Good news, acupuncture fans: It really does help relieve stress. And now, a new study is giving a closer look at why.

The new study explores the biological mechanisms involved in acupuncture’s stress-relieving abilities, something science has yet to fully understand.

The researchers discovered that stress hormones were lower in rats that had received electronic acupuncture. Results were published in the Journal of Endocrinology.

“Many practitioners of acupuncture have observed that this ancient practice can reduce stress in their patients, but there is a lack of biological proof of how or why this happens. We’re starting to understand what’s going on at the molecular level that helps explain acupuncture’s benefit,” study researcher Dr. Ladan Eshkevari, an associate professor of nursing at Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies, said in a statement.

For the study, Eshkevari and colleagues designed a series of tests with electronic acupuncture to ensure that each rat received the exact same dose of pressure. Eshkevari targeted the spot below the knee, or the “Zusanli” point, with the needle. This area is the same in rats and humans and it is reported that stimulating it can alleviate stress and other conditions.

For the 10-day experiment, researchers split the rats into four groups. One group was a control group with no added stress and no acupuncture; one group was made to be stressed out for an hour each day but didn’t receive acupuncture; one group was made to feel stressed for an hour each day but received “sham” acupuncture by their tails; and one group was made to feel stressed and received the genuine acupuncture treatment at the Zusanli area.
The body secretes an assortment of hormones into the bloodstream as a reaction to stress, which the researchers were then able to measure in the rats. They assessed blood hormone levels secreted by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenal gland — together these are known as the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. They also measured a peptide involved in creatures’ “fight or flight” responses, called NPY.
Researchers discovered that the “...electronic acupuncture blocks the chronic, stress-induced elevations of the HPA axis hormones and the sympathetic NPY pathway,” Eshkevari said in the statement.
Since stress has been linked with detrimental health effects including heart disease and even brain shrinkage it’s important to study any measures to combat its detrimental nature.


reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/16/acupuncture-could-help-prevent-stress_n_2883996.html

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Impressive new research is emerging every day regarding the role of the microbiome of the digestive tract lining. The microbiome refers to the healthful bacteria, or ‘good germs’ that line our digestive tracts. The digestive tract itself is a center point of the nervous system, hormonal system and immune system. It is responsible for the balance of the our molecules of emotion, the neurotransmitters, and as a result is an important player for best mood. And good bacteria is an important part of healthy digestion.  Probiotics are known not only to help the digestion, but are key factors in obesity, hormonal balance, healthy kidney function, and much more.

How Do Probiotics Help the Brain?

Medical research is uncovering the mechanism of probiotics in mood. These healthy germs boost mood in two important ways: they generate a particular neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and also enhance the brain receptors for GABA as well. Like a warm and gentle blanket for the brain, GABA is calming amino acid, known to calm areas of the brain that are over active in anxiety and panic and in some forms of anxious depression.

Animal studies working with mice showed those mice who ingested probiotics were, in general, more chilled out than the control mice.  The probiotic mice had lower levels of corticosterone in response to stress. Corticosterone is the mouse version of the human stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol are common in anxiety as well as depression.  These mice were fed either the probiotic strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus or a broth without these. The lactobacillus-fed animals showed significantly fewer stress, anxiety and depression-related behaviors than those fed with just broth (Bravo et al., 2011).
Human studies have also corroborated these murine (mouse) findings. A French team learned via a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized parallel group study that giving humans specific strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium for 30 days yielded beneficial psychological effects including lowered depression, less anger and hostility, anxiety, and better problem solving, compared with the placebo group (Messaoudi et al., 2011). 

Yeast and the Microbiome

While a healthy microbiome will contribute to good mood, an unhealthy one full of Candida albicans (yeast), and all the toxins associated with it, may also contribute to mood disorder. Presence of yeast will alter the ability to absorb nutrients and push hypersensitivity reactions of toxin by-products which translates to inflammation in the body. Inflammation will greatly contribute to depression, anxiety and poor mental function (Rucklidge, 2013).

What You Can Do To Keep Your Microbiome Healthy?

Steps you can take for a healthy microbiome and mood are:

1 – Avoid excess sugary foods: to avoid yeast build up. 

2 – Good Quality Sleep: good sleep is key for the intestinal lining to repair and create a healthy microbiome.

3 – Meditation and Relaxation: Meditation and quality down time is important to keep the body in the ‘rest and digest’ mode instead of stress mode. Stress mode shuts circulation to the gut, which doesn’t allow a healthy microbiome.

4 – Eat Foods with Fiber: Good fiber helps feed the good bacteria and keeps them healthy. Vegetables, fruits, psyllium, flax, inulin and other fibers also help keep good flora and proper balance of short chain fatty acids in the intestines. 

5 – Eat Probiotic Foods: While the French study mentioned above used a supplement, there are also many wonderful natural foods full of probiotics. In my opinion, foods, over supplements, are always the best way to go for long term health. These include natto (a traditional Japanese fermented food), kim chi (Korean style cabbage), sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, tempeh, fermented milk (like buttermilk), miso, and non-baked cheeses (like aged cheese). Homemade sauerkraut is better than store bought, for the store bought stuff is pasteurized, which kills some of the good probiotics.

6 – Consider a probiotic supplement: For patients with health issues, sometimes it makes sense to use a supplement along with foods. A good quality supplement should contain with Lactobacillus and bifidus bacteria. There are a number of good ones on the market and some that are poorly made, so if you choose to take a supplement, make sure the manufacturer is of the highest quality in terms of raw materials, culturing techniques, and quality control. My clinic uses Restoraflora, which contains about 4 billion bacteria per capsule. If you purchase one in the store, find a refrigerated version that doesn't have any binders, fillers, milk products, or corn.

reference: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/inner-source/201411/the-gut-microbiome-anxiety-and-depression-6-steps-take

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Acupuncture increases drug efficacy for the treatment of multiple system atrophy (MSA). Formerly known as Shy-Drager Syndrome, MSA is an autonomic nervous system disorder affecting balance, coordination, and movement. Orthostatic hypotension is a key sign manifesting in dizziness upon standing. Additional symptoms include slowness of movement, rigidity, incontinence of urine, impaired speech, syncope, and tremors. Symptoms are manifestations of the progressive loss of function and death of brain and spinal cord nerve cells.Researchers from Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine investigated the effects of acupuncture on patients receiving drug therapy for MSA. Patients receiving only drug therapy had a 45.5% total effective rate. However, patients receiving both acupuncture and drug therapy had a 90.9% total effective rate. The results of the acupuncture continuing education study were published in the Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.
Patients receiving drug therapy combined with acupuncture treatments experienced significantly less orthostatic hypotension. Consequently, there were significant reductions in dizziness and syncope associated with standing. Results were based on subject reports and stabilization of blood pressure. Other clinical improvements include improved hidrosis, eye movements, and bladder control. Patients also had significant reductions in tremors. 
Let’s take a look at the treatment protocols for both acupuncture and medications. Drug therapy consisted of oral midodrine hydrochloride tablets, 10 mg, three times per day for one month. Midodrine hydrochloride is an alpha1-agonist that activates alpha-adrenergic receptors to increase vascular tone and elevate blood pressure. 
Acupuncture was administered with primary acupoint prescription for all patients combined with secondary acupoints for specific indications. The primary acupoints were

• Baihui, DU20
• Guanyuan, CV4
• Qihai, CV6
• Zusanli, ST36
• Fenglong, ST40
• Neiguan, PC6

Secondary points were added for the following conditions:

• Incontinence: Zhongji (CV3), Shuidao (ST28), Guilai (ST29)
• Abnormal eye motion: Jingming (BL1), Yuyao, Taiyang, Sizhukong (SJ23)
• Hypohidrosis: Feishu (BL13), Jueyinshu (BL14), Xinshu (BL15), Geshu (BL17), Pishu (BL20), Weishu (BL21)
• Ataxia: Fengfu (DU16), Yamen (DU15)
• Tremors: Yanglingquan (GB34), Taixi (KD3), Xuehai (SP10), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Taichong (LV3), Hegu (LI4)

Mild reinforcing and reducing manual acupuncture techniques were administered. Upon the arrival of deqi, warm needle acupuncture was applied to CV6, CV4, and ST36. Total needle retention time was twenty minutes per acupuncture session.
The data demonstrates that an integrative medicine approach to MSA patient care produces superior patient outcomes. The randomized controlled trial demonstrates a 45.5% total effective rate for drugs as a standalone therapy. The combination of acupuncture with drug therapy boosts the total effective rate to 90.9%. The data warrants further investigation into the efficaciousness of acupuncture for the treatment of orthostatic hypertension in patients with MSA.

References:
​Tian J, Wu J. (2014). Therapeutic Observation of Acupuncture plus Medication for Orthostatic Hypotension in Shy-Drager Syndrome. Shanghai Journal of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. 33(9).
Yang H, Zeng K, Wei GR, et al. (2011). Analysis of 42 Cases of Orthostatic Hypotension in Shy-Drager Syndrome. Journal of Clinical Cardiology. 27(11): 834-844.
Wang F, Jia SW. (2001). Effects of Acupuncture-moxibustion on Cerebral Blood Flow in Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease. 21(4): 250—252.

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Stroke is a silent killer of millions. Modern medicine is struggling to prevent stroke and improve recovery for patients.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been treating stroke for thousands of years with herbal formulas known as Ren Shen Zai Zao Wan (“Ginseng Restorative Pills,” which actually contain 15 different herbal ingredients in its formula) and An Shen Bu Xin Wan (“Pacifying Spirit and Tonify the Heart Pills”, which contain 9 different herbals).
Yet, the established medical community turns up their nose at the thought of medicating patients with “natural ingredients.” They claim there is no proof of their efficacy and that people may die if taken. How absurd, given that thousands die from prescription drugs when compared to almost zero from taking herbals.
Well, I hope the tables will soon turn, based on research that shows TCM is effective at helping stroke victims recover.
In 2011, an overseas company released a natural supplement based on these TCM formulas that found great results in clinical trials. The only problem is, even with clinical trial proof, they are restricted from selling it in the United States.
But you have a right to know what the studies found…
Stroke problems
According to a World Health Organizations (WHO) report, “Stroke is a leading cause of acquired disability in adults.” It strikes 15 million people annually.
I’ve previously written here about how stroke deaths are higher now than just a decade ago, and here about how those who suffer migraines are at double the risk of stroke. This silent killer is one of the toughest to prevent and to treat in terms of restoration of normal brain and motor function after the fact.
A stroke attacks the brain. Eight out of 10 strokes are called “ischemic,” killing brain cells by cutting off their blood and oxygen supply. Without blood and oxygen brain function cannot be normal. Ischemic strokes are caused by blood vessels being blocked by a blood clot or by narrowing arteries caused by cholesterol-induced plaque buildup in the arteries. Additionally, the usual suspects–genetics, high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, smoking—all place one at higher risk of stroke.
When a stroke hits, the victim has only a short time before brain cells die that can cause physical disabilities including loss of motor skills, sensory perception, language and visual issues and memory loss. Time is of the essence — and if a supplement were on hand, or readily available, that is proven to help stroke recovery, all the better their chance of recovery.
Moleac’s NeuroAid and NurAid II
In 2011, biopharmaceutical company Moleac announced the launch in France and Belgium of a natural supplement called NurAiD II. It is a natural health supplement based on classic TCM formulas, “engineered to stimulate neuroplasticity and recovery… to support the restoration of neurological functions…” after stroke.
Moleac was founded in 2002 and is based in Singapore. Its European subsidiary was created in 2008 in Paris. Moleac develops its natural health products by drawing on traditional knowledge, combined with modern-day molecular, cellular and clinical studies. During the course of its development, Moleac has set up various partnerships with research institutes in France (the CNRS), China and Singapore.
While this may sound like an advertorial, I assure you it is not. I have no connection to or with this company and have never met any of its representatives. But I do belief in TCM, and natural wellness overall, and the fact that this company seems to use traditional formula with modern research and manufacturing, and readily subjects its products to clinical trials… is very interesting and worth investigating.
According to Moleac’s literature, “NeuroAiD™ is a recovery stimulator dedicated to support neurological functions by creating a favorable environment to enhance neuroplasticity. Precisely, NeuroAiD™ triggers the production of new neurons in our brain (neurogenesis) and favors connections between neurons by stimulating the formation of new dendrites and synapses (neuroplasticity). This favors the formation of new functional neuronal circuits, which are key for achieving a full post-stroke recovery. The changes in the brain materialize into faster and higher improvements of neurological functions during rehabilitation. This neurorestorative activity of NeuroAiD™ was established in 2010 by a team of French scientists and published in peer-reviewed international journal.”
But is all this true or just hype? I did a search of the literature on PubMed and found several clinical trials that, in fact, support these statements. Let’s look at a few that refer to NeuroAid by its scientific formula numbers MLC901 and MLC601.
Study: Traumatic brain injury in mice
The title of the first study, published in the journal Neuroscience, says it all: “MLC901, a Traditional Chinese Medicine, induces neuroprotective and neuroregenerative benefits after traumatic brain injury in rats.”
This study looked at the effect of NeuroAid when used in mice with traumatic brain injury. So positive are the results, that I will just quote form the abstract of the study here.
“This study was designed to “evaluate the neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects of MLC901 in a rat model of TBI. The cognitive deficits induced by TBI were followed by using the “what-where-when” task, which allows the measurement of episodic-like memory. MLC901 treatment decreased brain lesions induced by TBI. It prevented the serum increase of S-100 beta (S100B) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE), which may be markers to predict the neurologic outcome in human patients with TBI. MLC901 reduced the infarct volume when injected up to 2h post-TBI, prevented edema formation and assisted its resolution, probably via the regulation of aquaporin 4. These positive MLC901 effects were associated with an upregulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) as well as an increase of endogenous hippocampal neurogenesis and gliogenesis around the lesion. Furthermore, MLC901 reduced cognitive deficits induced by TBI. Rats subjected to TBI displayed a suppression of temporal order memory, which was restored by MLC901.”
And the final remark of the study authors: “MLC901 has neuroprotective and neurorestorative actions, which lead to an improvement in the recovery of cognitive functions in a model of traumatic brain injury.”
Study: Stroke in mice
This next study appeared in the journal Neuropharmacology, and looked at “Neuroprotective and neuroproliferative activities of NeuroAid.” The authors begin their report noting that “numerous recent failures in clinical stroke trials have led to some pessimism in the field.” And so here, they study the effects of the TCM inspired NeuroAid supplement on stroke recover in mice.
For their study, the researchers demonstrated the effects of the product in mice who suffered ischemic stroke. They observed several telling results:

