Tourette's Tic Reduced with Chinese Herbal Medicine

A study published in a 2012 edition of the journal, BioScience Trends, reports that a traditional Chinese herbal formula was very useful in controlling tics in children affected by Tourette's Syndrome. The formula which, though standardized and thus antithetical to the standard practice of individualizing treatment for our patients, does contain many of the likely herbal candidates that practioners might prescribe. The article, a summary of which can be read here, performed a randomized, double blind study of pediatric Tourette's patients. The patients were,

. . . randomly divided into four groups. One group received NDG, another received usual drug treatment, consisting of the antipsychotic medication haloperidol (Hal), the third group received NDG plus haloperidol and the control group received no treatment. The results showed that NDG significantly ameliorated children’s tic scores. In addition, concentrations of inhibitory neurotransmitters, including gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), were found to increase after treatment with NDG. NDG + Hal was found to be the most effective combination of all the groups.

Possible Basis for Acupuncture Improvement of Ischemia Discovered

The National Institutes for Health published a study which suggests a possible mechanism for acupuncture's salutary effect upon neuronal health, post-ischemic event. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21570693]

The abstract reads,

Ischemia impairs brain function and networks, in which the vulnerability of GABAergic neurons causes neural excitotoxicity and nerve cell death. Acupuncture presumably improves the outcome of stroke patients; however, cellular mechanisms underlying this improvement remain to be elusive. We have investigated whether electrical stimuli to acupoint Baihui prevent ischemia- induced impairment of cortical GABAergic neurons. After acupuncture to a Baihui-point of mice for a week, we examined the responses of cortical GABAergic neurons to ischemia by whole-cell recording. Compared with the data from a group of ischemia only, the acupuncture prevents the impairments of spike encoding and synaptic transmission at GABAergic neurons from ischemia. This prevention is associated with the resistance of these cells to ischemia-induced changes in spike threshold potentials and refractory periods Therefore, acupuncture to Baihui-point improves ischemic stroke via preventing the impairment of cortical GABAergic neurons. 

Chinese Medicine and High Blood Pressure

Hypertension and it's sequelae are frequent complaints at our clinic and the combination of acupuncture and herbology can usually make a lasting difference in both pressure readings as well as in how the client feels.

Recently, the University of Southern California of Los Angeles and Irvine have found one of the mechanisms by which this may happen and published it in the Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (You can more read about the study here)

The research notes that acupuncture reduces hypertension by stimulating brain neurons, electrically excitable cells that transmit information. A decrease in the neural activity of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (rVLM) decreases SNS activity and reduces blood pressure. The researchers “have shown that electroacupuncture stimulation activates neurons in the arcuate nucleus, ventrolateral gray, and nucleus raphe to inhibit the neural activity in the rVLM in a model of visceral reflex stimulation-induced hypertension.” In this way, acupuncture treatment reduces high blood pressure through downregulation of excess sympathetic nerve activity.

While there are undoubtedly many other mechanisms by which this happens, it is exciting to see more western researchers becoming interested in a disease which affects one out of three people in the United States alone.

Acupuncture for Bone Density

From HealthCMI.com:

New research demonstrates that acupuncture with Chinese healing massage improves bone metabolism for the prevention of osteoporosis. Researchers compared sixty-four subjects divided into two groups. Group 1 was administered vitamin D with calcium carbonate in oral tablets for a period of 12 weeks. Vitamin D is an essential component for the proper absorption of calcium. Group 2 received acupuncture at acupoints UB40 (Weizhong) and K3 (Taixi) combined with tuina massage on the lower back. Tuina, literally translated as push and grasp, is a type of Chinese medical massage. Acupuncture was administered a total of 30 times over a period of 12 weeks. Both the oral calcium with vitamin D and acupuncture with tuina groups showed similar improvements in the biochemical indices of bone metabolism related to osteoporosis.

Blood analysis measured increases in levels of BGP (bone gla protein) in both the supplement and acupuncture groups. BGP is an important biomarker of bone metabolism. Higher serum levels of BGP indicate greater bone mineral density. Blood analysis also revealed that both the supplement and acupuncture groups had decreases in levels of phoshphorus and urine deoxypyridinoline (DPD). Higher numbers of DPD in the urine indicates a risk for osteoporosis. DPD provides structural integrity to type 1 collagen in bones. High urine DPD is common in post-menopausal women due to lower levels of estrogen. Although phosphorus is an important bone mineral, excess quantities in relation to calcium intake contribute to bone loss.

Acupuncture for BoneNew research demonstrates that acupuncture with Chinese healing massage improves bone metabolism for the prevention of osteoporosis. Researchers compared sixty-four subjects divided into two groups. Group 1 was administered vitamin D with calcium carbonate in oral tablets for a period of 12 weeks. Vitamin D is an essential component for the proper absorption of calcium. Group 2 received acupuncture at acupoints UB40 (Weizhong) and K3 (Taixi) combined with tuina massage on the lower back. Tuina, literally translated as push and grasp, is a type of Chinese medical massage. Acupuncture was administered a total of 30 times over a period of 12 weeks. Both the oral calcium with vitamin D and acupuncture with tuina groups showed similar improvements in the biochemical indices of bone metabolism related to osteoporosis.
Blood analysis measured increases in levels of BGP (bone gla protein) in both the supplement and acupuncture groups. BGP is an important biomarker of bone metabolism. Higher serum levels of BGP indicate greater bone mineral density. Blood analysis also revealed that both the supplement and acupuncture groups had decreases in levels of phoshphorus and urine deoxypyridinoline (DPD). Higher numbers of DPD in the urine indicates a risk for osteoporosis. DPD provides structural integrity to type 1 collagen in bones. High urine DPD is common in post-menopausal women due to lower levels of estrogen. Although phosphorus is an important bone mineral, excess quantities in relation to calcium intake contribute to bone loss.

Study Shows that Acupuncture Maintains Muscle Mass

A recent Japanese study reported on by Doctors Press found that Chinese medicine can be very useful in reducing muscle atrophy and increasing tone. This has important implications for both athletes as well as those who are losing muscle due to age, disease or hospitalization. You can read about the study here as well.

...[why researchers decided] to explore how acupuncture affects skeletal muscle at the molecular level. And there, they found very encouraging results.