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ContemporarY Asian Healing

In 1951,Yoshio Nakatani,MD,PhD, developed ryodoraku, a method of examining the meridian system of the body through electronic measurements. The method would become international within 25 years, and alter the way acupuncture would be practiced throughout Japan, Europe, Australia and North America. Circa 1957, a medical delegation from the People’s Republic of China visited Japan and became fascinated with Dr. Nakatani’s discovery. The Chinese delegation visited Nakatani’s clinic, made detailed observations of the procedure, and was amazed at its theory and therapeutic effects. Following the delegation’s return to the PRC, the daily newspapers published several articles concerning ryodoraku examination and treatment, together with case reports of treatment. Requests were made of Dr. Nakatani to visit the PRC, though he declined all invitations due to political concerns. Eventually, reports of ryodoraku and electronic evaluation of the meridian system would stop coming from China, although it is agreed by authorities that needle/electronic analgesia developed in China was spawned by Nakatani’s original work.
Nakatani first developed the procedure of electronic evaluation of the meridian system by measuring skin conductance at the yuan (source) point of the wrist and ankle, creating one of the most significant acupuncture diagnostic methods. It is unrivaled in contemporary or traditional acupuncture. When one compares the findings of learned Asian masters of acupuncture using pulse diagnosis with the findings of ryodoraku, the meridians involved are identical. Masters of acupuncture are known to palpate the 12 pulse positions for as long as 15-30 minutes per wrist in select cases. Electronic evaluation of the 12 yuan points takes less than two minutes, regardless of the complications of the case.Electronic measurement evaluation of the patient’s yuan points does not determine the same indications seen as when the specific 28 pulse characteristics are analyzed via proper pulse diagnosis. It does, however, determine if an individual meridian has an excess or deficiency in comparison to the entire system average of the 12 primary meridians.

When one finds an elevated or deficient meridian using ryodoraku, the treatment approach is to specifically tonifly or sedate the acupuncture points known to replenish or deplete biomagnetic energy. This action will create balance in the meridians. Electronic measurements are ascertained by examining the bilateral 24 specific yuan points of the wrist and ankles for only three seconds per point.

Ryodoraku is practiced by measuring the source point with an inexpensive instrument designed specifically for this purpose. By adding the measured values of each of the 12 meridian exam points together and dividing by 24 (representing the 12 bilateral meridians), the practitioner may develop a base average. The status of the meridians may be determined as being too high or too low in relation to the base average. In the mid-1980s, the art of electronic evaluation for diagnostic purposes in acupuncture used high technology by incorporating computer enhanced evaluation.

One of the most significant discoveries of ryodoraku was split meridians, which had never before been seen or described in the history of acupuncture. In pulse diagnosis, for example, the pulse or the spleen, lung and san jiao meridian is always found in the right wrist, whereas those of the oa!!baadder_ kidney and liver are always analyzed in the left wrist. When one derives a diagnosis from the 28 pulse qualities, it can reveal a multitude of factors that can only be ascertained through the pulse. However, it cannot and does not reveal what ryodoraku has discovered.

Because ryodoraku evaluation utilizes measurements of the yuan points bilaterally, ryodoraku often reveals, especially in severe cases, meridians that exhibit a split in numerical value between left and right sides of the body. As ryodoraku measures the yuan points of both sides of the body, it is able to detect a diagnostic situation that was virtually unknown until ryodoraku’s invention. By utilizing the luo point of the split meridian, a correction can be made in a split (left-to-right) meridian. Luo points, classically and traditionally, are used to link a coupled meridian, such as that of the lung/large intestine. In auriculotherapy, this correction between splits can be treated by the master oscillation point.

Evaluation of the musculotendinous meridians seen in orthopedic conditions is ascertained by the same procedure, but using the tsing (ting-well) points. Yuan and tsing point evaluation are two entirely different examinations of two different meridian systems.

