Ponder Natural Health Notes

There is an interesting treatment technique in Traditional Chinese Medicine known as cupping. It’s not used a lot in the West and not well known here in the States. A few years ago Gwyneth Paltrow showed up in public sporting the distinctive circular marks the technique leaves on the skin, but I haven’t seen much reference to it lately.

Cupping uses a vessel to create a vacuum as it is pressed to the skin, stretching the tissues and creating enhanced circulation in the area treated. These days, many practitioners use a glass “cup” which actually looks more like a miniature fish bowl. A vacuum is created by quickly flashing an open flame inside the cup, just before it is placed on the skin. As the air inside the cup cools, it reduces in volume. A modern variation makes use of plastic cups with built in check-valves. A hand pump is then used to suck out some air and create the vacuum. I find the glass cups to be more comfortable for the patient, especially if they will be used in a moving fashion to cover a large area. The plastic versions are superior for getting a strong suction in a very small cup, which can be ideal for working on small bony areas, such as an elbow or knee. Read the rest of this entry »

Occasionally I get reminded that a lot of people who could benefit greatly from acupuncture are too fearful of needles to even give it a try. Since I spend my day sticking needles in people who mostly love it, I forget what a huge issue this is for so many. So I want to talk a bit about needling sensation, and why you’re probably going to like it - or at least discover that it is no big deal.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the time of year when all my biomedicine newsletters and other resources start recommending the influenza vaccination. It used to be that infants and the elderly were the primary targets. This year I’m seeing more recommendations that everyone get vaccinated.

I remain skeptical. It’s not that I take a militant anti-vaccine stance in general. But my hubris alarm goes off when I see blanket recommendations for a vaccine (or anything else) with such mixed evidence of usefulness. Unlike polio or smallpox, for example, there is no suggestion that inoculating the entire population will eliminate the disease. In fact, because of mutations and variable prevalence of different strains of flu virus, manufacturers have a hard time predicting which vaccines to produce for the upcoming season. And inoculation is no guarantee you won’t catch the flu, although symptoms should be milder. Overall, the evidence of benefit from vaccines is muddy.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am frequently asked if acupuncture can help with smoking cessation. The answer is a qualified “Yes.”

I have found that acupuncture can be very helpful with the cravings experienced when trying to quit. The calming effect and increased lung function can be immediate. Chinese herbal medicine formulas can also help with the anxiousness and irritability that many people experience.

The treatments can be the difference between success and failure, but acupuncture is no substitute for motivation. If a person lacks a real desire to quit, acupuncture isn’t going to make them suddenly loose interest in cigarettes.  Also, those with a long history of addictive behavior may find acupuncture to be an important part of their treatment, but this will likely need supplementation with other kinds of care.

The core treatment I use is the stimulation of points in the ears, which is known as auriculotherapy. I prefer to use tiny needles, but micro-current or laser light can be used to stimulate the points as well. I may use additional points in other parts of the body, depending on my overall evaluation of the patient, but the points in the ears seem particularly effective for this purpose.

Auriculotherapy can be  prolonged by applying semi-permanent needles (they look like tiny stud earrings, but don’t go all the way through) or non-penetrating magnets to the points in the ears. This can be a real advantage and greatly increase the likelihood of success.

If I use the semi-permanent approach, I find I only need to treat a motivated smoker once or twice. Some acupuncturists offer a flexible series of treatments for  a fixed price. This can also be a good way to go - it ensures a patient can come in as needed during the critical first couple of weeks.

Nicotine is such an addictive substance, that any one treatment technique may not be enough. I dislike the idea of using nicotine patches or gum. However, using negative reinforcement and/or relaxation techniques can be a big help in altering the mental and social aspects of the addiction. Combined with acupuncture, they can be enough to help you make the fabulous change into a non-smoker.

