Colorado Rockies Pitcher Jason Hammel Turns To Chinese Medicine

Well readers, this story is as much about listening to your wife as it is about the benefits of acupuncture for sports stars. As a side effect of cholesterol lowering medication,  Rockies' pitcher Jason Hammel's arm was feeling dead and he was suffering from a lack of energy. His wife suggested (insisted on?) acupuncture, clearly a smart woman.  Read Hammel's account here...

""My wife suggested that I try acupuncture and I was like, 'Come on.' But I was astonished." 

The morning after his first session in Providence, R.I., Hammel couldn't believe how good he felt. Not only were his muscles relaxed, his energy level was redlining.

"Usually at 8 in the morning, I am dragging. It was amazing," Hammel said.

He underwent treatments three times a week leading up to spring training. So pleased was he with the success, he plans to fly the doctor out for East Coast road trips during the season. "

Read more:Acupuncture helps energize Hammel ~The Denver Post

Early Acupuncture ;)

Acupuncture Relieves The Harsh Side Effects of Cancer Treatments

Until we find a cure for cancer, we have to continue to find ways to make the existing treatments more bearable and effective. Studies have shown that acupuncture cuts post-chemotherapy fatigue by 31 percent, cuts hot flashes by 50 percent and cuts overall cancer pain by 36 percent. In this article and video, the patient reported that acupuncture also helped with her nausea, her motor skills and her depression (topics I've written about previously). Check it out.

From NBC 2 ~ Cancer patients pinpoint pain with acupuncture

Soldiers In Afghanistan Are Getting Incredible Results With Acupuncture

The Military seems to be becoming a big fan of acupuncture and it's many benefits. I just read another article today on the use of acupuncture to treat injured soldiers. This time it is on a Marine Corps base in Afghanistan. Here are some excerpts from The Miami Herald article.

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan -- The U.S. military is applying an ancient Chinese healing technique to the top modern battlefield injury for American soldiers, with results that doctors here say are "off the charts.

"Battlefield acupuncture," developed by Air Force physician Col. Richard Niemtzow, is helping heal soldiers with concussions so they can return more quickly to the front lines.

Stuessi, a naval doctor whose rank is equivalent to Lieutenant Colonel, treats concussions, also known as mild brain trauma.

"I'm seeing pretty incredible results," said Stuessi, who's based at the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton, near San Diego, and is originally from Wales, Wis. "In my heart I think this will, down the road, become one of the standards of care."

Stuessi has treated 50 patients with acupuncture, at the specialist Concussion Restoration Care Center at Camp Leatherneck, and describes the results as "phenomenal." After one treatment, patients are often getting a full night's sleep and the headache is greatly reduced in intensity. 

Scientific studies on acupuncture haven't been able to prove its effectiveness. But Stuessi isn't alone in using it in the U.S. military. The Navy alone has now trained about 50 doctors in acupuncture, Stuessi said. The Air Force, for instance, uses the technique to dampen the pain on the long flights for evacuating wounded soldiers back to the U.S. Stuessi thought it worked by adjusting the "neural pathways" in the body. "It's like rewiring a computer; you're hitting certain nerves in the body. So instead of sending up a pain signal to the brain, they send up a signal saying everything's OK. It's almost like faking out the brain," Stuessi said.

Volunteer Acupuncturists Return To Haiti

Last year I wrote about the volunteer acupuncturists who went to Haiti after the catastrophic earthquake hit. They provided more than 4,500 treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder and pain management. This happened through the combined efforts of Acupuncturists Without Borders (AWB) and Pathways to Wellness.  Now a year later AWB is returning to Haiti this spring with the help of a $20,000 grant from the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee. On this trip 30-40 Haitian health care workers will be trained in trauma recovery treatment, with acupuncture.

"AWB executive director Diana Fried said the level of physical and mental/emotional trauma throughout the country is at an all-time high since the Jan. 12, 2010 quake and the people of Haiti still need support for sustained trauma"

Read more about the acupuncturists return here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Love doesn't make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile." 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861) English Poet

Helping Soldiers With Acupuncture

In the military magazine, Stars and Stripes, I read a report about doctors treating injured soldiers with acupuncture while they are being transported from Ramstein to the States.  The doctors hope to control the soldiers' pain during the air evacuation.  This is all part of a study about  battlefield acupuncture.

