The World of Alternative Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Treatment of Swine Flu (H1N1) Boise, Idaho

2010-07-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

A simple herbal anti

2009-05-01T16:53:00.001-07:00

A simple herbal antibiotic: Yin Chiao San or Huang Lian Jie Du Tang. If you're good, Pu Ji Xiao Du Yin. Better than a mask...

Move Over Segway! Here's the Tai Chi Sccoter!

2009-03-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here's an article (http://www.lafayette-online.com/science-technology/2009/03/tai-chi-driven-scooter/) regarding the new invention of a scooter that operates on tai chi principles. As the country ponders new and more efficient ways to operate, especially in the area of transportation, even the tai chi folks are getting involved. I would love to get one of these to ride to work in Eagle. Who ever said the Traditional Chinese Medicine crowd and tai chi community aren't on the cutting edge of technology should look again!

Critics Try To Shut Down NIH Alternative Research

2009-03-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry to report that critics in the scientific and medical community are attempting to persuade the National Institutes of Health (NIH), our national research center for health, to stop funding the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), which is NIH's center for investigating the use of alternative medical practices. It seems that all the talk of reducing health care costs and spending is the opening oppponents of alternative therapies have been waiting for to fire a torpedo into the good ship "progress".

"With a new administration and President Obama's stated goal of moving science to the forefront, now is the time for scientists to start speaking up about issues that concern us," Steven Salzberg, a genome researcher and computational biologist at the University of Maryland, said last week. "One of our concerns is that NIH is funding pseudoscience."

NCCAM is technically considereda "center" and not an "institute", which categorically is a second-tier entity in government-speak. This year's budget at NCCAM is $122 million.

As an alternative practitioner, naturally, I'm biased. And since this is a blog, I won't pretend to be otherwise. It's disappointing to realize that there are many who who keep this great nation's cultivation of a complete healthcare paradigm consistently behind many countries such as those in Europe and even Australia and New Zealand. Chinese herbs in granular form are covered by national health insurance in Taiwan!

And those that complain about taxpayer funding of alternative medicine and its potential benefit to citizens that are yearning for it, reap the benefits of publicly-funded research themselves. Where do you think the pharmaceutical companies get their research? Our universities. The universities conduct the research (on our dime), sell the rights as a patent to the pharmaceutical companies, who then pay back royalties to the university as they maintain a Congressionally-approved monopoly on the product for 10 years. It's a great system. Not for you, of course.

"What has happened is that the very fact NIH is supporting a study is used to market alternative medicine," said Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale School of Medicine It is used to lend an appearance of legitimacy to treatments that are not legitimate."

Hopefully, this too shall pass...

Meditation Confirmed by Study

2009-02-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

Meditation 'fools the brain' in a threatening world

By R.J. Ignelzi
SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

For years, Buddhist monks, yogis and The Beatles have been telling us about the benefits of meditation. Now, scientists and doctors are hopping on the meditation bandwagon.
Thanks to cutting-edge technologies like functional MRI scans, neuroscientists can look inside the brain to see if meditation actually produces physical change. Although they're still not sure how meditation works, research is beginning to show that, in fact, it does.

Through the brain's hard wiring (the nerves) and the soft wiring (hormones), the brain is “perpetually informing the body if the world is safe or threatening,” says Dr. David Simon, a San Diego neurologist and the medical director for the Chopra Center at La Costa Resort in Carlsbad.

“Meditation fools the brain into perceiving the world as not so threatening, so the brain then sends out hormones and electrical signs telling the body to relax a bit.

“The changes that happen physiologically when we practice meditation are the opposite of and counterbalance those (physiological changes) that occur in the fight-or-flight response that we experience when we're stressed. The heart rate slows, the blood pressure comes down, breathing slows. We neutralize the harmful effects of stress on our system.”

Here's a look at some of the science that's validating meditation's health claims.

May increase happiness and strengthen the immune system. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin reported that people newly trained in meditation have shown an increase in electrical activity in the left frontal part of the brain, an area associated with positive emotion and happiness. Meditators also showed a significant boost of immunity to the flu.

“Meditation (promotes) a neurochemical shifting. The stress hormones are acutely lowered,” says Dr. Robert Bonakdar, director of pain management at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. “When we feel more relaxed, the brain generates natural anti- anxiety and happiness-enhancing chemicals like endorphins and (high levels of) serotonin.”

May enhance memory and attention. A study at Massachusetts General Hospital found that parts of the brain's cerebral cortex were thicker in people who had practiced meditation daily for just 40 minutes for several years. The cerebral cortex is the part of the brain that deals with attention and processing sensory input and tends to thin with age.