• NeuroAid II (MLC901) pre- and post-treatments up to 3 h after stroke improve survival, protect the brain from the ischemic injury and drastically decrease functional deficits.
• MLC601 and MLC901 also prevent neuronal death in an in vitro model of excitotoxicity using primary cultures of cortical neurons exposed to glutamate.
• MLC601/MLC901 treatments were shown to induce neurogenesis in rodent and human cells, promote cell proliferation as well as neurite outgrowth and stimulate the development of a dense axonal and dendritic network.

And their final analysis is that “MLC601 and MLC901 clearly represent a very interesting strategy for stroke treatment at different stages of the disease.”
Study: Stroke in humans
Studies in mice are well and good, but how does this herbal supplement work on humans who have suffered stroke? To be clinically accurate the researchers relied on use of the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), the most widely used clinical outcome measure for stroke clinical trials.
Well, let’s look at a study appearing in the peer-reviewed, open access journal, Rehabilitation Research and Practice. This is a retrospective cohort study comparing 30 post stroke patients given the supplement over a three month period against the same number of patients who were not given the supplement. At the close of the third month they found that results as positive as those in the mice studies.

• 21 patients on MLC601 became independent as compared to 17 patients not on MLC601.
• 16 patients on MLC601 attained mRS scores similar to their prestroke state, compared with only 8 in the non MLC601 group.
• Mean improvement in mRS from baseline was better in the MLC601 group than in the non-MLC601 group.

Their overall conclusion: “MLC601 improves functional recovery at 3 months postischemic stroke.”

Conclusion
Many more studies show the promising and real recovery effect of using NeuroAid after ischemic stroke. One study even showed there are positive effects in cognitive tasks when using the supplement without having a stroke.
Of course more human trials need to be conducted on the efficacy of NuroAid and its long-term effects on humans. But in the meantime, the product is registered as a “natural supplement” and should be made available in the United States. So why isn’t it? I will look more into this issue. But with such positive results coming from clinical trials and published in peer-review journals, it makes one wonder.


Reference: By Dr. Mark Wiley
http://easyhealthoptions.com/surviving-stroke-herbs-beat-odds/

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Adversity in childhood can create long-lasting scars, damaging our cells and our DNA, and making us sick as adults, by Donna Jackson Nakazawa
Donna is a science journalist whose work has appeared in Psychology Today, The Washington Post and Glamour, among others. Her latest book is Childhood Disrupted (2015). She lives in Maryland.

If you saw Laura walking down the New York City street where she lives today, you’d see a well-dressed 46-year-old woman with auburn hair and green eyes, who exudes a sense of ‘I matter here.’ She looks entirely in charge of her life, but behind Laura’s confident demeanour lies a history of trauma: a bipolar mother who vacillated between braiding her daughter’s hair and peppering her with insults, and a father who moved out-of-state with his wife-to-be when Laura was 15 years old.
She recalls a family trip to the Grand Canyon when she was 10. In a photo taken that day, Laura and her parents sit on a bench, sporting tourist whites. ‘Anyone looking at us would have assumed that we were a normal, loving family.’ But as they put on fake smiles for the camera, Laura’s mother suddenly pinched her daughter’s midriff and told her to stop ‘staring off into space’. A second pinch: ‘No wonder you’re turning into a butterball, you ate so much cheesecake last night you’re hanging over your shorts!’ If you look hard at Laura’s face in the photograph, you can see that she’s not squinting at the Arizona sun, but holding back tears.
After her father left the family, he sent cards and money, but called less and less. Meanwhile, her mother’s untreated bipolar disorder worsened. Sometimes, Laura says: ‘My mom would go on a vitriolic diatribe about my dad until spittle foamed on her chin. I’d stand there, trying not to hear her as she went on and on, my whole body shaking inside.’ Laura never invited friends over, for fear they’d find out her secret: her mom ‘wasn’t like other moms’.
Some 30 years later, Laura says: ‘In many ways, no matter where I go or what I do, I’m still in my mother’s house.’ Today, ‘If a car swerves into my lane, a grocery store clerk is rude, my husband and I argue, or my boss calls me in to talk over a problem, I feel something flip over inside. It’s like there’s a match standing inside too near a flame, and with the smallest breeze, it ignites.’
To see Laura, you’d never know that she is ‘always shaking a little, only invisibly, deep down in my cells’.
Her sense that something is wrong inside is mirrored by her physical health. During a routine exam, Laura’s doctor discovered that Laura was suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy and would require a cardioverter defibrillator to keep her heart pumping. The two-inch scar from her surgery only hints at the more severe scars she hides from her childhood.
For as long as John can remember, he says, his parents’ marriage was deeply troubled, as was his relationship with his father. ‘I consider myself to have been raised by my mom and her mom. I longed to feel a deeper connection with my dad, but it just wasn’t there. He couldn’t extend himself in that way.’ John’s poor relationship with his father was due, in large part, to his father’s reactivity and need for control. For instance, if John’s father said that the capital of New York was New York City, there was just no use telling him that it was Albany.
As John got older, it seemed wrong to him that his father ‘was constantly pointing out all the mistakes that my brother and I made, without acknowledging any of his own’. His father relentlessly criticised his mother, who was ‘kinder and more confident’. Aged 12, John began to interject himself into the fights between his parents. He remembers one Christmas Eve, when he found his father with his hands around his mother’s neck and had to separate them. ‘I was always trying to be the adult between them,’ John says.
John is now a boyish 40, with warm hazel eyes and a wide, affable grin. But beneath his easy, open demeanour, he struggles with an array of chronic illnesses. By the time he was 33, his blood pressure was shockingly high; he began to experience bouts of stabbing stomach pain and diarrhoea and often had blood in his stool; he struggled from headaches almost daily. By 34, he’d developed chronic fatigue, and was so wiped out that he sometimes struggled to make it through an entire workday.
John’s relationships, like his body, were never completely healthy. He ended a year‑long romance with a woman he deeply loved because he felt riddled with anxiety around her normal, ‘happy family’. He just didn’t know how to fit in. ‘She wanted to help,’ he says, ‘but instead of telling her how insecure I was around her, I told her I wasn’t in love with her.’ Bleeding from his inflamed intestines, exhausted by chronic fatigue, debilitated and distracted by pounding headaches, often struggling with work, and unable to feel comfortable in a relationship, John was stuck in a universe of pain and solitude, and he couldn’t get out.

