Treating Gulf War Illness With Acupuncture

The US government tried to protect soldiers who served in Gulf War I from nerve gas with pyridostigmine bromide and from desert insects with a variety of powerful pesticides. As a result, although the immediate casualties of the war were relatively low (approximately 850 dead and wounded), hundreds of thousands of veterans continue to suffer the effects of being exposed to very toxic chemicals. Most of the effects are neurological; weakness, muscle spasms, twitches, poor concentration and blurry vision. Other symptoms of Gulf War Illness (GWI) include fatigue and digestive distress. It is not PTSD, or a psychosomatic reaction to the horror of war, but rather "iatrogenic" that is, brought about by a medical intervention. If you know someone in the Boston, MA area who suffers from GWI who would like free acupuncture treatments, have him or her call 617 558 1788 ext. 269 for more information.

Insomnia, the black and white of it

Insomnia is a prototypical disorder of Yin and Yang. Yin is night, Yang is day. To be healthy, we are wakeful and active during the day, and passive and asleep during the night. Even with the energy of the sun and moon supporting us, sleep is a troublesome state for many people. Most sleep disorders fall into two categories; difficulty falling asleep and/or difficulty staying asleep. Add to that racing mind, restless sleep, and light sleep and it begins to sound like the eight types of snowflakes we all see when we're just too tired to function. It is a testament to the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that major pharmaceutical companies are now marketing a sleep aid, Ambien, with a name amazingly similar to a standard TCM herbal formula. That is prescribing a sleep drug without distinguishing between the different kinds of insomnia, and thus, applying a bandaid, without first figuring out the source of the injury. When treating insomnia TCM practitioner, that is a licensed acupuncturist /herbalist will first determine what kind of insomnia a patient is experiencing and then choose acupuncture points or herbs that treat that kind of insomnia. That could include Anmien, or it could not. But don't let trying to figure it out keep you up at night, give me a call, I'll do the hard part.

PMS, the Pill and your teenage daughter

Every week I see women in my practice, mostly in their mid-thirties, who were put on the birth control pill a few months after they started menstruating because their menses were very difficult. For most of them this means more than fifteen years of unnecessary and risky medication.

The propensity of medical doctors to prescribe the pill for "new menstruaters" illustrates one of the differences between a scientific vs an organic understanding of the human body. The scientific approach works best with systems that change very little and very slowly, like the stars and computers. Since it is very difficult to calibrate the hormones in the birth control pill for the rapidly changing state of a teenage reproductive system, all a medical doctor can do is impose an unnatural uniformity on a changing system and hope that a young woman isn't killed by a wandering blood clot on his watch.

One alternative would be to give the patient's reproductive system a change to "get the training wheels" off. For the young women we are discussing, without some kind of other kind of intervention, this path would involve physical and emotional pain. Moreover, without a little help, the system might never correct itself and function in a healthy manner. Fortunately, acupuncture is very successful at eliminating menstrual discomfort of all kinds. And the rates of success are even higher for young women, for whom the energy of growth and change--if not stifled by a pharmaceutical--is the energy of healing. All it needs is a nudge in the right direction.

If you'd like to know more about how acupuncture can regulate your menstrual cycles, please feel free to give me a call: 617 312 7650.

peas,

Daria

New Study Finds Food packaging is the Main Source of Hormone Disrupting Chemicals BPA, DEHP

This from the Mass Breast Cancer Coalition and the Silent Spring Institute.


Levels of BPA and DEHP Decrease over 50% When Adults and Children Avoid Food Packaging, Study Says



Grocery shoppers may want to avoid food packaged in plastic and cans and opt for fresh food prepared at home, according to a new study released today. The study, "Food Packaging and Bisphenol A and Bis(2-ethylhexl) Phthalate Exposure: Findings from a Dietary Intervention" tracked levels of the hormone-disrupting chemicals Bisphenol A (BPA) and the phthalate DEHP in study participants as they changed to a fresh food diet with limited food packaging. BPA is a weak estrogen mimic with evidence of promoting breast cancer in laboratory studies.



The study, conducted by Silent Spring Institute and Breast Cancer Fund, found that levels of BPA and DEHP declined by over 50% on average in study participants when they ate a fresh food diet that excluded plastic food packaging, cans, plastic wrap and other food packaging suspected to contain these chemicals. Reductions were more pronounced for the highest exposures, which decreased by over 70% for BPA and over 90% for DEHP. These chemicals can migrate from the lining of cans and plastic packaging into food and beverages, especially when broken down by acids and fats in food, and when they are heated.



"Women should not have to worry that using canned and packaged foods might be contributing to higher breast cancer risk," said Erin Boles, Associate Executive Director for the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. "Laboratory studies show that BPA stimulates breast cancer cell growth and can influence early breast development in ways that increase cancer susceptibility later in life. This is a clear example of how our current laws are failing us and need to be updated to reflect modern science."



Consumers in Massachusetts should be outraged, particularly because the state has among the highest breast cancer rates in the country, nearly 10% higher than the national average.



The new study supports stronger consumer protections. Last year the Public Health Council of the MA Department of Public Health voted to ban BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups, but dismissed a push by the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition and other health and environment groups to pass a broader ban aimed at all food and beverage containers. This study provides compelling evidence that a more comprehensive BPA ban and substitution of safer alternatives is needed to protect health.



"This study provides compelling evidence that food packaging is the major source of exposure to hormone-disrupting BPA and the phthalate DEHP. Now that we know food packaging is a major source, we can take action to reduce exposure," according to Dr. Julia Brody, an author of the study and the executive director at Silent Spring Institute.



* Study and further information available at: http://www.silentspring.org/our-research/research-updates/new-study-shows-fresh-food-diet-reduces-levels-hormone-disruptors-bpa-

** A tip sheet on how to reduce BPA and DEHP exposure is available at: http://www.silentspring.org/six-steps

Hospice Residency, First Day

The Hospice Chaplain told the acupuncture residents, including myself, that her mission was to help people transition with as few regrets as possible and that to do this she began by finding out what gave their life meaning. She used the example of "the bar" as something that gave an imaginary patient's life meaning. I was unsure whether she meant "the bar on the corner" or the legal institution, but before I could ponder this and the differences in the lives that these things gave meaning, her talk ended and the psychologist entered the room.

It was a day full of meaning, one to ponder, at a later date.

Low Back Pain!

Low back pain is one of the most common ailments on earth! Traditional Chinese Medicine tells us that low back pain is usually a result of weak Kidney (reproductive Qi) because the Qi of the Kidneys supports all the structures in the low back. So whether your low back pain is ALSO attributed to a slipped disk, congenital malformations, misalignment, or soft tissue injury, the underlying cause is weak Qi.