Chinese Government Treats H1N1 With Herbal Remedy

Doctors at a China's Ditan hospital have found a traditional herbal remedy to be more effective for treating H1N1 (swine flu) than by combining this remedy with the anti-viral drug Tamiflu.

Ditan Hospital is the largest infectious disease center in China, and one of only two sites specifically designated for treatment of H1N1.

After a month of treating swine flu patients with the combination of both herbs and Tamiflu, doctors found that patients treated with herbs alone were recovering more quickly than those who received a combined treatment.

To read the article and to learn more about herbs that might be helpful for flu prevention and treatment, click here.

Gulf War Illness

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a chronic, multisymptom condition that affects more than one fourth of the nearly 700,000 US military personnel who served in the first Gulf War (1990-91). More than 17 years later, many of them are still affected by symptoms, including persistent fatigue, widespread joint and muscle pain, headache, memory and concentration problems, digestive and respiratory disorders, and skin rashes, that could not be explained by routine physical and laboratory testing. An exhaustive review of the available research on GWI by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses has been published, in which epidemiologists identified the most likely cause as exposures to pyridostigmine bromide (PB) pills, used to protect troops from nerve agents in biological weapons, and pesticides used during deployment. For many years, it was unclear whether an organic disease could be identified that explained GWI symptoms. However, the report describes evidence from research using sophisticated neuroimaging techniques that identify damage to the brain and nervous system in Gulf War veterans that is not seen in healthy controls. Veterans who served as ground troops in forward areas, in closest proximity to specific exposures, have higher rates of GWI. Some veterans with GWI are affected by other multisymptom illness as well, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, and multiple chemical sensitivity. Gulf War Illness is distinct from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric diagnoses or stressors associated with combat or deployment. There is no treatment that has been shown to be beneficial for GWI, and the Department of Defense is currently supporting research into new treatments that may be helpful.

Our study investigates the benefits of acupuncture for reducing symptoms of GWI, compared to usual care. We plan to recruit 120 veterans with GWI, who will receive individualized acupuncture twice per week for 2 months, followed by once per week for 4 months. Because the syndrome is characterized by a highly individualized presentation of symptoms, this type of acupuncture may be particularly well suited to its treatment. Changes in symptom severity will be tracked by reliable, validated scales and questionnaires. We also plan to gather data from blood samples from participants to study biological markers of inflammation, immune function, and effects of stress. We expect this line of research will be helpful in understanding the pathology of the disease and also the effects of acupuncture. Since GWI is a new disease, our study team will characterize it in terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), based on clinical observation, the biological effects of the disease, and according to source materials of the Oriental Medicine (OM) tradition. Often, as scholars of OM, we focus on its traditional aspects, its 2000-year old history. But OM is also a living tradition, a model of health and healthcare that can be used to treat modern diseases, such as neurological damage from poisoning.

NESA’s study team is led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Lisa Conboy, Co-Director of Research. Meredith St. John, an Associate Professor at NESA, is a Co-Investigator. “One of the greatest benefits of this study for me is the opportunity to work with some of the top researchers on acupuncture. “ Meredith indicated. “Lisa is a social epidemiologist whose work has focused on researching OM naturalistically, the way it’s actually practiced by clinicians, and its impact on patients’ quality of life.” Dr. Rosa Schnyer, of Harvard Medical School’s Osher Institute, is a consultant on our study, and has published extensively on issues of acupuncture research. ”I feel so fortunate to be able to provide acupuncture to these veterans, whose service in this war led to these injuries. It’s just not right that so little has been done to help them. We already know that acupuncture often is helpful for many of the symptoms these vets have, and we expect to help many of them feel a lot better.”

Source: Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses. Gulf War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans: Scientific Findings and Recommendations. Washington, D.C: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2008. (www1.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/)

Meredith St. John’s acupuncture practice is in South Natick, MA. (www.acupuncture-online.com)

Acupuncture in Iraq

Physicians in Iraq are integrating the use of acupuncture into their practices because of the large-scale loss of medical resources due to the war. In the summer issue of The American Acupuncturist , NESA alums Kristen Porter, LicAc, and Beth Sommers, MPH, LicAc, PhD (candidate), along with a colleague, provide a perspective on the public health and international implications of using acupuncture to promote the safe and effective onset of labor. Their commentary is titled “International Efforts toward Integrated Care; Acupuncture in Iraq” (scroll to page 36 of the pdf).

