When Your Doctor is Aware of the Benefit of Alternative Medicine You May Live Longer

A Dutch study examined the benefits to patients of having physicians who were aware of alternative therapies, such as acupuncture and herbology. It found that patients had,

0-30% lower healthcare costs and mortality rates, depending on age groups and type of CAM [Complementary/Alternative Medicines]. The lower costs result from fewer hospital stays and fewer prescription drugs.

 At the Northside Holistic Center we certainly find that our patients will often need to use few drugs.

Chinese Herb Enters Trials to Treat Prostate Cancer

A commonly used herb in Chinese herbal formulae, Huang Bai has entered trials for prostrate cancer at the University of Texas School of Medicine, San Antonio. An article about this can be read here.

Adanki Pratap Kumar, a professor of urology in the University of Texas School of Medicine at the Health Science Center in San Antonio, discovered in his laboratory that there was something special about the extract -- from the bark of the Amur cork tree in China -- in combination with radiation treatments that seemed to make both work much better.

It is not surprising that this ingredient, which is in many of the formulae that we make patients with specific complaints and constititutional issues, would be found useful for issues such as cancer. Traditional Chinese medicine categorizes diseases as having specific traits and prescribes acupuncture points and herbal formulae which balance these traits. Cancer often has characteristics which this ingredient would be useful in treating.

Deaths from Herbs/Supplements - 0⎟Deaths from Drugs - 64,000

The American Association of Poison Control Centers published their mortality statistics recently (read about it here) and:

Statistics from the American Association of Poison Control Centers show that no deaths were caused by dietary supplements in the country in 2008 or 2009. This includes all herbal supplements. 2009 figures show similar figures. 

Doctors and Nurses More Likely to Receive Acupuncture and Herbal Therapy Than General Population

A new report published in US News and World Report shows that 75% of health care workers in the United States use alternative therapies, including acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, on a regular basis. Which means that they are actually dramatically more likely than the general population to research and seek out these therapies. 

According to the report,

Overall, health-care workers were found to be bigger users of complementary/alternative medicine than those outside the health-care industry. Seventy-six percent of health-care workers said they had used such methods in the past year, compared to 63 percent of people working in non-healthcare fields.

 Countering the notion that these therapies are unresearched modalities,

"In general, Western culture has believed that complementary services and techniques aren't as well-researched and evidence-based as conventional medicine," noted Knutson. "But that is certainly no longer the case."

This clearly mirrors what we see at the Northside Holistic Center. At one time it was rare to see a western-trained physician come to our clinic. In the last decade or so, we have seen this change dramatically. Around 15% of our patients are physicians themselves and many more are referred by their doctors. Even more telling, a large part of my practice is made up of people in the pharmaceutical industry trying to steer clear of the very same drugs which they manufacture and sell, in order to get a better result with Chinese medicine.  

USA Today Article on Fertility and Acupuncture

USA Today published a very positive article on acupuncture's use for fertility, something that we work with on a daily basis at the Northside Holistic Center. The majority of the article is reprinted below. Other links on infertility and Chinese medicine can be found here, here and here.

Infertile women sing acupuncture's praises

by Claudia Pinto

Brooke Akin underwent three rounds of artificial insemination at $3,000 a pop. She took fertility drugs that made her feel moody. Yet, after three and a half years of trying, she still wasn't pregnant.

A stainless steel acupuncture needle is so fine it does not stimulate pain reflexes on the nerve endings where it's applied.

Akin, 29, of Hermitage, Tenn., says her doctor recommended that she undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF), which costs roughly $15,000. But after some initial skepticism, Akin decided to put modern medicine aside and try the ancient practice of acupuncture.

"I was pregnant by the third month. It was awesome," says Akin, who gave birth to her son, Hudson, in October. "He's my little acupuncture baby."

It's estimated that 10 percent of all women are unable to become pregnant after trying for a year. It's a problem of special interest to the growing number of women who have waited until their late 30s and early 40s to have children.

Spurred, in part, by reports of celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Khloe Kardashian trying it, more and more of these women are turning to acupuncture -- the practice of inserting thin needles into the skin to relieve pain or promote healing -- to address fertility issues.

Some women turn to acupuncture after not being able to conceive naturally. Others do it in conjunction with IVF or other medical treatments. Or as a last-ditch effort after trying everything modern medicine has to offer.

Science is untested

While these anecdotal stories sound promising, Dr. Esther Eisenberg, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says there hasn't been a large comprehensive study looking at whether acupuncture really helps women become pregnant.

"We don't know the answer," she says.

Eisenberg says she's more likely to recommend that women do things that have been proven to increase the likelihood of pregnancy, such as exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy body weight, and staying away from cigarettes.

She did note that women who want to try acupuncture should rest assured that it isn't going to hurt them in any way.

Akin says the relatively low cost of acupuncture compared to IVF is actually one of the reasons she decided to try it. Costs typically range from $60 to $120 per treatment. Akin underwent weekly treatments for three months before getting pregnant.

"IVF is so invasive and so costly," Akin says. "I just wasn't ready for it."

An ancient practice

Akin was surprised that she looked forward to getting pricked every week.

Initially, she worried it would hurt, but she says the needles are so thin that she could barely feel it when 15 or so were inserted in her head, stomach, arms and legs. With the soft music and dim lighting, Akin says she found the experience to be pretty relaxing.

"It's kind of like being in a spa," Akin says, adding that afterward she felt a lot healthier than she did taking fertility drugs.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is the leading cause of infertility. And according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, most cases of female infertility are caused by problems with ovulation, which is typically marked by irregular or absent periods.

Acupuncturist Mark Shprintz, owner of Nashville Healing Arts, explains that acupuncture is thought to improve the blood supply to the ovaries, which may improve their quality and function. Shprintz says acupuncture has been used to treat such fertility problems for more than 2,000 years. It's nothing new, he says.

"When people hear about the Khloes and the Mariahs, it sparks an interest," he says.