By Dr. Xia Cheng, M.D. (China), Ph.D.

     Nowadays, more and more people are willing to try acupuncture. Their belief that acupuncture may help them is, for the most part, based on word-of-mouth or from an article or television program. However, many of them come into an acupuncture clinic asking how acupuncture works. This is a commonly asked question. I would like to take this opportunity to give a brief introduction to acupuncture and to answer this question.

    What Is Acupuncture? - Acupuncture is a treatment that acupuncturists and Chinese medical doctors perform by inserting needles into acupoints on our body surface to alleviate different illnesses. Acupuncture treatment is based on Chinese medicine theory and diagnosis and it is part of traditional Chinese medicine that has been practiced for over 4000 years. Other modalities included in acupuncture are moxibustion, cupping, plum-blossom needling, auricular acupuncture, scalp acupuncture and so on.

    How Was Acupuncture Started? - Acupuncture started in China over 4000-5000 years ago. The first acupuncture needles were sharpened stones. Later bamboo or fish bone was used as needles until people started to use metal. Acupuncture is inserting needles in acupoints, and the points are located along the meridians. People have asked, “Did ancient doctors find the points first or the meridians first?” Most researchers hold the view that acupoints were found first and then they were connected as meridians. However, in 1973, two books were discovered in a 2000-year-old tomb. These books were carved on bamboo pieces and had a very clear description of the 11 meridians out of the 12, which we are still using today including the route they run. However, there were only a few specific acupoints mentioned in these books. So, that had given evidence to suggest that people actually found meridians first. So how did people back then find those meridians? One of the most possible ways researchers thought would be through Qigong practice. People who practice Qigong may tell you that they had experienced the travel of Qi in the meridians.

   What Are Meridians and Acupoints? - There are 12 regular meridians, 8 extraordinary meridians, and countless collaterals, which form the meridian system of the body. In our body, there are over 360 regular acupoints, and over 100 extra points. Meridians are the channels that our body Qi and Blood travels. Through meridians, Qi and Blood flow to all over the body to nourish the organs/tissues and support the normal body functions. Acupoints are on the meridians where the body energy surges to body surface. Acupoints connect with internal organs through meridians and they reflect the functions of internal organs, thus stimulating the acupoints can balance body functions.

    How Acupuncture Works - In Traditional Chinese Medicine textbooks, it is stated that acupuncture can balance Yin Yang, regulate Qi and Blood, open meridians, stop pain, invigorate the body’s vital energy and dispel pathogens. To interoperate these functions into a modern description, we can say that acupuncture balances body functions, improves blood circulation, promotes endorphins to stop pain, boosts our immune system, and helps the body to fight illnesses. Research has shown that acupuncture has multi-aspect, multi-level and multi-route regulatory functions.

    You may ask how can acupuncture do that? I often explain this to my patients in a very simple way. Our body has it’s own healing ability. Under illness, this ability can be suppressed or dysfunctional. Acupuncture gives stimulation to our body to awaken this process. The reason why acupuncture can help almost all kinds of body dysfunctions is because acupuncture is only stimulation to your body - our body performs the healing to its own. Acupuncture can regulate and balance the functions of our hormone system, nervous system, digestive system, cardio-vascular system, reproductive system, muscle-skeleton system and so on. The regulatory function of acupuncture refers to acupuncture’s two-way effect that often brings our body disorders to the normal physiological level. For example, acupuncture can both increase and decrease heart rate; acupuncture can treat both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism; acupuncture can also increase or decrease blood pressure.

    The effect of acupuncture to the body very much depends on the body’s conditions. On the other hand, acupuncture not only influences our physical functions but also emotional and psychological status. We all understand that our emotions are related to neuro-transmitters in our brain, acupuncture can influence those transmitters to help emotional and psychological abnormal conditions. That is why acupuncture helps people with depression and other mental disorders. Also, because acupuncture gives influence to overall balance to the body, regular acupuncture treatments or “tune ups” helps the body stays in balance.