Laura’s and John’s life stories illustrate the physical price we can pay, as adults, for trauma that took place 10, 20, even 30 years ago. New findings in neuroscience, psychology and immunology tell us that the adversity we face during childhood has farther-reaching consequences than we might ever have imagined. Today, in labs across the country, neuroscientists are peering into the once-inscrutable brain-body connection, and breaking down, on a biochemical level, exactly how the stress we experience during childhood and adolescence catches up with us when we are adults, altering our bodies, our cells, and even our DNA.
Emotional stress in adult life affects us on a physical level in quantifiable, life-altering ways. We all know that when we are stressed, chemicals and hormones can flush our body and increase levels of inflammation. That’s why stressful events in adult life are correlated with the likelihood of getting a cold or having a heart attack.
But when children or teens face adversity and especially unpredictable stressors, they are left with deeper, longer‑lasting scars. When the young brain is thrust into stressful situations over and over again without warning, and stress hormones are repeatedly ramped up, small chemical markers, known as methyl groups, adhere to specific genes that regulate the activity of stress‑hormone receptors in the brain. These epigenetic changes hamper the body’s ability to turn off the stress response. In ideal circumstances, a child learns to respond to stress, and recover from it, learning resilience. But kids who’ve faced chronic, unpredictable stress undergo biological changes that cause their inflammatory stress response to stay activated.
Joan Kaufman, director of the Child and Adolescent Research and Education (CARE) programme at the Yale School of Medicine, recently analysed DNA in the saliva of happy, healthy children, and of children who had been taken from abusive or neglectful parents. The children who’d experienced chronic childhood stress showed epigenetic changes in almost 3,000 sites on their DNA, and on all 23 chromosomes – altering how appropriately they would be able to respond to and rebound from future stressors.
kids who’ve had early adversity have a drip of fight-or-flight hormones turned on every day – it’s as if there is no off switch
Likewise, Seth Pollak, professor of psychology and director of the Child Emotion Research Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, uncovered startling genetic changes in children with a history of adversity and trauma. Pollak identified damage to a gene responsible for calming the stress response. This particular gene wasn’t working properly; the kids’ bodies weren’t able to reign in their heightened stress response. ‘A crucial set of brakes are off,’ says Pollak.
Imagine for a moment that your body receives its stress hormones and chemicals through an IV drip that’s turned on high when needed and, when the crisis passes, it’s switched off again. You might think of kids whose brains have undergone epigenetic changes because of early adversity as having an inflammation-promoting drip of fight-or-flight hormones turned on every day – it’s as if there is no off switch.
Experiencing stress in childhood changes your set point of wellbeing for decades to come. In people such as Laura and John, the endocrine and immune systems are churning out a damaging and inflammatory cocktail of stress neurochemicals in response to even small stressors – an unexpected bill, a disagreement with their spouse, a car that swerves in front of them on the highway, a creak on the staircase – for the rest of their lives. They might find themselves overreacting to, and less able to recover from, the inevitable stressors of life. They’re always responding. And all the while, they’re unwittingly marinating in inflammatory chemicals, which sets the stage for full-throttle disease down the road, in the form of autoimmune disease, heart disease, cancer, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, fibroid tumours, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, migraines and asthma.
Scientists first came to understand the relationship between early chronic stress and later adult disease through the work of a dedicated physician in San Diego and a determined epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta. Together, during the 1980s and ’90s – the years when Laura and John were growing up – these two researchers began a paradigm-shifting public-health investigation known as the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study.
In 1985, Vincent J Felitti, chief of a revolutionary preventive care initiative at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care programme in San Diego, noticed a startling pattern in adult patients at an obesity clinic. A significant number were, with the support of Felitti and his nurses, successfully losing hundreds of pounds a year, a remarkable feat, only to withdraw from the programme despite weight-loss success. Felitti, determined to get to the bottom of the attrition rate, conducted face-to-face interviews with 286 patients. It turned out there was a common denominator. Many confided that they had suffered some sort of trauma, often sexual abuse, in their childhoods. To these patients, eating was a solution, not a problem: it soothed the anxiety and depression they had harboured for decades; their weight served as a shield against undesired attention, and they didn’t want to let it go.
Felitti’s interviews gave him a new way of looking at human health and wellbeing that other physicians just weren’t seeing. He presented his findings at a national obesity conference, arguing that ‘our intractable public health problems’ had root causes hidden ‘by shame, by secrecy, and by social taboos against exploring certain areas of life experience’. Felitti’s peers were quick to blast him. One even stood up in the audience and accused Felitti of offering ‘excuses’ for patients’ ‘failed lives’. Felitti, however, remained unfazed; he felt sure that he had stumbled upon a piece of information that would hold enormous import for the field of medicine.
After a colleague who attended that same conference suggested that he design a study with thousands of patients who suffered from a wide variety of diseases, not just obesity, Felitti joined forces with Robert Anda, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC who had, at the time, been researching the relationship between coronary heart disease and depression. Felitti and Anda took advantage of Kaiser Permanente’s vast patient cohort to set up a national epidemiology laboratory. Of the 26,000 patients they invited to take part in their study, more than 17,000 agreed.
Anda and Felitti surveyed these 17,000 individuals on about 10 types of adversity, or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), probing into patients’ childhood and adolescent histories. Questions included: ‘Was a biological parent ever lost to you through divorce, abandonment or other reason?’; ‘Did a parent or other adult in the household often swear at you, insult you, put you down or humiliate you?’; and ‘Was a household member depressed or mentally ill?’ Other questions looked at types of family dysfunction that included growing up with a parent who was an alcoholic or addicted to other substances; being physically or emotionally neglected; being sexually or physically abused; witnessing domestic violence; having a family member who was sent to prison; feeling that there was no one to provide protection; and feeling that one’s family didn’t look out for each other. For each category to which a patient responded ‘yes’, one point would be added to her ACE score, so an ACE score of 2 would indicate that she had suffered two adverse childhood experiences.
To be clear, the patients Felitti and Anda surveyed were not troubled or disadvantaged; the average patient was 57, and three-quarters had attended college. These were ‘successful’ men and women, mostly white, middle-class, with stable jobs and health benefits. Felitti and Anda expected their number of ‘yes’ answers to be fairly low.
The correlation between having a difficult childhood and facing illness as an adult offered a whole new lens through which we could view human health and disease
When the results came in, Felitti and Anda were shocked: 64 per cent of participants answered ‘yes’ to having encountered at least one category of early adversity, and 87 per cent of those patients also had additional adverse childhood experiences; 40 per cent had suffered two or more ACEs; 12.5 per cent had an ACE score greater than or equal to 4.
Felitti and Anda wanted to find out whether there was a correlation between the number of adverse childhood experiences an individual had faced, and the number and severity of illnesses and disorders she developed as an adult. The correlation proved so powerful that Anda was not only ‘stunned’, but deeply moved.
‘I wept,’ he says. ‘I saw how much people had suffered, and I wept.’
Felitti, too, was deeply affected. ‘Our findings exceeded anything we had conceived. The correlation between having a difficult childhood and facing illness as an adult offered a whole new lens through which we could view human health and disease.’
Here, says Felitti, ‘was the missing piece as to what was causing so much of our unspoken suffering as human beings’.
The number of adverse childhood experiences a patient had suffered could by and large predict the amount of medical care she would require in adulthood: the higher the ACE score, the higher the number of doctor’s appointments she’d had in the past year, and the more unexplained physical symptoms she’d reported.
People with an ACE score of 4 were twice as likely to be diagnosed with cancer than people who hadn’t faced any form of childhood adversity. For each point an individual had, her chance of being hospitalised with an autoimmune disease in adulthood rose 20 per cent. Someone with an ACE score of 4 was 460 per cent more likely to face depression than someone with a score of 0.
An ACE score of 6 or higher shortened an individual’s lifespan by almost 20 years.
Researchers wondered if those who encountered childhood adversity were also more likely to smoke, drink and overeat as a sort of coping strategy, and while that was sometimes the case, unhealthy habits didn’t wholly account for the correlation Felitti and Anda saw between adverse childhood experiences and later illness. For instance, those with ACE scores greater than or equal to 7 who didn’t drink or smoke, weren’t overweight or diabetic, and didn’t have high cholesterol still had a 360 per cent higher risk of heart disease than those with ACE scores of 0.
‘Time,’ says Felitti, ‘does not heal all wounds. One does not “just get over” something – not even 50 years later.’ Instead, he says: ‘Time conceals. And human beings convert traumatic emotional experiences in childhood into organic disease later in life.’
Often, these illnesses can be chronic and lifelong. Autoimmune disease. Heart disease. Chronic bowel disorders. Migraines. Persistent depression. Even today, doctors puzzle over these very conditions: why are they so prevalent; why are some patients more prone to them than others; and why are they so difficult to treat?
The more research that’s done, the more granular details emerge about the profound link between adverse experiences and adult disease. Scientists at Duke University in North Carolina, the University of California, San Francisco, and Brown University in Rhode Island have shown that childhood adversity damages us on a cellular level in ways that prematurely age our cells and affect our longevity. Adults who faced early life stress show greater erosion in what are known as telomeres – protective caps that sit on the ends of DNA strands to keep the DNA healthy and intact. As telomeres erode, we’re more likely to develop disease, and we age faster; as our telomeres age and expire, our cells expire and so, eventually, do we.
Researchers have also seen a correlation between specific types of adverse childhood experiences and a range of diseases. For instance, children whose parents die, or who face emotional or physical abuse, or experience childhood neglect, or witness marital discord between their parents are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, lung disease, diabetes, headaches, multiple sclerosis and lupus as adults. Facing difficult circumstances in childhood increases six-fold your chances of having myalgic encephalomyelitis (chronic fatigue syndrome) as an adult. Kids who lose a parent have triple the risk of depression in their lifetimes. Children whose parents divorce are twice as likely to suffer a stroke later down the line.
Laura and John’s stories illustrate that the past can tick away inside us for decades like a silent time bomb, until it sets off a cellular message that lets us know the body does not forget its history.
Something that happened to you when you were five or 15 can land you in the hospital 30 years later
John’s ACE score would be a 3: a parent often put him down; he witnessed his mother being harmed; and, clearly, his father suffered from an undiagnosed behaviour health disorder, perhaps narcissism or depression, or both.
Laura had an ACE score of 4.
Laura and John are hardly alone. Two-thirds of American adults are carrying wounds from childhood quietly into adulthood, with little or no idea of the extent to which these wounds affect their daily health and wellbeing. Something that happened to you when you were five or 15 can land you in the hospital 30 years later, whether that something was headline news, or happened quietly, without anyone else knowing it, in the living room of your childhood home.
The adversity a child faces doesn’t have to be severe abuse in order to create deep biophysical changes that can lead to chronic health conditions in adulthood.
‘Our findings showed that the 10 different types of adversity we examined were almost equal in their damage,’ says Felitti. He and Anda found that no single ACE significantly trumped another. This was true even though some types, such as being sexually abused, are far worse in that society regards them as particularly shameful, and others, such as physical abuse, are more overt in their violence.
This makes sense if you think about how the stress response functions on an optimal level. You meet a bear in the woods, and your body floods with adrenaline and cortisol so that you can quickly decide whether to run in the opposite direction or stay and try to frighten the bear. After you deal with the crisis, you recover, your stress hormones abate, and you go home with a great story. For Laura and John, though, that feeling that the bear is still out there, somewhere, circling in the woods, stalking, and might strike again any day, anytime – that feeling never disappears.
There are a lot of bears out there. Chronic parental discord; enduring low-dose humiliation or blame and shame; chronic teasing; the quiet divorce between two secretly seething parents; a parent’s premature exit from a child’s life; the emotional scars of growing up with a hypercritical, unsteady, narcissistic, bipolar, alcoholic, addicted or depressed parent; physical or emotional abuse or neglect: these happen in all too many families. Although the details of individual adverse experiences differ from one home to another and from one neighbourhood to another, they are all precursors to the same organic chemical changes deep in the gray matter of the developing brain.
Every few decades, a groundbreaking psychosocial ‘theory of everything’ helps us to develop a new understanding of why we are the way we are – and how we got that way. In the early 20th century, the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud transformed the landscape of psychology when he argued that the unconscious rules much of our waking life and dreams. Jungian theory taught, among other ideas, that we tend toward introversion or extroversion, which led the American educationalist Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers to develop a personality indicator. More recently, neuroscientists discovered that age ‘zero to three’ was a critical synaptic window for brain development, giving birth to Head Start and other preschool programmes. The correlation between childhood trauma, brain architecture and adult wellbeing is the newest, and perhaps our most important, psychobiological theory of everything.
Today’s research on adverse childhood experiences revolutionises how we see ourselves, our understanding of how we came to be the way we are, why we love the way we do, how we can better nurture our children, and how we can work to realise our potential.
To date, more than 1,500 studies founded on Felitti and Anda’s hallmark ACE research show that both physical and emotional suffering are rooted in the complex workings of the immune system, the body’s master operating control centre – and what happens to the brain during childhood sets the programming for how our immune systems will respond for the rest of our lives.
The unifying principle of this new theory of everything is this: your emotional biography becomes your physical biology, and together, they write much of the script for how you will live your life. Put another way: your early stories script your biology and your biology scripts the way your life will play out.
Unlike previous theories of everything, though, this one has been mind-bogglingly slow to change how we do medicine, according to Felitti. ‘Very few internists or medical schools are interested in embracing the added responsibility that this understanding imposes on them.’
With the ACE research now available, we might hope that physicians will begin to see patients as a holistic sum of their experiences and embrace the understanding that a stressor from long ago can be a health-risk time bomb that has exploded. Such a medical paradigm, which sees adverse childhood experiences as one of many key factors that can play a role in disease, could save many patients years in the healing process.
But seeing that connection takes a little time. It means asking patients to fill out the ACE questionnaire and delving into that patient’s history for insight into sources of both physical and emotional pain. As health-care budgets have become stretched, physicians spend less time interacting one-on-one with patients in their exam rooms; the average physician schedules patients back-to-back at 15-minute intervals.
Still, the cost of not intervening is far greater – not only in the loss of human health and wellbeing, but also in additional healthcare. According to the CDC, the total lifetime cost of child maltreatment in the US is $124 billion each year. The lifetime healthcare cost for each individual who experiences childhood maltreatment is estimated at $210,012 – comparable to other costly health conditions, such as having a stroke, which has a lifetime estimated cost of $159,846 per person, or type-2 diabetes, which is estimated to cost between $181,000 and $253,000.
Further hindering change is the fact that adult physical medicine and psychological medicine remain in separate silos. Utilising ACE research requires breaking down these long-standing divisions in healthcare between what is ‘physical’ and what is ‘mental’ or ‘emotional,’ and that’s hard to achieve. Physicians have been well-trained to deal only with what they can touch with their hands, see with their eyes, or view with microscopes or scans.
Just as physical wounds and bruises heal, just as we can regain our muscle tone, we can recover function in underconnected areas of the brain
However, now that we have scientific evidence that the brain is genetically modified by childhood experience, we can no longer draw that line in the sand. With hundreds of studies showing that childhood adversity hurts our mental and physical health, putting us at greater risk for learning disorders, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, depression, obesity, suicide, substance abuse, failed relationships, violence, poor parenting and early death, we just can’t afford to make such distinctions.
Science tells us that biology does not have to be destiny. ACEs can last a lifetime, but they don’t have to. Just as physical wounds and bruises heal, just as we can regain our muscle tone, we can recover function in underconnected areas of the brain. If anything, that’s the most important take-away from ACE research: the brain and body are never static; they are always in the process of becoming and changing.
Even if we have been set on high-reactive mode for decades or a lifetime, we can still dial it down. We can respond to life’s inevitable stressors more appropriately and shift away from an overactive inflammatory response. We can become neurobiologically resilient. We can turn bad epigenetics into good epigenetics and rescue ourselves. We have the capacity, within ourselves, to create better health. We might call this brave undertaking ‘the neurobiology of awakening’.
Today, scientists recognise a range of promising approaches to help create new neurons (known as neurogenesis), make new synaptic connections between those neurons (known as synaptogenesis), promote new patterns of thoughts and reactions, bring underconnected areas of the brain back online – and reset our stress response so that we decrease the inflammation that makes us ill.

You can find ways to start right where you are, no matter how deep your scars or how long ago they occurred. Many mind-body therapies not only help you to calm your thoughts and increase your emotional and physical wellbeing, but research suggests that they have the potential to reverse, on a biological level, the harmful impact of childhood adversity.
Recent studies indicate that individuals who practice mindfulness meditation and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) show an increase in gray matter in parts of the brain associated with managing stress, and experience shifts in genes that regulate their stress response and their levels of inflammatory hormones. Other research suggests that a process known as neurofeedback can help to regrow connections in the brain that were lost to adverse childhood experiences.
Meditation, mindfulness, neurofeedback, cognitive therapy, EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) therapy: these promising new avenues to healing can be part of any patient’s recovery plan, if only healthcare practitioners would begin to treat the whole patient – past, present and future, without making distinctions between physical and mental health – and encourage patients to explore all the treatment options available to them. The more we learn about the toxic impact of early stress, the better equipped we are to counter its effects, and help to uncover new strategies and modalities to come back to who it is we really are, and who it was we might have been had we not encountered childhood adversity in the first place.