“Research has shown that if you stress an animal, there is degeneration of the brain. The brain actually starts to deteriorate,” Simon says. “Physiologically, when the brain is functioning in a more relaxed state, it's able to absorb and retain memory better.”

Lowers blood pressure. A 2004 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed meditation can lower blood pressure and mortality rates in older people with hypertension.

“When you're sitting meditating, most people's blood pressure comes down,” Simon says. “But if you do it regularly, even outside the actual time of meditation, the benefits continue and your blood pressure continues to be lower.”

May help alleviate mild to moderate anxiety and depression. Researchers at the University of Louisville found that mindfulness meditation alleviates depression in women with fibromyalgia.

“In meditation, you're breathing better, so you cope better. But it's more than that,” Bonakdar says. “If you look at depression as an inflammatory state, we see that meditation causes those (inflammatory) neurochemicals not to pour out.”

Increases alertness. University of Kentucky researchers found that sleepy people who meditated for 40 minutes did better on a test of mental quickness than people who had taken a 40-minute nap.

May help control binge eating. A study at Indiana State University found that obese women who practiced mindfulness meditation had an average of four fewer binge-eating episodes a week than before they took up the practice. Mindfulness can help bingers recognize when they want to overeat and lower the odds that they will.

May help lower blood sugar: Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles showed that patients were able to lower their blood pressure, blood sugar and insulin by practicing transcendental meditation.

Mesothelioma Treatment Options

2008-01-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

Are alternative therapies helpful for mesothelioma? (question from web visitor)

Mesothelioma is a serious and rare form of lung cancer. It is most frequently seen in men between the ages of 50 to 70. Choosing how to battle mesothelioma can be a daunting task. Most likely, conventional treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, will be the first options offered to newly diagnosed patients. Choices should be made carefully and with much thought, considering side effects, recuperation time, and overall quality of life.

Many cancer sufferers also choose to investigate alternative cancer therapies and non-invasive treatments for pain management. No healthcare provider will suggest the total abandonment of conventional treatment but, especially when chronic pain is involved, they may advocate a few less conventional ways of dealing with the struggles of cancer. Ultimately, the choice is up to the individual, but many have found the alternative therapies below to be helpful.

Acupuncture
This ancient Chinese practice has only recently been touted as an excellent pain reducer for cancer sufferers but has, for decades, been recognized as a great way to relieve chronic muscle pain. Even cancer specialists at such renowned hospitals as Memorial-Sloan Kettering are recommending this technique and realizing exceptional results. A recent French study showed a 36% drop in pain level for cancer patients who received regular acupuncture treatments.

Massage
Because it increases circulation and relieves stress, massage can be a wonderful way to reduce pain, even for a short amount of time. Massage is also known to aid in reducing fatigue and depression and decreasing nausea. Furthermore, the touch of another human being offers comfort that no other therapy can match.

Meditation
Because meditation of any kind - spiritual or secular - calms the mind and relaxes the body, it holds many advantages for cancer patients who are not only in pain, but usually suffering from high levels of stress as well. Meditation has also been shown to possibly improve immune function. Another advantage of meditation is that anyone can do it as it can be performed in the home with little or no physical exertion and at little or no cost to the patient once meditation techniques are learned.

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) Therapy
TENS therapy has been used to successfully treat pain in cancer patients for the last two decades. This therapy involves placing electrodes on the skin in key areas along the nerve pathway. A tiny battery-powered generator then emits a small amount of electricity through lead wires to the electrodes. It is widely believed that this stimulation overrides the brain’s pain messages and prompts the body to produce a morphine-like substance that reduces pain. TENS therapy is safe for everyone though some patients may feel anxiety related to receiving “electric shocks.” However, there are few side effects associated with this alternative treatment, making it especially favorable for those who are intolerant of pain medications.

Hypnosis
Though not as popular as previously mentioned alternative therapies, hypnosis has begun to be accepted as yet another way to achieve pain management for cancer patients and those afflicted with other types of chronic pain. Individuals who explore this avenue should be sure that their hypnotherapist is licensed and experienced.

Controlling pain is essential to improving a mesothelioma patient’s quality of life. When you’re stricken with cancer, it’s important to live each day to its fullest. Acupuncture and alternative therapies can certainly help manage pain levels, give comfort and reduce anxiety, fatigue and nausea common in mesothelioma sufferers.

How Big Pharma Markets to Doctors

2006-08-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

Being in the field of alternative medicine, you sometimes hear people's negative association with "Western medicine". Just saying the words "Western medicine" seems to elicit of facial expression as if biting into a lemon. This is very true among students in acupuncture colleges where "Western medicine" seems almost to be an opponent. My feeling is that "Western", or allopathic medicine has been a phenomenal gift to the world. Think about it? Open heart surgery? There a many, many great things to be thankful for.

