Research: Anti-Pain Discovery

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Neuroscience Center published a new method to eliminate pain using an acupuncture point location as a basis for the procedure. It all began when researchers New York stated, “acupuncture releases a natural pain-relieving molecule into the body…. Adenosine is a key to reducing pain during acupuncture treatment.”

Nociceptors, commonly referred to as pain receptors, are blocked by adenosine. Acupuncture stimulates the natural production of adenosine within the body. Even more intriguing is that this research discovered a natural residual pool of an adenosine precursor (adenosine monophosphate, AMP) at the acupuncture point St36 (Zusanli) prior to acupuncture needling. Manual acupuncture stimulation at St36 increases adenosine levels. It is postulated that acupuncture stimulates the conversion of AMP reserves into adenosine thereby reducing pain.

Based on these findings, the researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill decided to inject prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) into UB40 (Weizhong), an acupuncture point located at the back of the knee. PAP is an ectonucleotidase that converts AMP to adenosine. The results showed a powerful dose dependent antinociceptive response in mice. Antinociception was boosted by adding additional AMP and was blocked with adenosine antagonists. The researchers note that this approach “locally inhibits pain for an extended period of time” and “exploits a molecular mechanism that is common to acupuncture….” The researchers add that this approach to pain management would “bypass side-effects associated with opioid-based analgesics, and hence could provide a novel abuse-resistant way to treat pain.” The researchers also note “our study reveals that key mechanisms associated with Eastern and Western medicine can be merged and exploited to locally inhibit acute and chronic pain for an extended period of time.”

References:

1.    PAPupuncture has localized and long-lasting antinociceptive effects in mouse models of acute and chronic pain. Molecular Pain. 2012, 8:28. doi:10.1186/1744-8069-8-28. Julie K Hurt. Mark J Zylka.

2.    Goldman N, Chen M, Fujita T, et al. Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture. Nat Neurosci 2010.

Group treatment makes acupuncture more affordable for patients

As our clinic here in Iowa City expands, we are in the early stages of finding ways to serve a broader community - and to make acupuncture more affordable. Many patients at Health On Point are either students or have health insurance that doesn't reimburse for treatments. Please read the article below. It demonstrates how one acupuncturist solved this issue. What do YOU think? Would a group acupuncture treatment be of interest? Let us know!

Acupuncturist Jamie Starkey inserts a needle into Jeff Husney's
forehead in the shared acupuncture room at the Cleveland Clinic.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Treatment for Jeff Husney's head and neck cancer made him a survivor but diminished something many of us take for granted -- the ability to eat.

The radiation aimed at the cancerous growth on Husney's tonsils left collateral damage in the form of compromised salivary glands. That, and the post-surgical scar tissue that built up around his jaw, made chewing and swallowing hard for the past four years -- and doctors told him he'd probably have to live with that.

Difficulty chewing and digesting food can be common for people who have been treated for head and neck cancers. Yet Husney, 52, of Olmsted Falls, found significant relief for what he'd been told might be a permanent condition -- through acupuncture.

After just a few acupuncture treatments, some of Husney's salivary function began to return, and his jaw started moving more easily.

"I'm very blessed -- my eating is gradually returning to what is close to normal," he said in a recent interview. "I ate my first apple today, without having to have a glass of water to wash down every small bite."

Patients get acupuncture for a variety of medical reasons. Some, like Husney, are current or former oncology patients; others might be suffering from severe menopausal symptoms. Some have post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression or joint pain.

A number suffer from xerostomia -- dry mouth, the condition that Husney has -- after being treated for thyroid conditions or cancer.

But acupuncture treatments cost $100 per session -- and Husney was having one or two a week. Medical insurance rarely covers acupuncture treatment, so patients pay out of pocket. For example, Medical Mutual of Ohio covers acupuncture only if a company has 50 or more insured employees and the employer wants it covered, said a company spokesman. It doesn't cover acupuncture in its individual policies.

Jamie Starkey, the lead acupuncture therapist at the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Integrative Medicine in Lyndhurst, has been working with Husney since last summer.

She was bothered that he and other patients might not be able to afford a treatment that could improve their quality of life.

