Acupuncture to Stop Smoking

Checkout Quitza a new online support group  for people quitting smoking using acupuncture. If it’s something you’ve been thinking about then giving up is probably going to be the greatest single step you can take to improve your health and the good news is that half of all smokers do manage to stop. With the right support there’s no reason why you can’t.

Just some of the benefits

  • Improved breathing and general fitness
  • Reduced risk of smoking-related diseases
  • Improved life expectancy
  • Feel great about yourself for having quit
  • Clearer skin and whiter teeth
  • You’re protecting the health of those around you
  • More money to spend

 How Does Acupuncture Help you Stop Smoking?

Acupuncture takes all of your symptoms into account and aims at balancing the energy within the body to optimize your health. 

The acupuncture treatments look to help with cravings and withdrawal symptoms, anxiety, insomnia and restlessness. All symptoms that people commonly complain about when they quit. It also aids in relaxation and detoxification.

Usually a combination of points in the ears and body points will be used. In between treatments, small seeds can be taped to the acupuncture points in the ear. When a cigarette craving hits, gently pressing on the seeds stimulates the acupuncture points to calm the mind and eliminate the craving.

New Research – Acupuncture for Cigarette Smoke Lung Damage

New research finds that acupuncture heals injuries to the lungs due to cigarette smoke exposure. Acupuncture demonstrated a significant reduction in anti-inflammatory biochemicals suggesting that it may be effective in treating the resultant COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The study discovered that acupuncture reduces levels of inflammatory related cytokines, immunomodulating cell-signaling protein molecules. The researchers suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects of cytokine regulation and concomitant antioxidant effects may be responsible for prolonged clinical benefits from acupuncture. From HealthCMi-Read More.

To find out more or book an appointment please email or call me and i’ll be happy to have a chat with you.

Acupuncture for Anxiety, Depression & PMS

New research has just been released demonstrating that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of PMS, anxiety and depression. Researchers from the Harvard Medical School (Boston, Massachusetts) and the Advanced Integrative Rehabilitation and Pain Center (Washington, DC) conclude that “there is high-level evidence to support the use of acupuncture for treating major depressive disorder in pregnancy.” In an additional study, researchers from the School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina (Beijing University of Chinese Medicine) conclude that acupuncture shows effectiveness in treating PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome).

In the first study, the researchers note that both anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in society. The researchers note that both anxiety and depression are “difficult to treat and have high relapse rates and medication side-effects. There is evidence to suggest that acupuncture may be an effective treatment modality.” The conclusions were drawn based on randomized controlled trials. The meta-analysis filtered for quality research and included several trials that were double-blinded. All studies showed that the benefits of acupuncture for anxiety and depression were significant. Read More

 

Acupuncture Cuts Lower Back Pain

New research demonstrates that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic lower back pain. Researchers studied back pain patients in an inpatient rehabilitation clinic in Germany. Two groups of patients were compared. Group 1 received acupuncture plus conventional rehabilitation services. Group 2 received only rehabilitation services. The researchers discovered that patients willingly accepted acupuncture as a means of care and showed significant improvements in physical functioning, overall health and energy levels and improvements in emotional well-being over the conventional care only group. Notably, the acupuncture group also demonstrated significant improvements over the conventional care only group in the area of pain reduction.

Low Back Acupuncture
Acupuncture significantly reduced pain levels and reduced radiculopathy experienced as a prickling sensation in the hands and feet. The acupuncture patients had less pain upon sitting, standing and carrying loads of 10kg or greater. The researchers concluded, “Acupuncture was highly accepted and had positive effects in patients with chronic low back pain. These results show that acupuncture can be an effective, well-tolerated therapy with no major adverse events.” Read More

 

Acupuncture Lowers High Blood Pressure

New research finds acupuncture effective in reducing blood pressure. The study discovered that patients taking antihypertensive medications benefitted from further reductions in blood pressure by adding acupuncture to the treatment regime. As a result, the researchers concluded that “acupuncture should be in the hypertension treatment guidelines and widely used for blood pressure regulation.”

Acupuncture NeedlesSubjects chosen for the study had been taking antihypertensive medications for at least 24 months. Each subject was taking between one and three medications for the treatment of high blood pressure. The pharmaceutical classes of drugs were a combination of ACE inhibitors, diuretics and/or beta blockers. Common medication side-effects experienced by the subjects included exhaustion, dizziness, weakness, joint pain, headaches, sleeping disorders, edema, a feeling of coldness in the extremities and depression. To maintain a consistent method of evaluating changes in blood pressure from acupuncture treatments, no changes to dietary intake or physical activity were implemented. Read More – Health CMI

Acupuncture Treats Headaches- New Study

A new study concludes that acupuncture is effective for relieving headaches. Investigators note that acupuncture reduces the intensity and duration of headaches. In addition, they suggest that acupuncture can reduce the need for “drug therapies and is a valuable option for patient suffering from CDH [chronic daily headache].”

In this controlled study, verum acupuncture was compared with sham acupuncture. The verum acupuncture group improved significantly over the control group. Verum acupuncture significantly reduced the frequency, intensity and duration of chronic daily headaches. The research notes that acupuncture is effective for reducing the intensity of pain for chronic tension headaches and migraines. In addition, patients suffering from nausea due to headaches and migraines showed a significant decrease in nausea levels.

