December 2008 Archives

The Acupuncture Relief Project is a free community acupuncture clinic that travels to countries that have been impacted by poverty, conflict or disaster. In 2008 our 6 week project is located in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Nepal remains one of the poorest countries in the world and has been plagued with political unrest and military conflict for the past decade. Our project will give our practitioners an opportunity to gain valuable field experience while making a positive impact on the local community.

Namo Buddha Volunteer Acupuncture Clinic

Pictures from the Namo Buddha Volunteer Acupuncture Clinic  The beauty of Nepal is belied by the serious diseases of the patients at the hospital.

Season's Greetings from the students, faculty and staff of New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We wish you a healthy, safe, and balanced New Year.

"Beijing Declaration" from WHO Congress on Traditional Medicine Promotes Use in Primary Care

Summary:  The first Congress on Traditional Medicine of the World Health Organization (WHO) was convened in Beijing, China November 7-9, 2008. Participating were 1100 experts from 70 countries...The Congress promulgated the "Beijing Declaration," which also calls on countries to integrate conventional and traditional medicine.

"Both modern and traditional medicine have their advantages and weakness for health care," said Dr Zhang Xiaorui, one of the organizers of the Congress and Coordinator of Traditional Medicines at WHO's Department of Essential Medicines and Pharmaceutical Policies. "If national health care systems can include the advantages of both systems, it would benefit both patients and consumers." 

An address to the Congress by WHO director general Margaret Chan, MD took up this theme.

  "The two systems of traditional and Western medicine need not clash. Within the context of primary health care, they can blend together in a beneficial harmony, using the best features of each system, and compensating for certain weaknesses in each."

Read the Beijing Declaration, formulated at the WHO Congress of Traditional Medicine, at The Integrator Blog

Dr. Chan's speech was very moving. She spoke of how traditional medicine is in fact the only type of medicine available to many in Latin America, Asia and Africa and how many die from Malaria because Western medicines are not  available. Yet, traditional medicine is often preferred in developed countries because, she opined, Western medicine has become depersonalized and "hard hearted". Read Dr. Chan's complete speech to the WHO conference.

My friend has had frozen shoulder for years. She went to the NYCTCM Acupuncture School Teaching Clinic in Manhattan for acupuncture treatments. Senior students treat patients supervised by a Master acupuncturist. She has had three treatments and her range of motion is improving. The price is very affordable also; only $25 after the first treatment.

Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) vision is to foster the creation of stable, peaceful global communities through its community-based acupuncture services and training which interrupt the cycles of unresolved trauma.

http://chinesemedicineadventures.blogspot.com/2008/08/acupuncture-in-eye.html

"We continue with our acupuncture practice! It looks a bit full on and it's a delicate, sensitive area called stomach 1. The needle passes through the space above the bone into the eye socket but isn't close to the eyeball.

I wouldn't say this point is needled much but it is stated that it draws energy to the eyes and is helpful to "calm and cool " the Liver, associated with eyes in Chinese Medicine. Some books state that it is forbidden to be needled too.

However it's part of our curriculum. When it was done to me it wasn't painful, but I was definitely a bit nervous."

Chinese Medicine students at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia,  take this picture and more while needling Stomach 1 near the eye during their points class.