Acupuncture in the news

How acupuncture heals the root cause of PCOS

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 04:35:22 +0000

The cause of polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS has not yet been agreed upon by scientists. And now there is another possible scenario of pathogenesis, which looks very viable.

Apart from the well-known insulin resistance and hormone imbalance, there is one more process happening in the PCOS women’s bodies. The name of it is high sympathetic nerve activity, which, studies show, is present with PCOS patients.

Sympathetic nervous system innervates and regulates almost all of the internal organs, including hormone glands. It also innervates ovaries.

The interesting bit is that scientists believe, that sympathetic hyperactivity could develop before the hormone imbalance, and therefore be the root cause of PCOS.

The reason this is on my blog is that acupuncture has been researched to normalise the sympathetic nervous system. It can restore regular ovulation especially in patients with less androgenic hormonal profile and a less pronounced metabolic disturbance.

[References]

Brush your teeth twice a day for a healthy heart!

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:19:31 +0000

Professor Richard Watt from London has analysed data from the Scottish Health Survey and discovered, that brushing your teeth twice daily reduces your risk of a hear attack.

Brushing your teeth improves your gum health and reduces the risk of your gums getting inflamed. Studies show that chronic inflammation plays an important role in buildup of atherosclerosis.

Now you have yet another reason to brush your teeth more regularly and more often. Brush your teeth twice a day for a healthy heart!

The study was published in BMJ. Image courtesy of geese

Acupuncture for amblyopia or “lazy eye”

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 08:25:18 +0000

Amblyopia, better known as “lazy eye” may affect up to 5% of the children. The condition is caused by brain and one of the eyes not communicating properly. And this study to be published in the Journal of Optalmology promises that acupuncture may be able to help to speed the recovery.

The Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences (DOVS) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Shantou University jointly conducted two clinical trials. 171 randomly chosen children who had lazy eyes were treated.

The children aged 3 to 6 responded the best to acupuncture; children aged 7 to 12 had a moderate response; the treatment effect was negligible in children aged 13 or above.

The kids were divided into two groups, one was treated with corrective lenses. The children in the second group received acupuncture five days per week for 15 weeks plus the corrective lenses.

Children aged 3 to 6: about 15 percent of the children treated with corrective lenses recovered while 57 percent of the children treated with the combination of acupuncture recovered.

Of the 7-12 age group, the children treated with the combination of acupuncture and orthodox treatment experienced a 41 percent recovery rate.

Back in 1993 I spent some time learning acupuncture at the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The experience was exceptionally interesting.

The university has an affiliated Acupuncture/Chinese Medicine hospital, which is the largest of the kind.

The outpatient acupuncture department had a number of doctors each specialising in treatment of different conditions with acupuncture including pain, gynecological conditions, gall bladder, eye and others. I spent a couple of weeks in the eye department and then went back a few times to follow up some patients. The treatment results amazed me. Since then I saw and was able to help only one visually impaired patient here in New Zealand. It is a shame, the expertise I gained didn’t come in handy more often. Even though the treatment is used in China, very few doctors if any aware of this option in New Zealand.

Acupuncture treatment for heart failure

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 06:42:34 +0000

Acupuncture remarkably improves exercise tolerance in patients with heart failure says Dr Johannes Backs from University Hospital of Heidelberg in Germany.

His placebo controlled study included 17 patients with congestive heart failure. The patients were randomised to receive acupuncture or placebo – a needle that simulates the procedure without piercing the skin.

No improvement in cardiac ejection fraction or peak oxygen uptake was seen. But the six minute walk distance was ‘remarkably increased’ in the acupuncture group by 32m on average, compared to a drop of 1m in the placebo group.

Dr Johannes Backs said: ‘This is the first indication that acupuncture may improve exercise tolerance in CHF patients- when given in addition to optimised standard heart failure medication.’

Previous studies summarised by American researchers in Cardiology In Review have suggested that acupuncture could be sympatholytic in heart failure. They found that sympathetic activation during acute mental stress was virtually eliminated after acupuncture.