For most of us, holiday time means a whole lot more than attending religious services, decorating the Christmas tree or lighting the menorah. The secular side of the season involves baking cookies and rich desserts, whipping up batches of eggnog and partying the month away. Sure, it sounds festive, but from our stomach’s point of view, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
Fifteen percent of Americans deal with digestive problems on a daily basis, and a full 50 percent complain of them occasionally. Each year we spend upward of $1 billion on over-the-counter and prescription heartburn remedies alone. But the solution isn’t popping little pills every time you have a bellyache. Unless you correct the cause of the problem, the symptoms will inevitably return within a few hours. The trouble could be the presence of too much gastric acid–or not enough. Or it could be reflux (when the esophagus doesn’t close properly, and food is regurgitated). The entire digestive system could be sluggish. Or you could be overeating or combining foods improperly and having them ferment in your stomach. This is a mystery best solved with the aid of a health care professional.

But it isn’t simply what we eat or how we eat it that causes gastric distress. Our digestive systems are closely linked to our nervous systems, a fact too often overlooked by physicians. And while it’s easy to blame our indigestion on that heaping second helping of tofu cheesecake, we need to recognize that emotions–stress, fear, anxiety, disappointment and even excitement–play a huge role in our digestive health.
For people who are bothered on a regular basis or have had digestive problems for two solid weeks (or pregnant or nursing women, who should never take herbs or supplements without their doctor’s blessings) a full evaluation by a medical professional is essential. Lifestyle changes are probably going to be required. But for us holiday bingers, here’s a guide to some natural palliatives for a crummy tummy.

HERBAL TREATMENT

Probably the best-known, and oldest, remedy for stomach woes is gingerroot. Traditional Chinese healers have been prescribing it for 2,500 years, as have healers in such far-flung places as Nigeria, the West Indies and India. Arab traders brought ginger to the Mediterranean before the first century, and the Crusaders introduced it to Europe. In one English court cookbook from 1390, virtually every recipe contained ginger.

Classified as an aromatic bitter and a carminative (to expel gas), ginger can stimulate sluggish digestion, keep intestinal muscles toned, ease transport of substances through the digestive tract, reduce irritation to intestinal walls and help with the production and secretion of bile in the liver and gallbladder. No wonder the Germans call this herb Alles zutraut (capable of anything).

Ginger can be taken in several ways. An infusion can be made by pouring 1 cup of boiling water over 2 teaspoons of dried or grated gingerroot. Let it steep 10 minutes, then drink. Dried whole and usually sweetened) ginger can be purchased at most health food stores. Or you can take it in capsule form: 2 to 4 grams of ginger powder, taken 2 to 3 times daily.

Relief can be gotten with other herbs as well. Try a chamomile, peppermint or catnip tea. Or experiment with licorice, caraway, clove, coriander, garlic, onion, sage and marshmallow root. Take any of them as teas, tinctures or in pill form (following label instructions). Or add them fresh to your cooking recipes.

HOMEOPATHY

For occasional acute digestive complaints–especially gas, heartburn and indigestion caused by overeating, drinking or improper food combining–homeopathic remedies can be very effective. Avoid coffee and mint (including toothpaste) for the duration of the treatment.

* Nux vomica. A good remedy for hangovers or the aftereffects of rich food. Specific symptoms include irritability, headaches and sensitivity to noise and light, a bloated stomach that feels full and frequent belching that tastes sour.

* Lycopodium. For excessive gas, with bloating, belching and flatulence soon after eating (especially with beans, cabbage, onions). Also relieves sugar cravings.

* Carb vegetabilis. For heaviness and fullness in the stomach with flatulence, belching that tastes sour, pain that starts a half hour after eating and burning that extends to the chest and back.

* Bryonia alba. For stone-like pressure in the stomach after eating, with nausea and faintness on sitting up, heartburn, hiccups, bitter-tasting burps and a thirst for large amounts but vomiting after drinking warm drinks. Stomach is also sensitive to touch.

