Sitting On Your Butt Will Kill You !

One of the theoretical foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine are the Statements Of Fact that all students are obligated to know and understand.  These Statements of Facts are the building blocks that practitioners use to construct
logically consistent deductions or inferences the help in diagnosis and patient treatment.

I ran across the informative illustration that I have linked to below and it reminded me of a Statement of Fact that I encountered in my first year of schooling.

Prolonged sitting damages the flesh. The flesh is governed by the Spleen in 5 phase theory. Prolonged sitting results in too much fat and not enough muscle.   When sitting, the qi and blood are not stirred.  Therefore, dampness and turbidity collect and accumulate, eventually congealing into phlegm and fat.

Sitting Will Kill You !!

A Case of Using Acupuncture to Induce Labor

I received this short little thank you note from a tired new mom who avoided a C-section by using acupuncture to help induce labor:

Ryan Kenneth was born yesterday at 9:45 am weighing 6.9 lbs and measuring 19 3/4 inches long! He came all by himself thanks to your help!  Thank you again.

 

What Were Those Ancient Chinese Up To?

The scientific validity of traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of pain received a nod of support in the May issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).
Dr. Philip Lang and colleagues of the University of Munich used quantitative sensory testing to identify changes in pain sensitivity with acupuncture in 24 healthy volunteers. After applying acupuncture to the leg, the researchers found that pain thresholds increased by up to 50 percent. Effects were noted in both the treated leg and the untreated (contralateral) leg.

Tests Show Measurable and Specific Effects of Acupuncture on Pain
Quantitative sensory testing is used clinically to help physicians understand specific injuries in nerve fibers associated with chronic pain. It includes tests of both thermal perception (heat and cold), and mechanical perception (pressure applied to the skin). The patterns of response provide diagnostic information in patients with nerve injury regarding the type of nerve involved, and possible treatments.
The results pointed to two nerve fibers—the "A delta" pain fibers and the "C" pain fibers—as being specifically affected by acupuncture. Although the effects were modest, the researchers believe they provide the basis for future studies in individuals with chronic pain, where the effects might be more dramatic.
The study also supported the effects of three different forms of acupuncture: manual acupuncture needling alone and with the addition of high-frequency and low-frequency electrical stimulation. All treatments were performed by an experienced acupuncturist, applied to acupuncture points commonly used in pain management.
The results provide a scientific background for the ancient practice of acupuncture, according to Dr. Dominik Irnich, Head of the Multidisciplinary Pain Centre, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Munich, and the study's leading author. Additionally, Dr. Irnich notes, "Our results show that contralateral stimulation leads to a remarkable pain relief. This suggests that acupuncturists should needle contralaterally if the affected side is too painful or not accessible—for example, if the skin is injured or there is a dressing in place."
Dr. Steven L. Shafer, Editor-in-Chief of Anesthesia & Analgesia and Professor of Anesthesiology at Columbia University, views the results as an important preliminary finding. "Reproducible findings are the cornerstone of scientific inquiry," Dr. Shafer comments. "The authors have clearly described their methodology, and their findings. If other laboratories can reproduce these results in properly controlled studies, then this provides further support for the scientific basis of acupuncture. Additionally, the ability of quantitative sensory testing to identify specific types of nerves involved in pain transmission may help direct research into the mechanism of acupuncture analgesia."