No, it's not Western, or allopathic medicine, that is the problem. It's modern medicine, and the culture that is creeping into it. A study in this week's issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine provides extensive detail about how drug companies push their products to doctors.

Dr. Michael Steinman of the University of California, San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Hospital is the lead author of the study. A huge collection of drug company internal documents — revealed as part of a lawsuit —offers a wealth of detail.

In 1996, Dr. David Franklin, an employee of the drug company Parke-Davis, filed the lawsuit under federal whistleblower statutes alleging that the company was illegally promoting an epilepsy drug called Neurontin for so called “off-label” uses. Under federal law, once the FDA approves a drug, a doctor can prescribe it for anything. But the law specifically prohibits the drug company from promoting the drug for any unapproved uses. In 2004, the company, by then a division of Pfizer admitted guilt and agreed to pay $430 million in criminal and civil liability related to promoting the drug for off-label use. Pfizer fought hard to keep all the papers related to the suit under seal. A judge denied the request and they are now part of the Drug Industry Document Archive at the University of California, San Francisco.

What is most interesting is not the illegal actions they reveal, but the details of activities that are perfectly legal. And according to people familiar with the industry, the methods detailed in these company memos are routine.

One tactic identifies certain doctors as “thought leaders,” “key influencers” and “movers and shakers” — those whose opinions influence the prescribing pattern of other doctors. Those whose views converge with the company goals are then showered with honoraria, research and educational grants. In the Parke-Davis case 14 such big shots got between $10,250 and $158,250 between 1993 and 1997.

“Medical education drives this market,” wrote the author of one Parke-Davis business plan in the files. Many state licensing boards require physicians to attend sessions in what is called continuing medical education (CME) to keep current in their field.

At one time, medical schools ran most CME courses. Now, an industry of medical education and communications committees (MECCs) run most of the courses. These companies with innocuous sounding names like Medical Education Systems set up courses, sometimes in conjunction with medical meetings, at other times often in fancy restaurants and resorts. The drug companies foot the bill, with the program usually noting it was financed by an “unrestricted educational grant” from the company.

The records in this case reveal in precise detail how the company attended planning sessions for the meeting and were allowed to tailor the content to meet their commercial goals.
Using MECCs, Parke-Davis set up conference calls so that doctors could talk to one another about the drugs. The moderators of the calls, often thought leaders or their younger assistants, received $250 to $500 a call. Drug company reps were on the line, instructed to stay in a “listen only” mode, but monitoring to be sure the pitch met their expectations.

The papers also reveal a “publication strategy” where the drug company would sponsor small trials of the drug and get the results published only if they met the company’s expectations. If the “core marketing team” found that results did not conform to the company’s goals, "the results will not be published," the documents reveal.

Besides arranging for its own favorable studies, Parke-Davis also contracted with MECCS to develop articles, review papers and letters to the editors of medical journals putting its product in a favorable light.

The company paid the MECC $13,375 to $18,000 for each article, but the reader would not know the drug company or the MECC authored the article. The MECC paid $1,000 each to friendly doctors and pharmacists to sign their names to the articles — creating ghostwriters to make the material appear independent.

Clearly, many of the physicians in these schemes are not innocent bystanders.
Whether it is ghost writing, making telephone calls to colleagues or leading a CME session, many of the doctors got paid well. Others received a free meal or transportation to a resort to listen to an “educational session.”

Physicians often claim they are not influenced by payments and perks from the pharmaceutical industry. But with the methods so thoroughly detailed in these papers, drug companies clearly believe they are getting their money's worth. Estimates put the amount the drug industry spends to promote their products to doctors at$18.5 billion. That's about $30,000 per doctor.

"It is very disturbing," says lead author Steinman. "It really does a disservice to patient care."

Supplement Studies Reviewed by American Acupuncture Center

2006-08-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

Recently, there have been several studies regarding the efficacy of three of the most popular supplements: Echinacea, glucosamine/chondroitin and saw palmetto. The studies suggest that these alternatives to pharmaceuticals are not effective. Let’s look at these studies.

First, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study stating that echinacea, a member of the daisy family, is not effective at stopping the common cold. The dosage administered in the study was 900mg/day. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) monograph, and the Canadian Natural Health Products Directorate lists a therapeutic dose at 3,000mg/daily. This is nearly 300% larger than the study dose. This would be like taking 30% of an aspirin when you have a headache. Also, echinacea comes in three varieties. The variety used in the study, echinacea angustifolia is known to be least effective. Echinacea pallida and pupurea are the effective forms of this immune enhancer and are the types recommended by the German Commission E, a highly-respected authority on natural and medical products.