This is an adapted and reprinted extract from ‘Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal’ (Atria), by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. Copyright © Donna Jackson Nakazawa, 2015.

New lab experiments reveal acupuncture has antidepressant effects. An examination of brain cells following acupuncture treatments uncovered important mechanisms by which acupuncture exerts its antidepressant effects. Acupuncture caused the regulation of brain cell activity associated with therapeutic results.
The researchers discovered that acupuncture exhibits regulatory effects on special brain cells in the hippocampus called neural progenitor cells (NPs). These cells contribute to the maintenance of the brain and spinal cord. A major function of NPs is in the replacement of damaged or dead cells. Injured cells activate NPs to differentiate into the target tissue. NPs vary slightly from stem cells because they are more specific and tend to differentiate into a specific type of cell.
The researchers cite numerous studies showing “that acupuncture is an effective remedy for depression and it may be as effective as antidepressant drugs.” They also note that electro-acupuncture increases neurogenesis in the hippocampus as do SSRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors), a class of antidepressant medications. Neurogenesis is the process by which neurons are generated from neural stem and progenitor cells.
The focus of this new study was to map the precise cellular mechanisms responsible for the antidepressant effects of electro-acupuncture. Prior research shows that electro-acupuncture restores proliferation of NPs in the brain when impaired by depression. The focus of this study was a more precise measurement of specific biochemical actions.
The findings revealed that electro-acupuncture applied to acupuncture points DU20 (Baihui) and GB34 (Yanglingquan) on a stress induced rat model group regulated two major subclasses of NPs, quiescent neural progenitors (QNPs) and amplifying neural progenitors (ANPs). The researchers demonstrated that chronic unpredictable stress induced behaviors associated with depression and anxiety in the rat model group. The stress caused cell death of QNPs and “impaired the proliferation of both ANPs and QNPs” in the group. Electro-acupuncture “alleviated depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors in the rat” group, restored proliferation of ANPs and limited cell death of QNPs. This caused a preservation of NPs in the hippocampus. 
The researchers note, “The present study revealed that chronic EA (electro-acupuncture) treatment exerted significant antidepressant effects in a rat model of depression. Further, the mechanisms underlying antidepressant effects of EA were associated with preserving the QNPs from apoptosis and ameliorating the impaired ANPs proliferation in hippocampus.” They note that the work conclusively demonstrates that electroacupuncture is “beneficial to the division of hippocampal NPs.” Further, the researchers note that these findings are consistent with other investigations demonstrating that electro-acupuncture “promotes neurogenesis in different brain regions….”
The researchers note that NPs are important in hippocampal neurogenesis and that chronic induced stress decreases proliferation of NPs and manifests in declined neurogenesis. This decrease in the birth of new brain neurons is associated with both anxiety and depression. Electro-acupuncture exhibited the opposite effects of chronic induced stress by upregulating ANPs. The researchers suggest that this is an “underlying mechanism of antidepressant-like effects of EA (electro-acupuncture).”
About the Acupuncture Points
The acupuncture points used in the study have many indications for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Acupuncture point DU20 is a sea of marrow point indicating its benefit to the brain. Traditionally, it functions to clear the senses, calm the spirit, stabilize the ascendant Yang and to extinguish Liver wind.
Many of these terms require translation into biomedical usage for the modern reader. For example, Liver wind is a term referring to disorders involving seizures, shaking, involuntary movements and other types of internal medicine imbalances. To the outside observer unfamiliar with TCM hermeneutics, the term seems unusual. However, it refers to the ability of DU20 to treat certain types of biomedical disorders including types of hypertension and its sequela. DU20 is also used for the treatment of headaches, tinnitus, vertigo, dizziness, nasal congestion, coma, shock, mental disorders, prolapsed rectum and prolapsed uterus.
Acupuncture point GB34 is traditionally used for many types of indications including lower limb and knee pain or paralysis. It commonly used for benefitting the tendons, muscles. sinew and bones. It is also used to benefit both the liver and gallbladder.

References:
Yang, Liu, Na Yue, Xiaocang Zhua, Qiuqin Hana, Bin Lia, Qiong Liu, Gencheng Wu, and Jin Yu. "Electroacupuncture promotes proliferation of amplifying neural progenitors and preserves quiescent neural progenitors from apoptosis to alleviate depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviours.”
Goldman, Steven A., and Fraser Sim. "Neural progenitor cells of the adult brain." In Novartis Found Symp, vol. 265, pp. 66-80. 2005.
Hsu, Yi-Chao, Don-Ching Lee, and Ing-Ming Chiu. "Neural stem cells, neural progenitors, and neurotrophic factors." Cell transplantation 16, no. 2 (2007): 133-150.


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Acupuncture alleviates depression by normalizing gene expression. A new laboratory investigation demonstrates that acupuncture benefits brain biochemistry and regulates gene expression related to depression. The researchers conclude that electroacupuncture treats “depression by modifying or regulating the expression of various genes.” 

Acupuncture was applied to acupuncture points Baihui (DU20) and Yintang on depression model laboratory rats. Electroacupuncture was applied the needles at 2 Hz with an intensity of 1 mA. Needle depth was 2 mm. Needles were applied once per day for 21 days and were retained for 20 minutes during each acupuncture treatment.

At the Healthcare Medicine Institute, we provide many acupuncture continuing education courses for acupuncture CEU and PDA credit on the treatment of depression and emotional disorders. This new research conducted by Beijing University of Chinese Medicine and Chinese PLA General Hospital, however, adds the first ever examination of electroacupuncture on the whole-genome level in relation to the treatment of depression. All prior research and acupuncture continuing education focused on single gene level expression.

The multi-gene approach was discussed by the research team. They note that depression causes “abnormal gene expression” in “a large number of genes” and add that this deleteriously affects “multiple brain functions” and affects nerve cells. Depression causes deleterious biochemical changes and these changes cause more depression. The researchers note, this “vicious circle makes it difficult to cure conditions such as depression.” The researchers note that this educational investigation indicates “that electroacupuncture at Baihui and Yintang modulates depression by regulating the expression of particular genes.”

A total of 21 genes imbalanced by depression were normalized by the application of electroacupuncture. Depression abnormally upregulates some genes and downregulates other genes. Electroacupuncture homeostatically balanced both up and downregulation of gene expression to normal levels. Electroacupuncture also restored normal behaviors in the laboratory rats including actions in sucrose consumption, the swim test and the open field test. 

All 21 genes examined “were closer to a normal level” after the application of electroacupuncture. Genes were examined in the hippocampus, an area of the brain associated with learning, memory and emotions. The hippocampus was selected because “depression is attributable to comprehensive regulation of multiple hippocampal genes….” The researchers conclude that the effective action of electroacupuncture on relieving depression is “related to gene regulation.”

The genes Tmp32, Vgf:Tmp32 and Vgf are downregulated during depression and are normalized by upregulation with electroacupuncture. These genes regulate neuroactive steroid hormones that affect the nervous system. They regulate the function of the synapses, inflammation, myelination, the central nervous system and the HPA axis. The gene Trim32, involved in cell regulation, “was downregulated in depression and returned to normal after electroacupuncture.” The same was found for Igf2, a gene that promotes nerve cell proliferation and increased neurotransmitter levels between synapses. In the same way, Loc500373 was normalized. This gene is involved in ATP formation and energy metabolism. Electroacupuncture was shown to “promote ATP formation” and therefore benefed cell function. 

Brain protein synthesis is damaged by depression. This is reflected in the downregulation of gene Rtn4. Electroacupuncture normalized Rtn4 levels and facilitated restoration of normal protein biosynthesis in the brain. Also, electroacupuncture normalized levels of Hifla, an important gene involved in cellular apoptosis. In all, acupuncture normalized all 21 genes studied.

Electroacupuncture successfully downregulated genes involved in oxidative stress and inflammation that had been upregulated by depression. This normalization benefits the brain by “maintaining tissue structure” and “restoring cell function.” The researchers note that this effect provides “evidence to the observed clinical effect of electroacupuncture on depression.” Overall, electroacupuncture demonstrated the ability to normalize gene levels involved in transcription/translation, neurotransmission and signal transduction, inflammation relating to the immune system, metabolism, enzymatic reactions and protein biosynthesis.

Depression is a serious mental disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. Neuroendocrinological studies now demonstrate a connection between human biology and depression. This latest research, combined with a series of other recent investigations, demonstrates that acupuncture regulates biochemical reactions in the hippocampus including effects on gene expression. Criticisms of acupuncture as a “pseudoscience” by authors in publications such as Forbes Magazine will hopefully be redacted given the enormous body of new research to emerge in the last 2 years on the biochemical effects of acupuncture on the endocrine system and brain chemistry. The new research helps to bridge the gap between biomedical research and the efficaciousness of acupuncture. Hopefully, a new consensus will emerge wherein effective medicine can be judged by patient outcomes and scientific research.

Reference:
Duan, Dongmei, Xiuyan Yang, T. Ya, and Liping Chen. "Hippocampal gene expression in a rat model of depression after electroacupuncture at the Baihui and Yintang acupoints." Neural Regeneration Research 9, no. 1 (2014): 76.


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

A new study concludes that acupuncture is effective for reducing the syndromes caused by vascular dementia. Investigators discovered that acupuncture helps to reduce dysfunction of reasoning, memory and general cognition for patients with this disorder. Vascular dementia is caused by damage to the brain from impaired blood flow. This may be caused by a stroke or conditions leading to damaged blood vessels or poor circulation that cause deprivation of oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Risk factors include hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking and heart disease.
A total of 63 patients were studied. Group 1 was a randomized acupuncture treatment group. Group 2 was a non-randomized acupuncture treatment group that self-selected to undergo acupuncture care. Group 3 received conventional guided rehabilitation. Groups 1 and 2 showed significant improvement from acupuncture treatments whereas the conventional treatment group did not show improvement.
Treatment assessments were based on a baseline established before any treatments were rendered. Next, measurements were taken during the 6 week treatment period. Interestingly, improvements in the acupuncture groups did not begin until after completion of the entire treatment regime. At a four week post-treatment follow-up, both acupuncture groups demonstrated significant improvements in reduction of vascular dementia syndromes.
 A detailed analysis revealed an important finding. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) differential diagnostics revealed that those patients improving the most suffered from excess syndromes, particularly Liver Yang hyperactivity and phlegm obstruction of the orifices. Patients with deficiency syndromes, including Kidney Jing-essence deficiency, demonstrated the least improvements.
This study is not isolated in its findings. Other research concludes that acupuncture is successful in reducing dementia and notes that “that acupuncture is beneficial at least in part by preventing oxidative damage.” Yet another recent study of 184 vascular dementia patients discovered that scalp acupuncture caused significant improvements in cognition, activities of daily living, mental state and social behavior.
Similar findings have been discovered for herbal medicines. Herbal formula Yi Gan San demonstrates neuroprotective effects including protecting dopaminergic neurons from toxicity. The Acupuncture & Meridian Science Research Center at Kyung Hee University conducted research showing that Yi Gan San is useful for the management of neurodegenerative diseases. Yi Gan San showed significant neuroprotection in an induced Parkinsonian mouse model. The study notes that “in the mouse Parkinson's disease model, treatment with Yi-Gan San also significantly improved motor functioning and prevented dopaminergic loss.”
Another study published in 'The Journal of Brain Disease' reported that Yi Gan San may be helpful in treating schizophrenia and neuropsychological disorders because it restores brain glutathione levels. In another study published in 'Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry,’ the Shimane School of Medicine concluded that Yi Gan San is a serotonin modulator and is a “safe and useful” formula for treating behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and borderline personality disorder. The study also shows significant improvements in tardive dyskinesia, psychosis and schizophrenia.
Yi Gan San (Restrain the Liver Powder) contains the herbs Dang Gui, Fu Ling, Bai Zhu, Chuan Xiong, Gou Teng, Chai Hu and Gan Cao. The TCM indications for the use of this formula are rebellious Liver Qi and Liver Blood deficiency.
The mounting evidence that acupuncture and herbal medicines benefit patients with dementia and other neuropsychological disorders suggests that a more integrative medical model is appropriate for the treatment of these conditions. Barriers to access include underinsurance coverage for acupuncture and herbal medicine, cultural unfamiliarity with treatment options, non-integration of referrals within the conventional medical system and the extreme challenges faced by individuals and families in arranging quality medical care for persons who are at least partially mentally incapacitated. The latter involves issues of transportation, oversight and scheduling.