Another review published in Heart and Lung found that acupuncture was also holding a promise as a treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. According to the eight studies reviewed, 87% to 100% of participants converted to normal sinus rhythm after acupuncture.

(Ref: Cardiol Rev. 2004 May-Jun;12(3):171-3.; Heart doi:10.1136/hrt.2009.187930; Heart Lung. 2008 Nov-Dec;37(6):425-31. Epub 2008 Sep 11.)

The study can be found in Heart / British Medical Journal

Image courtesy of Linh_rOm

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Acupuncture vs drugs

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:12:58 +0000

Amusing reasoning of advantages of acupuncture over drugs for pain relief in an article on military medicine:

“Imagine being a military medic on a combat patrol that is ambushed and suffers casualties. Although several of your wounded troops have painful injuries, their trigger fingers still work and you need them to continue fighting. Instead of morphine, you grab your acupuncture needles and quickly stimulate the appropriate auricular acupoints. Pain relief is an essential component of combat casualty care; however, the use of narcotics risks taking the servicemember completely out of the fight. Beyond pain control, the potential advantages of BA (battlefield acupuncture) to the injured warrior include staying in the fight with no alteration in sensorium and no nausea or vomiting. In addition, the use of narcotics would force the transport of patients on litters. More combat team members would be required to carry a patient than are required to provide ambulatory assistance for a patient still lucid enough to walk.”

Success at Last: Couples fighting infertility might have more control than they think

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 04:24:36 +0000

Success at Last
Couples fighting infertility might have more control than they think
By Deborah Kotz
Posted 4/29/07

Tracy Ryan had given up hope of having a second child. Two years of trying to conceive, including three failed artificial inseminations, had finally culminated in a successful in vitro fertilization-and 2-year-old Christopher. But further attempts at in vitro had left Ryan, 35, disappointed and exhausted. Desperate to feel better, the stay-at-home mom from Fair Haven, N.J., decided to try acupuncture, kick her six-can-a-day Diet Pepsi habit, and eat more fish, fruits, and vegetables. Eight weeks later and slimmer by 7 pounds, Ryan was shocked to discover that she was pregnant. “I was literally shaking when I saw the pregnancy test,” she says. “My husband made me buy a different brand to verify it.”

Three artificial inseminations failed to work for Meredith Collins, but two relaxing vacations did
JARED LEEDS FOR USN&WR

Ryan can’t know whether to thank coincidence or her lifestyle changes for 9-month-old Brendan. But a growing body of evidence suggests that controllable factors (and not just a delay in childbearing) may be a reason 1 in 8 couples can’t conceive. Success depends on the delicately timed release of four reproductive hormones, and all sorts of factors-too little iron in the blood, too much or too little body fat, too much exercise-can throw the sequence out of whack. “We’re finding that everything matters-and moderation in terms of stress, body weight, diet, and physical activity is what’s important,” says Joel Evans, assistant clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and women’s health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and author of The Whole Pregnancy Handbook.

No one is talking about magic bullets. Some women will do everything right and still get the maddening diagnosis of “unexplained infertility.” But institutions as well regarded as Duke University and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York are so convinced of the possibilities that they’ve recently opened “holistic fertility care” centers that offer women trying to conceive acupuncture, nutrition counseling, and relaxation classes. And a growing number of IVF clinics now host on-site yoga classes. At the very least, making healthful changes in the hope of improving your odds of a baby is bound to pay off in other ways.

Get ready. Sometimes, the body’s refusal to get pregnant can be a sign of its wisdom, says Tracy Gaudet, an obstetrician-gynecologist and executive director of Duke Integrative Medicine. Being overweight, for instance, puts a woman at risk of such pregnancy complications as high blood pressure, diabetes, and an abnormally large baby. So it may be no accident that excess estrogen produced by body fat interferes with ovulation. The body also may be saying “whoa” when a woman carries too little fat to sustain a growing baby: In underweight women, the pituitary gland releases less of the ovulation hormones FSH and LH.

