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By Billy Shonez Singh, M.S., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

                                                ©2010

            Recently my father became a vegetarian a couple of months ago.  Since then, he has lost weight, his psorasis has cleared up, and he is much calmer and reserved than before.  On the other hand, a 44 year old woman comes to my clinic with insomnia and irregular menstruation with blood clots and PMS and feels very cold especially during the summer.  When I asked her about her diet, she says that she has been a vegetarian when she first came to this country from India.  Now, these two highly different cases are related to being a vegetarian.  Some people become vegetarian for political reasons as is the case in a few PETA members I have met.  Other reasons are because of religious issues as in the case of Hindus and Buddhists.  Whatever your reason is for getting into vegetarianism, you should know that there are a few pros and cons to becoming one.  The pros of becoming a vegetarian are weight loss, lowered intake of chemicals and toxins that are associated with eating meat, and a much calmer disposition than non-vegetarians.  According to history, Buddhist monks and those from the Brahmin caste in Hinduism would adopt a strict vegetarian diet not just for spiritual reasons, but the cooling nature of vegetarian foods helped them with their focus during meditation.  However, based on my experience of what I have seen in my clinic, vegetarians present themselves with a disease pattern in Chinese medicine known as blood deficiency.  In blood deficiency, the signs and symptoms are not typically related to Anemia; putting it simply, the quantity of blood has not been compromised; it's the quality of the blood.  Therefore, a person with blood deficiency pattern associated with a vegetarian diet will have the following signs and symptoms:

• Chills
• Cold limbs
• Pale complexion
• Insomnia
• Irregular menstruation
• Intolerance to cold
• Small and pale tongue
• Thin pulse

Therefore, the only solution to all of this is either to start incorporating meat into their diet.  If that is not an option for Hindus and Buddhists, then herbal medicine is a good solution to taking care of blood deficiency based signs and symptoms listed above.  However I find that herbal medicine and dietary changes (such as eating meat) will produce better results together.  For Hindus that cannot eat meat, there is a justifiable way you can get around that rule.  The only caste within the caste system that can eat meat are the Kshatriyas (the warrior caste).  "Vegetarianism is prescribed only for the Brahmin priests among the Hindus.  This is not the original Vedic tradition, because if you go to the source texts in Ayurveda, they all contain tonic recipes and prescriptions for meat, including beef.  Hindu fundamentalists have tried to resurrect Ayurveda in a vegetarian form after independence there in 1948, and this form is the dominant one in the US.  But the actual source texts recognize the tonic qualities of meat (pg.2, Bergner)."

            In conclusion, vegetarianism has its benefits while at the same time it has its downsides.  After all according to Paul Bergner, "...in the vegetarian south India, there is a higher rate of heart disease, hypertension, and type II diabetes than in the US and Canada (pg2.)."  In my experience, a balanced diet blending both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods ultimately ends up being the stand-alone preventative to the signs and symptoms associated with a long-term vegetarian diet.  If having a vegetarian diet is nearly impossible to give up because of religious restrictions, at least make sure that all foods are cooked before eaten as opposed to having them raw.  In Chinese medicine, raw food that has been eaten has a tendency to disturb the normal functioning of the digestive system resulting in the above mentioned signs and symptoms along with stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.  A good solution when eating vegetables is to incorporate spices such as ginger, garlic, fenugreek, and cinnamon.  The properties of those particular spices are very warming and allow for proper digestion of raw vegetables in the stomach without any ill effects. 

 The Tao of Food: Diet in Taoist Practice states, "If you are a young healthy person, with no sickness, than a vegetarian diet is possible.  But if you have lack of energy or some other deficiency, then meat broth should be consumed from time to time."  It further states that, '...the diet should be composed of 30% leafy vegetables, 20% meat and 50% grain."  Take care everyone and eat well.

 

 

Bibliography

Bergner, Paul Thinking Critically About Diet, http://chineseherbacademy.org/articles/critical_diet.html, April 4^th, 2006. 