The preferred dosage is the 30C potency, taken 2 to 3 times a day until the symptoms abate. If you don’t see improvement after two days, try a different remedy. (There are at least 20 additional remedies, which a homeopath can easily prescribe, depending on a host of more specific symptoms.)

Acupuncture can increase fertility by reducing stress, increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs, and balancing the endocrine system, according to a Jan 28, 2004, article from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine, San Diego. Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin, disposable sterile needles at strategic points on the surface of the body to conduct qi (ie, the energy that regulates spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance) from the surface of the body to the internal organs via 14 major pathways, called meridians. Poor health habits or other circumstances can disrupt the flow of qi, resulting in pain or disease. Acupuncture helps keep the normal flow of this energy unblocked, increasing a couple’s chances of conceiving.

Acupuncture reduces stress, often a key factor in fertility, by releasing endorphins in the brain. Stress disrupts the pituitary balance that is important in the reproductive cycle and can prevent a woman from ovulating or cause spasms in the fallopian tubes and uterus, which can interfere with movement and implantation of a fertilized egg. In men, stress can alter sperm counts and motility and cause impotence.

Acupuncture also can increase fertility by increasing blood flow in the body, which can provide a woman’s reproductive organs with more nourishment, increase the density of the uterine wall, and relax the uterus. For men experiencing problems with impotence, increasing the blood flow through acupuncture can increase potency.

An imbalance of reproductive hormones can lead to infertility and often is treated with fertility medications. Fertility medications are only about one-third as effective in men as in women, however, and in women they commonly include side effects, such as abdominal tenderness, bloating, fluid retention, weight gain, and nausea. Acupuncture stimulates the hypothalamus to balance the endocrine system and its hormones, performing the same function as fertility medications but producing few or no side effects. Studies show that women who used acupuncture without any other fertility treatments were just as likely to conceive in the same period of time as women who took fertility medications, and acupuncture used in conjunction with in vitro fertilization (IVF) is even more successful at increasing fertility, according to the article.

In Chinese medicine, what is referred to in the West as irritable bowel syndrome is mostly categorized as xie tong, painful diarrhea. If this is accompanied by abdominal distention, this is categorized as fu zhang, while constipation is bian bi. The modern Chinese medical literature is unanimous in saying that the root cause of IBS is always a disharmony between the liver and spleen. Due to emotional stress and frustration, the liver may become depressed and the qi become stagnant. Qi stagnation then results in abdominal distention and pain. Due to worry, lack of exercise, over-fatigue, improper diet, or over or prolonged use of antibiotics, the spleen may become vacuous and weak. Spleen qi vacuity results in fatigue, lack of strength, and downward diarrhea. In addition, these two disease mechanism mutually engender each other. When the liver becomes depressed, it commonly counterflows horizontally to attack the spleen, thus causing or worsening spleen vacuity weakness. Conversely, if the spleen is vacuous and weak, this may cause or worsen liver depression. This is because weakness of the spleen qi may lead to blood vacuity or insufficiency, and the liver can only function when it receives an adequate supply of blood to nourish it. Hence, liver depression, qi stagnation, and spleen vacuity weakness typically go hand in hand in clinical practice. In addition, because of their monthly loss of blood, women’s spleens must work harder at producing blood than men’s spleens must. This also predisposes women in particular to spleen vacuity and explains why three times as many women as men suffer from IBS.

If the liver becomes depressed and the qi becomes stagnant, this stagnation may eventually transform into depressive heat. Over time, this pathological heat will damage and consume the blood, body fluids, and ultimately kidney yin. Spleen vacuity may also lead to blood and, therefore, yin vacuity because the spleen is the root of blood engenderment and the blood and essence share a common source. Since yin is supposed to control yang, if kidney yin becomes vacuous and weak, liver yang may become hyperactive. Since fire burns upward and the heart and lungs are located above the liver, this pathological heat may also accumulate in the heart and/or lungs, disturbing either or both heart and lung function.

