In recent years, Western science has demonstrated increasing interest in researching the pharmacologic effects of traditional Chinese herbs.  Many studies have been done on individual herbs, evidencing a wide array of therapeutic effects including but not limited to: lowering blood pressure, decreasing serum cholesterol and lipid levels, reducing blood sugar, decreasing inflammation, enhancing immunity, reducing and preventing tumor formation and metastasis, and promoting repair and generation of healthy cells.

It is not traditional practice for Chinese herbalists to select herbs based on Western pharmaceutical properties, nor to designate specific herbs for specific Western diseases, as is the method of biomedical pharmacology.  However, with the increasing integration between Eastern and Western medical systems, more and more TCM practitioners are taking these properties into consideration when writing herbal formulas. 

Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is one of the oldest forms of medicine on the planet dating back to 200 BCE.  Chinese Warriors are thought to be one of the first practitioners of acupuncture.  They used acupuncture to stay strong, balanced and to help heal their wounds from battle.  For years in the United States acupuncture has been viewed as an alternative treatment for pain.  November 1997 the National Institute for Health (NIH) recognized acupuncture as a viable therapy for some pain disorders such as: pain from surgery, nausea from pregnancy or chemotherapy, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel. In the area of sports performance the use of acupuncture for the prevention and care of athletic injuries, has been slow to be recognized as a viable and effective branch of sports medicine.  The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is one of the main regulating bodies for athletic trainers and sports performance in the United States.  In their material and text books I have not yet come across the acknowledgment, recommendation or the reference of the effectiveness of acupuncture in sports.  It is time that that changes and for acupuncture to take its place among the other sports medicine modalities.

In other countries Acupuncture has been accepted as an effective form of treatment for athletes.  In the winter Olympics of 1998, the Austria downhill skier Hermann Maier was treated with acupuncture after a devastating fall only to come back and win two gold metals.  In China at the summer Olympics of 2008 acupuncture was available and used by the athletes.  I have been practicing acupuncture for over 25 years and have had the opportunity to treat all kinds of athletes.  I have treated recreational, competitive and elite athletes.  I have had the privilege to treat successfully a three time Olympic Biathlon Skier, a National College Rodeo finalist bronco rider, College NCAA Division 1 woman’s basketball player, world-class swimmers, skiers, runners, bicyclists and tennis players.  Some of the injuries I see include trauma, and overuse, such as sprains, strains, tendonitis, bursitis, tennis elbow and carpal tunnel. Acupuncture is not only effective for pain it also helps with insomnia, anxiety, and digestive problems, which can sometimes affect an athlete’s performance ability.  Athletes have told me that they feel an increased clarity, an inner calmness and more centered after an acupuncture treatment.  Acupuncture is a drugless form of medicine and with elite athletes having to be drug tested for their sport; acupuncture can be an optimum treatment for them.

How can acupuncturists successfully bring the practice of herbal medicine and the use of botanicals into the growing field of integrative medicine?

In order to successfully make the practice of herbal medicine and the use of botanicals an essential part of integrative medicine, we as acupuncturists and practitioners of Oriental medicine must be willing to act as advocates for and educators of the history, effectiveness, and safety of these medicinals. The impetus for this integration must come from our field, as we are the practitioners who best understand the innumerable benefits of this medicine. We must reach out to other health care professionals and to our patients with confidence and passion for this time-tested and highly effective medicine. 

Finding your medicine in your own backyard is easy and FUN, whether you’re a city dweller, a suburbanite, or plain country folk. Nearly anywhere I’ve been in the past 11 years, I could look down and around from practically the same spot (including right at this moment- from precisely where I am now standing), and see a fantastic handful of herbs!

For example, from my present position, I see dandelion, sweet violet, clover, plantain, a magnolia tree, a ginkgo tree, and I know right over there sits a burdock patch with plenty of yellow dock.  A little further some golden rod and a garden with a big patch of yarrow grow.  And it’s only April -in New York City!