Acupuncture is perhaps the best known aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in America. But an important branch of TCM is its highly developed approach to herbal medicine. While acupuncture is rightly famous for its effectiveness in treating pain and trauma, the primary focus in TCM herbology is on internal medicine.

In TCM, the herbs, as well as the diseases, are classified according to their various characteristics. As a simple example, a patient whose illness causes signs of heat and dryness (such as fever, sore throat, dry mouth and dark urine) might be treated with herbs that are considered cooling and moistening. The “cooling” effects of an herb may be understood by modern medicine to be the result of its anti-infective properties, but there is less focus on biochemistry in the traditional concepts.

An herbal prescription or formula in TCM commonly contains 10 or 12 different herbs. These would not be simply a bunch of herbs with similar properties. Instead, herbs are chosen to play a particular role within the formula. Each herb would have a specific purpose, such as treatment of the primary complaint, treatment of secondary complaints, moderation of other harsh ingredients, “guiding” the formula to affect specific parts of the body, or harmonizing the actions if dissimilar herbs. The formula is also developed with one of eight traditional treatment methods in mind. For example it might be designed to tonify, reduce, warm, or clear away heat.

The following case study reviews the successful treatment of a Blastocystis hominis infection with Chinese herbs. Traditional Chinese names are given for the herbs, using the standard pinyin transliterations.

Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone knows coffee is evil, right? Drinking coffee is associated with groggy smokers, stained teeth and short life spans spent commuting to miserable jobs that require a dose of caffeine to get through. Well, perhaps. There has been a lot of interesting research about how coffee or caffeine (and they are not the same thing) affects our health. Despite concerns for certain people and conditions, the news is not all that bad. Since coffee remains the single most popular beverage in the world, that is good news.

Reviewing the evidence, a cautionary tale develops about how difficult it can be to construct a good study and interpret the results. Readers also need to remember that the information provided depends in part on who is delivering it, who is paying for it and what they want you to hear. Here are a few points to keep in mind:

• A study of caffeine is not the same as a study of coffee. This is a common problem with dietary studies: in an attempt to make the study more accurate, researchers might decide to isolate a single component from a food or beverage. The food itself, after all, will have variable quantities of that component. However, there can be very different results when consuming the whole food vs. an extracted part.

• A “cup” of coffee is typically assumed to be 6 oz. – not your 16 oz. travel mug!

• Caffeine levels are usually assumed to be about 100 mg per cup, but in fact vary significantly with the type of bean, brewing method, and even from batch to batch. Brewed coffee is estimated to range from 100-150 mg per cup, a similar volume of espresso having about 90 mg. Arabica beans have less caffeine than robusta beans.

Two health topics are commonly associated with coffee consumption – its effect on blood sugar and insulin resistance, and its effect on the adrenal glands. But there has also been considerable research on the consumption of coffee and the incidence of cancer,

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s almost that time of year when people lay out to sizzle in the sun, like so many fillets crisping in the frying pan. Others will be out gardening, working or playing beneath the rays. They slather on their paba-free sunscreen, trusting that their skin, enviously golden-brown today, will remain supple, tan and cancer-free in the years to come. The protection they are getting may not be what they expected. Here are some tips to help you safely enjoy the summer sun season.

Know the Risks
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, “Long-term overexposure can cause skin cancer, wrinkles, freckles, age spots, dilated blood vessels, and changes in the texture of the skin that make skin look older.” In fact, much of the visible signs of aging are the result of exposure to sunlight. Ultraviolet light has also been connected with cataracts and suppression of the immune system.

Read the rest of this entry »

Are you confused by the conflicting reports about low-carbohydrate vs. low-fat diets? Dieters aren’t the only ones. The researchers who design studies, even when they try to be as fair as possible, often don’t know all the variables that should be taken into account. A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) gives us another clue as to why people respond differently to different diets.