As is usually true in Western medicine, psychiatric disorders are often categorized as difficult to treat diseases in Chinese medicine. And, while the main modality and standard of care in professional Chinese medicine for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is the internal administration of Chinese medicinals, the combination of acupuncture with such internally administered medicinals is often able to achieve an even better effect than internally administered Chinese medicinals alone. In his article titled “Knowledge Based on Experience of the Acupuncture Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders,” Dr. Ding De-zheng suggests the use of six acupoint combinations for specific psychiatric conditions. (1) For more information on the treatment of psychiatric diseases with acupuncture and Chinese medicine, please see Bob Flaws & James Lake’s Chinese Medical Psychiatry. The following is a precis of Dr. Ding’s main points. I hope practitioners of acupuncture will find this information about these points to be useful.

In issue #9, 2003 of Gan Su Zhong Yi (Gansu Chinese Medicine), Qiu Lian-li of the Gansu Provincial Chinese Medical School in Lanzhou published an article titled, “A Small [i.e., Short] Discussion of the Treatement of 54 Cases of Impotence with Acupuncture & the Application of Medicinals to the Navel.” This article appeared on pages 26-27 of that journal. As a response to the growing use of drugs like Viagra and Cialis, and because this treatment is relatively simple and uses commonly available food ingredients, a summary is presented below.

Cohort description

Among the 54 patients enrolled in this study, the oldest was 58, the youngest was 20, and the average age was 39 years old which seems to me young for patients suffering from impotence. The shortest duration of impotence was three months and the longest was two years. All patients met the diagnostic criteria for impotence, although that criteria was not stated in the article.

Treatment method

Black pepper was ground into powder and mixed with ginger juice in order to make a paste. This paste was spread on cotton gauze and affixed with adhesive directly over the navel. This application was changed once per day. Acupuncture was also performed at: Shen Shu (BI 23), Ming Men (GV 4), Guan Yuan (CV 4), Zhong Ji (CV 3), San Yin Jiao (Sp 6), and Tai Xi (Ki 3). The first two points were needled without retention. The other points were needled with 30 minute retention. One treatment was administered per day, five times per week. Ten treatments equaled one course of treatment. During this treatment, sexual activity was forbidden. After one course of treatment, if patients were able to get an erection, they were allowed to have sex. The longest duration of treatment was five courses and the shortest was one course.

In issue #5, 2004 on page number 27 of Gan Su Zhong Yi (Gansu Chinese Medicine), Song Yu-fang published an article titled, “Observations on the Therapeutic Efficacy of Treating 318 Patients with Sciatic Pain with Warm Needle & Cupping.” Because sciatica is a common problem in clinical practice for any practitioner doing physical medicine (acupuncture, chiropractic, physical therapy, massage therapy, osteopathy), a summary of the main points of this article is presented below.

Cohort description

Altogether, there were 502 patients enrolled in this two-wing comparison study. Of these, 302 were male and 200 were female aged 26-70 years. The course of disease ranged from one half month to 20 years, Two hundred four patients had foot shao yang gallbladder sciatica, 256 had foot tai yang bladder channel sciatica, and 42 had pain on both these channels. These 502 patients were then randomly divided into two groups, a so-called treatment group of 318 patients and a comparison group of 184.

Chronic headaches such as migraine and tension headaches are responsible for significant direct health care costs and even larger indirect costs because of lost productivity and burdens on patients and families. Acupuncture has been proposed as an alternative treatment for chronic headaches, but the cost effectiveness of this approach has not been determined. Wonderling and colleagues studied more than 400 patients recruited from general practices in England and Wales to determine the efficacy and costs of acupuncture for chronic headache.

Patients who reported at least two headaches per month were assigned randomly to usual care or up to 12 acupuncture treatments over a three-month period. Data were gathered on the type and severity of headaches, as well as demographic information and costs paid by the patient for headache management. Patients completed a standardized measure of health-related quality of life at baseline, and three and 12 months after starting the study.

