Pacific College Participates in Vietnam Stand Down 2010 

The National Stand Down for Homeless Veterans is an annual event that honors and seeks to physically and emotionally help homeless veterans. Each summer in San Diego, hundreds of homeless veterans and their families are provided with a wide range of necessities such as food, shelter, showers, clothing, dental care, and medical care, including acupuncture and massage therapy. Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM) students and alumni will volunteer their time and services to this event. This year, the event will be held on July 16, 17 and 18, 2010, on the upper athletic field at San Diego High School.  

The Integrative Medical Discussion Group (IMDG), hosted by Pacific College of Oriental Medicine (PCOM), invites physicians, Oriental medicine practitioners, specialists, students, and the general public to enjoy a free evening of enlightened discussion about integrative medicine’s role in psychological and emotional health. Pathological conditions such as PTSD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Bi-Polar Syndrome will be discussed. The event will be held on Friday, May 21 from 7 to 9pm at the Pacific College campus in Mission Valley. 

The goal of IMDG is to bring practitioners and students together from a variety of medical backgrounds to dialogue about different ways to provide quality health to patients. The panel for this event is diverse. It includes Tahir Bhatti, M.D., Lynda Harvey, L.Ac., Daniel Weber, Ph.D., and Christina Zampitella, Psy.D., FT. While the panel and audience are diverse, the goal is unanimous: to inform each other about how to improve psychological and emotional health for patients.

“It is important to empower patients with options,” said Deb Davies, founder of IMDG. “Patients need to be aware that drugs are not the only option to treat psychological and emotional disorders. You can use herbs; you can get acupuncture. Sharing ideas regarding different modalities to treat pathological conditions is paramount to empowering patients with knowledge to take charge of their health. It’s all about providing patients with choices.”

This event is free and open to the public, however an RSVP is required. To RSVP, please contact Deb Davies at ddavies@pacificcollege.edu
 
About the Integrative Medical Discussion Group

IMDG’s mission is to build bridges among all types of health practitioners and to increase awareness as to how powerful the medicines can be when combined. The group helps establish connections among future doctors, and will educate, raise awareness, and enlighten the community on the ever-growing topic of integrative medicine.

Fibromyalgia is one of the most debilitating conditions that an estimated 5.8 million people in the U.S. suffer from.  The disease manifests itself in symptoms that involve muscle aches, pain, weakness, and joint stiffness.  It also involves unexplained fatigue, making it difficult for patients to move or perform normal daily activities.  Although fibromyalgia symptoms may be alleviated through the use of medications, many patients also turn to massage therapy for relief.  Massage can be an effective complement to more conventional means of treatment.

Massages require the physical manipulation of muscles and tissues.  When done correctly, it can help encourage proper circulation of blood throughout the system.  Coupled with correct breathing on the patient's end, regular massage therapy can promote tissue oxygenation.  This process helps eliminate pain and stiffness and promote better flexibility.

There are several types of massages that may be used with patients who have fibromyalgia.  One of the most popular techniques is circulatory massage because it uses deep pressure to relieve muscle pain and eliminate tension. Shiatsu massage is also a popular form of therapy. Shiatsu is a type of massage that targets pressure points in the hands, fingers, and knuckles in order to stimulate the body to relax and relieve itself of pain.  This can be an ideal massage for someone with fibromyalgia because it avoids direct contact with the muscles and major joints, usually the parts of the body where the most pain is experienced. Another viable option is reflexology, a type of massage therapy where the therapist manipulates only the patient’s feet and hands.  

Research regarding the use of massage therapy for treating and managing certain disorders and illnesses is growing.  For the treatment of pain, stiffness, and discomfort associated with fibromyalgia, massage therapy has been observed to be effective among subjects in several studies.  One such study, which appeared in April 2002 in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology, reported that the group that received massage therapy reported improved sleep duration, quality, and decreased pain.

Another study, one conducted by the New Touch Research Institute of the University of Miami School of Medicine, showed that massage therapy helped improve patients with joint and muscle pains.  The study concluded that massage therapy helped decreased pain and tenderness, increased levels of serotonin, decreased levels of stress hormones, and improved the patient’s overall sense of well-being.