References:
Shi, G. X., C. Z. Liu, Wei Guan, Z. K. Wang, Lei Wang, Chuan Xiao, Z. G. Li, Q. Q. Li, and L. P. Wang. "Effects of acupuncture on Chinese medicine syndromes of vascular dementia." Chinese journal of integrative medicine (2013).
Shi GX, Liu CZ, Li QQ, Zhu H, Wang LP. Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2012, 32(2):199-202.
Huang, Lin-na, An, Jun-ming, Su, Tong-sheng; Wang, Pu; Dong, Lan; Zhang, Ruo-ping; Ren, Yu-juan; Ren, Yuan-yuan. Therapeutic efficacy observation on scalp acupuncture for vascular dementia. Journal of Acupuncture and Tuina Science. 2012-02-01.

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Research finds acupuncture effective for improving memory, cognition and walking for patients with dementia. First up, we take a look at acupuncture points that improve walking and movement for patients with vascular dementia. Neurologic exams often reveal gait disorders. The inability to walk properly may severely inhibit the lifestyle of patients with dementia while increasing the risk of falling. Researchers have identified several key acupuncture points that significantly improve the gait of dementia patients. In addition, acupuncture produced significantly superior patient outcomes over a control group receiving conventional pharmaceutical medications. 
Gait disorders associated with dementia often involve circular rotations of the hip, foot drag, reduced knee movement, stooped posture, reduced arm swing, shuffling, small steps, a broad stance, unsteadiness, or difficulty initiating movement. Researchers have discovered that the application of Huatuojiaji (EX-B2) acupuncture points from L2 to L5 combined with scalp acupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Sishencong produced a total effective rate of 90.5%. Use of the drug Almitrine (Duxil) had a total effectiveness rate of 61.9%. As a result, the researchers conclude, “The efficacy of treating vascular dementia gait disorder with electro-acupuncture (EA) on EX-B2 along lumbar vertebra combined with scalp acupuncture was superior to orally administered Duxil.”
Acupuncture Protocol
Huatuojiaji points were needled bilaterally from L2 to L5 along with DU20 and Sishencong. Electroacupuncture was connected bilaterally to the Huatuojiaji points. Treatments were administered once per day for 30 days. A significant achievement, the research data clearly shows that this protocol significantly and positively impacts the daily lives of patients with dementia.
Memory and Thinking
Acupuncture helps to reduce dysfunction of reasoning, memory and general cognition according to research by G. Shi, et al. Vascular dementia is caused by damage to the brain from impaired blood flow. Stroke or conditions leading to damaged blood vessels or poor circulation that cause deprivation of oxygen and nutrients to the brain plus hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking and heart disease are all risk factors. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) differential diagnostics revealed that patients improving the most suffered from excess syndromes, particularly Liver Yang hyperactivity and phlegm obstruction of the orifices. Patients with deficiency syndromes, including Kidney Jing-essence deficiency, demonstrated the least improvements.
Luo, et al., discovered that acupuncture successfully increases glucose metabolism in the brain areas related to cognition and memory. They also found that acupuncture improves cerebral blood flow. Objective measurements reveal that acupuncture protects against oxidative damage by improving antioxidant enzyme (SOD, GSH) activity in the brain. Acupuncture also successfully downregulates inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). Acupuncture was also shown to increase the expression of GLUT1 (glucose transporter 1). GLUT1 is involved in cellular respiration, regulation of glucose levels and vitamin C uptake. Upregulation of GLUT1 promotes intercellular transport and benefits brain glucose metabolism. The laboratory results indicate that upregulation of GLUT1 by acupuncture alleviates ischemia and anoxia related cognitive impairment. As a result, the researchers conclude that acupuncture is effective in alleviating vascular dementia. 
Luo, et al., investigated Professor Jingyuan Han’s approach to care for patients with vascular dementia. Han’s treatment protocols use three primary Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) protocols: tonify qi, regulate blood, essence nurturing. The approach is based in the three jiao vaporization protocol. This technique focuses on unblocking obstructions as the primary mode of care followed by tonification as the secondary mode of care.
Prof. Han comments that the pathogenesis of vascular dementia within the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) system involves three main components: kidney deficiency, phlegm stasis and turbid toxins. He adds that many internal organs, both zang and fu, are involved. As a result, his approach focuses on stimulating invigorating and restorative functions throughout the body. Prof. Han uses a variety of acupuncture points based on differential diagnostics including Danzhong (CV17), Zhongwan (CV12), Qihai (CV6), Zusanli (ST36), Xuehai (SP10) and Waiguan (SJ5).
Other research concludes that acupuncture is successful in reducing vascular dementia disorders and notes that “that acupuncture is beneficial at least in part by preventing oxidative damage.” The researchers observed that acupuncture measurably reduced levels of 8-OHdG, a marker of oxidative damage. Another study of 184 vascular dementia patients discovered that scalp acupuncture caused significant improvements in cognition, activities of daily living, mental state and social behavior. 
Herbs
Traditional Chinese Medicine encompasses a variety of treatment modalities including acupuncture and herbal medicine. Research demonstrates that herbal medicine also benefits patients with dementia. A study published in The Journal of Brain Disease reports that the herbal formula Yi Gan San may be helpful in treating schizophrenia and neuropsychological disorders because it restores brain glutathione levels. Another study published in Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry concludes that Yi Gan San is a serotonin modulator and is a “safe and useful” formula for treating behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia and borderline personality disorder.
References:
Gang, F. E. N. G. "Observation on efficacy of treating vascular dementia gait disorder with electro-acupuncture (EA) on Jiāj (EX-B2) along lumbar vertebra combined with scalp acupuncture." World Journal of Acupuncture-Moxibustion 24, no. 2 (2014): 1-5.
Luo, Benhua. “Development in Study on ‘Qi Tonifying, Blood Regulating, and Essence Nurturing’ Acupuncture Technique Treating Vascular Dementia.” Chinese Journal of Gerontology. 14.139 (2014): 4091-4092.
Shi, G. X., C. Z. Liu, Wei Guan, Z. K. Wang, Lei Wang, Chuan Xiao, Z. G. Li, Q. Q. Li, and L. P. Wang. "Effects of acupuncture on Chinese medicine syndromes of vascular dementia." Chinese journal of integrative medicine (2013).
Shi GX, Liu CZ, Li QQ, Zhu H, Wang LP. Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 2012, 32(2):199-202.
Huang, Lin-na, An, Jun-ming, Su, Tong-sheng; Wang, Pu; Dong, Lan; Zhang, Ruo-ping; Ren, Yu-juan; Ren, Yuan-yuan. Therapeutic efficacy observation on scalp acupuncture for vascular dementia. Journal of Acupuncture and Tuina Science. 2012-02-01.

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

A study recently published in JAMA Neurology suggests that mothers with multiple sclerosis who breastfeed their babies exclusively during the first 2 months after giving birth could increase their chances of a 6-month reprieve from the disease.
A new study has found breastfeeding may have benefits for mothers with MS.Perceptions of multiple sclerosis (MS) have changed radically over the last 60 years. The National MS Society describe how, until 1950, women with MS were advised not to become pregnant, in the belief that the disease would worsen as a result.

On the contrary, the majority of research now not only shows that this is untrue, but it indicates a reduction in relapses during pregnancy, especially in the second and third trimesters, according to the Society.

Indeed, conception, pregnancy and delivery do not seem to be affected by MS. On the other hand, the chance of relapse in the first 6 months after giving birth is well documented.

During pregnancy, the body produces increased levels of corticosteroids as well as proteins that act as natural immunosuppressants. After giving birth, these natural benefits are reduced as hormones return to their pre-pregnancy levels - all of which contribute to a number of effects, including, for women with MS, a 20-30% chance of relapse within the first 3-4 months after delivery.

Now, new research suggests that exclusive breastfeeding for the first 2 months after giving birth could reduce the risk of relapse.

Exclusive breastfeeding reduced risk of MS relapseA team in Germany, led by Dr. Kerstin Hellwig of Rhur-University Bochum, surveyed 201 women over a 4-year period from 2008 to 2012.

The volunteers, who were registered with the German national MS and pregnancy registry, had expressed their intention either to breastfeed exclusively for 2 months after giving birth (59.7%), not to breastfeed or to breastfeed with regular supplementary feeds.

The findings showed that only 24.2% of the breastfeeding mothers suffered a relapse within the first 6 months after giving birth, in contrast with 38.3% of mothers who either did not breastfeed or did so only partially.

It seems that the mothers who breastfed their babies exclusively for the first 2 months increased their own chances of wellbeing for the first 6 months of motherhood.

Those who did not suffer a relapse at this time did seem to experience a return of symptoms in the second 6 months after giving birth, as they introduced supplemental feeding for their infants and as menstruation returned.

While commenting that the positive effect of breastfeeding "seems to be plausible," the authors of the report recommend that "women with MS should be supported if they choose to breastfeed exclusively," since at the very least, exclusive breastfeeding appears not to increase the chance of a relapse; indeed, they suggest that it may positively offer some relief from the disease at a time when new mothers most need it.

Dr. Hellwig told Medical News Today:

"I think these are very helpful and optimistic findings, as they clearly show that breastfeeding is not harmful [for MS patients]."

Limitations of the study include the fact that the participants had registered voluntarily, and that most of them had been using disease management treatments prior to becoming pregnant.

While breastfeeding is known to be beneficial for infants, a study recently reported by MNT found the practice may also expose infants to toxic chemicals known as perfluorinated alkylate substances (PFASs).

Written by Yvette Brazier
Reference: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/298961.php

For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Australian researchers have come up with a non-invasive ultrasound technology that clears the brain of neurotoxic amyloid plaques - structures that are responsible for memory loss and a decline in cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients.

If a person has Alzheimer’s disease, it’s usually the result of a build-up of two types of lesions - amyloid plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. Amyloid plaques sit between the neurons and end up as dense clusters of beta-amyloid molecules, a sticky type of protein that clumps together and forms plaques. 

Neurofibrillary tangles are found inside the neurons of the brain, and they’re caused by defective tau proteins that clump up into a thick, insoluble mass. This causes tiny filaments called microtubules to get all twisted, which disrupts the transportation of essential materials such as nutrients and organelles along them, just like when you twist up the vacuum cleaner tube.

As we don’t have any kind of vaccine or preventative measure for Alzheimer’s - a disease that affects 343,000 people in Australia, and 50 million worldwide - it’s been a race to figure out how best to treat it, starting with how to clear the build-up of defective beta-amyloid and tau proteins from a patient’s brain. Now a team from the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland have come up with a pretty promising solution for removing the former.

Publishing in Science Translational Medicine, the team describes the technique as using a particular type of ultrasound called a focused therapeutic ultrasound, which non-invasively beams sound waves into the brain tissue. By oscillating super-fast, these sound waves are able to gently open up the blood-brain barrier, which is a layer that protects the brain against bacteria, and stimulate the brain’s microglial cells to activate. Microglila cells are basically waste-removal cells, so they’re able to clear out the toxic beta-amyloid clumps that are responsible for the worst symptoms of Alzheimer’s.

The team reports fully restoring the memory function of 75 percent of the mice they tested it on, with zero damage to the surrounding brain tissue. They found that the treated mice displayed improved performance in three memory tasks - a maze, a test to get them to recognise new objects, and one to get them to remember the places they should avoid.

"We’re extremely excited by this innovation of treating Alzheimer’s without using drug therapeutics," one of the team, Jürgen Götz, said in a press release. "The word ‘breakthrough’ is often misused, but in this case I think this really does fundamentally change our understanding of how to treat this disease, and I foresee a great future for this approach."

The team says they’re planning on starting trials with higher animal models, such as sheep, and hope to get their human trials underway in 2017. 

Reference: http://www.sciencealert.com/new-alzheimer-s-treatment-fully-restores-memory-function


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Georgetown University Medical Center and University of Hong Kong researchers find acupuncture effective for the treatment of chronic stress. In a unique laboratory investigation, researchers discovered that electroacupuncture at acupuncture point ST36 “prevents the stress-induced increases in HPA hormones, and has potentially long lasting effects.” In addition, behavioral tests show electroacupuncture is an effective modality in eliminating “depressive and anxious behavior.”

