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By: Billy Shonez Singh, MS, L.Ac. 

©2009

 

                  It is a disease that is defined as a metabolic disorder that is characterized by either abnormally low or high blood sugar levels that lead to a variety of metabolic derangements.  It is commonly characterized by fatigue, excessive urination, excessive thirst, and excessive hunger.  In this country, it is the biggest cause of death or disability.  In developed countries, the incidence of diabetes has doubled in the last 15 years and its going to double in the next 15 years.  The worst part of this situation is that one out of three people do not know they have diabetes.  For those that are diagnosed have had it for much longer amount of time and wind up with complications such as neuropathies.  According to Clinton J. Choate's article "Diabetes Mellitus (Part One)", it is estimated that 60% to 70% of diabetics have mild to severe forms of nervous system damage.

The symptoms range from:

• Pain in the feet and legs.
• Cramping, tenderness, and muscle weakness.  They can occur in the legs and feet along with the arms and hands.
• Paraesthesias- pricking, tingling, or numbness along the skin.
• Blurred vision.
• Impotence

 
In allopathic medicine, the treatment for diabetic neuropathies involve physical therapy, medications and in severe circumstances, surgical intervention.  The some of the medications used to treat paraesthetic pain and other neuropathies are tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.  Even though these specific medications are used in the treatment of depression, they are also used in treating peripheral neuropathies.  However the side-effects are numerous and seem counterintuitive when one looks at them.  For example, the antidepressant Imiprine (Tofronil) treats peripheral neuropathies by releasing norepinephrine in the central pain modulating pathways located in the brainstem and spinal cord.  However a side-effect of Imiprine is impairment of mental or physical abilities and cardiovascular disease.  When you look at those side-effects and compare them to the risk that diabetics have with cardiovascular disease, it seems rather counterproductive.
According to Subhuti Dharmanada, "Acupuncture therapy is a common approach to treating diabetes in China.  Many Americans assume that acupuncture is only suitable for treating pain, perhaps because the initial introduction of acupuncture was mainly for this application.  Increasingly, people with pain and other health problems for which acupuncture is selected also have diabetes."  Acupuncture can treat neuropathies by bringing blood flow and nerve conduction to the skin to treat numbness and tingling in the extremities.  Another point to mention is that blood flow and nerve restoration can also be accomplished in regards to the treatment of blurred vision and impotence.  Unlike the medications mentioned, acupuncture has no side-effects.  
 
 

 

Bibliography
Dharmanda Ph.D., Subhuti "Treatment of Diabetes with Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture" web posting date: January 2005 www.itmonline.org pg.14
 
Choate, Clinton J. "Modern Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine: Diabetes Mellitus (Part One)" Journal of Chinese Medicine Number 58 September 1998 pg.4
 
Echeverry, MD, MPH, Diana M. "Diabetic Neuropathy: Treatment and Medication" updated April 4th, 2007 http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/315434-treatment

                       By: Billy Shonez Singh, MS, L.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

                                 http://www.zenohs.com ©2009

 

Reading the title of this new article, you are probably thinking, "How is that possible?"  By treating something as simple as back pain with acupuncture and Chinese medicine, you are taking a preventative measure against cancer.  It may sound unlikely, or even impossible; but on the contrary, it's quite feasible.

            It all starts with an injury.  Let us say a 25-year-old man gets into a 30-mile-per-hour car accident.  He survived the accident and now has minor upper and lower back pain due to the concussive force of the crash.  Over time, the pain comes and goes but the concussive force remains, therefore leading to impeded blood flow to the connective tissues and muscles.  In a great amount of time, impeded blood flow in this case leads to lack of oxygen to the surrounding tissues, which is known as ischemia.  Ischemia leads to another process known as cell death, because no oxygenated blood is going to the tissues.  Eventually, the severity of cell death turns into necrosis because cell death has now spread into other tissues surrounding those affected by the concussive force. Over time, the surrounding necrotized tissues go into a cellular process known as cytotoxicity, which is much more severe than necrosis.  Toxins build up in the surrounding and localized muscle tissue, which later leads to cancer, which spreads into tissues.  How many times have you heard about people dying of cancer, despite the fact that they did not have cancer in their family health history? 