    Acupuncture has become increasingly accepted worldwide and more and more research is being done which will reveal the mystery of acupuncture to people. In China, acupuncture has been part of the primary health care system for thousands of years, even with western medicine influence. Acupuncture is still part of mainstream medicine that serves the needs of over a quarter of the world population. It is used in conjunction with other medical treatment in the hospital to get the maximum healing benefit for the patient. In fact, in China acupuncturists are often trained in the same system as medical doctors. We look forward to the future when there will be acupuncture wings in our own western hospitals so that a greater number of people will be able to experience it’s the healing power.

    Dr. Xia Cheng, M.D. (China), Ph.D., is the director of BodyMind Synergy Health Centre & the Canadian Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For more information, visit www.bodymindsynergy.com  www.citcm.com  or call 403.520.5258.

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Acupuncture.
Comments: none

ASK OUR EXPERTS…

I have allergies and am frequently catching colds or the flu. Can acupuncture and Chinese medicine help these conditions?

Yes, acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) can effectively treat allergies, colds or the flu. Allergies are overreactions of our immune system to things in the environment such as dust, pollen, foods or chemicals. Symptoms involve red, itching eyes, a runny nose with nasal congestion, headaches, asthma, fatigue, diarrhea or hives. Colds and flu are virus infections in our upper respiratory system, with manifestations of chills, fever, aches, nasal congestion, cough, etc. In western medicine they are completely different diseases, but they often happen together.

According to TCM, on our body surface there is an energy called Wei Qi (defensive energy) that circulates on our body surface to protect our body from attacks of pathogens. If our Wei Qi is low, we are easily bothered by environmental factors that may lead to allergic reactions or infection by germs surrounding us. This leads to developing a cold or flu. Therefore, lowered Wei Qi in the body causes both allergies and frequently catching colds.

In TCM, the major part of Wei Qi comes from the spleen (related to our digestive system) that supplies our body with Qi and blood, and keeps our body nourished and strong. Another part of our Wei Qi comes from the kidney, which is where our congenital energy comes from. Low congenital Qi or weak constitution is another factor that contributes to a low or weak Wei Qi. The factors that weaken our spleen or kidney such as poor diet, stressful living or working conditions, or environmental pollution, often weaken our Wei Qi, which leads to a weakened immune system or overreactions of our immune system.

In western medicine, these conditions are often treated with medications that mostly address symptoms. TCM and Acupuncture can treat both the symptoms and the cause together with no side effects. Acupuncture can regulate the immune system and decrease inflammation, which can immediately relieve allergy symptoms. There are a few herbal formulas that are traditionally used to enhance Wei Qi. One example is Yu Ping Feng San (Jade Screen Powder). This formula has been used for hundreds of years and was named after the effect of this formula to build the body surfaces; a Jade Screen protects any invasion of pathogens to the body.

For more details on this subject, please contact Dr. Xia Cheng of BodyMind Synergy Health Centre at 403.520.5258 or visit www.bodymindsynergy.com