The researchers note that the use of electroacupuncture (EA) “may provide utility in management of clinical chronic stress-related disorders, with minimal side effects.” Electroacupuncture at ST36 on laboratory rats was found significantly more effective than sham controls “in reducing depression-like behavior.” Both latency to immobility and duration of immobility due to stress were significantly reduced in the electroacupuncture group versus the sham control group. In addition, electroacupuncture at ST36 effectively prevents increases in stress related hormones versus the sham control group.

The researchers tested the effective biological mechanisms of electroacupuncture at ST36 by implementing a glucocorticoid blockade using RU-486, a synthetic anti-progesterone and antiglucocorticoid drug often employed as an abortifacient. The testing reveals that electroacupuncture at ST36 is likely to act through the central regulation of CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) and not directly through cortisol (CORT) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) feedback. ACTH is produced in the pituitary gland in response to CRH, which is released by the hypothalamus.

The researchers discovered that electroacupuncture prevents elevations of the HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis) hormones “minutes after exposure to painful cold stress.” This was effective for true electroacupuncture at ST36 but not at the sham non-acupoint, indicating point specificity. The sham electroacupuncture point did not prevent elevations of ACTH and CORT whereas true acupuncture was effective. 

The researchers also tested the effects in cases of chronic stress. They determined that electroacupuncture (EA) applied to ST36 “can work after initiation of chronic stress and that the effects are long lasting.” Electroacupuncture at ST36 successfully prevented elevations of ACTH and CORT in cases of chronic stress. The researchers note, “Of great importance to clinical therapy is that the effects of EA St36 are relatively long lasting, in that 4 days after EA treatment was withdrawn but cold stress continued, the HPA axis hormones remained at control levels in the EA St36 animals.” The HPA changes correlated to the behavioral data demonstrating reductions in anxious and depressive behaviors. 

The findings that electroacupuncture at ST36 acts centrally via regulating CRH activity links the mechanism of action to potential clinical benefits for patients with major or atypical depression, according to the report. The researchers note “that patients who suffer from major and atypical depression demonstrate diathetic CRH pathology.” They add that it is particularly important that the research demonstrates that electroacupuncture is effective “while stress is ongoing.” This supports the therapeutic actions of electroacupuncture for chronic conditions including posttraumatic stress disorder and “numerous depressive-type disorders.” The researchers add, “Given our observations of the effects of EA on stress induced CRH activity, we postulate that EA can potentially provide a minimally invasive, cost-effective option for management of these intractable disorders.”

This is groundbreaking research. It demonstrates that the influence of electroacupuncture at ST36 on ACTH, CORT, CRH, and the HPA “has a primary central effect because the entire pathway is controlled centrally.” According to the research team, it is “the first report linking the effects of EA St36 on the HPA to depressive and anxious behavior.” The report also demonstrates lasting therapeutic biochemical and behavioural results from the application of electroacupuncture at ST36. The researchers conclude that electroacupuncture “specifically at ST36” and not at a sham point “is effective in treating chronic poststress exposure.”


Reference:
Eshkevari, Ladan, Susan E. Mulroney, Rupert Egan, and Lixing Lao. "Effects of Acupuncture, RU-486 on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis in Chronically Stressed Adult Male Rats." Endocrinology (2015): EN-2015. School of Nursing and Health Studies (L.E.), Department of Pharmacology and Physiology (L.E., S.E.M., R.E.), Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007; and School of Chinese Medicine (L.L.), The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

If you ask most doctors, they’ll tell you there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, nor is there a treatment. Dr. Mary Newport begs to disagree. When her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the young age of 51, she set to work researching the disease and understanding why it happens and how it can be stopped.

Her husband’s traditional medication was not working to slow the disease, and it was progressing rapidly. It didn’t take long before he wasn’t even able to tie his shoes anymore. So Dr. Newport tried something that was, in a way, out of desperation.

Coconut oil.She started her husband on four teaspoons daily and noticed results right away. He became more mentally agile and was able to read again, have conversations, and tie his shoes again. Mary had her husband back. But Mary, being a doctor and knowing that one instance of Alzheimer’s being treated makes not a cure, so she decided to quantify her findings with more in-depth research. Her next step has been to apply for funding for investigating this treatment.

After some time, she was given the green light to study 65 individuals with early onset to moderate Alzheimer’s. She’s studying how coconut oil impacts the ability of Alzheimer’s sufferers to continue to function at some higher level. Alzheimer’s has been called type 3 diabetes. To function normally, your brain needs fat and glucose. It’s what the brain considers fuel. Studies have shown that low carb and fat diets, for example, can impact brain function negatively. So this is where coconut oil comes into play.

Coconut oil is rich in ketones. Ketones are a molecule that the brain uses for energy when there isn’t enough glucose around. Dr. Newport thinks this is how her husband was helped by coconut oil. His brain was no longer using glucose and fats for food, and in their absence, added ketones filled in some of the blanks for energy.

This is really exciting research. We’re eager to hear about the results. In the meantime, unless you or your family member is allergic to coconuts, coconut oil is something that definitely couldn’t hurt to add to your diet, especially if you have early onset Alzheimer’s.



Reference: http://simpleorganiclife.org/alzheimers/


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

MRI studies reveal the neurological mechanisms of acupuncture on human health. Research published in Autonomic Neuroscience demonstrates that stimulation of specific acupuncture points induces hemodynamic changes in specific brain networks. The researchers add that brain networks accessed by specific acupuncture points relate to specific medical disorders and suggest an “acupoint-brain-organ” pathway. 

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies reveal specific acupuncture point effects in the brain through blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) measurements. In a meta-analysis of 82 fMRI studies, researchers found a large body of evidence supporting acupuncture point specificity. This applies to both manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture. True acupuncture point stimulation induced specific cortical effects whereas sham acupuncture did not. In addition, the researchers note that acupuncture point stimulation produces significantly “more positive and negative hemodynamic signal response(s) in brain regions compared with sensory stimulation used as a control condition.”

Many important findings were confirmed. Acupuncture exerted a stimulus that “could induce beneficial cortical plasticity in carpal tunnel syndrome patients.” It was also demonstrated that acupuncture relieved pain “by regulating the equilibrium of distributed pain-related central networks.”

The researchers note that a fundamental principle of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is that “specific acupoints have therapeutic effects on target organ systems remote from the needling site….” Recent fMRI investigations support this principle. The researchers note that “fMRI investigations regarding several acupoints have demonstrated that acupuncture stimulation at disorder-implicated acupoints modulates the activity of the disorder-related brain regions.”

In TCM, acupuncture point Neiguan (PC6) is indicated for the treatment of nausea and vomiting. The fMRI research supports this ancient principle. The researchers note, “Acupuncturing at Neiguan (PC6) could selectively evoke hemodynamic response of insula and cerebellar-hypothalamus in order to exert modulatory effects on vestibular functions, indicating the specific treatment effect on nausea and vomiting.” 

Acupuncture point GB37 (Guangming), located on the lower leg, is indicated for the treatment of vision related disorders within the TCM system. The name of the point, Guangming, is translated as bright light and indicates the acupoint’s use in the treatment of visual disorders. It is categorized as a Luo-connecting point and has the TCM functions of regulating the liver and clearing vision. The point is indicated for the treatment of hyperopia (farsightedness), myopia (nearsightedness), night blindness, and eye pain. The research demonstrates that GB37 increases neural responses in the occipital cortex. The researchers add that it was “discovered that modulations in vision-related cortex (BA18/19) were responsive to the specificity of GB37….” This connection between fMRI findings and TCM indications confirms the specificity of GB37 for the treatment of visual disorders.

A broad body of research suggests “that acupuncture at different acupoints may modulate relatively specific cerebral areas,” according to the researchers. Acupoints demonstrating this phenomenon in fMRI include:

• Hegu (LI4)
• Zusanli (ST36)
• Taichong (LV3)
• Taixi (KI3)
• Qiuxu (GB40)
• Guangming (GB37)
• Jiaoxin (KI8)
• Auricular Brain Stem
• Sanyinjiao (SP6)

Many examples of acupoint cortical specificity were included in the research. The following are some highlights. The researchers note, “Acupuncture at the three classical acupoints of Hegu (LI4), ST36 and Taichong (LV3) produced extensive deactivation of the limbic-paralimbic-neocortical brain network as well as activation of its anti-correlated activation network.” Differentiation between the points was noted as the following, “LI4 was predominant in the pregenual cingulated and hippocampal formation, ST36 response was predominant in the subgenual cingulate, and LV3 in the posterior hippocampus and posterior cingulated….” Taixi (KI3) mediated the executive network, Qiuxu (GB40) activated the auditory network, and “Jiaoxin (KI8) was associated with (the) insula and hippocampus in pain modulation.” 

The mechanisms of cerebral action of true acupuncture were found distinct from sham acupuncture. The researchers note, “Acupuncture at Taichong (LR3) could specifically activate or deactivate brain areas related to vision, movement, sensation, emotion, and analgesia compared with sham acupuncture.” They add, “Several studies have found that there were different brain responses between traditional acupoints and sham points….” It was found that “ST36 could induce greater activation in ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (PAG) and produced linearly time-variant fMRI activities in limbic regions, such as amygdale and hippocampus….” Needling acupuncture point Erjian (LI2) activated the insula and operculi but this did not occur with sham acupuncture. Other research examples were cited. The researchers concluded, “These results provided evidence to support that acupoints may have its own functional specificity to sham point.”

A multiplicity of fMRI studies investigated the effects of deqi. The elicitation of deqi by acupuncture needling techniques is often described by patients as electrical, dull, or heavy. Deqi is often described by licensed acupuncturists applying manual acupuncture as a pulling or tugging sensation on the needle. The fMRI research shows “ that acupuncture with deqi induced extensive deactivation in limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network (LPNN) and activation in somatosensory regions of (the) brain.” Other research suggests that the bilateral postcentral gyrus, insula, ipsilateral inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, claustrum, and contralateral ACC are related to deqi elicitation. In addition, the researchers note that deqi sensations are directly “correlated with activation in sensorimotor and cognitive (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex) processing, and deactivation in DMN (default-mode network regions).”

The depth of needling affects cerebral responses to acupuncture. It was found that deep needling of KI3 elicits “more extensive connectivity related to therapeutic effect(s) of acupuncture in mild cognitive impairment patients” when compared with superficial needling. Other important clinical findings were documented. Acupuncture successfully regulated DMN and motor-related networks in stroke patients. The application of acupuncture to acupoints LR3 and LI4 activated cognitive related regions in Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients. The study notes that abnormal functional connectivity in the temporal regions of the hippocampus, thalamus, and fusiform gyrus for mild cognitive impairment patients “significantly improved.”

The mechanisms by which laser acupuncture exerts antidepressant effects was revealed in fMRI. The DMN (default mode network) is at its peak activity level when the brain is a rest and deactivates when the brain is task or goal oriented. Laser acupuncture to Ququan (LR8), Qimen (LR14), and Juque (DU14) stimulated both the anterior and posterior DMN in depressed and non-depressed individuals. However, posterior DMN modulation was wider in depressed individuals receiving laser acupuncture at the parieto-temporal-limbic cortices.

Acupuncture has also been shown to regulate DMN activity in Alzheimer’s disease patients. In addition, brain activation induced by acupuncture in healthy patients is different than brain activation induced in Parkinson’s disease patients. One study was found showing that “acupuncture may regulate the cardiovascular system through a complicated brain network from the cortical level, the hypothalamus, and the brainstem to improve body pain and vitality in primary hypertension patients.”

The researchers note that fMRI assists in understanding the neural effects of acupuncture. The researchers conclude, “Acupuncture could induce hemodynamic changes in a wide cortico-subcortical network, large portions of which are overlapped with the disorder-related areas, indicating that there maybe exist a specific pathway connecting “acupoint-brain-organ” underlying acupuncture induced therapeutic effects.”


Reference:
He, Tian, Wen Zhu, Si-Qi Du, Jing-Wen Yang, Fang Li, Bo-Feng Yang, Guang-Xia Shi, and Cun-Zhi Liu. "Neural mechanisms of acupuncture as revealed by fMRI studies." Autonomic Neuroscience (2015).



For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

We know that too much sugar is bad for our waistlines and our heart health, but now there's mounting evidence that high levels of sugar consumption can also have a negative effect on brain health -- from cognitive function to psychological wellbeing. 

While sugar is nothing to be too concerned about in small quantities, most of us are simply eating too much of it. The sweet stuff -- which also goes by names like glucose, fructose, honey and corn syrup -- is found in 74 percent of packaged foods in our supermarkets. And while the Word Health Organization recommends that only 5 percent of daily caloric intake come from sugar, the typical American diet is comprised of 13 percent calories from sugar.

