Our very own Naomi Broering, Dean of Libraries at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) in SD, and Medical Library Association (MLA) past president has been a charter member of the Friends of the National Library of Medicine (FNLM) since 1986.

As the world watches the Summer 2012 Olympics with bated breath, Chinese medicine has stepped into the spotlight. Each athlete has a regime that allows him or her to best perform, and sometimes it extends beyond the typical physical training. Many professional athletes employ an acupuncturist to keep in top shape.

To maintain peak performance, it’s not uncommon for athletes to have consistent treatments with an orthopedic acupuncturist. These treatments can range from acupuncture to cupping or Chinese herbology. An acupuncturist with orthopedic training can treat tendoninitis, acute trauma like bruising, swelling, and muscle, tendon, and ligament injuries, as well as chronic pains such as low back, shoulder, knee and ankle pain, often caused by a sprain.

Among the many paths and specialties a Chinese medicine student can focus his or her career on, an increasingly popular area of interest is in sports medicine. Some students go on to become acupuncturists specializing in orthopedics, where they treat patients, often athletes, with ailments specific to the muscle and bone. Many students find this path particularly rewarding if they were once athletes themselves, hoping to heal others as they understand the patients’ experiences and share their pain.

As Chinese medicine works to gain acceptance in the US healthcare system, many practitioners have taken their careers to the next level, breaking into the world of professional sports. Mark Kastner, L.Ac. of Circle of Living Acupuncture Center in San Diego has been practicing for 24 years on athletes of all ages, from high school basketball stars to retired pro football players. He’s treated the Padres and the Chargers, and eventually began working with the L.A. Lakers after treating player, Luke Walton, number four who plays forward.

It’s officially August! You have one more month for all your summer travel plans. Going on any camping trips this summer? Whether you’re going hiking for the day or taking a river tubing adventure, there are some traditional Chinese medicine items and tips that can help you get the most out of your vacation.

Whatever outdoors activity you’re planning, beware the mosquitos. White flower oil is a natural and effective treatment for bug bites, so be sure you have some in your backpack and use it generously. White flower oil is made from Chinese herbs and is a strong analgesic (pain reliever). You can apply it directly to skin, and one dab will relieve the itch of a mosquito bite. It can also be used as a preventative measure—try applying it behind your ears and on your elbows and knees before going outside. Mosquitos don’t like the smell.

By Arnaud Versluys, PhD, MD (China), LAc

In biomedical terms, immunity is ‘a condition of being able to resist a particular disease especially through preventing development of a pathogenic microorganism or by counteracting the effects of its products.’[1] The actual process of resisting the pathogenic perpetrator is called immune response or immune reaction, which is ‘a bodily response to an antigen that occurs when lymphocytes identify the antigenic molecule as foreign and induce the formation of antibodies and lymphocytes capable of reacting with it and rendering it harmless.’[2]