IVF Drugs (potentially) Linked to Leukemia in Children

The British newspaper, The Telegraph, published a slightly alarmist article whose headline screams about a link between fertility drugs and childhood cancer. However the body of the article is a bit more accurate than the headline, as it reveals the still tenuous nature of that link. The story is about new French research which does suggest that there may be an increase in the likelihood of such leukemias among women using such pharmaceuticals but goes on to say that even if this is proven as a risk factor that the actual increase is relatively small. 

. . . French researchers will tell a conference in London today they believe there is an association between the use of ovarian stimulation drugs and two types of childhood leukaemia.

Specifically, they have calculated that their use is associated with a 2.6-fold increase in the risk of developing the most common form of childhood leukaemia, called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), and a 2.3-fold increase in the risk of developing a rarer type, called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

However, French researchers will tell a conference in London today they believe there is an association between the use of ovarian stimulation drugs and two types of childhood leukaemia.Specifically, they have calculated that their use is associated with a 2.6-fold increase in the risk of developing the most common form of childhood leukaemia, called acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), and a 2.3-fold increase in the risk of developing a rarer type, called acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

From the perspective of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, as well as the fertility work that we do at the Northside Holistic Center this is quite interesting and wouldn't be too surprising. We counsel our patients to carefully research fertility drugs before using them and encourage them to solely use our methods before resorting to the more drastic Western interventions which may have future negative ramifications. However we also understand that there is a place for such drugs either when time is a factor or when more conservative, natural interventions alone have not been enough. In that case, we work with the client to minimize any damage that these powerful drugs may be causing in her body.

Shape Magazine Raves About Acupuncture For 'All Busy Women'

A nice piece about why women who live stressful lives would benefit from acupuncture. You can read the whole article at their website. Here is an excerpt in which the author outlines reasons that a person may want to try acupuncture:

• First and foremost, prevention. This was my number one reason for trying acupuncture and although it's not the most common reason to try it, "most people try acupuncture for the first time because they have some kind of ailment be it a pain, digestive distress, emotional imbalance, or in some way feeling ‘off’ or ‘not okay.’ Acupuncture can and should be looked at like ‘preventative medicine,’ instead of waiting to get a diagnosis that you have X or Y condition," says Chopra. If you see an acupuncturist, she or he will be able to detect much more subtle imbalances in your system and work to correct them. I wholeheartedly believe that prevention is the best medicine and we, as a society, could enhance our immune systems by taking this approach, therefore being less likely to need medications and reducing the possibilities of getting sick. Preventative health is key, however you seek it—eating healthy, taking supplements, staying active, and/or acupuncture.

• Acupuncture can be used to offset stress and the effects of aging. Research proves that neglected stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds, leading to all kinds of ailments ranging from digestive distress, painful periods, chronic pain, hormonal imbalances, allergies, blood pressure and sugar imbalances, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and fatigue. Must I go on? Cosmetically speaking, wrinkled skin, grey hairs, thin hair, and dark circles under the eyes are no strangers to the extremely stressed body. Acupuncture has been proven to help offset these adverse effects and can help promote a more youthful energetic you—on the inside and out. Are you building a career but one day hope to have children? Join the club. Acupuncture can be a powerful modality for promoting fertility too, when the time comes!

• Acupuncture can help you understand your body and mind better. "It can help you see yourself in a whole new light," Chopra says. Acupuncture is so much more than just being stuck with tiny needles.  Imagine having someone sit with you with for one full hour (or more) and listen to you express your concerns about your health and your life as a whole. Imagine that person asking key questions that no medical doctor or psychotherapist may have asked you (because it's not in their training and/or paradigm to ask). Questions that will help you better understand why you are the way you are, why your body may be acting the way it's been acting. And, in addition to being treated with acupuncture to help regulate your system, also offering suggestions for your diet and lifestyle that may help you make the changes you want to see in your life. 

The next time you have trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, have paid the doctor a visit only to receive a 'clean bill of health' but know that something else is lurking underneath the surface, consider acupuncture. Your acupuncturist may be able to detect more subtle imbalances that could be leading to those distressing symptoms. 