“Many Americans eat about five times the amount of sugar they should consume,” Natasa Janicic-Kahric, an associate professor of medicine at Georgetown University Hospital, told The Washington Post.

It's easy to see how we can get hooked on sugar. However, we should be aware of the risks that a high-sugar diet poses for brain function and mental well-being. 

Here's what you need to know about how overconsumption of sugar could wreak havoc on your brain. 
It creates a vicious cycle of intense cravings.
When a person consumes sugar, just like any food, it activates the tongue's taste receptors. Then, signals are sent to the brain, lighting up reward pathways and causing a surge of feel-good hormones, like dopamine, to be released. Sugar "hijacks the brain’s reward pathway," neuroscientist Jordan Gaines Lewis explained. And while stimulating the brain's reward system with a piece of chocolate now and then is pleasurable and probably harmless, when the reward system is activated too much and too frequently, we start to run into problems. 

"Over-activating this reward system kickstarts a series of unfortunate events -- loss of control, craving, and increased tolerance to sugar," neuroscientist Nicole Avena explained in a TED-Ed video. 

In fact, research has shown that the brains of obese children actually light up differently when they taste sugar, reflecting an elevated "food reward" response. This suggests that their brain circuitry may predispose these children to a lifetime of intense sugar cravings. 

It impairs memory and learning skills.
A 2012 study on rats, conducted by researchers at UCLA, found that a diet high in fructose (that's just another word for sugar) hinders learning and memory by literally slowing down the brain. The researchers found that rats who over-consumed fructose had damaged synaptic activity in the brain, meaning that communication among brain cells was impaired. 

Heavy sugar intake caused the rats to develop a resistance to insulin -- a hormone that controls blood sugar levels and also regulates the function of brain cells. Insulin strengthens the synaptic connections between brain cells, helping them to communicate better and thereby form stronger memories. So when insulin levels in the brain are lowered as the result of excess sugar consumption, cognition can be impaired. 

"Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain," Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, the study's lead author, said in a statement. "Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body. This is something new."

It may cause or contribute to depression and anxiety. 
If you've ever experienced a sugar crash, then you know that sudden peaks and drops in blood sugar levels can cause you to experience symptoms like irritability, mood swings, brain fog and fatigue. That's because eating a sugar-laden donut or drinking a soda causes blood sugar levels to spike upon consumption and then plummet. When your blood sugar inevitably dips back down (hence the "crash"), you may find yourself feeling anxious, moody or depressed. 

Sugar-rich and carb-laden foods can also mess with the neurotransmitters that help keep our moods stable. Consuming sugar stimulates the release of the mood-boosting neurotransmitter serotonin. Constantly over-activating these serotonin pathways can deplete our limited supplies of the neurotransmitter, which can contribute to symptoms of depression, according to Dr. Datis Kharrazian, functional medicine expert and author of Why Isn't My Brain Working?.

Chronically high blood sugar levels have also been linked to inflammation in the brain. And as some research has suggested, neuroinflammation may be one possible cause of depression. 

Teenagers may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of sugar on mood. A recent study on adolescent mice, conducted by researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, found a diet high in sugar to contribute to depression and anxiety-like behavior. 

Research has also found that people who eat a standard American diet that's high in processed foods -- which typically contain high amounts of saturated fat, sugar and salt -- are at an increased risk for developing depression, compared to those who eat a whole foods diet that's lower in sugar. 

It's a risk factor for age-related cognitive decline and dementia. 
A growing body of research suggests that a sugar-heavy diet could increase risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. A 2013 study found that insulin resistance and blood glucose levels -- which are hallmarks of diabetes -- are linked with a greater risk for developing neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's. The research “offers more evidence that the brain is a target organ for damage by high blood sugar,” endocrinologist Dr. Medha Munshi told the New York Times. 

Some researchers, in fact, have even referred to Alzheimer's as "Type 3 Diabetes" -- which suggests that diet may have some role in an individual's risk for developing the disease.



Reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/06/sugar-brain-mental-health_n_6904778.html


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Marijuana, Apathy and Chinese Medicine, Part 1By Leon I. Hammer, MD

This article was written in response to the unheeded acceptance of marijuana as a harmless substance that potentially does good when used for the medical relief of pain. I wish to register my experience with marijuana over these years, as a substance extremely functionally, if subtly, destructive to people.

At the same time I wish to make it clear that I oppose the "war on drugs" as a counterproductive, misguided predictable failure, as if we did not learn anything from the cultural experience with the attempt to control alcohol with prohibition.

The Individual
I have been a physician for sixty-one years, during which time I directed many drug-abuse councils and worked with thousands of addicted young people as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. With more than fifty years of experience with marijuana as a clinician and as an observer in social settings, I feel that it is important to share my experience of marijuana as a substance of substantial danger to both individuals and to society.

Marijuana allows people to make extensive and sometimes unrealistic, even grandiose plans for their life, and robs them of the ability to realize these plans. They are left often with a life sometimes filled with excellent designs and without the will or energy to execute, to make decisions and follow through.

Among so many people, clients, friends and acquaintances, I have seen lives lived in fantasy and futility in many degrees of severity with endless energy depleting maneuvers to hide their failure from others and themselves. Somewhere deep inside each loss is registered if not faced. However, marijuana is the feel-good substance that is even more dangerous because it deadens the pain that would signal danger and engender change.

On inquiry, the reason given is fear; fear of the emotions that would otherwise lead them to encounter struggle. Fear of their own anger and that of others; fear of failure to cope with stress and the consequent loss of self-esteem and a deep need to avoid battle and disapproval were most often cited.

Western medical studies are long since quoted saying that marijuana is physiologically harmless. Of course, people vary in their ability detoxify it. One problem stated in the literature is that it has been difficult to obtain enough marijuana of uniform strength and quality to conduct large-scale research.

Marijuana, according to Chinese herbal medicine is what is known as a "cold" herb, draining the essential energy called yang primarily from the Liver, rendering the Liver relatively unable to perform its functions of moving physical and mental energy and containing it for when it is needed. The result is that while there is no problem making plans, when it is time to move on these plans, there is no coherent energy to do it.

Liver Physiology-Pathology And Marijuana
In the recent literature from the East, nor in either the Nei Jing or Nan Jing, have I found any reference to conditions that I find constantly increasing since first learning about it from Dr. John Shen OMD, more than thirty years ago. The conditions are Liver Qi deficiency, Liver Yang deficiency and the Separation of Liver Yin and Yang.

Liver Qi and Yang deficiency was associated by Dr. Shen with overwork (beyond one's energy over a lifetime) and found from late middle to old age. The principal consequence was easy fatigue and less stamina in performing daily tasks. The concept of "beyond one's energy" means simply that we are not all created equal, and that work that might deplete one person might have little effect on another. Constitution essence and body condition along with the stress were the determining factors.

What I am about to describe differs from Dr. Shen's observations in that it presents with a greater degree of deficiency on the pulse. Besides fatigue, there is lassitude, lethargy and procrastination always associated with varying degrees of a clear inability to follow through and move forward on plans and decisions about which there is endless discussion and little or no action. The consequence is that ideas rarely become reality. The most serious long-term outcome described by Dr. Shen is the development of a lymphoma of the Liver.

I wish to make it clear early in this discussion that as stated already, we are not all created equal. Some people with very strong Livers will tolerate much more abuse than others with less substantial Liver function. There will be many who can honestly say that they have used and abused the cold substances with no obvious consequence.

On the other hand, there was the teen daughter of a friend to whose side I was called in the middle of the night in a psychotic state because she had for the first time had one puff of marijuana. She was brought home early from a party by friends, disoriented, irrational and severely agitated. Her friends reported her to have taken one puff from a joint that was being passed around. It was necessary to hospitalize her for a few days when she recovered and fortunately did not resume smoking marijuana, going on to a successful life. While psychosis in my experience is the exception, I have witnessed it more than this once.

Liver Qi deficiency is identified on the Shen-Hammer pulse at the left middle position by increasing degrees of deficiency by a yielding and diminished qi depth, spreading (absent qi depth and separating blood depth), by a reduced substance and pounding, and a diffuse quality especially at the blood and organ depth.

Liver Yang deficiency is described as the entire left middle position being feeble-absent, deep and/or beginning to separate at the organ depth (empty quality). Separation of Yin and Yang of the Liver is found in various stages with middle finger pressure on the radial artery, first with separating at the organ depth and later at the blood depth until there is a complete disappearance of the blood and organ depths and retention only of the qi depth (the empty quality). An even more serious pulse sign that indicates the separation of Yin and Yang or empty quality, is changing qualities at the left middle position.

Years before I studied Chinese medicine or met Dr. Shen, I had observed the phenomena of easy fatigue, inability to recover energy and an inability to follow through on plans with hundreds of young college students who I encountered in the late 1960s and early 1970s in my capacity as a psychiatric consultant to a student health clinic in a local college. During the 1970s, I also observed this in friends and acquaintances. They all had one common lifestyle, though some were obviously more vulnerable; they all smoked marijuana fairly constantly.

When I began to teach the pulse in 1983, I used the student's pulses to demonstrate positions, depths and qualities. I found an alarming number of them to have an empty quality at the left middle position. It was incumbent upon me to share the interpretation with the class and soon found that rather than wanting to hide this widespread use of marijuana and LSD, the cold substances that were draining their Liver Qi, the participants were eager to share their stories. The pulse workshops were becoming group therapy sessions and the story from mostly health professionals was that they had turned to Chinese medicine in the hope of recovering their health. I began to use subjects referred by the practitioners for demonstration rather than the practitioners themselves. Gradually I realized that substances such as LSD and heroin were equally cold Qi-Yang draining substances leading to the same symptoms and pulse picture.

During the time that Dr. Shen and I worked together he was unaware of the effect of substances of abuse as an etiology of Liver Qi-Yang deficiency and separation of Liver Yin and Yang. In my practice, it was increasingly clear that this was becoming the major cause of the pulse findings described above.

The Liver has two functions with regard to qi. The Liver moves the qi (metabolic heat) for the entire organism and Liver qi contains the qi in the form of repressed emotions in order for a society to follow the Ten Commandments, especially though shall not kill. Think of how often that would happen, or even lesser violence, if the Liver did not provide us with the ability to stagnate, actually contain, our emotions. Liver qi stagnation has gotten a bum wrap and is blamed by students and practitioners for almost every pathology in my experience as a teacher of Chinese medicine; this, along with a misunderstanding of Liver Qi rising. It must be kept in mind that the Liver is the detoxifying organ whose deficiency will greatly exacerbate the effect of any toxic substance.

However, it is the function of the Liver to move rather than contain that concerns us here. That ability is necessary for us to mobilize the energy and put into motion the potential will contained within the Kidney. It is this function, to move from the idea to the act that is impaired when Liver qi is disabled by anything that will reduce Liver Qi-Yang. This is evidenced by pulse after pulse and patient after patient presentation, by the cold substances that rob the Liver of Qi-Yang, and the ability to act, as with the patient presented above.

Therapy
The two most important individual herbs to recovery of Liver Qi-Yang deficiency and separation of liver yin and yang are Astragalus (Huang Qi) and Salvia (Dan Shen). Other herbs in the formula would depend upon that individual's other conditions. The most commonly used formulas are an altered Ginseng and Longan (Gui Pi Tang) and Ginseng and Astragalus (Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang). The latter tends to be too stimulating but is somewhat ameliorated adding the linking decoction (Yi Guan Jian).

Research En Toto
Marijuana and executive function: A broader spectrum of cognitive functions designated as executive functions were investigated (attention, concentration, decision-making, impulsivity, self-control of responses, reaction time, risk taking, verbal fluency and working memory) all were impaired acutely in a dose-dependent manner. The authors concluded that some elements of executive function usually recover completely after stopping marijuana use, but deficits most likely to persist for long periods of time are decision-making, concept formation and planning, especially in heavy users who started using at an early age (Crean et al., J. Addict. Med., 5: 1-8. 2011).

Adverse health effects of marijuana in evidence-based review of acute and long-term effects of cannabis use on executive cognitive functions, there is generally good agreement between the conclusions based on these studies and the clinical impressions based on population studies (Hall W. and Degenhardt L. Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet, 374: 1383-1391, 2009).

Marijuana and brain function: Cannabis produced dose-related impairments of immediate and delayed recall of information presented while under the influence of the drug. Learning, consolidation and retrieval of memory were all affected (Ranganathan M and and D'Souza DC. The acute effects of cannabinoids on memory in humans: a review. Psychopharmacology, 188: 425-444, 2006).