"It made me sick to my stomach that this treatment could be cost-prohibitive to patients whom it could help," Starkey said.

She had an idea, though. She recalled that when she studied acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine in Beijing, Chinese patients almost always got their acupuncture treatments in a group setting. Because of that, one acupuncture center there might treat 200 to 250 patients a day.

To her, the idea of shared appointments made sense: Because once the ultrafine needles are placed into the skin, there's a long period where the patient just rests -- perhaps 45 minutes -- with occasional check-ins by the therapist.

In fact, it's part of a new trend in this country known as Community Style Acupuncture (CSA) or sometimes community acupuncture.

But first, said Starkey, "I needed to make sure I could create a program where I could see a volume of people without compromising the outcome of their treatments."

So Starkey started the six-week pilot project in mid-October, using the employee meditation room at the Lyndhurst campus of the Clinic's Center for Integrative Medicine. She had the support of two allies: Dr. Michael Roizen, the clinic's chief wellness officer; and Dr. Tanya Edwards, medical director for the center. "It took a lot of planning and research, and we wanted to make sure we could pull it off," Starkey said.

So, for the pilot project, she and staffers placed 10 recliners in a darkened room that had been used for employee meditation. They angled the chairs in such a way that patients couldn't see each other. They did not believe additional separation was necessary as acupuncture patients don't have to undress -- they just roll up their sleeves or pants legs, or maybe expose a part of their belly.

It is important to Starkey, however, that she sees a patient one-on-one for the first appointment. "I want to be able to communicate with them about what they need, and what they expect as far as outcomes," she said. She also explains how acupuncture might work to improve their condition.

Also, Starkey said, some patients might have conditions that require needles in their backs or necks, so they have to lie facedown on a table. In that case, shared appointments might not be appropriate.

Based on patient outcomes after six weeks -- there were between two and 13 patients at each of the shared appointments during the pilot -- the clinic deemed it a success, and Starkey began offering the shared appointments one afternoon each week.

After an initial one-on-one visit, a patient can book a shared appointment, which costs $40 instead of $100. He or she enters the room, chooses a chair and prepares for the treatment. Soothing music plays quietly as Starkey and the patient speak to each other briefly, in quiet tones. She inserts the needles.

"Some people have told me they feel like they're in group meditation," Starkey said. Some relax or doze off.

Husney described it this way: "The lights are down, there's a little music, and it puts you in a meditative state. I feel like I'm alone, but then when I'm finished, I look around and the room is filled up."

At the end of an appointment, Starkey checks in with each patient.

Some don't respond to acupuncture, said Starkey, and she advises them to follow up with their doctors if they don't seem to be progressing.

Husney, who owns and operates a landscape design firm with his wife, still has some neck and jaw stiffness and dry-mouth symptoms, but said that all have measurably improved.

Being able to partake in shared appointments has been a huge financial relief, he said -- sometimes he goes once a week, sometimes less often.

After being in a cancer support group, "I was open to just about anything that might help me recover and improve some of the restrictions I have post-treatment. Jamie was pretty confident that my condition could be helped through acupuncture.

"And she was right."

Acupuncture Relieves Hemophilia Pain

In haemophilia, the blood's ability to clot is severely reduced because an essential clotting factor - a chemical within the blood - is partly or completely missing. This means people bleed for longer than normal. Persons with haemophilia experience persistent pain resulting in chronic arthritic symptoms. Older individuals with haemophilia who do not find relief from primary prophylaxis are particularly at risk for persistent pain in multiple joints as a result of repeated joint bleeding.

New research concludes that acupuncture is an effective and safe form of pain management for patients with hemophilia. Although clotting is impaired with hemophilia, acupuncture was shown to be safe in this study. The study reports that “no reported increased bleeding risk as a result of acupuncture use” was found. A total of 14 acupuncture treatments were applied to the subjects of the study and over 75 percent of the subjects had a significant decrease in pain levels. The researchers note, “This study suggests that acupuncture therapy can be a safe additional modality for pain management therapies in persons with hemophilia, although larger randomized studies are needed for further validation.”