 

Hon, Sat Chuen, Tao of Food: Diet in Taoist practice. http://www.qigongtherapy.com/dec.html, December 18^th, 2006

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, M.S., L.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

                                          www.zenohs.com  ©2010

 

A 69 year old woman came into my office in October 2009.  Her main complaint for the past eight years has been multiple joint pains in her body due to Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Since her diagnosis, she was placed on thirteen different medications.  Four of them were for treating joint and muscle pain associated with her main complaint.  The other four of the medications were used in lowering her cholesterol and her blood pressure.  The side-effects of the medications were headache, bone pain, jaw pain, muscle weakness, swelling of the ankles and feet, and joint pain- among other things.  The last five of her medications were unrelated to her main complaint but were used in treating the side-effects.  She described her joint pain as severely sharp and stabbing variety located in her neck, lower back, knees, feet, shoulders, wrists, and fingers.  The pain would get exacerbated by damp, cold, and rainy environments as well as walking up a flight of stairs.  In addition to this, I noticed that she had swelling along the fingers and toes.  The swelling was due to the inflammation in the joints and had fluid build-up (edema) in both her ankles.  In her previous history she mentioned that she was a pack-a-day smoker but quit smoking fifteen years ago.  Lastly, she consumed two to three cups of coffee a day.  After treating her with acupuncture for seven months at once a week intervals, we both noticed dramatic improvements in the signs and symptoms.  The swelling in her fingers and toes had decreased.  Her ability to walk with more fluidity and speed was noted as well without any stiffness and debility in her knees and ankles.  It was also indicated that her handwriting appeared less rugged and more fluid after the swelling was alleviated in her fingers and hands.  In any case she now visits me every other week for maintenance-style treatments.  After all the progress we had witnessed together, here is what she had to say:

 

                         "I have been suffering with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis for about eight years.  After researching alternative methods of pain management I came across Billy Singh's web site and was impressed by his credentials.  I have been seeing him for acupuncture treatments for several months with excellent results.  The treatments have given me great relief from the inflammation in my knees, feet, and shoulders. 

            I am thrilled with the results I am getting from the treatments and would highly recommend them as a compliment to conventional medicine."

-          Janet M.

 

In my humble opinion, after getting a testimonial like this, all I can say is that I am sorry but decrease in severity of signs and symptoms of a disease is one of side-effects of East Asian Medicine.

 

 

 

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. 

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

                                        http://www.zenohs.com ©2009

 

 

            There have been many misconceptions about acupuncture that many people in the Western world have inferred. When I see and hear all of these misconceptions, it causes me to start rolling my eyes in disbelief. So it is time to set the record straight.

           

The first misconception is that it is used for dealing only with stress.  Now this statement is misleading because while certain people do use it for stress, it is not the only reason.  We do look at stress as being the cause of some diseases but not all of them.  If you look at certain diseases such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome or chronic fatigue syndrome, the root cause is stress.  However, certain conditions that acupuncture can treat such as sinusitis or diabetes, the root cause is not stress obviously.  Usually the cause of certain diseases can be environmental, genetic, dietary, or psychological.  Another misconception that caught my attention a couple of years ago was on Oprah Winfrey's talk show with Dr. Oz.  The subject on her show was about acupuncture and the acupuncturist treating Oprah was asked, "Do you need to be sick in order to receiving acupuncture?" The practitioner's answer was, "no."  Now, I find this to be not only a misconception but a dangerous answer to give because there are cases from East Asia that shows that acupuncture to be a useful medical tool.  Furthermore, the World Health Organization states that acupuncture is useful in the treatment of immune system issues up to the side-effects of chemotherapy.

 

Next is the subject of health insurance covering acupuncture treatments is another misconception.  Health insurance companies are only going to cover diseases treated with acupuncture by a medical doctor who is a certified acupuncturist.  I must say again that medical doctors practicing acupuncture have only three-hundred hours of acupuncture training.  Whereas, licensed acupuncturists are not covered by health insurance companies despite having two-thousand hours of training than certified doctors practicing acupuncture. 