In related recent research, acupuncture was found more effective and safer than a migraine medication. Researchers discovered that acupuncture effectively reduced migraine pain intensity levels and no adverse effects occurred. In the same study, patients receiving the medication valproic acid did not have the same level of clinical benefits as acupuncture and with nearly 50% of patients experiencing adverse side effects from the drug.The outcomes were measured six months after the study had been completed. This demonstrates that acupuncture has long term benefits for patients with migraines and that it is both safe and effective. Read More -Health CMI

Acupuncture Helps Sleep – New Research

New research reveals that acupuncture bested a pharmaceutical medication for the treatment of sleep disorders. A special Traditional Chinese Medicine manual acupuncture technique was applied to acupuncture points commonly used to benefit sleep by licensed acupuncturists combined with the oral administration of vitamin B1. The acupuncture group was measured against the drug group and a control group. The control group received needling stimulation at non-acupoints and the oral administration of vitamin B1. The drug group received estazolam, a benzodiazepine pharmaceutical medication that has anticonvulsant, antianxiety, sedative and muscle relaxant effects. The researchers discovered that the drug was 59.7% effective while acupuncture was 84.1% effective. The control group only showed a 25% effective rate thereby ruling out the placebo effect triggered by sham acupuncture. Read More Health CMI

Asparagus Reduces High Blood Pressure

New research concludes that dietary intake of asparagus lowers blood pressure. The researchers were able to isolate an active compound found in asparagus that was found to have an antihypertensive effect. An ACE inhibitor was purified and isolated from asparagus. ACE inhibitors, often concentrated into pharmaceutical medications for the treatment of hypertension, cause dilation of the blood vessels which results in lower blood pressure. The researchers note that the ACE inhibitor in asparagus exerts its medicinal effect in the kidneys and that this may preserve the normal function of the kidneys and prevent hypertensionIn a related discovery by the same research team, asparagus intake significantly raised the creatinine clearance rate. This is the rate at which blood plasma is cleared of creatinine and is an indicator of overall kidney health. The research suggests that asparagus has an overall effect of benefitting the kidneys and lowering blood pressure for cases of hypertension. The study was published in the prestigious Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

The research builds on a long history of dietetics information demonstrating that deep green colored foods have antihypertensive effects. This concept has its roots in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Five Element theory within this system notes that deep green foods often have antihypertensive effects, including green asparagus as noted in this new study. Health CMI

Fibromyalgia Patients Seek Acupuncture

New research shows that patients with fibromyalgia are likely to seek acupuncture treatment and other forms of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). Published by the University of Montana, the research focused on whether or not pain motivated patients to seek CAM therapies such as acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, yoga, Tai Chi and cognitive behavior therapy. The results showed that over 70% of patients with fibromyalgia sought CAM therapies. The research concluded that “interference in daily activities from pain increases the use of CAM….”

Acupuncture for FibromyalgiaFibromyalgia is a disorder characterized by chronic pain and is due to neuroendocrine dysfunction. Fibromyalgia pain is non-nociceptive. This type of pain is not due to the activation of pain receptors as in burns and injuries. Non-nociceptive pain is due to destructive changes in the nervous system. The pain originates in the peripheral or central nervous system and pain is generated by nerve cell dysfunction. Migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome pain and fibromyalgia related pain are all forms of non-nociceptive pain.

The treatment of fibromyalgia with acupuncture and herbal medicine within the Chinese Medicine system predates its acknowledgment within biomedicine. Ancient writings and modern Chinese Medicine research document acupuncture’s beneficial effects for the treatment of fibromyalgia. Recently, a study demonstrated that acupuncture reduces pain sensitivity for fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients. In addition, these patients demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety and depression. As a result, the overall quality of life score improved for fibromyalgia patients receiving acupuncture treatments.  Read more: Health CMI

Tai Chi can help Parkinson’s disease

People with Parkinson’s disease often suffer from shaking limbs and stiff muscles, which makes moving increasingly difficult.

Now scientists have found practising an ancient Chinese martial art could help both their balance and ability to walk.

A team from the Oregon Research Institute assigned nearly 200 patients twice weekly sessions of 60 minutes each in either tai chi, resistance-training or stretching.

 

Those who did the gentle martial art outperformed the stretching and resistance-training groups in tests of balance and length of stride when walking.

Those in the tai chi group also experienced fewer falls than the stretchers, and just as many falls as the resistance-trainers.

‘These results are clinically significant because they suggest that tai chi, a low-to-moderate impact exercise, may be used, as an add-on to current physical therapies, to address some of the key clinical problems in Parkinson’s disease’ said lead author Fuzhong Li.

‘The improvements in the balance and gait measures that we demonstrated highlight the potential of tai chi-based movements in rehabilitating patients with these types of problems.’ Read more:

Join Clinical Trial for PCOS

The Orchid Study is currently OPEN and inviting women to join until July 2013. 

This study involves using Chinese herbal medicines for symptoms and problems experienced by women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).  This study has been funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), a government research organisation and is led by a team of GPs and researchers from the University of Southampton.

The purpose of this website is to provide patients, healthcare providers and associated organisations with further information about the Orchid study, and to allow those interested to join the study.

An Overview of the Orchid Study

As part of this study, eligible women with PCOS will be entitled to a 6-month course of Chinese herbal medicine treatment, including consultations with an experienced and registered herbalist and all Chinese herbs free of charge.  This course of treatment would normally cost £800-1000.

We are looking to see if the herbs have an effect or not on a range of symptoms including:

  • Delayed or absent periods
  • Painful and heavy periods
  • Acne
  • Excessive hair growth
  • Problems controlling weight
  • Depression and anxiety