What is Digital Meridian Imaging?

Like most acupuncturists, I gained the foundation of my education in acupuncture school, and learned what I needed to pass the boards and become licensed. But my real learning began when I opened my mind and my practice to some of the recent scientific advances in acupuncture.

Introduction

There is a growing trend among Chinese herbalists to prescribe medicinals based on their Western function. For example, modern research demonstrates that da qing ye (Isatidis Folium) and ban lan gen (Isatidis/Baphicacanthis Radix) have antiviral properties. Consequently, there are those in both Asia and the West that recommend their use for the treatment and prevention of gan mao (common cold and flu), regardless of the pattern. For example, ban lan gen chong ji (Isatis soluble granulars 板蓝根冲剂),[i] a popular antiviral prepared medicine advertises, “Drinking [sic] a cup of this tea when exposed to others that are sick with a cold or when you think you are coming down with a cold to avoid getting sick yourself.”[ii]

My first encounter with alternative medicine was during my freshman year in college.

I had just arrived in France to study “Foreign Applied Languages” and the pressure of being in a foreign country, being away from my family and trying to prepare for exams was starting to affect my concentration and peace of mind.  

My oldest memory of touch goes back to when I was four years old taking a warm bath in a clean, white tub, my grandmother is sitting on a chair bathing me and caring for me during my long warm bath.  She took care of me while my mother was at work and my brother and sisters were at school.  She cared for us even when my mother was home sometimes. When I started going to school, I spent weekends with her and grandpa as well as any school breaks I had, it was my choice to go.  She was everything for me at that age.  The sound of her voice singing to me made me feel something special as if I were the only one she trusted to sing to.  Grandpa had a softer voice when he sang a lullaby to his grandkids and I now sing that song to my kids at bedtime or nap time.  I slept between the two when I would go and visit at their ranch.  Grandpa used to pull my ear softly trying to play with me; I used to think he was bothering me I was already too tired to play.  Grandma slept on the right side of the bed grandpa on the left, some never got to see this since their love grew apart over the years so did their bedrooms.

They lived in a house they built with their own hands as well as the help of their children.  I see the thick, high walls of their home and am attracted to walk over and feel them, perceive the memories that are present in all their children, grand children and great grand children (my kids pertain to these walls now on our weekends).  Watching so many visitors talking for hours with grandma and grandpa, I would hear grandpa’s stories over and over and always paid the same amount of attention, eventually the visitor would stand, walk over to a wall and caress its vanity or sometimes they’d just lean on them.   I would fall asleep on the couch while grandma and grandpa would watch boxing matches and sometimes I would pretend I was still sleeping when it was time to walk to bed so that grandma would carry me to bed.  I could still remember her embracing me as I embrace that very moment. 

You have probably heard about the use of Oriental medicine, such as acupuncture, gaining popularity in the U.S. Millions of Americans are using acupuncture to improve their health, treating ailments ranging from the common cold to autoimmune disorders to orthopedic issues. Acupuncture is also gaining momentum as an effective and safe way to treat childhood issues too.

Acupuncture helps childhood development through all phases of infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, and puberty by helping their immature systems function at the highest possible level and strengthening them in various ways.

Settling throughout the lands of northern China in what is often referred to as the birthplace or cradle of Chinese civilization, the Shang peoples built and organized their cities and towns around the flooding stages of the eastern Yellow River.  From around 1800 B.C.E. on, this ‘Yellow River Civilization’ was organized enough to be referred to as a culture.

The Shang were a people whose shamanic religion was characterized by ancestor worship, sacrifice, and divination.  They worshipped a deity called Shang-Ti, the ‘Supreme God,’ ‘Lord on High,’ or ‘God of Heaven,’ who ruled over the world as well as over the lesser gods of nature (such as the gods of wind, rain, etc.).  This shamanic culture formed the very basis of Chinese Medicine.