Acupuncture and Moxibustion have been used for people with diabetes to normalize his or her endocrine function. According to clinical studies, acupuncture is beneficial in lowering glucose levels.

Many people around the world suffer from diabetes. In fact, it is one of the most widespread chronic illnesses in the United States today. Conventional medicine for diabetes is geared towards the regulation of blood sugar with a combination of oral pharmacological agents and insulin. Change of diet and regular exercise are also recommended for people with diabetes. Although TCM and western medicine are geared towards the same goals, the diagnosis and the treatment are not similar. While Western medicine targets the cause of an illness and eventually tries to get rid of the root cause, traditional Chinese medicine focuses on the big picture and fixes the problem by fixing the whole.

Traditional Chinese medicine has existed for thousands of years and has evolved into one of the most reliable systems of medicine. The most common Oriental treatment for diabetes and other illnesses is acupuncture, but other methods such as diet therapy, Chinese herbal medicine, tui na, qi gong, and tai ji are also used.

According to Oriental medicine, the human body should be viewed in a holistic way. From this standpoint, every single symptom is related to the whole well-being of a person and unlike conventional medicine, TCM concentrates more on disharmony between two forces: Yin and Yang.  A person’s Yin and Yang are interdependent, one cannot function or exist without the other. So this means that the different energies of a person should be directed to the right places to achieve equilibrium.

Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy have been used for people with diabetes to normalize his or her endocrine function. According to clinical studies, acupuncture is beneficial in lowering glucose levels.
Another integral part of TCM is the use of herbal medicine. The Chinese have utilized herbal medicine for over 2000 years and many of these medicines have been used for diabetics. The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, dating back to the Han Dynasty, has a list of 13 herbal formulations for the treatment of diabetes. These medicinal herbs usually have four components which include the principal ingredient used for the treatment of the disease, an assisting ingredient that is also good at fighting the disease, another assisting ingredient that enhances the effects of the principal ingredient, and an envoy ingredient that makes sure the effects of the other ingredients are merged into an effective brew.
The prescribed herbs for diabetes however differ from one person to another depending on the predominant symptoms of a patient.

Acupuncture for Asthma


Asthma, a chronic disease of the lungs, affects an estimated 300 million people around the world.  Although it is considered a treatable disease with proper medication, it still claims over 3,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone.  It is also one of the most common diseases for which patients turn to alternative therapies such as acupuncture for treatment and relief. 
The key to the efficacy of acupuncture is that it directly affects the flow of qi, the energy that resides in the body.  In traditional Chinese medicine, the blockage of qi leads to diseases, disorders, and illnesses.

Acupuncture employs simple yet straightforward methods to treat ailments.  Like all methods in Oriental medicine, it utilizes a holistic approach wherein treatment is focused on achieving overall health and well-being in order to remove the troublesome symptoms associated with asthma.

In traditional Chinese medicine, asthma is considered not just a disorder of the lungs but also of the kidneys and the stomach.  This explains why the acupoints that correspond to the treatment of asthma are located along the lung, kidney, and stomach meridians.  Acupoints along the bladder meridian are also treated since bladder function is also considered important for the overall health of the body’s organs.  Once the energy blockages in these areas are corrected, optimum health is hopefully achieved.

Acupuncture is widely used as a preventative medicine technique, and as such, is most effective when used to treat initial attacks or mild bouts of asthma.  The disease is one of 40 considered by the World Health Organization (WHO) that may benefit from acupuncture.  One study conducted by the University of Vienna Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care showed that at least 70% of the patients suffering from asthma reported improvement after undergoing regular acupuncture treatment for a span of 10 weeks. 
Another study, conducted in Kaifeng City’s Department of Acupuncture in the Second Municipal People’s Hospital in Henan, China, involved 192 patients with bronchial asthma.  All patients were treated with acupuncture and results showed significant improvement in over 75% of patients.  Clinical remission also reduced and the majority of patients reported immediate relief post-treatment.  The study also showed that efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of asthma was related to the needle retention duration, the length of time the needle stayed inserted.  Long-term curative effects were also observed to be better with patients who experienced immediate positive results after treatments.

Acupuncture and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder is an actual and serious disease triggered by exposure to dangerous and frightening events. Symptoms include irrational fears, nightmares and sense that the traumatic events keep happening again and again. It can have serious consequences on the life of the person going through this and on the lives of the people around them. In the long term, it can lead to substance abuse, Alzheimer’s disease, and even dementia.