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Acupuncture.
Comments: none

I am experiencing hot flushes & a heavy period, diagnosed as perimenopause. Can acupuncture & Chinese medicine help?     By Dr. Xia Cheng from Body Mind Synergy Health Centre Yes, Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine has been used for this condition for thousands of years. It has been proved to be an effective method to treat premanopause, relieve symptoms and also address the cause of these symptoms. Perimenopause is a stage all women have to go through sooner or later, no matter if we like it or not. Hot flushes are one of most commonly seen symptoms during premanopause, as well as irregular periods, forgetfulness, poor concentration, mood swings, night sweats, virginal dryness and decrease in libido. Lost of bone density is also another condition that starts at this period of time. Different people may be bothered by different symptoms; often one or two of the above symptoms could be more predominate. Although symptoms could be different, the physio-pathological changes in our body are the same, which is the decline of the estrogens in our body. According to Chinese medicine, the balance of Yin and Yang keeps the healthy conditions of the body. During the period of premanopause, our Yin energy (estrogens are part of the Yin energy) decreases, especially the Yin of liver and kidney, which leads to Yang becoming relatively excessive causing heat symptoms, such as hot flushes and night sweats. The heat can also disturb our mind causing insomnia, poor memory and mood swings. The kidney is in charge of our reproductive system and the liver is in charge of regulating blood and our period. When liver and kidney Yin is deficient, we will experience symptoms of sexual and period disorders. Treatment of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can stimulate the release of hormones, for early decline of ovary functions (women in thirties or early forties), acupuncture can help to stimulate and recover the release of estrogens and push back the onset of premanopause. For women over 45, it is a natural process to go through premanopause, but acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help to minimize the symptoms and maintain quality of life during this period. In this treatment, diet changes are prescribed, such as eating broccoli, bone brouce, seaweeds for calcium, Chinese jujubes and dragon eyes for blood and iron. Soy beans give natural estrogens, fruits and vegetables increase Yin energy. A decrease in spicy food and alcohol is also recommended to decrease heat. For more details on this subject, please contact Dr. Xia Chen of Body Mind Synergy Health Centre at 403.520.5258 or visit www.bodymindsynergy.com

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Acupuncture.
Comments: none

I  frequently catch colds, and almost every time it goes into my lungs and causes a cough that lasts for a month or two. Can Chinese medicine help?    By Dr. Xia Chen of MindBody Synergy Health Centre  From a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) point of view, in our body there is a lung system which includes nose, throat, bronchi and lungs. The lung is the upper most organ, like an umbrella protecting other organs. When an external pathogen invades the body, the lung system is always the first one to be attacked resulting in a runny nose, sneezing, sore throat and cough. External pathogens, such as wind heat and wind cold in TCM are very much like virus or bacteria named in Western medicine. Our body also has a defensive Qi called Wei Qi. Wei Qi is like an army resident in the body surface to protect our body from invasion by the enemies (external pathogens). When a pathogen invades our body, if Wei Qi is strong and wins the battle, the pathogen will be dispelled from body surface and the cold will be fought off. If our Wei Qi is weak and loses the battle, pathogen enters into the chest and the cough will start. TCM works on a patient frequently catching colds and experiencing cough afterward by following these aspects: First, to strengthen Wei Qi to prevent external pathogen attack, acupuncture and herbal medicine can be used to enhance our Wei Qi (immune system). Jade Screen Powder, a classic formula to enhance Wei Qi (immune system) is often used in this case. Second, when a cold has already started and you are experiencing chills, fever, sneezing, sore throat and cough, this is a stage that pathogen is at our body surface. The treatment principle is to dispel the pathogen to prevent it entering into the lungs using formulas called Yin Qiao San and Sang Ju Yin. These two formulas often stop the further development of a cold into bronchitis. Third, if the treatment is not prompt, or body Wei Qi is not strong enough, the pathogen enters in the lungs. In this case, the patient will experience cough, with yellow thick mucous and chest pain. At this stage, from my experience, TMC can play a very important role if antibiotics are not your first choice. The unique thing about using TMC in this stage is that the herbs we use have both antibiotic effects and also, at the same time, it works very effectively to clear the phlegm and stop cough for acute bronchitis. For more details on this subject, please contact Dr. Xia Chen director of BodyMind Synergy Health Centre at 403.520.5258 or visit www.bodymindsynergy.com

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Acupuncture.
Comments: none

    Dr. Yi Fu of BodyMind Synergy Health Centre

People are paying more attention to the treatment of diabetes with the use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). They have noticed that TCM shows tremendous advantages in improving the symptoms, particularly for type II diabetes, by decreasing blood sugar levels and delaying complications with lower side effects when compared with Western medicine.

TCM has recognized diabetes since 500 B.C., when it was referred to as “Consuming and Thirsty”, and pathogenesis was thought as “dryness in lung, fire in stomach, and kidney yin deficiency”. After about 2500 years, doctors have enriched this theory. They believe the yin deficiency is the key point. Combinations of either qi or blood deficiencies can also contribute to further complications. TCM doctors try to tonify the kidney yin, nourish blood and boost qi to treat symptoms as well as the root for diabetic conditions.