Furthermore, acupuncturists are trained to treat not only the “symptoms” but the “root causes,” which means making changes on deep fundamental levels of your being. If you have ever had the thought, "I've always been like this" or "I'm just an anxious kind of person," an acupuncturist can not only help you understand how these constitutional tendencies or learned habits are thought of in Chinese medicine, she or he can also help you to see how unblocking certain channels or nourishing others may help to free you from those ways of being.

• First and foremost, prevention. This was my number one reason for trying acupuncture and although it's not the most common reason to try it, "most people try acupuncture for the first time because they have some kind of ailment be it a pain, digestive distress, emotional imbalance, or in some way feeling ‘off’ or ‘not okay.’ Acupuncture can and should be looked at like ‘preventative medicine,’ instead of waiting to get a diagnosis that you have X or Y condition," says Chopra. If you see an acupuncturist, she or he will be able to detect much more subtle imbalances in your system and work to correct them. I wholeheartedly believe that prevention is the best medicine and we, as a society, could enhance our immune systems by taking this approach, therefore being less likely to need medications and reducing the possibilities of getting sick. Preventative health is key, however you seek it—eating healthy, taking supplements, staying active, and/or acupuncture.
• Acupuncture can be used to offset stress and the effects of aging. Research proves that neglected stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds, leading to all kinds of ailments ranging from digestive distress, painful periods, chronic pain, hormonal imbalances, allergies, blood pressure and sugar imbalances, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and fatigue. Must I go on? Cosmetically speaking, wrinkled skin, grey hairs, thin hair, and dark circles under the eyes are no strangers to the extremely stressed body. Acupuncture has been proven to help offset these adverse effects and can help promote a more youthful energetic you—on the inside and out. Are you building a career but one day hope to have children? Join the club. Acupuncture can be a powerful modality for promoting fertility too, when the time comes!
• Acupuncture can help you understand your body and mind better. "It can help you see yourself in a whole new light," Chopra says. Acupuncture is so much more than just being stuck with tiny needles.  Imagine having someone sit with you with for one full hour (or more) and listen to you express your concerns about your health and your life as a whole. Imagine that person asking key questions that no medical doctor or psychotherapist may have asked you (because it's not in their training and/or paradigm to ask). Questions that will help you better understand why you are the way you are, why your body may be acting the way it's been acting. And, in addition to being treated with acupuncture to help regulate your system, also offering suggestions for your diet and lifestyle that may help you make the changes you want to see in your life. 
The next time you have trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, have paid the doctor a visit only to receive a 'clean bill of health' but know that something else is lurking underneath the surface, consider acupuncture. Your acupuncturist may be able to detect more subtle imbalances that could be leading to those distressing symptoms. 
Furthermore, acupuncturists are trained to treat not only the “symptoms” but the “root causes,” which means making changes on deep fundamental levels of your being. If you have ever had the thought, "I've always been like this" or "I'm just an anxious kind of person," an acupuncturist can not only help you understand how these constitutional tendencies or learned habits are thought of in Chinese medicine, she or he can also help you to see how unblocking certain channels or nourishing others may help to free you from those ways of being.

Military Continues to Lead the Way With Acupuncture Acceptance

This morning, NPR reported on the military continuing to pioneer the acceptance of acupuncture in mainstream health settings. Despite the increasingly fainter voice of skeptics, whose outdated ideas on Chinese medicine are losing steam in the face of mounting evidence against their viewpoints, the military has implemented widespread acupuncture intervention for soldiers. From the story, which can be read and listened to in its entirety here:

In recent years, military doctors have turned to acupuncture in special pain clinics and for troops in battle zones. Last year, the Army surgeon general began making the alternative treatments more widely available.