Deep tissue massage can be used to help treat multiple sports-related injuries. One such injury, commonly found in runners, is plantar fasciitis.

There is a thick connective tissue that runs the entire length of the bottom of the human foot. It starts on the five toes and extends to the bottom of the heel. This tissue is known as the plantar fascia. While running, runners land on the heel of the foot and then raise themselves on the toes before shifting the weight to the other foot. This causes the plantar fascia to come under strain, and when the strain becomes too much, the plantar fascia is likely to tear. Even if there is no tearing, the strain can be felt and is an indication of plantar fasciitis. Mountain climbers, aerobics practitioners, and hikers can also become afflicted by plantar fasciitis due to constant strain on the planar fascia.    

Recent studies conducted by the federally funded National Health Statistics Report have revealed that Americans spend up to 34 billion dollars per year on complementary alternative medicine (CAM). The first national estimate of such spending discovered that more than one tenth of American's out of pocket health care dollars goes towards CAM. The term CAM encompasses Oriental medicine, Asian body therapy, herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic treatments, acupuncture, and other variations of Oriental medicine. According to new research, CAM accounts for approximately 1.5 percent of total health care expenditures.

Currently in the United States, about 38 percent of adults are using CAM for health and to treat a variety of issues. Most commonly, this report shows that people actively seek out acupuncture and massage to manage chronic pain. Of the 34 billion dollars people spent for CAM services, an estimated 22 billion dollars was spent on self-care costs such as herbs and nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products like fish oil and Echinacea. Visits to acupuncturists, massage therapists, and chiropractors was attributed to more than half of the money spent on self-care - about 11.9 billion dollars. Pacific College of Oriental Medicine's three clinics (located in San Diego, New York, and Chicago) have seen a rise in patients.

Originating in China as a form of self-defense, Tai Ji is an almost ballet-like series of smooth, graceful exercises that millions have practiced regularly for over 2,000 years. The very words, Tai and Ji, hint at its potential for healing. ‘Tai' means ‘ultimate' or ‘supreme' and ‘Ji' is the all-inclusive life force the envelopes the spirit of the earth and one's soul. A regular regimen of Tai Ji can help reduce stress, build agility, and improve overall mental well being. Many have called it "yoga in motion."

Tai Chi can help enhance one's breathing system and gently exercise most joints and major muscle groups. Ideal for all ages, Tai Ji exercises involve the whole body and circulate internal energy. Tai Ji has more than 100 possible movements and positions. Executed properly, these movements promote strength, stamina and flexibility. In Tai Ji, a person's arms, legs, neck and center mass all move as a single entity, stimulating the link between mind and body. Focusing the body in this way and moving fluidly free of distractions forces a person to breathe properly. It creates a calming, relaxed state that works to reduce anxieties and tensions.

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.

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.

In celebration of Chinese New Year and the commencement of the Year of the Ox, Pacific College has planned free events that are open to the public on each of its three campuses.

Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York will be hosting an Open House and a free celebration for the public on Saturday, January 31, 2009. The open house will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and is an admissions information session for prospective students. From 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., the campus will hold a Chinese New Year Celebration, which will include complimentary acupuncture treatments for relaxation. Additionally, a lecture titled, "Chinese Astrology: Year of the Ox" will be presented. Qigong workshops will be held, and a lecture about health tips for winter will also be given. This event is free and open to the public.

Chronic pain is one of the most common ailments that acupuncture can relieve. The United States military has recently incorporated this Oriental health benefit into their offered medical services. Andrews Airforce Base in Maryland has begun using this ancient Chinese technique to treat wounded troops for chronic pain. This is the first high-level endorsement of acupuncture by the traditionally conservative military medical community, and marks a milestone for Oriental medicine's increasing popularity and accessibility.

The use of acupuncture is proving so successful in the Air Force that a class about "battlefield acupuncture" is scheduled to commence in the New Year. Physicians deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan will soon be adding acupuncture to their list of medical remedies. Auricular acupuncture (acupuncture of the ear) is the primary technique that will be taught. This method can alleviate wide ranges of pain (even unbearable, sharp chronic pain) for days at a time. Patients who have been suffering in a daze of drug-induced sleep as their only means at pain reduction can begin to emerge from that state into fuller consciousness without pain.