 

Lastly, a misconception is that acupuncture is considered unscientific by the Western allopathic community.  Furthermore is that they feel that acupuncture is more of a mystical, intuitive, and an exotic art form of medicine.  The misconception of East Asian medicine being unscientific is also based on false postcolonial assumptions that date back to the 18^th and 19^th centuries regarding Eastern cultures by European imperialists according to Edward Said, the author of Orientalism.  What people fail to realize is that the Western medical viewpoint grows out of the scientific model.  The majority of individuals unfortunately fail to realize that science is a point of view without any more purchase on truth than the world views.  This gives Western medicine an air of certainty which it does not necessarily deserve anymore than acupuncture and East Asian Medicine does.       

 

            This concludes some of the many misconceptions about East Asian Medicine that have been circulating within the country.

           

 

 

Billy Shonez Singh is a licensed acupuncturist and 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.

This author (Rachel Peterman, a student at NYCTCM) believes that the "sham" acupuncture (non-specific needling), would also have the tendency to stimulate Qi (albeit not as effectively as well-placed and executed needling), therefore the acupuncture treatments would appear to provide less clinically significant benefits, as opposed to studies where acupuncture is compared with a "pure" control group.  "Sham" acupuncture is not analogous to placebo.  "Sham" acupuncture is more analogous to giving a half dose of medication.  A drug would not appear to be as efficacious if it was compared to a half-dose, that's why a placebo, with no pharmacologic activity is used as a control in pharmaceutical clinical trials.  A proper control in an acupuncture study would involve no actual needling and consequently no stimulation of Qi. 

It is unclear whether "sham" acupuncture has been implemented in some studies in order to intentionally skew the results of the statistical analysis, or whether it merely reflects an ill-considered and fatally flawed study design.  It is also significant that the study does not provide the exact acupuncture points used in each study, although the authors admit that there was not consistency between the studies.  The usual criterion for meta-analysis is that the studies be identical or extremely close to identical in design.  It is impossible to determine, based upon the information disclosed in this analysis, whether the studies were appropriate for meta-analysis.

In part 3 of AnnaMarie's paper on Lateral Epicondylitis she discusses the Traditional Chinese Medicine Understanding of 'tennis elbow' and shows the acupuncture points that are used to treat it.She cites clinical studies on acupuncture treatment of lateral epicondylitis.

AnnaMarie is an acupuncture student at New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Mineola, NY.

"Lateral Epicondylitis is named 'Elbow Strain' in TCM. It is also called zhuo lao, elbow taxation, zhuo tong, elbow pain and shang jin, damaged sinews.

• Overstrain exhausts the Qi and blood, and tendon and muscle are malnourished that causes the lateral epicondylitis
• Overwork taxation causes detriment and damage to the sinews and vessels of the elbow. On the one hand, there is insufficient blood to nourish the sinews, while, on the other hand, there is blood stasis obstructing the free flow of vessels. This may then be complicated by external contraction of wind cold evils due to defensive qi vacuity.

—

Major Pattern Differentiation

• Characterized by marked soreness, numbness and heaviness. It is cause chiefly by pathogenic damp. Soreness and fixed pain in the joints, numbness or heavy sensation with possible swelling of the limbs.
• Recurrent or enduring pain which is worse on exertion, worse on exposure to cold, and better on obtaining heat

Treatment Principle

• Sooth the tendon and activate meridian circulation
• Boost Qi and nourish the blood, warm the channels and free the flow of impediment"

To read part 3 of Lateral Epicondylitis or Tennis Elbow click on the link below. 


TCM understanding of tennis elbow.swf

Kelsey Dixon, a NYCTCM graduating acupuncture student, wrote on how she will contribute to the future of Chinese medicine in an American culture which is so different from the Taoist principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

" The TCM that exists in the United States of America is, in some ways, childlike, having progressed past the novelty of its infantile stages and the tremendous growth of early childhood, and now entering its adolescence, and the struggle to blossom to its fullest potential while maintaining its roots. It is an old and sacred medicine reborn within a young and eager culture- a culture still, sometimes awkwardly, undecided as to how to approach and integrate this strange new paradigm. At times, the impending pressure upon becoming a practitioner of this healing art can seem intense..."
"Reviewing the words of wisdom from the 'sages' of both ancient Chinese culture and contemporary American culture, the irony of TCM in America is obvious. In TCM, we have a paradigm of health based on a worldview that holds passivity and acceptance, and harmony within a greater whole, in highest esteem. The American Dream, on the other hand, is fundamentally about individuals distinguishing themselves, about challenging the status quo and seeing the way things ought to be rather than the way things are. "

read the complete article at NYCTCM blog page..

