The New Year brings fresh opportunities for students of Pacific College to gain experience in Oriental medicine. Under the supervision of Pacific College faculty and board members, students of Pacific College in San Diego have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in integrated health care settings, while providing much-needed care to people in the community. Through the off-site internship program, students can volunteer at eleven different sites around San Diego County. Working at an offsite clinic is an excellent learning experience that can change the way a student practices medicine. This kind of volunteer work will shape the future healer each student will become. Work at offsite clinics can be quite different from the work at the PCOM clinic. Sometimes the off-site clinics involve cramped conditions, and lack administrative support. Set-up tables or equipment may be needed, which means students will have to work as a team to help each other to operate efficiently and with what materials are available. Access to herbal remedies is limited off-site, presenting an opportunity for students to hone their needle technique. Each location also varies in clientele; some are inundated with patients, while others may be sparse. Working at various off-site locations can help students become proficient in both busy work environments as well as slower-paced places where more time is spent on each patient.

Millions of patients undergo chemotherapy as part of their cancer treatment. Though controversial, chemotherapy uses very powerful drugs in an attempt to kill cancer cells. Although this may control some types of cancers and possibly prolong the lives of some patients, chemotherapy has many negative side effects. Among these are nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, anemia, body ache, headache, night sweats, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. This has caused many patients to refuse this marginally effective and life-debilitating treatment. For those who still believe chemotherapy is worth pursuing, acupuncture can provide some relief in controlling the many undesirable side effects of chemotherapy.

Women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, for example, have found that acupuncture can be effective in managing such common side effects as hot flashes, night sweats, and excessive sweating. Compared to conventional drug therapy, acupuncture produces no side effects, according to a study presented in 2008 at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Few, if any, conditions are as painful as a kidney stone. Passing a kidney stone has been likened to the pain experienced in childbirth. Kidney stones, also known as calculi, are hardened mineral deposits that form in the kidney. The purpose of the kidneys is to filter waste products from the blood and add them to the urine produced in the kidneys. When waste materials in the urine do not dissolve fully, tiny crystals form that can clump together and form kidney stones over time.

According to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), the disease belongs to the categories of "sha lin" (strangury form urolithiasis), "shi lin" (strangury caused by urinary calculus) and "xue lin" (strangury complicated by hematuria).

In both America and China, a variety of studies have shown that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-acupuncture, supplemented with herbs and special exercises-may be effective in the treatment of cerebral palsy. What is equally important is that the sooner treatments begin, the better the results.

Some studies have shown that acupuncture improved physical function or resulted in a notable therapeutic effect in people with cerebral palsy. In one particular study, 75 children were treated with a comprehensive meridian therapy. This included functional training, scalp and body acupuncture, acu-point injection and auriculo-point stimulation supplemented with acu-pressure and massage. Treatments ranged from 10 sessions within twenty days to 120 sessions within a year. The children's physical abilities and social adaptability were evaluated. This comprehensive treatment yielded improvement in the children's physical capability and also raised their IQ. Another study even suggested that acupuncture could be useful in managing pain associated with muscle spasms in Athetoid cerebral palsy.

Alex A. Kecskes

If you suffer from headaches and migraines, you can ease your pain without resorting to prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications that often have side effects. For thousands of years, acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicines have been used to relieve headaches and migraines, as well as their underlying causes.

In TCM all things, especially living things, have Qi. Herbal medicinal formulations are not only created to treat specific Qi disorders, each herb and plant has its own Qi, which forms the basis of its mechanism of action. In TCM herbs are categorized by their natural makeup; their Qi. The herbs are described and organized by "Temperature" and "Taste". Herbs are either cold, cool, hot, or neutral, and/or spicy, sweet, and bitter. Herbs are also designated by the four directions, based on quadrants of the body related to the specific areas they treat.

Western medicine tends to ridicule the efficacy of nutritional supplements and herbal medication. However over 50% of so-called modern pharmaceuticals are derived from botanical substances. There are about 600 different herbs that are most commonly prescribed by Chinese herbalists. Yet the Chinese pharmacopoeia lists over 6,000 different medicinal substances by their properties and by the Qi disturbances they can help to correct.

If you suffer from headaches and migraines, you can ease your pain without resorting to prescription drugs or over-the-counter medications that often have side effects. For thousands of years, acupuncture and Chinese Herbal medicines have been used to relieve headaches and migraines, as well as their underlying causes. Researchers recently discovered that, compared to standard Western medical care, acupuncture can provide lasting relief from chronic headache pain. While these Eastern remedies are most often used to treat other types of chronic pain, researchers in a large-scale study found them to be extremely effective for migraines as well.    

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, included 401 adults from 18-65 years old with chronic headaches (at least two headaches a month). Participants were divided into two groups: those who received up to 12 acupuncture sessions during a three-month period in addition to standard medical care, and those who received only standard care. One year later, researchers found those who received acupuncture experienced 22 fewer days with headaches, used 15% less medication, made 25% fewer visits to their doctor, and took15% fewer sick days off from work.

The oldest documented medical system to recognize the connection between body and mind, Chinese medicine is an optimum treatment choice for trauma victims. There are several forms of trauma. Perhaps the best known is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a condition formed after a person undergoes a harrowing physical or emotional event such as a war experience, car crash, natural disaster, or extreme emotional loss. Trauma can also relate to the anxiety, depression, and grief that can develop after a tragic event.

Chinese medicine is particularly effective for trauma relief because the method of diagnosis involves searching for the root of a person's distress, rather than merely treating the symptoms. By thoroughly investigating the cause of a patient's stress disorder, the origin and continuing source of discomfort and fear is recognized and more readily conquered. Whether a treatment occurs quickly after a traumatic event has been experienced or years later, acupuncture can help relieve tension.

Kathleen Rushall

The oldest documented medical system to recognize the connection between body and mind, Chinese medicine is an optimum treatment choice for trauma victims. There are several forms of trauma. Perhaps the best known is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is a condition formed after a person undergoes a harrowing physical or emotional event such as a war experience, car crash, natural disaster, or extreme emotional loss. Trauma can also relate to the anxiety, depression, and grief that can develop after a tragic event.

The holidays can be stressful and can lead to anxiety. Anxiety is a mental disorder that affects literally millions of people. It's an illness that often dovetails with depression and alternates from mild discomfort to almost uncontrollable panic with physical symptoms. While some medications have been known to ease anxiety, they may also suffer from undesirable side effects, suppressing the symptoms while making individuals chemically toxic.