Acupuncturists and the Coronavirus Pandemic: A Survey of UK Acupuncturists in June 2020 Elizabeth Nicholson
In the aftermath of the first national lockdown, 251 practitioners participated in an online survey on how they had been affected. The survey was available for completion from 6th June to 7th July 2020. Consisting of both multiple-choice and long-answer questions, the survey gathered information on the financial impact, mental health and emotional responses, health and safety, and planning and concerns for the future. The study generated much valuable data which may assist all acupuncturists if further emergencies arise. It may also assist acupuncture governing bodies as they prepare guidance for other potential future crises.
The Battle for Legitimacy: Science, Medicine and the Politics of Validation Kim Wells
This article explores the highly politicised context within which various therapies and forms of medicine seek to validate their practices as part of a general battle for legitimacy in medicine. Focusing on alternative therapies, it examines a range of legitimation strategies including those based on scientific research, tradition, charismatic authority and anecdotal evidence. It observes that as ‘alternative’ therapies have become increasingly challenged for their reliance on non-scientific strategies, there has been more pressure to adopt officially sanctioned ‘scientific’ ones, but claims that here the playing field is tilted against them. The example is given of acupuncture’s seemingly arbitrary and discriminatory treatment by Britain’s foremost legitimating agency, NICE.
Covid-19 Vaccination – What were the issues and what did I tell my patients about them in January 2021 Friedrich Staebler
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on our lives. The official UK death toll passed 100,000 on 26th January 2021. Many patients at that time were asking about the Covid-19 vaccination. What is your opinion? Would you have the vaccine? Should they have the vaccine? How do the vaccines work? Do they cause side effects? Can they be mixed and matched? How have the new variants changed the vaccination issue? What do other countries do? Why are some people against the vaccination? The following paper is a summary of what I knew about the subject and therefore would tell my patients. Most of the information was based on daily news coverage from the BBC, the Guardian, the Observer and the Times, plus some medical publications and statistical websites.
Diagnosis and Management of Infected or Suspected Patients with Covid-19: A study of 48 Cases in the UK Dan Jiang
The author recruited both confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients through social media (WeChat, WhatsApp, internet, message, etc.) as a volunteer TCM consultant from March 2020, during the first lockdown phase in UK. It was quickly realised that the appearance of the tongue provides special and significant information for identifying whether Covid-19 is present and shows its severity, from a TCM perspective, as the degree and type of Dampness accumulated within the body. Herbal prescriptions were sent by post for patients’ treatment according to their clinical findings, virus exposure history and tongue information (from photos). Similar positive effects were found as in China, and treatment reports and results are summarised here.
A TCM Perspective on Mushroom Nutrition: Hericium erinaceus and Trametes versicolor (synn. Coriolus versicolor) as a Synergistic Combination for Nourishment of Both Brains Karel Simonovsky and Zuzana Vancurikova
Mental abilities and cognitive functions are generally associated with the brain in our skull. But there exists yet another system of neurons: governing the function of the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract recently gaining the name of a ‘second brain’. Evolutionarily and historically, behind the formation and function of our organs was always the food we ate. Multilateral approaches to individualised nutrition can provide elegant and long-term supportive strategies to the dynamic of health. With respect to mental abilities and cognitive functions, promising added value can be brought to the diet through the mushrooms lion’s mane (Hericium erinaceus) and turkey tail (Trametes/Coriolus versicolor).
The Separation of Breaths - Untangling the Threads of Practice Tony Todd
This article looks at two models; point centred treatment (PCT) loosely associated with TCM, and channel centred treatment (CCT) affiliated more with the five element system. It examines how they relate to channel and organ theory, and the relationship of herbs and acupuncture to internal and external environments of the body, quoting classical sources. The author has found that the various aspects mentioned above are often mixed in ways that obscure a clear view, and that by separating the different positions one can come to a better understanding of each, and how they relate to each other.
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