IBS: East and West. Illness as a Vicious Circle Kim Wells This article compares the approaches of Western and Chinese medicine to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), looking for parallels between them and ways they might inform, complement or confirm each other’s theories and practice. A major theme is that IBS can be considered as a vicious circle, particularly from a Chinese medicine perspective.
Evidence Based Acupuncture: Paediatric Acupuncture – Evidence Summary Natalie Saunders and Katherine Berry 13-27 per cent of children are now being affected by chronic childhood conditions. These may last into adulthood and can have a significant impact on the whole family as well as the affected child. Therefore, it is unsurprising that many families are now seeking complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies for their children’s conditions. This article looks at reviews which have found acupuncture to show particular promise in the treatment of paediatric pain, cerebral palsy, nocturnal enuresis, tic disorders, amblyopia, nausea and vomiting, digestive disorders, autistic spectrum disorder, and respiratory disorders.
Impact of Opioid Epidemic on Mothers and Infants: Could Acupuncture be a Solution for the Dramatic Rise in Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS)? Natalie Saunders and Katherine Berry One aspect of the opioid crisis which is less frequently discussed is the impact on the next generation, in particular the increased incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). The increased prescribing of prescription opioids over the past two decades has transformed this into a problem affecting all socioeconomic groups. Acupuncture has long been used in the setting of detox clinics, leading researchers to investigate whether this traditional therapy could also prove useful in the treatment of NAS. Early findings are extremely promising, as this article outlines.
Acupuncture not Herbs for Severe Eczema A Case Study Ross Campbell Modern acupuncture schools teach that skin diseases are better treated with herbal medicine. The Huangdi Neijing is more positive about the use of acupuncture, describing the treatment of serious and life threatening disease principally with acupuncture. There is an emphasis on channel architecture with elevated status given to the mai vessels and Blood flow, with instructions for restoring yin yang harmony. This case study describes how these principles can reverse advanced and chronic skin disease with acupuncture. It describes a process of symptom reduction, cessation of pharmaceutical drugs and recovery from disease that mirrors the restoration of the integrity of the channels. The details of the treatment also suggest that herbal medicine may not have been equipped to reverse the causes of the skin disease in this case, or at least that greater consideration given to the channel networks may lead to better outcomes.
Acupuncture in a Complex Case of Post-Concussion Syndrome and Trigeminal Neuralgia, with a Background of Pre-Existing Marfan Syndrome Features A Case Study Cornelia Davies This case study follows the traditional Chinese acupuncture treatment of a patient whose presenting symptoms include post-concussion syndrome and trigeminal neuralgia. She also has features of Marfan syndrome, which make the history and outcome more complex because of a slight overlap with some of the symptoms. For this reason, it is necessary to present the case as a whole; not simply referencing post-concussion syndrome. This discussion of the diagnosis and course of treatment illustrates a distinct improvement in several of the chronic symptoms of post-concussion syndrome and trigeminal neuralgia within a relatively short time. The text includes some of the patient’s own words regarding how she felt before and after treatment, to give a broader idea of how the acupuncture has impacted on her life and wellbeing.
‘The Duke, Good Medicine and Moxibustion’ – the Paradox of Aspiring to a ‘Long Defeat’ Merlin Young This article explores the history of moxibustion in the development of acumoxa as practised today, and suggests it may have been, and still is, relatively undervalued for the treatment of some diseases. In particular, moxa could have an increasingly important role in the treatment of tuberculosis, an ancient disease that is still not just shamefully badly addressed but even largely unacknowledged because it is the world's poor who are its main victims. Recent North Korean studies have shown moxibustion to be as effective as drug treatment in reducing rates of activation of TB in latent cases, while remaining safer, cheaper and easier to deploy, and avoiding the development of further drug resistance. This shows us clearly the value of affordable and adaptable low-tech medicine, so badly and increasingly needed in the world, and suggests it is now our duty as acumoxa practitioners collectively to take a coherent and strategic look at this.
How Nature Supports Our Health and Wellbeing and Why We Must Act Now to Help Protect It Peter Deadman Through a discussion of the relationship between nature and health in our lives, in Chinese culture and in Chinese Medicine, the author emphasises the necessity of individual and collective action to address the current and worsening crisis in the natural world. We are destroying our environment at ever greater speed and we risk paying a terrible price for doing so. The Chinese Medicine Forestry Trust has been set up with the aim of promoting 'planetary, human and species health and wellbeing by planting trees and protecting forests throughout the world' as a response to this crisis, one in which we can all participate.
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