Kristen is the executive director and Beth the research director of Pathways to Wellness. Pathways is an award winning non-profit public health clinic in Massachusetts that provides equal access to high quality affordable holistic medicine including acupuncture, shiatsu and Chinese herbs.

Herbs and Acupuncture for Poison Ivy

One of the hazards of summer is poison ivy. It loves to grow at the border between open space and trees and is found along wooded paths, around lakes, and at the edges of yards and highways.

The poison ivy rash is caused by an allergic reaction to the oils on its leaves. The rash often appears on legs or hands, where it is easy to brush up against the plant. The oils can be spread by touch until they are washed away.

Symptoms include intense itching, red bumps, and fluid-filled, weeping blisters. Individuals with a severe allergy may experience a systemic reaction with itching and rash over much of the body.

Traditional treatment of poison ivy involves calamine lotion or other topical medicine to relieve the itch. Some doctors will suggest benadryl or other antihistamines. In severe cases, steroids may be prescribed to calm the allergic reaction.

In Chinese medicine, poison ivy rash is considered damp heat in the skin. Acupuncture and herbs are very effective in treating both the allergic response and the itching (in my experience, much more effective than the medical alternatives). Acupuncture treatment focuses on determining which channels are affected and choosing points that drain heat from those areas. Tapping gently around the edges of the rash with a plum blossom needle — a tiny hammer with tiny needles on the head — can also provide quick relief. (It feels the way you wish it would feel when you scratch!)

Herbal medicine can bring down the allergic response, clear heat from the skin, dry up weeping sores, and relieve itching. Even people who usually have to resort to steroids find these formulas effective and free from side effects. Early treatment is recommended to clear the rash before it is full-blown.

How to Identify and Avoid Poison Ivy

All poison ivy shares the following characteristics:

• Groups of three leaves
• The middle leaf is symmetrical, with a vein down the center of the leaf
• The two side leaves are asymmetrical
• A reddish tint to the stem where the three leaves come together

Aside from these things, there is a lot of variation. The leaves may be any shade of green or reddish; be shiny or dull; and have smooth or jagged edges. Plants could be low to the ground or a climbing vine.

To prevent poison ivy:

• Learn what it looks like
• If you’ve been near poison ivy, wash well with soap and hot water
• Immediately wash any clothing that may have touched poison ivy or the oils on your skin
• Be aware that outdoor pets may brush up against poison ivy and come home with the oils on their coats. This is often a source of mysterious poison ivy outbreaks.

To see pictures of poison ivy, go to http://landscaping.about.com/od/galleryoflandscapephotos/ig/Pictures-of-Poison-Ivy/Young-Poison-Ivy-Leaves.html.

Contributed by NESA faculty member Marilyn Yohe, MAOM, LicAc

Marilyn treats patients at Cambridge Health Associates and regularly writes about acupuncture at www.myacupuncture.wordpress.com

NESA Alum develops powerful skin products based on TCM

Mike Arsenault, NESA ’99, continues to create natural skin care products that are very successful. And all of them use herbal ingredients that get the highest safety ratings possible from the Cosmetic Safety Database. The latest to be tested, Emily Liquid Soap Soother, was judged to be safer than 96% of the other 1, 595 bodywash/cleansers rated.

So how did Mike, an acupuncturist, start developing products that are now sold nationally? It started when his daughter, Emily, was born with baby eczema, a common skin ailment. (I remember years ago when my daughter was born I wondered how she could have bad skin already – she hadn’t come near chocolate yet!) Mike didn’t want to put any harsh lotions or creams on Emily’s cheeks. So using his

Chinese herbal training, he started experimenting with tried and true herbal formulas, first testing them on his skin and his wife’s skin. When he was convinced that he had created something safe and effective, he tried it on Emily. The rest, as they say, is history. Once he offered the skin soother to his patients word got around and people started using it for a variety of skin problems. Since then Mike has developed several other products (he does all the herbal mixing and formulating himself) including a dry skin soother and bar soap. The latest is the liquid soap soother. You can find more details about this fascinating story at http://www.emilyskinsoothers.com.

Welcome to the NESA Blog!

Hello, and thanks for stopping in to the NESA blog. Our goal is to provide up-to-date information and news relevant to Traditional Chinese Medicine and the New England School of Acupuncture. Swing by frequently to learn about educational community outreach events, find out the latest research on TCM, or get a simple tip for better holistic health.