Source: Haemophilia. 2012 Mar 8. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2516.2012.02766.x.

Electroacupuncture may be effective for depression: Study

At the end of last week, Reuters reported on a study in Hong Kong that concludes:

Boosting the effect of acupuncture needles with small electric currents may be effective in treating depression.  

Led by Zhang Zhang-jin at the School of Chinese Medicine, University of Hong Kong, the researchers used electroacupuncture to stimulate seven spots on the heads of 73 participants, who had suffered several bouts of depression in the last 7 years.

The electroacupuncture was given in addition to medication that the patients were already taking and meant to augment their treatment, Zhang told a news conference. Half the patients received electroacupuncture nine times over three weeks, while the other half - the placebo group - only had needles inserted superficially into their heads. They were later assessed by experts for their depression levels and the group that received genuine electroacupuncture was found to be a lot happier.

"The drop (in depression scores) among the group receiving active treatment was more significant than the placebo group," said Roger Ng, another researcher in the group, which published their findings in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) ONE. "When the acupoints are stimulated, some brain centres responsible for producing serotonin are stimulated," explained Ng, a consultant at the department of psychiatry at the Kowloon Hospital in Hong Kong.

An imbalance in serotonin levels is believed to be linked to depression. Depression affects about 20 percent of people at some point in their lives. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2020, depression will rival heart disease as the health disorder with the highest disease burden in the world.

At Health On Point, we are happy to work with you to help manage depression, stress or anxiety. We look forward to reviewing your complete health history to determine the best acupuncture acupuncture treatment or herbal support.

Alternative Medicine May Help Ease Chronic Sinusitis

When used in tandem with standard Western treatments, alternative therapies such as acupuncture, acupressure and dietary changes may spell significant relief for patients battling chronic sinusitis, a new pilot study suggests.

The authors say that their study is the first to explore the potential of combining Western medicine with Eastern therapies among these patients, who experience swollen and inflamed sinuses, facial pain, headaches and impaired breathing.

"Our study was small, looking at a handful of patients who were not benefiting that well from standard treatment," acknowledged study author Dr. Jeffrey Suh, an assistant professor of rhinology and skull base surgery in the department of head and neck surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"And my take on alternative treatments is that Western medicine is effective for the majority of patients," he added. "But for those who don't get complete relief, adding in a more holistic Eastern approach that includes exercise, improved sleep, a better diet, and acupuncture and self-administered acupressure seems to provide an alternative that can have great benefit."

Suh and his colleagues report their findings in the March issue of the Archives of Otolaryngology.

The authors point out that chronic rhinosinusitis is a very prevalent condition in the United States, with nearly 30 million American adults diagnosed with the disease in 2010 alone, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The acute version of the disease is typically due to infection, experts say. However, the chronic form (namely, cases enduring past 12 weeks) is thought to stem from a variety of environmental and anatomical causes (such as the presence of polyps or a deviated nasal septum), thereby complicating treatment efforts.

Such efforts usually include the use of nasal corticosteroid sprays and nasal irrigation, while in some instances surgical intervention is required. Despite such efforts, some patients remain debilitated.

Suh and his team focused on 11 such individuals (eight men and three women), between the ages of 32 and 70. Many had struggled with the condition for years. None had had any kind of surgery in the three months before the study started. Similarly, no one had undergone acupuncture or acupressure intervention in the two months beforehand.

During the study, all previous treatments were continued. However, patients were offered eight weekly 20-minute sessions of therapeutic acupuncture and acupressure massage, performed by licensed therapists. Counseling was also offered to teach patients how to self-administer acupressure at home.

A dietary analysis was also conducted, and patients were given nutritional guidance that tracked traditional Chinese approaches towards food consumption. Stress management was also discussed, as were the benefits of regular exercise.

The result: The team found that when applied alongside modern medicine, the use of such so-called "staples of Eastern medicine" appeared to be both safe and effective.

After two months, all the patients showed a statistically significant gain in terms of quality of life, with a drop in feelings of frustration and restlessness and a boost in their ability to concentrate.

What's more, patients were found to have less of a problem with runny noses, reduced sneezing and a subsequent reduced need to blow their noses. Facial pain and pressure also appeared to drop off somewhat.

