In This Issue:
**Enjoying the Moment - how Acupuncture can help
**Call to Action - help pass HR646 to get Acupuncture covered by Medicare
**Acupuncture Research - why its a sticky wicket
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Carl Honore TED Talk - The Slow Movement.
Enjoying the Moment can Enrich Your Life and Acupuncture Can Help!
This TED Talk is an older one, posted 2007, but I included it today for a couple reasons. I've been talking in my recent newsletters about how important it is to live in harmony with the seasons from a Chinese Medicine perspective for health and vitality but what I've failed mention is why this is important. This talk by Carl sums it up for me - its about the speed and the incessant rush to work, live, achieve and succeed in our modern society. We eat packaged foods, live in temperature controlled homes (which I don't have anything against, mind you...) and work like crazy people causing a disconnect that has us rushing through life at breakneck speed. This isn't the only way to live and be successful and the Slow Movement, including the Slow Food Movement, is testament to that. Furthermore, I heard a statistic recently that multitasking actually decreases your efficiency by 40% as compared to focusing one thing at a time. I think 40% is pretty significant, and certainly the output and success of countries like Norway where people work much shorter weeks than we do in the US yet still seem to come out at a comparable economic level is testament to the success of focused and slow.
I believe acupuncture is in alignment with this slower saner pace of life. As the seasons change the balance of Yin and Yang shifts making different seasons require different eating, sleeping and exercise habits to stay well. This requires learning about how the seasons change energetically and how to move in accordance with them, including awareness of how your specific body feels, reacts and changes seasonally based on your constitution. Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine help give you that education and understanding. Furthermore, the experience of acupuncture is often one of slowing down. According to classic Chinese Medicine literature it takes 28 minutes for your energy to cycle once through all of the 12 main meridians (energetic channels) and 24 hours for your energy to peak in each individual meridian. During an acupuncture treatment, therefore, you usually rest on your own for approximately 20-30 minutes. It forces you to slow down during your day and take some time to breathe, relax and be. In this way, acupuncture can give you a chance to be in the moment and practice slowing down amidst a hectic life.
For more information on eating with the seasons in particular, I recommend reading this article - The Energetics of Foods for Health and Healing. It provides a great overview of seasonal energetic theory as well as some general recommendations for simple dietary changes to match the season.
CALL TO ACTION - Help pass HR646 and get Acupuncture covered by Medicare!
Today I am asking for your help. There is a bill on the floor right now called HR646, The Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2009. If passed, it will make acupuncture a covered service under Medicare and under the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan enabling an additional 54 million patients to access acupuncture and Chinese Medicine as a covered service. This landmark piece of legislation will change the place of Chinese Medicine in the US and bring acupuncture into the mainstream. It could truly change the face of medicine in our country - not to mention paving the way for more insurance companies to accept acupuncture as a valid reimbursable service. Please take action by writing a letter to Congress and/or calling your local congressman to help get this important bill passed. To look up your local representatives and get a sample letter to send please click HERE. Furthermore Mayway, a Chinese Herb manufacturing company, is also matching donations to the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) to help us lobby for this bill during the months of August and September. If you feel inclined to donate, please click HERE and follow the prompts on the website. Thank you for considering and for doing whatever you feel like you can to help.
Acupuncture Research - why is it so hard?
Ah... the minefield of Acupuncture research. And it is a minefield, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell ya. Acupuncture research in the west started in the 70's and has been going (strong?) ever since and there is one central question that has stumped all researchers for the past 30 years - how does Acupuncture work? The answer - still unknown. From a Chinese perspective, i.e. and energetic "Qi" based perspective, the answer is obvious - it moves and balances Qi. Since Qi is intangible and immeasurable according to Western science, however, the exact mechanism of action of Acupuncture is still considered to be "unknown."
This doesn't answer why acupuncture research is so hard, however, though it is an important key. Western medical research regards the double-blind placebo controlled trial as the most accurate and desirable test model. This testing structure creates a situation where both the patient and practitioner don't know whether a patient is getting an active or inactive substance - only the 3rd party moderator knows - so no one can be tipped off or mislead about their treatment or have any specific expected positive or negative outcome. Clearly, trying to do this with acupuncture is near to impossible (do you want someone putting needles in you who doesn't know they are doing it? Eek!) but researchers have tried to do their best by creating various "sham" acupuncture methods to act as control methods comparing active acupuncture treatment to inactive or "sham" acupuncture treatment. The conundrum is this - if we can't define from a Western perspective how acupuncture works, how can we guarantee that "sham" acupuncture doesn't do anything? Can you start to see why acupuncture research is so difficult to do?