The one tragedy that emerges from this generally upbeat article is the mention of a 'physician trained to do acupuncture'. This usually means that the doctor has not gone through the four year program which licensed acupuncturists do, but rather has taken a video and/or weekend course on the subject. This generally results in vastly inferior outcomes for the patient. [See: Beware of Medical Acupuncture, says Industry Whistleblower]

For other articles that I have posted on the military and acupuncture/Chinese medicine see:

Wall Street Journal Warms to Acupuncture

Military uses Acupuncture for PTSD and Brain Injury

Military Uses Acupuncturists to Treat Concussions

The US Military turns to Acupuncture to Help Our Soldiers

Acupuncture and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Athletes and Acupuncture

Yahoo News, and writer Jeanne Rose published a piece entitled, Three Health Benefits an Athlete Can Gain from Acupuncture in which the author gives a whirlwind overview of reasons that professional or amateur athletes might seek acupuncture intervention. A large excerpt from her article:

 

Here are three of the best health benefits that an athlete can gain from acupuncture therapy, which can improve his or her performance on the field.

Can Relieve Muscle or Joint Pain

If an athlete is suffering from muscle or joint pain, he or she might decide to try acupuncture, since it can relieve these symptoms. Acupuncture has long been used to treat all sorts of pain, which can include pain coming from the muscles and joints. An athlete might have muscle or joint pain as the result of an injury, which can hinder his or her athletic ability. Acupuncture can help reduce the inflammation associated with the injury, and it can help treat the source of the pain or inflammation. If an athlete regularly participates in sports, then acupuncture therapy might help prevent pain or inflammation from starting in the first place. Acupuncture can help with spasms in the muscles, contusions under the skin, arthritis, osteoporosis, and a variety of different conditions that cause muscle or joint pain.

Can Ease Stress or Anxiety

An athlete that is suffering a lot from stress or anxiety should try acupuncture therapy, because acupuncture can basically eliminate stress or anxiety. Acupuncture helps unblock various energy channels within the body, which can eliminate stress or anxiety. An athlete is likely to become stressed or anxious at some point during his or her sport, especially right before an upcoming game. If an athlete is under too much stress, then he or she will likely perform poorly during the competition, and he or she is also more prone to injuries. An athlete that is always anxious is also more likely to suffer injury, since anxiety can hinder his or her concentration. Acupuncture is a great way to help an athlete overcome anxiety or stress related to his or her sport, and can help improve his or her overall mentality. Stress or anxiety can also cause an athlete to become depressed or feel worthless, so it is important that he or she treat these symptoms promptly.

Can Improve Circulation and Promote Healing

Acupuncture can also improve circulation, which can help speed up the healing process, and this is a huge benefit for an athlete. If an athlete has suffered an injury, which is bound to occur sooner or later, he or she will want to recover as fast as possible. Poor circulation throughout the body can hinder healing, because oxygenated blood is what helps repair damaged cells. If an athlete is trying to recover from an injury, then he or she will likely want to do everything possible to increase the circulation throughout the body. Acupuncture can help move blood throughout the body, which means that oxygenated blood is getting to vital organs to help promote healing. Since acupuncture can help reduce pain or inflammation, an athlete will heal faster because he or she will not suffer from muscle spasms as often. Acupuncture can help release and regulate hormones, which are important for healing, and endorphins will naturally be released within the body to also promote healing.

Here are three of the best health benefits that an athlete can gain from acupuncture therapy, which can improve his or her performance on the field.

The Greatest Complementary/Alternative Therapy Breakthroughs of 2011

According to the Huffington Post, 2011 was a big year for complementary and alternative therapies. In an article dominated by slides, acupuncture won a prominent place because of study demonstrating the molecular effects of the therapy on chronic stress: 

In December, researchers with the Georgetown University Medical Center released a study showing how -- at a molecular level -- acupuncture can help reduce stress. The research, published in the journal, Experimental Biology and Medicine showed that in rats, acupuncture reduced levels of a peptide secreted by the system in our body during the whole flight-or-fight response. 

"It has long been thought that acupuncture can reduce stress, but this is the first study to show molecular proof of this benefit," the study's lead author, Ladan Eshkevari, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Georgetown's School of Nursing & Health Studies said in a statement.

In December, researchers with the Georgetown University Medical Center released a study showing how -- at a molecular level -- acupuncture can help reduce stress. The research, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine showed that in rats, acupuncture reduced levels of a peptide secreted by the system in our body during the whole flight-or-fight response. 
"It has long been thought that acupuncture can reduce stress, but this is the first study to show molecular proof of this benefit," the study's lead author, Ladan Eshkevari, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Georgetown's School of Nursing & Health Studies said in a statement.