Second, a study on glucosamine and chondroitin complex suggests that the supplement is not as effective at relieving the pain of osteoarthritis as Celebrex, a pharmaceutical COX-2 inhibitor. The Celebrex group showed a 70% improvement while the glucosamine/chondroitin group showed a 67% improvement. However, in the category of moderate to severe pain, the glucosamine/chondroitin group was 10% better than the Celebrex group. Since the results are so similar, why wasn’t the headline “Supplement as Effective as Celebrex But Without Side Effects”? If the two are very similar in the result numbers, wouldn’t you rather take a supplement that has little or no side effects instead of a category of drugs responsible for the hospitalization of over 100,000 Americans every year? And who paid the researchers for this study? Pharmaceutical giants Merck (makers of Vioxx), McNeil Consumer and Specialty Pharmaceuticals (makers of Tylenol) and Pfizer. Pfizer manufactures Celebrex.

Third, saw palmetto (serenoa repens, serenoa serrulata, and sabal), a palm that grows on the south Atlantic seabord and Southern states was targeted in a study on benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The preponderance of evidence for the effectiveness of saw palmetto is directed at men with mild symptoms of BPH. This is accepted by WHO, the German Commission E, the Canadian government’s Natural Health Products Directorate and the monograph by the European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy (ESCOP). This study never negated the effectiveness of saw palmetto for mild to moderate symptoms of BPH.

Studies are often complex to understand, especially if you have not been trained to read them. Unfortunately, many of the studies being done now on natural and alternative supplements are sponsored and paid for by pharmaceutical corporations that would like nothing better than to see these natural products discredited. This is obviously a huge conflict of interest regarding these studies; I still recommend the above products to my patients when appropriate and believe they can be helpful.

The "Real" Problem with Holistic Medicine

2006-07-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot of media coverage and interest in holistic and alternative medicines in the last 15 years. The high cost of visits to the doctor, frustration with insurance coverage, the increasing prescription of pharmaceutical drugs and the lack of effectiveness of conventional medicine for many ailments has made many in the West try or at least consider complementary or "natural" alternatives. We feel like numbers in the medical model of today, with a lack of human connection or compassion from our providers.

So, many have turned to therapies such as acupuncture, herbs, Ayurveda, yoga, tai chi, chiropractic, naturopathic or homeopathic treatment. There are so many out there. Some do it because they are desperate, and will try "anything". Others simply are seeking an entirely new path in their healing.

Of course, with the popularity and successes, come the criticisms and naysayers. "Experts" on this or that will tell you that "this" doesn't work or "that" doesn't really help. It's all in your mind, right? We have reports that this substance or that is dangerous and shouldn't be allowed for public consumption. But those are not the real problems with holistic medicine.

Holistic medicine, from any culture is usually a reflection of the cultural values from whence it came. For example, acupuncture has many roots in the Taoist traditions of China. It can not help but be so, because that is the culture that spawned it. Acupuncture is one of the Eight Branches of Traditional Chinese Medicine, medicine being likened to a great tree. The idea was to incorporate all, or as many of the branches into one's life, to develop vital health. Tai Chi practice, qi gong energy practice, meditation, application of feng shui and tuina bodywork are some of the others. The idea is that health is rooted in self-cultivation.

That's a very important concept, self-cultivation. Cultivation is the idea of repetition of positive practice and habits to develop and maintain vitality. And this is where the problem is for us in the West. We are a society of instant gratification in every way. High speed internet, speeding down the highway, cell phones to reach anyone, anywhere at anytime. Text messaging, pagers and televisions with remote control and 500 channels. We are impatient when anything in our life is not instant or high speed. That includes dealing with health issues.

Many patients complain that their doctors spend so little time with them and just seem to want to prescribe another pill for them. However, many doctors tell me that patients ask or in some cases, demand a medication to remedy even minor problems. And, I see that too. Too often, patients simply want you to fix them, but they do not want to change. Often, it's a simply lifestyle adjustment or nutritional need that will solve their problem. Many people just don't want to do it. Or, people may have a health issue that has been ongoing for decades but give up after one or two acupuncture treatments and declare "acupuncture doesn't work". The real truth is, some people do not want to work to get better. They want the instant cure.

Holistic therapies are slower in action (usually) because they are meant to be slower. Holistic health is meant to be a principle of living that delivers a real and permanent change. You do that by repetition. Eating right, exercising regulary, adequate rest and relaxation, developing an awareness of your body, fulfilling work and relationships and, maybe most important, is a positive mental outlook. These are all elements of holistic medicine and are meant to be practiced to achieve their effect. This is why the Chinese view things you can do for yourself as infinately more powerful than something somebody else has to do to you.

Holistic health is everything you're doing in between those yaerly visits to the doctor. And for many, that can be a problem. Don't let it. Let it be your life!