            A perfect real-life example of this theory is the case of Sosai Masutatsu (Mas) Oyama.  He was born in 1923 and was the founder of Kyokushin karate.  He trained under harsh environments and conditioned his hands, legs and feet by striking rocks and trees.  He challenged 300 fighters in Japan and fought all of them in a three-day kumite (which in Japanese means "free fight").  In short, he pushed himself beyond the limits of human endurance.  Yet despite his physical and spiritual strength, he died in 1994 of lung cancer as a non-smoker.  Now this is where the theory of concussive force comes into play.  As a fighter in his time, martial artists did not have protective equipment to shield their bodies as we do now.  When you are fighting the way Masutatsu Oyama did, most of the concussive force coming to your body comes from your opponent's strikes to your ribs, among other body parts like the head, groin and stomach.  Despite his physical strength, he was taking concussive force to his body (in his case, specifically the rib cage), which resulted in ischemic tissues, which over time resulted in his lung cancer.

            Chinese medical practices like Gua Sha can help treat musculoskeletal problems before they can eventually turn into potentially life-threatening issues.  Gua Sha is a modality that incorporates the use of a Chinese soup spoon, or any other hard device, to scrape the surface of the skin until there is bruising and redness.  It can be used as a stand-alone treatment or it can be used with one's acupuncture treatment.  The theory behind scraping the surface of the skin until it is very red is to bring up any stagnated blood and toxins to the surface of the skin.  The stagnated blood and toxins that have been built up cause pain and eventually lead to other problems at a cellular level.  Since there is bruising involved, capillaries are destroyed and allowed to regenerate, thus bringing in a fresh supply of nutrients and oxygenated blood to the connective tissues of the body that have been affected by injuries involving concussive force.  The bruising and redness that occurs fade away within four to five days.  If you want to see this technique done in action go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOF9kvjDPsk.

          

 

Billy Shonez Singh is a licensed acupuncturist and a board certified Chinese herbalist by the NCCAOM).  He is currently practicing in Commack, NY.  His primary focus with East Asian medicine is stress, pain management, diabetic complications, and treating chemotherapy side-effects. 

Basic TCM Knowledge regarding Osteoarthritis of the Knee In Traditional Chinese Medicine

Osteoarthritis (Degenerative Joint Disease) is mostly related to Fixed Bi and Painful Bi.

Fixed Bi Syndrome: The chief manifestations include pain and heavy sensation in the relatively fixed areas of body limbs or joints, numbness of the muscles, aggravation of the condition in rainy days, white greasy tongue coating, and soft slow pulse.

Painful Bi Syndrome: The chief manifestations include severe pain in the limbs and joints as if being stabbed or pricked. In the worst cases, there is fixed pain that is alleviated by warmth but aggravated by cold, better in the daytime but worse at night, limited movements of the joints, no local redness nor feverish sensation, cold sensation in the affected parts, thin white tongue coating, wiry tense pulse.

Pathogenesis

Wind, cold and dampness invasion causes the blockage of the Qi and blood in the meridian. In modern medicine, it is related to aging, endocrine disorder as well as trauma and improper posture.

Clinical manifestations
 
The onset of osteoarthritis of the knee is insidious. Initially, there is articular stiffness, seldom lasting more than 15 minutes; this develops later into pain on motion of the affected joint(s) and is made worse by activity or weight bearing and relieved by rest. Deformity may be absent or minimal; however, varus deformity of the knee is not unusual.

Imaging

Radiographs may reveal narrowing of the joint space, sharpened articular margin, osteophyte formation and lipping of the marginal bone, and thickened, dense subchondral bone. Bone cysts may also be present.

Major pattern differentiation

Fixed Bi:
Pain fixed in the knee joint accompanied by heaviness, stiffness and numbness, sometimes slight swelling.

Painful Bi:
Severe pain in the knee joint, aggravated by cold and alleviated by heat.

Treatment Principle:
Expel wind, Cold and dampness, improve the meridian circulation and regulate Qi and blood.

Major Acupuncture points and needle techniques

Acupuncture points for knee:
Xiyan (Ex.), Dubi (ST35), Zusanli (ST 36), Yanglingquan (GB 34)

Alternative Therapies:

Auricular therapy
Corresponding area (Knee), Sympathetic, Shenmen


Subcutaneous needling therapy
Select local point or tender points
Seven-star needle tapping and cupping

Read paper on Osteoarthritis of the Knee for Rachel Peterman's Clinical Acupuncture Practice II class at New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Mineola, NY.

She gives an overview of Osteoarthritis of the knee, and Western and TCM treatment approaches.

Rachel H. Peterman, M.S., DHEd(c), J.D.