TCM can treat diabetes holistically & individually -TCM believes that the onset of diabetes is based on yin deficiency body constitution with irregular diet, emotional attacks and overworking. Diabetes presents problems with not only the pancreas but also spleen, liver and kidney; in the end damaging both Yin and Yang, leading to the imbalance of organ systems to cause diabetes. Therefore, TCM treats diabetes by balancing the yin and yang, regulating the function of all the organs and systems to promote the recovery and function of pancreas. TCM also takes into account the season, environment and body constitution to provide more compatible and individualized plan for each patient.

TCM can effectively relieve symptoms - Patients taking insulin or using other medications often still have the problem of fluctuating blood sugar levels, as the symptoms cannot be controlled. However TCM can effectively relieve common symptoms such as thirst, hunger, frequent urination, lassitude, tingling body, edema, constipation or diarrhea and also helps to control the blood sugar. In China, TCM is combined with western medicine to treat more severe cases. TCM uses herbs, acupuncture, and massage therapy to treat diabetics and complications such as nephropathy, dermatopathy, gangrene, ketosis and fundus, etc.

TCM is an effective modality for the long-term care of diabetics.

For more details on this subject, please contact Dr. Yi Fu from BodyMind Synergy Health Centre at 403.520.5258 or visit www.bodymindsynergy.com

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under General.
Comments: none

History of Traditional Chinese MedicineTraditional Chinese Medicine has been around for thousands of years. Although the first recorded history of TCM dates back over 2,000 years, it is believed that the origins of TCM goes back more than 5,000 years.

According to the legend the origins of traditional Chinese medicine is traced back to the to three legendary emperors/mythical rulers: Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and Huang Di. Historians believe that Shen Nong and Fu Xi were early tribal leaders. Fu Xi was a cultural hero who developed the trigrams of Yi Jing (I Ching) or Book of Changes. Ancient texts record that “Fu Xi drew the eight trigrams, and created nine needles.” Shen Nong, the legendary emporar who lived 5000 years ago is hailed as the “Divine Cultivator”/”Divine Farmer” by the Chinese people because he is attributed as the founder of herbal medicine, and taught people how to farm. In order to determine the nature of different herbal medicines, Shen Nong sampled various kinds of plants, ingesting them himself for to test and analyse their individual effects. According to the ancient texts, Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs including 70 toxic substances in a single day, in order to get rid of people’s pain form illness. As there were no written records, it is said that the discoveries of Shen Nong was passed down verbally from generation to generation.
The first written documentation on traditional Chinese medicine is the Hung Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Internal Medicine Classics). Hung Di Nei Jing is the earlist medical in the world, different opinions date the book back to between 200 BC and 200 AD. This book lays a primary foundation for the theories of Chinese medicine which extensively summarizes and systematizes the previous experience of treatment and theories of medicine, such as TCM physiology, pathology, internal organ system, meridian system, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, acupuncture and moxibustion, tuina, etc, as well as many other subjects, which has been also named as an ancient encyclopedia.

Some of the most specific discoveries of Chinese medicine were made during the Zhou dynasty, including the theoretical foundations of yin and yang, the five elements, the pathogenic factors of external environment as a cause of disease and further understanding of the meridians of acupuncture. The basic theories of acupuncture were established and stone needles became obsolete, being replaced by metal needles. Bian Que, a famous doctor/physician at the time of the spring and Autumn Warring States Period, was the first man in the world to use the pulse for diagnosis.

