I considered attending the fascial research congress in Vancouver, but decided on the international Integrative Medicine conference in Jerusalem instead. This blog has a reasonably good and understandable summary of what went on in Vancouver. Most interesting to me: We’re abandoning the old one muscle/tendon/bone theory in favor of a more three-dimensional matrix that is continuous…so a problem in the little finger is not only related to the shoulder, but both hips! Sound like anything you’ve ever heard me say?
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Thoughts from the Fascial Research Congress
April 9, 2012 // Posted in Assessment, CORE CARE, Health Update | No Comments
Chinese Herbal Medicine is twice as effective for infertility as conventional western drug therapy
April 2, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: Chinese herbal medicine, infertility) | No Comments
In a review published in the December issue of the journal Complementary Therapies in Medicine, women receiving Chinese herbal medicine treatments were twice as likely to get pregnant within a four-month period than those receiving conventional Western medical fertility drug treatment or IVF. The findings also suggested that the quality of the menstrual cycle – a key component in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis — appears to be crucial to the successful treatment of female infertility. Infertility is generally defined as an inability to conceive after a year or more of regular sexual activity without using birth control.
Integrative medicine classes help breast cancer survivors recover
April 2, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: breast cancer, integrative medicine) | No Comments
The term “integrative medicine” didn’t exactly roll off people’s tongues when UCSF established the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine in 1997. UCSF Chancellor Emeritus Haile Debas, MD, then dean of the UCSF School of Medicine, with support from the Bernard Osher Foundation created a center that would test the effectiveness of complementary medicine through research, as well incorporate the best of these strategies into professional education and patient care.
UCSF’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine combines conventional medicine with evidence-based practices from other healing traditions, including meditation, yoga, tai chi and qigong. This approach has become a popular way for cancer survivors and others who are recovering from debilitating illnesses to regain strength and balance after chemotherapy and surgery. Others benefit from stress-reduction programs like laughter yoga.
Homeopathy vindicated as cost-effective by Swiss government
March 26, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: homeopathy) | No Comments
In a story akin to “the mouse that roared,” the Swiss government has determined that the very small doses commonly used in homeopathic medicine are both effective and cost-effective. Despite the impressive technological prowess of conventional medicine today, the Swiss government has determined that homeopathy is considerably more cost effective.
Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine may help women with chronic pelvic pain
March 26, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: acupuncture, pain management) | No Comments
It is estimated that one in six women are affected by CPP which can be defined as intermittent or constant pain in the lower abdomen or pelvis for over six months and many will use some form of complementary medicine to help their symptoms.
Acupuncture is a safe intervention and involves the insertion of fine needles into specific points on the body. Stimulation of these points is believed to induce a local and systemic healing response.
New study points to blood testing for food intolerance as important tool in obesity fight
March 26, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: food intolerance, obesity) | No Comments
The study, led by John E. Lewis, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Associate Director of the Medical Wellness Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and co-authored by Judi M. Woolger, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, and Janet Konefal, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Assistant Dean for Complementary and Integrative Medicine assessed the impact of a food sensitivity test “in combination with a food elimination diet – on weight, body mass index, and quality of life in people who wanted to lose weight and/or were overweight,” according to published reports.
Significantly, the study suggests that a person’s food intolerances can be identified by a simple blood test.
Tai Chi and Yoga pass mainstream health test
March 26, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: acupuncture, hypnosis, massage, meditation, pain management, tai chi, yoga) | No Comments
With more than 10 years of scientific research to back her up, Briggs told her audience that, “Tai chi, yoga, acupuncture, meditation, massage and hypnosis can be effective in managing pain, anxiety and fatigue.”
Briggs said that successful alternative therapies have a way of winning acceptance. “Breast feeding was not recommended in the 1950s, and even in the 1960s,” she said, “Lamaze was considered an alternative medicine. Today these are mainstream.”
Most teens with juvenile arthritis use complementary medicine
March 19, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: alternative medicine, arthritis) | No Comments
Seventy-two percent of adolescents with juvenile arthritis use at least one form of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), but only 45 percent have discussions about it with their health care providers.
That’s the message from a new study that found that health care providers are often out of the loop when it comes to discussing complementary medicine with patients with juvenile arthritis.
Alternative medicine specialists push Md. lawmakers to require coverage of acupuncture
March 19, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: acupuncture) | No Comments
Lobbyists for alternative medicine are pushing Maryland legislators to force insurance companies to expand coverage of treatments like acupuncture.
Under Maryland law, insurance companies aren’t required to cover treatments like acupuncture, herbal remedies and traditional Chinese massage.
As Maryland lawmakers work this year to overhaul regulation of health insurance coverage, lobbyists for the Maryland Acupuncture Society are working to make sure they cover alternative treatments.
NIH launches educational campaign on complementary health therapies
March 12, 2012 // Posted in CORE CARE, Health Update (Tags: alternative medicine, NIH) | No Comments
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the NIH launched a new education campaign to provide information to consumers about alternative therapies and to encourage them to talk to their doctors openly about their use of these therapies.
NCCAM will provide a new series of monthly health tips, called Time to Talk Tips, to provide consumers with understandable information on complementary health practices.