"These were the worst of the worst patients," Suh stressed. "And during treatment they got better. Now were they completely better? No. Only some of their symptoms improved. And those who did not keep up the lifestyle modifications like self-administered acupressure returned to their previous state after the study. But those who kept it up continued to see a benefit. So this offers some hope, and leads us to consider the next question, which is what might be possible with Eastern therapy alone?"

That said, Dr. Jordan Josephson, a sinus and allergy specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, cautioned that chronic sinusitis is a "very complex problem" for which there is no simple solution.

"Augmenting traditional medicine with Eastern therapies is a very wise thing to do for sinus sufferers," he said. "In my practice, I certainly do this. Because it's not a question of antihistamines or acupuncture."

"And the reason for that is that we're not taking about a cure," Josephson said. "This is not a cold or a sniffle. If you have chronic sinusitis, it's chronic, like diabetes. So, the best thing to do is to treat patients with a combination of diet, antibiotics, antifungals, nasal sprays, allergy treatment, acupuncture, lifestyle changes, irrigation with saline and irrigation with medicines. You need a comprehensive plan for each individual patient that will give them the best chance at control."

For your individualized plan and assistance to manage your sinusitis, schedule a specialized appointment with us. Whether a new or returning patient, we will build on treatments both in clinic, as well as guide you in at home care. Clinic hours are available six days a week. Call or email today!

Acupuncture Treats Seasonal Allergies

Springtime is arriving early here in Iowa City. While most of us are thrilled, the change of seasons is bittersweet for others. Running nose, sneezing, and itchy watery eyes causes much suffering. Millions of dollars are spent on medications and the allergy shots to treatment seasonal allergies in the US alone.

Western medicine views seasonal allergies as a form of immediate hypersensitivity reaction which occurs when anti-bodies interact with airborne particles such as pollen. The Chinese medical interpretation also recognizes a close relationship between diet and nutrition, as well as season.

I find it satisfying to treat seasonal allergies with acupuncture. There is often a quick response - patients even get relief during the first visit while lying on the exam table with needles in place! After an initial series of treatments (3-4 sessions), patients return for further treatments on an as needed basis. Some come back in once or twice a year for a booster while others may come more often.

When combined with nutritional support, allergy relief is longer lasting. For example, patients do better if they avoid sugar and milk in their diets. We also carry some herbs and immune boosting teas in our growing pharmacy to help with your spring allergies.

For those new to acupuncture but with a lifetime of allergies, it's important to note that many patients who fail medication and allergy shots do respond to acupuncture. Patients may continue with their current allergy regimen/treatments while getting acupuncture treatments. Most patients are thrilled to find they end up significantly reducing or eliminating their dependence on allergy medications.

Call Health On Point to schedule your treatment for allergy support, or stop by for a complimentary consult  and to learn about herbal remedies.

Scalp Acupuncture Fights Dementia

Researchers conclude that acupuncture is beneficial for the treatment of vascular dementia. Vascular dementia is caused by brain damage due to impaired blood flow to the brain. This is common after a stroke or a series of mini-strokes. Any condition that damages blood vessels that feed oxygen and nutrients to the brain may cause vascular dementia.

                                                                            (photo from NIH)

The study compared scalp acupuncture with standard body acupuncture. In this multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial, 184 subjects with vascular dementia received either scalp acupuncture or body acupuncture. The scalp acupuncture group showed significantly greater improvements in cognition than the body style acupuncture group. Social behavior scores improved significantly in both the body style and scalp acupuncture groups. TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) differential diagnostic conditions improved significantly in both acupuncture groups as did the ADL (Activities of Daily Living) score. Overall, scalp acupuncture received higher improvement scores due to its ability to improve cognition. The researchers concluded that scalp acupuncture substantially improves the overall condition of patients with vascular dementia including cognition, activities of daily living, TCM signs and symptoms, mental state and social behavior.

At Health On Point, our practitioners have extensive training in both body and scalp acupuncture techniques to support patients. If you or someone you love has had a stroke, encourage them to turn to acupuncture to improve their mental state and overall well being.