The article quotes Air Force Dr. (Col.) Richard Niemtzow, who said that he hopes the use of acupuncture will  reduce  the amount of narcotics used  during the long flight home.

Overuse of narcotics is a problem in the military. During combat evacuation, morphine and other opiate painkillers are typically given to injured troops because the flights are jarring to their bodies.  However, as more soldiers suffer painful injuries, there has been an increase in the number of prescriptions for opiate painkillers.  And more troubling, abuse of painkillers is on the rise: About 22 percent of soldiers admitted misusing prescribed drugs, mostly painkillers, in a 12-month period, according to the results of a Pentagon survey released last year.

As a way to reduce the number of painkillers given to soldiers, the military has turned to acupuncture as a potential alternative.

*Doctors testing acupuncture as pain treatment on medical flights
Stars and Stripes
Published: January 19, 2011

Acupuncture Gives Hope To Patients With PTSD

PTSD are the initials that stand for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a severe type of anxiety disorder. PTSD results from a person witnessing or being involved in a traumatic event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror, such as, a natural disaster (think hurricane Katrina), rape, childhood abuse, a tragic accident, or war.

Diagnostic manuals say that signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder typically begin within three months of a traumatic event but can, in some instances, occur years after the event.

The symptoms of PTSD are commonly grouped into categories:

1. Intrusive memories - flashbacks and nightmares of events 
2. Avoidance and numbing – feeling emotionally numb, hopelessness about the future, avoiding anything that is a reminder of the precipitating event
3. Hyperarousal -  increased anxiety, irritability or anger, self-destructive behavior (i.e. excessive drinking),  and an exaggerated startle response (jumping at sounds).

In the last couple of years acupuncture, has been getting more attention as a treatment for PTSD, particularly from the military and veterans because soldiers are at a high risk for suffering from PTSD after serving in combat.

(AWB) Acupuncturists Without Borders, a group that previously provided relief to the survivors of the earthquake in Haiti and hurricane in New Orleans, launched The Military Stress Recovery Project. This organization provides free acupuncture treatments for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as their families.  “Treated military personnel are reporting improved mental clarity, less anxiety and a reduction in stress.”

There are good precedents for AWB’s use of acupuncture to treat PTSD. Walter Reed Medical Center, a military hospital, has begun to investigate acupuncture as a viable treatment for returning veterans. Also, at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Michael Hollifield, M.D., and colleagues conducted a clinical trial examining the effects of acupuncture on the symptoms of PTSD. These researchers analyzed depression, anxiety, and impairment in 73 people who had been diagnosed with PTSD. The participants were assigned to receive either acupuncture, group cognitive-behavioral therapy (a popular psychological treatment for PTSD) for 12 weeks, or were assigned to a wait-list (the control group). The people in the control group were offered treatment or referral for treatment at the end of their participation. The researchers found that acupuncture provided treatment effects similar to group cognitive-behavioral therapy. Both acupuncture and CBT  were superior to the control group. Additionally, treatment effects of acupuncture and group therapy were maintained for 3 months after the end of treatment. The limitations are the size of the study, lack of diversity, and inability to account for outside factors.
 
More recently, Reuters published an article that quoted Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying, “We have an experimental unit ... treating soldiers with PTSD (post-traumatic stress) and using a number of unorthodox approaches, including aroma therapy, acupuncture, things like that, that really are getting some serious results.”
 
Suicide rates and homelessness among U.S. soldiers and returning veterans are climbing. These tragic statistics can be partly attributed to the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. The results from acupuncture are hopeful. Time and again, it has proven to be an effective modality for treating the symptoms of PTSD.

Why does acupuncture help the symptoms of PTSD?  Acupuncture is well known for it’s ability to relieve stress. Correctly placed needles help the body re-regulate itself from the effects of stress, PTSD, depression and anxiety. In turn, this allows the individual to focus on their activities and enable them to deal with daily events.
 
Hollifield, M., Sinclair-Lian, N., Warner, T., and Hammerschlag, R. "Acupuncture for Post traumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial."  The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, June, 2007 V195(6):504-13.
 
2 Pentagon tries aroma therapy to ease combat stress. Fort Riley, Kansas, Sat May 8, 2010.

Royal Support For Alternative Medicine

An Indian newspaper just reported that Kate Middleton shares Prince Charles's interest in alternative medicine.  The soon to be princess (whose wedding gown will be copied all over the world) has let charities who use alternative treatments know that she may be willing to be their patron. Go Kate!