Osteoarthritis of the Knee.pdf

The Benefits of Acupuncture for Cancer Patients

Those coping with cancer and other forms of disease often look to acupuncture and other alternative therapies to provide relief for pain, stress and anxiety. Practiced as early as the Stone Age, acupuncture has been a source of relief for numerous conditions for thousands of years. The exact way the technique was discovered or developed is not well-understood, but one legend claims that Chinese soldiers receiving arrow wounds in battle reported relief from pain in other body parts, which inspired further research.

Acupuncture

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) defines acupuncture as the "application of stimulation such as needling, moxibustion, cupping, and acupressure on specific sites of the body known as acupuncture points." They report that acupuncture may work by inducing physical response in nerve cells, the pituitary gland and certain parts of the brain.

Some notable conditions that acupuncture has been known to treat include allergies, gastrointestinal conditions, back pain, migraines and infertility. Some proponents of modern Western medicine continue to doubt the effects of acupuncture, but a growing body of scientific evidence has prompted many medical professionals to consider the benefits of this treatment.

The World Health Organization (WHO) published a scientific review of controlled clinical trials on acupuncture in 2003, and concluded it was an effective method of treatment for 28 conditions. Some of the listed conditions include adverse reactions to radiotherapy or chemotherapy, depression, hypertension, nausea and vomiting, and postoperative pain. They also found evidence that suggests acupuncture could be effective for several dozen more conditions, including abdominal pain, cancer pain, insomnia and whooping cough. Due to the relief of symptoms associated with cancer, breast, colon and mesothelioma cancer patients, among others, have turned to acupuncture for relief of their cancer symptoms and side effects.

Acupuncture and Cancer

Acupuncture can be used as an additional and complimentary treatment for the side effects that cancer patients experience, such as overall pain and nausea (caused by other cancer treatments like chemotherapy). NCI reports that clinical studies of acupuncture as a treatment for cancer show that acupuncture can reduce vomiting and nausea caused by chemotherapy. They also found that acupuncture may improve the immune system, helping cancer patients to fight their condition and its side effects.

The physical responses acupuncture can induce in nerve cells, the pituitary gland and parts of the brain can cause the body to release hormones, proteins and certain brain chemicals that affect a range of bodily functions. Through this response, it is proposed that acupuncture can affect blood pressure and body temperature, enhance immune system function, and prompts the body to release natural pain killers (such as endorphins).

Considered a natural form of treatment, acupuncture can help to treat side effects of cancers that are caused by exposure to natural, environmental forces, such as UV rays, radon or the toxic mineral asbestos. Clinical research currently suggests that a number of cancers are caused by exposure to environmental forces in those who happen to be genetically predisposed. A notable example includes skin cancer, but other lesser-known cancers, including the rare cancer mesothelioma, are also caused by exposure to environmental toxins. Asbestos exposure is one of the only mesothelioma causes and it is even linked to ovarian and prostate cancer. Patients coping with the symptoms and side effects of these cancers have reported relief after receiving acupuncture.

Though the benefits of acupuncture are still questioned by some medical professionals, numerous cancer patients have attested to the healing effects of this age-old treatment approach. Acupuncture, along with other forms of alternative medicine such as massage, meditation and yoga, have certainly gained support from countless cancer patients, and clinical trials continue to provide scientific evidence of the benefits of this treatment.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - "Acupuncture helped alleviate lingering pain and decreased shoulder mobility in people who had surgery for head and neck cancer, U.S. researchers said on Saturday.

The ancient Chinese therapy also resulted in significant improvements in extreme dry mouth or xerostomia, which often occurs in people who have had radiation treatment for head and neck cancer, they said at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

Researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York " (Further studies are cited at the link) "studied 70 patients who were at least three months past their surgery and radiation treatments. About half got standard treatments, which include physical therapy and treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs. The other half got standard treatment plus a weekly acupuncture session. After four weeks, 39 percent of those who got acupuncture reported improvements in pain and mobility, compared with only 7 percent in people who got typical care.

"Although further study is needed, these data support the potential role of acupuncture in addressing post neck-dissection pain and dysfunction, as well as xerostomia," Memorial Sloan-Kettering's Dr. David Pfister said at the meeting."This article comes from Reuters

Several of my relatives had head and neck surgery for cancer and suffered from these symptoms. My uncle did use acupuncture for pain and discomfort after he left the hospital. My mother was open to it but never tried it; it was too far away from her established ideas, plus her insurance did not cover it. My aunt had serious back pain and immobility while vacationing in China, was taken to an acupuncture clinic as an emergency patient and got immediate relief. She talked about it for years later, but did not continue with acupuncture. She ended up wearing a narcotic patch on her back for pain and got very disturbed and ill-tempered when the time neared to replace the patch with a new one because the dosage in the patch was declining.