Sham Acupuncture - contradiction in terms?
When it comes to sham or inactive acupuncture there are generally 2 main types. One is to use specific acupuncture points in a study and then for the "sham" control portion, to use toothpicks tapped through guide tubes to simulate acupuncture without actually puncturing anyone. To ensure that patients don't know which they are getting, a sheet or barrier is hung at neck level so the patients can't see what is happening to the body and all patients have to be newcomers - have to never have had acupuncture before. The problem with this method - anyone ever heard of acupressure? Who is to say that acupressure isn't just as effective as acupuncture when you are repeatedly stimulating the same points? Problem. The second common sham method is to use "non" acupuncture points. I.e. a panel of acupuncture experts agree on specific points for the study, and then agree on specific points that are off major energetic channels. Patients are generally allowed to see what is happening in these studies, but they have to be ignorant of point location to receive treatment. The problem here is that there are many different types of acupuncture with slightly different channel distributions and point locations, so if you follow the Traditional Chinese Medicine model only, sure, you may find "off channel" points, but who is to say they aren't "on channel" points in another system? Furthermore, there is a whole system of what is called "ah-shi" points or tender points in Traditional Chinese Acupuncture where you needle points off or on channel that are tender to the touch when treating specific syndromes. What if you hit an active ah-shi point on someone that gets you a response? Again - problem. The toothpick method is generally considered in most acupuncture circles to be a better sham method than the "off channel" point sham method, but neither are really ideal.
Ah.... sticky wicket. Ask Rebecca if you have questions.
See the minefield yet? These are just a couple of the myriad of challenge involved in acupuncture research and the result is that some acupuncture research is done well and some is not and it is important to look at acupuncture research with a critical eye. To encourage well done acupuncture research in 1996 a group of researchers and Acupuncturists came up with a list of guidelines called STRICTA that ensure the best study possible, and reading a study against these guidelines is a great way to get a sense of whether a study has been done as well as it can be or if it is seriously lacking. If you ever read a study or an acupuncture research headline you are curious about PLEASE ask me and I will be happy to review the study and tell you what I think - I have great education in research review and I will always be happy to review a study and give you an opinion about it.
Research of the future - comparative instead of reductive.
So... what do we do? What do we want to see in acupuncture research today? Considering that we probably aren't going to be able to prove the exact mechanism of action for acupuncture for a while, instead of getting hung up on it, we need the Western medical establishment to move on to the next step - i.e. engage in more comparative studies between Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine so that doctors and patients can make educated decisions about what course of treatment is going to be most effective and have the least side effects. We're getting there - some of the studies I talked about in my last newsletter moved in this direction comparing "standard treatment" i.e. Western pharmaceutical treatment to "alternative medicine treatment" i.e. acupuncture and massage. These types of studies can advance our understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of both areas of expertise and help us work collaboratively to provide the best care possible.
Thanks for tuning in!
Phew! Thank you for listening. I know research may not be the most compelling topic, but as acupuncture continues to step up closer and closer to the main stage I feel it is important to understand the strengths and weakness of the Western research model when it comes to acupuncture so that when you see something in the news media that sounds really great or really awful you can look at it with a critical eye and ask "is that really what is going on?" Furthermore, I want to be a resource for you to ask those questions of when they arise. There is much more to the research challenge, but this is some basic information that hopefully will make you feel more informed and empowered to understand.
Again, if you have a chance to write a letter or make a phone call to your local representative to advocate for HR646 please do - it will make a huge difference in the accessibility of this medicine and we need all the help we can get. Lastly, if you haven't been in for a tune up for while now is a great time to come in. Let me help you live in harmony with the seasons to achieve optimal health and wellness the Chinese Medicine way. Book online via my website, email me direct or call at (503)445-8888 ext. 1. Hope you enjoy the heat and have a great July!
~Rebecca