 Bian Que brings Prince “back” to life
One of the most well know story is talks about how Bian Que succeeded in curing the crown prince of the Kingdom of Guo of his fatal illness. According to the legend, the prince of Gua was very ill and as he lay dying, the court physician could do nothing to help. One version of this story has it that Bian Que was summoned to treat the prince, however when he arrived at the palace he found the crown prince being prepared for the funeral. Despite the funeral arrangements, Bian Que requested examining the prince. His examination confirmed his suspicion that the prince had actually gone into a deep coma. He gave the prince acupuncture treatment to retrieve him and then applied compresses soaked in a decoction of herbs. Within hours of Bian Que’s arrival, the prince was able to get his feet. The prince was then prescribed boiled herbal compounds to be taken for twenty days, which helped him to fully recover.
Soon the rumors spread that Bian Que was a miracle worker who could bring the dead back to life. Bian Que said “No, I can’t bring the dead back to life, the prince wasn’t dead. I only treated his illness, and that is what brought him around.”
Two Famous Doctors
Zhang Zhongjing (150-219 CE), the most famous of China’s ancient herbal doctors lived during the Eastern Han dynasty was known for his remarkable medical skill. He wrote a book a medical masterpiece entitled Shang Han Lun or “Treatise on Febrile Diseases”. To date Zhang Zhongjing’s theory and prescriptions are still of great practical value. It is still used as a standard reference work for traditional Chinese medicine, including moxibustion, needling and herbal medicine.
One of the most famous physicians/surgeon of traditional Chinese medicine was Hua To (110-207 CE) also lived during the Eastern Han period. Hua To was the first of the Taoist physicians, the most famous doctor in ancient China who developed/invented the use of anaesthesia called Mafei San, and furthered the limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy. He was the first person who used narcotic drugs in the world and his skill in this field was ahead of the west about 1600-1700 years. He also developed Five Animal Play, exercises that mimics the movements and postures of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird. According to Hu Tao the motion is fundamentally important to health, and by mimicking the movements of different animals; all parts of the body were exercised and stretched, thereby activating the flow of fluid and energy in the body.
Two Important Books
During the Sui Dynasty, Chao Yuanfang, together with others compiled a book called the Zhubing Yuanhou Zonglun (The General Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms of Disease), which consisted of 50 volumes, divided into 67 categories, and list 1,700 syndromes. This book had a strong influence on the later development of medicine, expounding on the pathology, signs and symptoms of various diseases, surgery, gynaecology, and paediatrics.
In 752 CE, Wang Tao another well-known scholar of Chinese medicine wrote a book called Waitai Miyao(The Medical Secrets of An Official). This book consisted of 40 volumes, 1,104 categories and discusses over 6,000 herbal prescriptions.
The Tang Connection
The Tang dynasty is often referred to as the second golden age of China. It was during the Tang dynasty when China’s first school of medicine was established. Sun Simiao (581-682 CE), the most famous physician of the Tang Dynasty devoted his whole life to Chinese medicine starting from a very young age. It is said that by the age of 15 he not only had a thorough understanding of Taoism and the classics of many of its sects, but also had also deeply researched Buddhist classics. He had mastered all the Chinese classics by the age 20 and became a well-known medical practitioner and was crowned “King of Herbal Medicine”.
The Materia Medica
During the Yuan Dynasty, China was controlled by Genghis Khan’s vast Mongolian empire. During the period of Mongolian empire Chinese medicine became increasingly specialized and the understanding of acupuncture was further detailed. In 1368 BCE, the Chinese regained control of their land under the Ming dynasty. Li Shizhen, (1518-1593 CE) was one of the greatest physician and pharmacologist of the Ming dynasty. His major contribution to medicine was his forty-year work, which is found in his epic book Ben Cao Gang-mu (The Compendium of Materia Medica). The text contains 1,900,000 Chinese characters and details more than 1,800 drugs, including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions, as well as record of 1,094 herbs, detailing their type, form, flavor, nature and application in treatment. This book was one of the greatest contributions to the development of pharmacology both in China and throughout the world. Materia Medica has been translated into many different languages and remains as the premier reference work for herbal medicine.
1900’s of TCM
The Revolution of 1911 saw the beginning of the People’s Republic of China. During this time China developed a desire to modernize, and its people began to turn to Western medicine. The government of the time proposed the abolishment of traditional Chinese medicine and took measures to stop its development and use. In 1928 the Communist party of China was formed, under the leadership of Chairman Mao and in 1949 the Communist party came to power. As there was very little or no medical services at the time, the new communist government encouraged the use of traditional Chinese remedies because they were cheap, acceptable to the Chinese, and used the skills already available in the countryside. Finally the traditional Chinese medicine regained popularity by the early to mid 1950s and the use of acupuncture and herbal medicine became standard medicine in many hospitals. Many hospital opened clinics to provide, teach and investigate the traditional methods, the main research institutes being in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing.
Unfortunately, Chinese medicine, as a reflection of traditional Chinese culture, underwent a period of extreme hardship during the Cultural Revolution. From 1966 to 1976, traditional doctors were purged from the schools, hospitals and clinics, and many of the old practitioners were jailed or killed. In 1979, the National Association for Chinese Medicine was established, and many of the traditional texts were edited and republished.
In 1980, the World Health Organization released a list of 43 types of pathologies, which can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Today the traditional Chinese medicine with its many branches has spread far and wide, gaining popularity in all parts of the world.