With the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there is an increasing number of people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. In fact, Pentagon officials are estimating that close to a third of the soldiers returning from these wars will suffer from it. But this illness does not only affect war veterans. Anybody who has been through a very stressful, frightening, and traumatizing event can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. It is especially the case for people who have been through life-threatening experiences for themselves or people around them, and physical or emotional abuse. Physical assaults, natural disasters, accidents, rape, and the violent or sudden death of relatives are among the traumatic events that can cause post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Western medicine is using a variety of psychological therapies and drug therapies to treat this condition, but there is no definitive treatment of this disorder. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) various natural remedies can help people affected with this condition. Among these natural remedies, acupuncture appears to be the most effective. In fact, various scientific studies, such as the one conducted by Dr. Michael Hollifield at the  University of New Mexico's Department of Psychiatry (1), support the use of acupuncture as a natural remedy for treating post-traumatic disorder symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, and depression, and psychosomatic pain disorders. 

By Whitfield Reaves

After years of experience, I have come to believe there is nothing more complex to differentiate, diagnose, and treat than low back pain. Western orthopedic evaluation does a great job when there is a disc herniation with a protrusion or fragment lodged on a spinal nerve root. Anything else, in my opinion, is either art or guesswork. I see many patients who have been to numerous physicians, each diagnosing a different cause of pain. Unfortunately, TCM diagnosis is no better. I gave up on treatment based upon the meridian (jing-luo) perspective years ago when Bladder meridian points such as Bl 23, Bl 25, Bl 40 and Bl 60 gave my patients inadequate results. And from an internal organ viewpoint, I have never found treating the Kidney, which controls the lower back, to be clinically reliable.

Back pain is a complicated and comprehensive condition, and it is not the purpose of this article to articulate on the subject. However, I would like to discuss how acupuncture treatment to the quadratus lumborum (QL) muscle is important to consider in any treatment plan for lumbar, sacral, and gluteal pain. While this muscle might not be the entire cause of pain - other points, treatments, and techniques may be necessary - the simple techniques that follow benefit many patients and may serve as an important protocol for acupuncture treatment.

by Alex A. Kecskes

An old Chinese medical proverb says--The best doctor treats the problem before the problem becomes the disease. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) uses herbs and medications, acupuncture, massage, and qi gong  (coordinating breathing patterns with various physical postures and body motions). TCM has been practiced in Asia for over 4,000 years. To underscore its importance in health care, the ancient Chinese upper class saw doctors only for preventative care; if they became sick, the doctors were not be paid.

by Alex A. Kecskes

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), arthritis arises when the flow of Qi and Blood are blocked and prevented from passing through the body's energy pathways. The Chinese believe that when wind, cold, and dampness penetrate the body's defenses and enter the muscles, tendons and joints, they can cause stiffness and pain.

Posture is often overlooked as a health concern, but a person's posture has a direct effect on his or her breathing, organ function, and muscle integrity. With the majority of American adults confined to desk and chair for 40 hours of the week, attention to posture is crucial for optimum health. In Chinese medicine, correct posture is considered necessary for the proper flow of qi (the life force that traverses each living thing). TCM practitioners believe that good posture provides for not only the proper flow of qi, but of blood as well (leading to better brain and organ performance).

Poor posture is related to several TCM problems (such as back pain and other forms of musculoskeletal imbalance), and is sometimes believed to cause them. Consequently, practicing good posture can enhance a TCM treatment (such as acupuncture), while poor posture can inhibit results. Due to the active lifestyle common in their patients, ancient Chinese medical practitioners did not have to deal with patients' poor posture nearly as often as practitioners do today. Similarly, Liver Qi Stagnation was also not as common a problem in ancient China as it is today; it is believed to be closely related to posture. Liver Qi Stagnation refers to a pattern of disharmony in a person that is characterized by pain in the chest, the abdomen, the head, or along the Liver channel.  Also associated with this disharmony are feelings of stress, agitation, or anxiety. Liver Qi Stagnation directly coincides with posture problems, and helping the latter can greatly improve the Liver channel - alleviating muscle pain as well as mental 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.

Steve Goodman

In today's fast paced stressed-out world insomnia and sleep disorders are on the increase. The proverbial good night's sleep seems more elusive than ever. So many people are facing so many sleepless nights, and yet they fear the side effects and addictive nature of sleep medications - as well they should.

Winter means many things, some of them not as positive as hot cocoa and holidays. Cold, dry weather can wreak havoc on the skin, and one place often requires special attention is a person's foot. Feet are often neglected when it comes to lotion and other skin care methods that the rest of the body daily receives. In winter, foot eczema is a common occurrence. Eczema is the result of extreme dry skin that forms into a scaly, red, often itchy rash.

Oriental herbs can effectively treat eczema and provide fast relief. Herbs that prove helpful for this condition include Flos Ionicerae (Japanese honeysuckle), Herba Mentae (peppermint), Cortex Moutan (root bark of a peony tree), Atractylodes Rhizome (the underground stem of the Atractylodes herb), and Cortex Phellodendri (Amur cork-tree bark). A licensed practitioner of Oriental medicine can prescribe and concoct a mixture of these five herbs, which can be taken orally (the extracts are placed into a pill capsule) once daily. The British Journal of Dermatology recently performed a study using this treatment and found that patients that received these herbs reported that their life improved by a third.