Researchers found that people whose bodies produce relatively high levels of insulin in response to sugars lost more weight on a diet that was low in simple carbohydrates (a low-glycemic load diet). In the study, participants who produced more insulin lost almost five times as much on that type of diet, than on a low-fat regime. Those people also saw their body fat percentage decrease by 2 ½ times as much. By comparison, participants whose systems produced lower levels of insulin did about as well on either type of diet.

Read the rest of this entry »

Go ahead and shop ‘till you drop. There’s a growing chance that there’s a doctor in the mall, or at least a Nurse Practitioner. The first Convenient Care Clinic (CCC) opened in 2000. Now there are over 200 of these small clinics located inside pharmacies and busy retail outlets like Wal-Mart. They are open to walk-in patients seven days a week, and boast extended hours. Most are busiest at lunchtime, in the evenings and on the weekends, suggesting that people really are using them at their convenience. Compare that to the typical weeklong wait for an appointment at the family doctor’s office.

CCCs aim to provide convenient, affordable care for a limited range of common ailments, such as colds or flu, minor burns or rashes, sprains, headache, ear infections, allergies and urinary tract infections. They also provide preventative care, including physicals, immunizations, and health screens. Besides the convenience of location, CCCs try to keep waiting times mercifully short and prices low. Treatment at one of these clinics costs from $40-70, plus any tests or immunizations. That can be half the price of a visit to the family doctor, and one-sixth the cost of going to an emergency room. Many insurance plans, as well as Medicare, will accept charges from a CCC, so that patients need only come up with their co-pay.

Costs are kept down in part by offering a streamlined menu of services, which in turn allows them to employ practitioners with less training (and lower salaries) than physicians. Most CCCs are staffed by Nurse Practitioners (NPs) or Physician Assistants (PAs). You may have noticed more of these around in traditional clinics and hospitals as well. An NP is a registered nurse who has advanced training and education (usually a master’s or doctoral degree in nursing), and is thus able to provide a broader range of health services. PAs are licensed to practice medicine under the supervision of a physician (who does not necessarily have to be on site). They typically have a bachelor’s degree in medicine. These health professionals are trained to deal with many ordinary health issues, and to refer to others with more advanced training when appropriate. They can diagnose and prescribe medications within the limits of their scope of practice. Patients seem to be pleased with the quality of service provided by these health care professionals.

Read the rest of this entry »

You’ve been hurting for months. You can’t stay on your feet for more than a few minutes. It hurts to sit for too long. Recently you can’t get a good night’s sleep because you just can’t get comfortable. The painkillers aren’t working, and you’re starting to think seriously about back surgery. But after all the expense, rehabilitation and risk, will you bet better off? There are alternatives to surgery, and they just might work for you.

Back pain that leads to surgery is often associated with a damaged intervertebral disc or spinal stenosis. The discs are the tough, flat cushions between the vertebrae. Imagine a disc as the warm toasted marshmallow sandwiched between two graham crackers in a s’more. If the crackers are pressed together evenly, the marshmallow will spread out evenly as well. If you squeeze just one side of the sandwich together, the marshmallow (or disc) will ooze out to the opposite side. That’s what happens with a “slipped” disc. The protruding part can irritate a nearby nerve. If it ruptures, there can be chemical irritation of the nerve as well. The discs also tend to degenerate, flatten and become less resilient over the years, so there is less space for the nerves where they come out of the spinal column.

Sciatica is an irritation of the sciatic nerve. It can cause radiating pain, burning sensations or cramping in the buttocks and down the leg. This may be caused by a nerve root problem in the lower part of the spine, but it can also be caused by impingement further down in the area of the buttocks. The piriformis muscle runs across the back of each hip joint, deep in the buttock, where it crosses paths with the sciatic nerve. Pressure from an overly tight piriformis muscle is believed to irritate the sciatic nerve causing buttock and/or radiating leg pain. This is known as piriformis syndrome. It can be addressed by releasing excess tension and any “trigger points” (knotted areas) in the piriformis and associated muscle groups.

Read the rest of this entry »