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under History.
Comments: 1

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Research.
Comments: none

In publication, Acupuncture in Medicine 2005; 23(1):2-12  Alan Grant in his first editorial (1981) wrote:

Acupuncture in Medicine, June 2000 Vol.18 (1)44 

On the efficacy of acupuncture the book by the BMA (Acupuncture: Efficacy, Safety and Practice) May 2002 tells us that results of clinical trials suggest that:

The Oxford Concise Colour Medical Dictionary (2002 - ed.6), OUP says acupuncture:

“Acupuncture has been used successfully as an anesthetic for surgical procedures and to provide pain relief after operations and for chronic conditions.”

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Research.
Comments: none

Acupuncture Increases Nocturnal Melatonin Secretion and Reduces Insomnia and Anxiety: A Preliminary Report

D. Warren Spence, M.A., Leonid Kayumov, Ph.D., DABSM, Adam Chen, Ph.D., Alan Lowe, M.D., Umesh Jain, M.D., Martin A. Katzman, M.D., Jianhua Shen, M.D., Boris Perelman, Ph.D. and Colin M. Shapiro, MBBCh, Ph.D., FRCP(C)

^Conclusion:

The objective findings for this research were consistent with clinical reports of acupuncture’s relaxant effects. Acupuncture treatment may be of value for anxious patients with insomnia.

Acupressure and quality of sleep in patients with end-stage renal disease—a randomized controlled trial

Received 19 November 2001; received in revised form 3 December 2001; accepted 12 April 2002.

Results of this study demonstrated significant differences between the acupressure group and the control group in subjective sleep quality (p=0.009), sleep duration (p=0.004), habitual sleep efficiency (p=0.001), and sleep sufficiency (p=0.004). Significant differences in the subscale of subjective sleep quality (p=0.003) between the sham acupressure group and the control group were also observed.

Conclusion

Sleep log data showed that the acupressure group significantly decreased awake time and improved quality of sleep over time more than the control group (p<0.01). The improvement could be seen as soon as the acupoints massage was implemented, and it was maintained through the post intervention.

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Acupuncture.
Comments: none

Acupuncture for the treatment of chronic painful peripheral diabetic neuropathy: a long-term study

Received 3 July 1997; received in revised form 12 November 1997; accepted 25 November 1997. 

In this study forty-six diabetic patients with chronic painful peripheral neuropathy were treated with acupuncture analgesia to determine its efficacy and long-term effectiveness.

Conclusion of this study:

These data suggest that acupuncture is a safe and effective therapy for the long-term management of painful diabetic neuropathy.

Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain:

Clinical Journal of Pain. 17(4):296-305, December 2001.
Carlsson, Christer P. O. M.D., Ph.D.; Sjolund, Bengt H. M.D., Ph.D.

A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Study With Long-Term Follow-Up was conducted.
The objective of this study was to determine whether a series of needle acupuncture treatments produced long-term relief of chronic low back pain.

Conclusions:

 It was found long-term pain-relieving effect of needle acupuncture compared with true placebo in patients with chronic nociceptive low back pain.

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Acupuncture.
Comments: none