Research from Harvard Medical School suggests that being at either end of the weight spectrum accounts for nearly 40 percent of failures to ovulate. Gaudet advises aiming for a body fat percentage in the range of 20 to 25 percent and a body mass index-a measure relating weight to height-of 20 to 25. That would equal about 117 to 145 pounds for someone 5 feet, 4 inches tall.

It’s smart to quit smoking well before trying to get pregnant, too. A number of studies have shown that tobacco use can stretch the time it takes to conceive by a year or more, possibly because toxins in cigarette smoke accelerate the aging of a woman’s eggs and damage the fallopian tubes. In fact, a 2006 study by Columbia University researchers found that women who smoked 14 cigarettes a day entered menopause an average of three years earlier than those who never smoked.

If you haven’t ditched trans fats for other reasons already, this is a good time. A recent finding from the Harvard Nurses Health Study suggests that eating as little as 4.5 grams per day-the amount in one glazed Krispy Kreme cruller-could disrupt ovulation. Study author Jorge Chavarro, a research fellow in the department of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, notes that the results need to be replicated before firm conclusions can be drawn but speculates that trans fats could indirectly lead to a rise in testosterone, which suppresses the function of the ovaries. “Check for the trans fat content on food labels, and avoid any foods with partially hydrogenated oils in the ingredients list,” he advises. His research group also found a link between low levels of dietary iron and a failure to ovulate, possibly because iron is important for the maturation of the egg.

There isn’t one ideal preconception diet, but emphasizing nonprocessed foods like whole grains, fruits, and vegetables will steer you away from trans fats. It’s also wise to limit your intake of large fish such as tuna and swordfish, since the mercury they contain has been shown in animal studies to affect fertility. In terms of alcohol consumption, the consensus is that a glass of wine on occasion is probably fine. But how much alcohol is safe isn’t known.

On the flip side, it’s possible to be too fit. Women who work out intensely can have trouble getting pregnant, possibly because reproductive hormones are suppressed when the body interprets excessive calorie burning or physical stress as danger. A study published last fall in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology found that those who regularly exercised four or more hours per week were 40 percent less likely to conceive after their first IVF treatment than sedentary women. “Walking is fine, but spinning classes are out,” says Alice Domar, an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School and author of Conquering Infertility. “I generally recommend that my patients keep their heart rate below 110.”

Couples who are actively trying to conceive need to understand some biology: Several hours before ovulation, the pituitary gland normally sends out a surge of LH, which causes the ovary’s follicle to release an egg. But say you have a fender bender before the surge happens or suddenly discover you need a $10,000 roof repair. Such stresses can signal the pituitary gland that the body is in trouble, which slows the release of LH. If you have perfectionist tendencies, a single tear-your-hair-out day could be enough to disrupt ovulation that month, says infertility researcher Sarah Berga, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University School of Medicine. Even if ovulation occurs, a shortage of LH could mean a shortage of progesterone, which is necessary to nourish and sustain a fertilized egg.

Skipping meals or taking a long run when you’re feeling frantic might make matters worse. In a study of monkeys published last month, Berga and her colleagues created mild stress for one group by moving the monkeys to a new cage and found that 12 percent developed abnormal menstrual cycles. In the second group, which was moved plus given less food and a daily one-hour session on a treadmill, 70 percent experienced irregular menstruation.

Overcoming the level of stress associated with chronic infertility may require more formal interventions. On their first visit, about 40 percent of women seeking infertility treatments exhibit the same range and severity of symptoms-irritability, difficulty concentrating, sleep disturbances-as people diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, says Harvard’s Domar. She developed a 10-week workshop for infertile women now in use around the country that includes group therapy, nutrition counseling, and relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and yoga. In two studies, Domar and her colleagues found that 55 percent of women who took the workshop while getting fertility treatment wound up giving birth to a healthy baby compared with 20 percent of women who had treatment alone. “The women who took the class were also less anxious and depressed and had a much easier time coping with the medical procedures,” Domar says.