At baseline, the 136 patients assigned to acupuncture were similar to the 119 patients assigned to usual care in all important variables. Eighteen patients did not attend their acupuncture sessions. The remaining patients had an average of 4.2 hours of acupuncture therapy. Thirty patients assigned to acupuncture and two patients in the control group visited an acupuncturist for additional treatment during the study. Patients assigned to the acupuncture group showed a statistically significant improvement in health over the year and had small but significant reductions in physician visits and use of complementary or alternative medications. The total costs were higher in the acupuncture group because of acupuncture practitioners’ costs. The researchers calculated the additional cost for each quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained from acupuncture to be just over $16,300.

THE ANCIENT ART of acupuncture controls post-operative stomach upsets more effectively than ondansetron (Zofran), the popular anti-nausea drug. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., followed women undergoing major breast surgery. Two hours post-op, 77 percent of the subjects who received the acupuncture experienced no nausea or vomiting, while only 64 percent of those who took Zofran had no symptoms.

An additional benefit of the acupuncture was a reduction in general pain. “Acupuncture has minimal side effects “observes anesthesiologist Tong Joo Gan, M.D., who led the trial. “And patients love it because they’re more satisfied with the nausea and vomiting management, and they had less pain.

Using electro-acupuncture devices that delivered an electrical pulse, doctors were able to stimulate acupuncture point Pericardium 6–found below the wrist without breaking the skin. Because there are no needles this method of application is more convenient for operating-room use, says Gan.

When traditional needles are applied to P6, they also help trigger calming emotions and treat general nausea and other symptoms, says Eugene Iwasa, L.Ac., a licensed acupuncturist and certified herbalist in Santa Monica. Calif. For mild nausea, Iwasa encourages applying pressure to this point; it’s not as powerful as acupuncture, but it’s still effective, he says.

With your palm facing up, bend your wrist toward you. Slide the thumb of your other hand down to a point about 1 1/2 inches below your wrist crease, and use it to apply steady pressure between the two tendons that connect the lower arm to the wrist. Support the treated arm with the fingers of the other hand.

BACKGROUND: Despite substantial increases in its popularity and use, the efficacy of acupuncture for chronic mechanical neck pain remains unproved. OBJECTIVE: To compare acupuncture and placebo for neck pain. DESIGN: A randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-arm trial with 1-year follow-up. SETTING: The outpatient departments of 2 major hospitals in the United Kingdom, 1999 to 2001. PATIENTS: 135 patients 18 to 80 years of age who had chronic mechanical neck pain. Eleven patients withdrew from treatment, and 124 completed the primary end point. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was pain 1 week after treatment, according to a visual analogue scale. Secondary outcomes were pain at other time points, score on the Neck Disability Index and the Short Form-36, and use of analgesic medications. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to receive, over 4 weeks, 8 treatments with acupuncture or with mock transcutaneous electrical stimulation of acupuncture points using a decommissioned electroacupuncture stimulation unit. RESULTS: Both groups improved statistically from baseline, and acupuncture and placebo had similar credibility. For the primary outcome (weeks 1 to 5), a statistically significant difference in visual analogue scale score in favor of acupuncture (6.3 mm [95% CI, 1.4 to 11.3 ram]; P = 0.01) was observed between the 2 study groups, after adjustment for baseline pain and other covariates. However, this difference was not clinically significant because it demonstrated only a 12% (CI, 3% to 21%) difference between acupuncture and placebo. Secondary outcomes showed a similar pattern. LIMITATIONS: All treatments were provided by 1 practitioner. Although the control was credible, it did not mimic the process of needling. A nonintervention group was not present to control for regression to the mean. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture reduced neck pain and produced a statistically, but not clinically, significant effect compared with placebo. The beneficial effects of acupuncture for pain may be due to both nonspecific and specific effects.