever symptoms. Read original article here

Cosmetic Acupuncture

The wisdom of Chinese medicine optimises the bodies resources to achieve that facial rejuvenation, used by stars and celebrities around the world, now facial rejuvenation acupuncture is more available to us all. Chinese medical acupuncture doesn’t just stop there, it works from the inside out, and not only treats the lines of your face, it treats internal disharmony that causes those fine lines.

The Picture in the Article. When you read the accompanying article, please be aware that the picture is not a realistic picture of anyone receiving facial rejuvenation acupuncture. No professionally trained acupuncturist would not use so many heavy needles. If they did the result would be a heavy weight on the face and even more lines and wrinkles. it is nothing like that. Read original article here

Acupuncture benefits Glaucoma

Glaucoma which can cause blindness will benefit from acupuncture according to new research.

The study conducted by the department of Traditional Asian Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, demonstrated that acupuncture improves intraocular pressure (IOP) and retrobulbar circulation behind the globe of the eye. Acupuncture points that were studied were UB-02, Tai Yang (M-HN9), ST-02, ST-36, SP-06, K-03, Liv-03, GB-20, UB-18, and UB-23 with all acu-points were needled bilaterally. The study used colour doppler imaging to confirm the improvement in circulation behind the eye. The improvements in IOP and eye circulation suggest that acupuncture is effective in the treatment of open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

Western medical treatments for Glaucoma, focuses on controlling intraocular pressure and retrobulbar hemodynamics. The study concluded that acupuncture is effective in controlling these factors. Using the colour doppler imaging, the researchers revealed that acupuncture lowers intraocular pressure and vessel resistance in patients with open-angle glaucoma.

Acupuncture needles were retained for 15 minutes on the anterior and posterior sides of the patients during each session. UB-02, Taiyang, ST-02, St-36, SP-06, K-03, and Liv-03 were applied to the patients when in the supine position and retained for 15 minutes. For the prone position, GB-20, UB-18, and UB-23 were retained for 15 minutes. No needle manipulation techniques were applied.

Shin Takayama, lead researcher commented that this is the first study using acupuncture to measure improvements of eye hemodynamics and that acupuncture was found to decrease vessel resistance in the eyes, specifically the ophthalmic artery (OA) and short posterior ciliary artery (SPCA). The OA and SPCA originate from the carotid artery. The study concludes that a combination of medications combined with acupuncture improves glaucoma patient outcomes over patients who only receive medications.

Online reference:
healthcmi.com
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

Silence is Consent

I'm asking all my patients, students, colleagues, friends and family to visit this web address, watch the video and Please sign the PETITION, if you want to be able to choose a natural herbal remedy. The video says it all!

 

To www.SaveNaturalHealth.eu for an excellent explanatory video and  sign their petition to the European Council.

 

James

Tuina Workshop

James O’Sullivan’s workshop at the Irish Massage Therapists Association AGM was full to capacity with 60 massage therapists eager to learn more about Tuina, the Chinese medical acupressure, also known as needle-less acupuncture. James is a pragmatic speaker and quickly cuts to the essential core of the subject in a simple and easy to understand way. He arranged the workshop into an information session on where Tuina came from, how it developed and how it works. The group also quickly learned the location of particular Qi points, used to ease stress, relax the mind and body, calm thinking and eliminate tension. In the next session James demonstrated a 15 minute sequence of Tuina utilising these Qi points. He then had the entire group practicing this simple yet powerful routine that James developed for his own patients, who suffer less stress now as a result.

James demonstrates Tuina techniques at IMTA AGM

The short one hour workshop flew past and went over time with lots of questions from the enthusiastic group. Tuina is the medical physiotherapy of China developed over 3,000 years ago. It is an integral part of the healthcare system in hospitals throughout China today. It works with the energy system in the body known as the meridian system.

Like Acupuncture, Tuina works with the Qi energy of the patient to bring a balanced state of health. But unlike, acupuncture, needles are not used. The work is done entirely with the practitioner's hands to help increase the beneficial flow of Qi through the patient's meridian system.

The practitioner of Tuina learns to diagnose the patient, using a holistic approach techniques and methods. The practitioner will need to either stimulation or subdued a particular meridian in order to bring the patient to a state of balanced health.

Tuina Confidence

There is a lot that can be said about the many modalities of massage, but my personal favourite is Tuina Chinese medical acupressure.

Tuina (pronounced twee nah) falls under the category of Qi Gong acupressure which is based in Traditional Chinese Medicine (including acupuncture, herbal therapy, dietary therapy and medical Qi Gong). Tuina literally means "Push Grasp". This method of massage was developed by Chinese healers over the course of several centuries. Often referred to as "sports massage" but it is so much more than that. In China, Tuina is practiced in the largest hospitals integrated with Western medicine to treat both external conditions from broken bones, frozen shoulders, tennis elbows to Internal conditions like Headaches, PMS, Dizziness, Insomnia.

I have used Tuina to help ease the pain of Migraine, Sciatica, as well as other chronic pain conditions. My patients report they have never had such powerful, moving massage before and prefer Tuina to Swedish or Deep Tissue massage. I personally prefer it because it allows me to affect a more penetrating release for my patients without the pain usually attributed to therapeutic massage.

Tuina can be used to treat ailments in children as well. The meridians in a child's body are not fully developed, so a much milder treatment than for an adult and Tuina is a very suitable substitute for acupuncture because of this. In my own clinic I have treated children as well as adults. While practicing in Guo Yi Tang Hospital, in Beijing, I had an 8 month old child patient who had a haemorrhage in the brain. Her doctors told the parents that they should let the child go as she may not survive the trauma and the prognosis was not good. As a last resort, the parents brought their child to the hospital and I was assigned to treat her. When I met the parents and child, I was disheartened by her condition. She had no spirit in her eyes, she was totally still and silent except for the activity of the respirator and other apparatuses attached to her. At that moment my confidence in Tuina was severely tested and I have to admit I said a few prayers as well. I remembered an acupressure protocol from my very first teacher in Taiwan "Hung Shui Chen" and I used it every day. By the end of one week the spirit had returned to the little girl's eyes.

One day during the treatment, the baby let out a little scream. I looked to the mother who had tears in her eyes. She hadn't heard her baby cry in weeks. From that point on, the baby continued to have a strong recovery and I believe is fully recovered today. Tuina proved itself that day and thankfully has proved itself many times since it. I can say with my hand on my heart, I have complete confidence in Tuina today as an effective treatment for many conditions.

Tuina Chinese medical acupressure is relatively new here in Europe. However, as it is more widely practiced, there will be more information and education available.
James O'Sullivan

Study Tuina

Thunder God Vine study

Practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have for centuries used a medicinal plant called “Thunder God Vine”, or lei gong teng, as a treatment for a varieity of health problems including rheumatoid arthritis. There is now a “new” scientific study from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, recently published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, showing evidence that the herb has potential anti-tumour and other healing properties. Thunder god vine (lei gong teng) contains compounds that help control the "machinery" of genes on the cellular level.

Read original article here