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In Eric Brands' Traditional Chinese Medicine blog, he complains that Bensky's Materia Medica and other texts on herbalism state ginseng should not be taken with coffee or other stimulants but do not list any citations to back up this claim. He did extensive research and found no evidence in classical texts or modern databases to support the contraindication. He says that "primary sources, evidence-based decisions, and critical thinking" are essential to the future of TCM.

"It is, indeed, a bold claim to suggest that ginseng cannot be used with coffee or other stimulants. Ginseng is the most famous herb in East Asian medicine. Coffee is just about the most widely-used herbal product in the world. Millions of people consume ginseng and coffee together every day in Korea alone, much less the rest of the world. A proven herb-herb or herb-drug interaction with ginseng and coffee or other stimulants would be headline news. Yet this evidence is strikingly lacking.

It is most likely that the reason for this caution is due to the popular conception that ginseng is itself a stimulant. However, ginseng is not a stimulant drug in terms of modern pharmacology; it has both stimulating and inhibitory constituents, which gives it an overall regulating and balancing effect on the body. The idea that ginseng=stimulant and thus should not be combined with other stimulants is based on a flawed and simplistic understanding of the actions of ginseng. Certainly this simplistic thinking is not the standard that professional practitioners are shooting for, and it damages our profession if we espouse opinions that cannot be backed up with either science or tradition."

Read the complete article:

http://www.bluepoppy.com/blog/blogs/blog1.php/2009/06/12/ginseng-coffee-herb-drug-interactions-an

The Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights (BCRHHR) at Boston Medical Center recently treated many of the large number of Tibetan refugee monks who fled violent religious persecution. These individuals arrived in Boston suffering from symptoms of traumatic stress, interfering with their meditative practice. The monks were diagnosed by their traditional healers as having srog-rLung, a life-wind imbalance. Recognizing that barriers exist between western and eastern medicine, the BCRHHR researched and implemented its own complementary therapy options to heal them. These findings appear online in the March issue of Mental Health, Religion and Culture...

According to the researchers, in order to provide complimentary therapy for the monks, eastern and western medicine needed to be integrated to properly address both conditions.

... Ancient Tibetan Bon tradition of yogic practice was used to induce the mind into a relaxed state necessary to purify oneself through motion. This yogic practice combines movement of the body and controlled breath with movements of the mind to bring mental stability and offers an alternative to the monks' inability to eliminate invasive thoughts. Another therapy that was used is singing bowl therapy--a form of music therapy, as sound has a direct connection to the heart, which aligns with srog-rLung experienced by the monks...

"This research and treatment involving patients accustomed only to traditional medicine, presented an opportunity for the acceptance of non-traditional therapeutic approaches," explains Michael Grodin, MD, professor of health law, bioethics and human rights at Boston University School of Public Health, and professor of psychiatry, sociomedical sciences and community medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. "The difference between Tibetan and Western disease pathologies represents the need for evidence-based complementary therapies...

Grodin said the refugee health center at BMC integrated techniques of western medicine, such as anti-depressant prescribing and psychotherapy, with Tibetan healing practices, including medicines prescribed by Tibetan Amchi, meditation advice, Tai Chi and Qi Gong exercises. Grodin is trained in traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture and meditation.

Source: Boston University. Go to the link for complete article

http://sciencemode.com/2009/03/13/treatment-of-traumatized-tibetan-refugee-monks/

A TCM tongue diagnosis exercise for the general public. There are pictures of all the different categories of tongues with a suggestion as to their meaning; the user clicks on the tongue that looks like theirs. The acupuncturist says that people should consult a TCM practitioner for a real diagnosis. Beyond Well Being Tongue Diagnosis.