Heidi Fallon, 36, of Ayer, Mass., found this to be true when she took Domar’s workshop at Boston IVF 15 months ago after going through three unsuccessful rounds of treatment and a miscarriage. The class taught Fallon focused breathing techniques that she used while stuck in rush-hour traffic and provided comforting connections with other infertile women. “They knew exactly what I was going through-how hard it was when a friend or relative got pregnant,” she says. An IVF cycle during the 10-week session produced Fallon’s 9-month-old triplets.

For some infertile couples, a phone call to a travel agent seems to do the job. “My friends raise their eyebrows whenever I take a vacation,” says Meredith Collins, 35, of Portsmouth, R.I. After three failed tries at artificial insemination, Collins took a much-needed break from her busy paint-your-own-pottery store and infertility treatments and headed to a beach in the Dominican Republic, where she promptly became pregnant with her now 19-month-old son. Her 6-month-old son was also conceived naturally on a 2006 family getaway to a quiet bed-and-breakfast.

Since the point is a healthy baby, success at getting pregnant doesn’t mean it’s OK to relax back into old habits. About 10 to 15 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and lifestyle factors linked to infertility are probably responsible for some of them. In a study published last year, Danish researchers found that smokers had a higher risk of miscarrying during the first few weeks of pregnancy than nonsmokers. Stress, caffeine, and alcohol might also be associated with miscarriages, though the data have been conflicting.

Longer term, evidence is mounting that a pregnant woman’s lifestyle and diet can affect her baby well into adulthood. Children born to mothers battling depression or anxiety during pregnancy appear to be smaller and to weigh less as they grow, for example. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends that clinically depressed women consider staying on their antidepressant medication while pregnant (with the exception of Paxil, which has been tied to birth defects). One recent study suggested that expectant mothers who eat more than three servings of fish a week deliver babies with higher IQs, while gaining too much weight during pregnancy seems to raise a child’s risk of developing obesity or diabetes as an adult.

And too little vitamin D puts babies at risk of asthma, type 1 diabetes, and bone deformities, says Lisa Bodnar, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh whose research shows that, even with prenatal vitamins, most pregnant women aren’t getting enough. She recommends at least 1,000 international units of vitamin D a day; most prenatal supplements contain 400 IUs. Clearly, there’s good reason to make choices that go beyond standard practice. But most are common sense.

This story appears in the May 7, 2007 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.

Acupuncture increases Adenosine 24-fold

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:39:47 +0000

Listen to Scientific American posdcast on the subject:

I have stumbled upon an article on the mechanism of acupuncture in the latest issue of journal of Nature.

A team of scientist from University of Rochester, New York found acupuncture triggered an increase in neurotransmitter adenosine an incredible 24-fold at the punctured area. The study is important, because it explains one of the mechanisms how acupuncture works.

More details in Nature Neuroscience.

Update: there was a substantial media coverage of this study including scientific journals like Scientific American and mainstream media including New Zealand Herald. I’ve inserted a scanned image of the story in NZ Herald forwarded to me by one of my colleagues.

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Depression during pregnancy and Acupuncture

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:20:00 +0000

A new and largest study to date published in Obstetrics & Gynecology confirms acupuncture to be effective for pregnancy depression. Meanwhile another study examining antidepressant use in pregnancy says they may affect brain development of the fetus.

Since 2008 NZ Medsafe has been warning that SSRI antidepressant use in pregnancy may increase the risk of congenital abnormalities, and that in later stages of pregnancy can lead to neonatal complications indicative of a withdrawal syndrome, and to persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn; and that doctors need to discuss this with their patients.

Even though some of the medications could be considered relatively safe, we are not certain in in a few weeks, or in a few years we shall not find out that there is some problem with them. Example: the latest (March 2010) issue of Pediatrics reports that antidepressants may permanently or reversibly affect fetal brain development.

The bottom line? Acupuncture is safe and effective treatment for pregnancy depression. If you are pregnant and suspect that you may be suffering from depression, remember to discuss acupuncture with your obstetrician, midwife or GP.

