ACUPUNCTURE IN THE NEWS

Like the title character in the 1994 movie FORREST GUMP, acupuncture can be seen in the periphery of a lot of historic events – or at least their aftermaths. Acupuncture is playing a role in events as small as a supermodel’s addiction and as large as the Iraq War.

KICKING THE HABIT

Supermodel Kate Moss is undergoing acupuncture treatments to help her end her addiction to cocaine. Needling key acupuncture points on the ear produces endorphins, neurotransmitters that work on the pleasure centers of the brain. Acupuncture helps reduce the stress and craving associated with drug withdrawal. Acupuncture assists those who want to stop smoking or chewing tobacco as well.

PRE-EXAM JITTERS?

Stanchester Community School in Somerset, Britain offers students acupuncture to calm those pre-exam nerves. So far 9 pupils have signed up for the ten weekly half-hour sessions, and several said they feel more relaxed and focused. Treatment is also offered to a small number of special-needs students with behavioral problems. The head teacher of the school, Mr. Glynn Ottery, said, “No child with ADHD is going to be cured overnight but some of them are showing signs of improvement, particularly within two or three hours of treatment.”

TSUNAMI

In the wake of the terrible 2004 Asian tsunami, an organization called Acupuncture Sans Frontiere set up clinics in Buddhist monasteries in Colombo, Galle and Matara, Sri Lanka. Charlotte Brydon, a British citizen who was one of the groups 28 trained acupuncturists, said, “There was such a great demand for treatment that on the second day of opening the Matara clinic 1,000 people had arrived before 9:30 am from all over the country.” People were treated for back problems, sprained ankles, numbness, neck pain and many other injuries. Around 8,000 treatments were administered in a three-week period. Ms. Brydon described the work as exhausting “both mentally and physically, but it was very rewarding. What’s great is that I work in a profession that can make a direct and significant contribution to the much needed healing process.”

KATRINA

Dr. Diana Fried founded an American version of Acupuncture Sans Frontiere, Acupuncture Without Borders (AWB), in response to the Hurricane Katrina and Rita disasters. Disaster response in the U.S. is modeled after the Red Cross, (hopefully) supplying basic needs like food, clothing, shelter and medicine. Due to the scope of Katrina/Rita, this model did not succeed in addressing the many needs of the hurricane victims, or those working grueling hours in dangerous conditions to save them. While politicians and planners try to deal with the complex political, economic and environmental issues involved in rebuilding the affected areas, organizations such as AWB have mobilized to offer healing in a way that larger bureaucracies can’t.

“We set up in places like schools and churches, and sometimes on the sidewalks, as part of the free clinics that have been organized and manned by medical volunteers from around the country,” said Penny Warren Todd, an acupuncturist who worked one week with AWB. Aside from treating returning refugees, they also offered treatment to FEMA staff, police and rescue workers, medical personnel, National Guardsmembers and anyone else who needed them. “At first people were a bit skeptical in each venue, as most were unfamiliar with acupuncture, but it didn’t take long for the word to spread once a few would try it. We saw amazing results, and incredible appreciation and gratitude… Aside from the emotional stress, many are suffering with upper respiratory and sinus problems from the dust and molds they are encountering from the clean-up process… Pain from strained muscles from lifting and shoveling is also a common complaint that we treated.” Ms. Warren Todd concluded, “After the initial needs for shelter, food and water are met, it is imperative that the healing process be supported to minimize the effects of post-traumatic stress.”

AWB is committed to helping with the Katrina/Rita effort for the long haul, but the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners has shut them down until they can prove a “demonstrated need that the current demands for acupuncture care are not being adequately addressed by Louisiana acupuncturists and acupuncturists’ assistants.” To learn more about AWB and to sign a petition asking that AWB be allowed to continue treating those affected by the hurricanes, go to http://www.acuwithoutborders.com/.

HEALING ON THE HOMEFRONT

When Modern Medicine meets Modern Warfare, strange things happen. Though there are tremendous injuries sustained by the troops, there are fewer actual deaths. Soldiers are able to survive wounds that would have killed them in previous wars. New surgical techniques both in the field and in hospitals have greatly cut down on the casualties.

Because more soldiers are surviving, more are facing pain and trauma from amputation, both from the stump itself and from something called “Phantom Pain.” Phantom sensations – itching, warmth, pressure etc. -- appear to originate from the amputated portion of the limbs and occur in the majority of amputees. Phantom pain is less common. There are three recognized types of Phantom pain:

· Phantom limb pain is pain that feels as though it is in the lost limb.

· Stump (residual limb) pain is ongoing discomfort at the amputation site.

· Phantom limb sensation is the feeling that the missing limb is still there. Although usually not painful, uncomfortable sensations such as burning, tingling and itching may be present.

In the past Phantom pain was thought to be “all in the head” of the amputee. Modern knowledge of brain mapping shows that, in a way, it IS all in the head. Our brains contain a kind of neurological map of our bodies. A brain is like a CPU (Central Processing Unit) in a computer: it reads and interprets signals coming from our “peripherals,” only instead of keyboards and mice we have legs, arms, fingers, toes, etc. Proprioception is the name for the sense we have of our bodies in space. If your eyes are closed you still know if you are standing or sitting, if your arms are raised or at your sides because your brain’s map keeps track of position and location. When an arm or leg is removed the wiring in the brain’s map isn’t changed. Amputees often feel their amputated limb flex, move, grab, kick… and they also feel pain in the missing limb. The brain still has the function for pain in the limb even though the limb is no longer attached to the body.

Col. Richard Niemztow, a radiation oncologist, started the first acupuncture clinic at McGuire Air Force Base in Ohio and now practices at Andrew Air Force Base, the Pentagon and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He has been using acupuncture to relieve the pain for amputees back home from Iraq. Niemztow says acupuncture helps to interfere with the processing of pain, turning off the nerve’s pathway to the brain.

Col. Niemztow works alongside Col. Jeff Gambel, chief of Walter Reed’s Amputee Clinic, which has started offering a course “focused on training specific scalp and ear acupuncture techniques to aid the overall pain management of injured servicemembers with amputations and related traumatic war wounds.” Dr Gambel, a certified acupuncturist, said, “While no pain management approach is 100 percent effective for everyone, these approaches have shown promise in easing the pain of servicemembers injured during Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.”

SUMMARY

Acupuncture is featured in many modern newsworthy events, from the trivial celebrity story, to natural disasters, to modern war. Acupuncture is gaining the much-deserved reputation of being a non-invasive, safe and effective form of treatment for everything from breaking drug addiction to helping heal amputees. Acupuncture has the advantage of being very portable because so little equipment is required. Acupuncture avoids the use of narcotics that can lead to addiction, worrisome side effects and impaired function. Because treatment is superficial there is no “down-time” needed for recovery. All these reasons are bringing acupuncture to the forefront in modern treatment. As Dr. Charlotte Brydon of Acupuncture Sans Frontiere says, “With acupuncture becoming recognized as a leading healthcare option, there is no reason why the acupuncture community should not be represented at any world crisis.”