A skeptic doctor strongly recommends acupuncture to improve IVF success rate

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:54:00 +0000

Medical researcher Dr Shaun Holt used to belong to New Zealand skeptic society, an organisation known for being critical of acupuncture. Dr Holt reviewed a lot of research on natural medicine and as a result has changed his opinion about some of the natural medicines. Yesterday he appeared on TV endorsing acupuncture as very safe and effective treatment for back pain, headaches and improving success rate of IVF (in vitro fertilisation). Watch the report on TVNZ.

[Comment: this is an older post pulled from archives]

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture: my new premises!

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:26:27 +0000

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Acupuncture for Insomnia

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:18:00 +0000

The largest study on acupuncture and insomnia to date found acupuncture to be more effective than orthodox sleeping medications in improving your sleep and relieving insomnia. The researchers also found that combining acupuncture with medication was more beneficial than medication alone. Acupuncture plus herbs also improved sleep better than herbs alone.

This study (meta-analysis) included 46 randomized trials and 3811 patients. It was published The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

The bottom line:

The most common solution your doctor will offer for insomnia is sleeping pills. Unfortunately the sleeping pills are addictive and their effect diminishes with time. Furthermore, sleeping pills don’t give you quality sleep and have a sedative effect, which may affect your performance during the day as well as driving. Acupuncture offers a superior alternative to sleeping medications. Acupuncture does not have the side effects of the sleeping pills and it is more effective in treatment of insomnia.

image courtesy of samantids

Edometriosis: Chinese medicine superior to conventional medication

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:43:00 +0000

Chinese herbal medicine following laparoscopic surgery in Endometriosis patients achieved better symptom controll compared to conventinal medication danazol and was comparable to gestrinone. Furthermore, it the patients taking Chinese medicine reported fewer side-effects. The pregnancy rate was similar with either treatment.

Andrew Flower, PhD, of Southampton University in Ringmer, England, reported the findings in the Cochrane Reviews.

Asthma and stress link explains how acupuncture may help

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:49:00 +0000

Not many asthma sufferers come to see me specifically for this this condition. I do see many patients affected by stress, anxiety and depression. Some of them also suffer from asthma. A few of these patients told me that their asthma improved significantly following acupuncture treatment. I used to get surprised by this, as studies on acupuncture and asthma provide mixed results.

Now at last I think I found an explanation for this. If you are prone to anxiety, your chances of developing asthma are tripled. This is the conclusion of a study on 4000 adults published in Journal of Allergy this month. Chronic stress alters hormone levels, which can lead to inflamed airways. Acupuncture has been shown to regulate stress hormones; it is an effective treatment for anxiety.

This contributes to understanding the pathophysiology of asthma. But it also explains how acupuncture may help asthma sufferers. It may be the reason why some acupuncture treatment protocols work better than others; and help to design studies which could actually provide some hard evidence for the practice.

Image courtesy of net_efekt

Fertility, IVF and Acupuncture books

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Among the good strategies of dealing with stress of infertility and IVF (apart from acupuncture, of course!) is getting more information about your condition and what you can do.

Another one is reading stories of people who have been in your situation. I can recommend you a couple of good books.

One, The Infertility Cure, is on acupuncture and infertility, but it also gives you a good roundup of diet and other things you can do yourself.
Another one recommended by one of my patients, is Legs Up and Laughing. In this book Vanessa Bates takes you on her “Big Great Fertility Ride”. This one is for you AND your partner.

Do you have a suggestion? Let us know in the comments.

Acupuncture for hay fever

Dr Vitalis Acupuncture — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:54:00 +0000

A seriously large controlled trial on acupuncture and allergic rhinitis or hay fever was performed in Germany by Charité University.

4,743 of 5,237 patients suffering from allergic rhinitis patients received 15 acupuncture sessions. 494 patients were assigned to control group.

The researchers used Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire evaluate the results after three and six moths following the acupuncture.

The researchers conclude that treating patients with allergic rhinitis in routine care with additional acupuncture leads to clinically relevant and persistent benefits.

The study was published in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.