Marijuana and cognition: Here it is mentioned for chronic users, "by subtle cognitive impairment in those who are daily users for 10 years or more by (Hall W. and Degenhardt L." in Lancet as cited below with a high incidence of psychosis with a family history or personal history of psychosis.

Marijuana and anxiety: There is a strong pattern of cannabis relieving anxiety at low doses and promoting anxiety at higher doses. (Viveros et al., 2005; Moreira and Lutz, 2008; Akirav, 2011). Daily cannabis use was associated with anxiety disorder at 29 years (adjusted OR 2.5), as was cannabis dependence (adjusted OR 2.2). Among weekly+ adolescent cannabis users, those who continued to use cannabis use at 29 years remained at significantly increased odds of anxiety disorder (adjusted OR 3.2), (Degenhardt et al, The persistence of the association between adolescent cannabis use and common mental disorders into young adulthood. Addiction. 2012 Jul 6. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2012.04015.x. PubMed PMID: 22775447.)

Marijuana and depression: High doses of cannabis in humans appear to increase the risk of depression, especially in the young (Ashton CH and Moore PB. Endocannabinoid system dysfunction in mood and related disorders. Acta Psychiatr. Scand., 124: 250-261, 2011).

Higher mortality: In more recent research, marijuana use disorder is associated with higher mortality. A massive study was undertaken to understand the mortality rate of methamphetamine users, in relation to other drug users. Methods: Excluded for space considerations.

Results: Those treated for addiction to cannabis (marijuana) had a higher mortality rate (3.85 times higher than controls), higher if compared to death rate risk of cocaine use disorder (2.96), alcohol use disorder (3.83), but lower than opioid use disorder (5.71) or methamphetamine use disorder (4.67).

The study demonstrates that individuals with cannabis (marijuana) use disorders have a higher mortality risk than those with diagnoses related to cocaine or alcohol, but lower mortality risk than persons with methamphetamine or opioid-related disorders.

Given the lack of long-term cohort studies of mortality risk among individuals with methamphetamine-related disorders, as well as among those with cocaine- or cannabis-related conditions, the current study provides important information for the assessment of the comparative drug-related burden associated with use and addiction. (Callaghan et al., All-cause mortality among individuals with disorders related to the use of methamphetamine: A comparative cohort study. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012 Oct 1;125(3):290-4).

Dr. Leon I. Hammer is clinical director at Dragon Rises College of Oriental Medicine in Gainesville, Fla. He may be contacted at www.dragonrises.edu.


Reference: http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=33026


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, current estimated cases of autism range from one in every 1,000 to one in every 500. Theories suggest vaccines are responsible, but there is growing concern that environmental toxins and pollution may be contributing factors. It is also theorized that nutrition, viral infections, immunizations, and antibiotics may be causal aspects as well.

People speak in terms of children "developing" autism, but new research cited by the Autism Society of America suggest genetic ties -- that the disorder is present prenatal. An autism symptom will usually appear before the age of three, at which age a formal diagnosis can be made. Because an autism characteristic can be any combination of insufficiencies in language, social communication, and cognition, autism is difficult to diagnose before normal development in these areas would usually occur.

Autism is considered a spectrum disorder by standard medicine. Spectrum disorders are defined as a group of conditions that have similar features but may present an autism symptom in different ways. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes "classic" autism, Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (atypical autism). Each of these conditions usually is accompanied by a secondary autism characteristic such as aggression, irritability, stereotypies (involuntary but seemingly purposeful movement), hyperactivity, negativism, volatile emotions, temper tantrums, short attention span, and obsessive-compulsive behavior.

Autism in the Western medical sense does not exist in Chinese medicine. Instead, it is classified under the Syndrome of 5 Delays. The "delays" are observed in the areas of standing, walking, hair growth, teeth eruption and speech. This type of brain dysfunction in children, classic autism characteristic, is seen in traditional Chinese medicine as an imbalance of body functions. Based in the yin/yang theory, TCM views disease within the framework of energy balance.

Unlike Western medicine, which rates the brain the most important factor of the human physique, Chinese medicine sees the body and mind as part of the same circular system with the organs and the central nervous system. Western medicine has traditionally considered emotional influence on the organs as secondary, while Chinese medicine has always seen it as a key to understanding and achieving balance.

In Chinese medicine, reason and awareness, which are strongly affected by autism, are primarily ruled by three organ systems: the Heart, Spleen and Kidney. The Heart holds the Mind or Shen and rules the mental functions, including the emotional state of the individual and short-term memory. The Spleen is linked to the mind's ability to study, memorize, and concentrate. Kidney qi rules over long-term memory. A disturbance in these areas can lead to displays of any autism characteristic.

According to Mary Cissy Majebe's, "Chinese Medicine and Autism An Introduction for Parents, Teachers and Allopathic Physicians," autism treatment includes eliminating phlegm; tonifying Heart blood, qi and yin; clearing Heart heat; and tonifying Spleen qi and Kidney essence.

Eliminating phlegm is crucial because it is involved with the two primary Chinese medicine diagnoses of autism. Phlegm misting the mind leads to dull wit and incoherent speech, mental confusion, lethargy and limited attention to surroundings. The condition of Phlegm fire harassing the heart presents as disturbed sleep, talking to oneself, uncontrolled laughing or crying, short temper and tendency toward constipation and aggression.

Balance in the heart is another key element because Heart blood or yin deficiency, as well as Heart fire will prompt an autism symptom on different extremes such as lethargy and quietness, fidgety restlessness, or aggressive behaviors.

Spleen qi deficiency and Kidney essence deficiency are central to the pathology of autism, the former affecting food intake (no interest in food, or an excessive hunger), while the latter will result in poor mental development.

The Autism Research Institute asserts that nutritional treatments have shown great success in autism treatment. They suggest for an autism diet avoiding yeast, glutens, casein, and any allergens. The Chinese medical diet is determined by flavor (pungent, sweet, salty), temperature (both physical and energy quality) and action on the body. Central to the philosophy and practice of Chinese medicine, it is thought that many, if not most, of our health problems are related to imbalances in our diet. Sensitivity to foods is not the cause of autism, but it does appear that certain components of foods exacerbate some of autism's symptoms. Dietary therapy, by creating a healthy autism diet, helps patients treat illness and maintain health. The general rule in Chinese diet therapy is, "Warm foods restore balance. Just go to the center and forget either extreme."

Autism has also been treated with acupuncture and massage. These two methods can be a difficult undertaking. It can take time for a child to adjust to touch treatments, but the benefits that have been discovered through studies and by practitioners may well be worth any required patience.

Acupuncture has made incredible strides in treating autism. Its efficacy can possibly be explained through the medical theory that autism is in part a neuroendocrine dysfunction and a result of the incorrect production of opioids. According to the book Scientific Bases of Acupuncture, acupuncture affects opioids, the central nervous system and neuroendocrine function.

Tongue acupuncture is also showing remarkable headway healing dysfunctions related to autism, according to recent studies. It is being studied for treating a number of brain disorders in children, including blindness, cerebral palsy and autism.

Tongue diagnosis is a central piece of the Chinese medical diagnostic system because the tongue is the only organ that can be seen externally. Its condition - color, thickness, dryness, smell and superficial growth reflects the condition of the heart and helps doctors determine treatment.

Although alternative autism treatment such as tongue acupuncture and dietary changes should still be viewed as a complementary approach, these exciting early findings stand as an innovative starting point for a new system of autism treatment.

Reference:  http://www.pacificcollege.edu/news/blog/2014/09/17/autism-treatment-through-traditional-chinese-medicine#sthash.5GMKnjET.dpuf




For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. That such vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the body is surprising on its own, but the true significance of the discovery lies in the effects it could have on the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimer's disease to multiple sclerosis.

"Instead of asking, 'How do we study the immune response of the brain?' 'Why do multiple sclerosis patients have the immune attacks?' now we can approach this mechanistically. Because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system through meningeal lymphatic vessels," said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVA's Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). "It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that can't be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions."

"We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role," Kipnis said. "Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component."

New Discovery in Human Body
Kevin Lee, PhD, chairman of the UVA Department of Neuroscience, described his reaction to the discovery by Kipnis' lab: "The first time these guys showed me the basic result, I just said one sentence: 'They'll have to change the textbooks.' There has never been a lymphatic system for the central nervous system, and it was very clear from that first singular observation - and they've done many studies since then to bolster the finding - that it will fundamentally change the way people look at the central nervous system's relationship with the immune system."

Even Kipnis was skeptical initially. "I really did not believe there are structures in the body that we are not aware of. I thought the body was mapped," he said. "I thought that these discoveries ended somewhere around the middle of the last century. But apparently they have not."

'Very Well Hidden'
The discovery was made possible by the work of Antoine Louveau, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Kipnis' lab. The vessels were detected after Louveau developed a method to mount a mouse's meninges - the membranes covering the brain - on a single slide so that they could be examined as a whole. "It was fairly easy, actually," he said. "There was one trick: We fixed the meninges within the skullcap, so that the tissue is secured in its physiological condition, and then we dissected it. If we had done it the other way around, it wouldn't have worked."

After noticing vessel-like patterns in the distribution of immune cells on his slides, he tested for lymphatic vessels and there they were. The impossible existed. The soft-spoken Louveau recalled the moment: "I called Jony [Kipnis] to the microscope and I said, 'I think we have something.'"

As to how the brain's lymphatic vessels managed to escape notice all this time, Kipnis described them as "very well hidden" and noted that they follow a major blood vessel down into the sinuses, an area difficult to image. "It's so close to the blood vessel, you just miss it," he said. "If you don't know what you're after, you just miss it."

"Live imaging of these vessels was crucial to demonstrate their function, and it would not be possible without collaboration with Tajie Harris," Kipnis noted. Harris, a PhD, is an assistant professor of neuroscience and a member of the BIG center. Kipnis also saluted the "phenomenal" surgical skills of Igor Smirnov, a research associate in the Kipnis lab whose work was critical to the imaging success of the study.

Alzheimer's, Autism, MS and Beyond
The unexpected presence of the lymphatic vessels raises a tremendous number of questions that now need answers, both about the workings of the brain and the diseases that plague it. For example, take Alzheimer's disease. "In Alzheimer's, there are accumulations of big protein chunks in the brain," Kipnis said. "We think they may be accumulating in the brain because they're not being efficiently removed by these vessels." He noted that the vessels look different with age, so the role they play in aging is another avenue to explore. And there's an enormous array of other neurological diseases, from autism to multiple sclerosis, that must be reconsidered in light of the presence of something science insisted did not exist.

The findings have been published online by the prestigious journal Nature and will appear in a forthcoming print edition.

 Explore further: Major discovery on spinal injury reveals unknown immune response
Source: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-06-link-brain-immune.html


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The study and practice of acupuncture by licensed acupuncturists causes functional and structural changes to their brains. Researchers note that the behavioral and tactile-motor training and clinical experiences of acupuncturists promotes specific types of brain development in practitioners. This is certainly one of the more unusual acupuncturist studies of 2013.

Ordinarily, studies focus on the effects of acupuncture on patients. Now, researchers have made an intensive investigation of the effects of the profession on brain neuroplasticity in this controlled experiment. The MRI data demonstrates distinct brain development as a result of the professional acupuncturist experience. The study explores how the brain responds to daily activities in an effort to develop enhanced therapeutic rehabilitation and training techniques for widespread applications.

The results of the testing confirmed that acupuncturists develop highly skilled tactile-motor abilities and emotional regulation proficiency. The MRI scans revealed that acupuncturists have “larger grey matter volumes... in the hand representation of the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (SI), the right lobule V/VI and the bilateral ventral anterior cingulate cortex/ventral medial prefrontal cortex. Grey matter volumes of the SI and Lobule V/VI positively correlated with the duration of acupuncture practice.” The researchers hope this data can be applied to tactile-motor rehabilitation techniques. The researchers recommend additional studies to investigate the causal relationship between “practice/use and brain anatomy.”

The researchers cited examples of brain neuroplasticity. They noted that “imaging studies have provided compelling evidence that training/enhanced use of a body part or cognitive functions cause structural plastic changes in (the) human central nervous system in the model of dancers, sports experts and meditators.” This latest investigation was inspired by the fine dexterity of motor skills required of the acupuncture profession combined with the need for emotional regulation proficiency and the ability to generate precise motor commands and adjustments based on tactile feedback.

The research compared 22 acupuncturists with 22 non-acupuncturists. Musicians were excluded from the study to remove the dexterity variable. A tactile discrimination ability test revealed that acupuncturists have greater spatial acuity and tactile discrimination proficiency than the controls. The same was true of the fine motor skill test and the emotion regulation proficiency test. The MRI data imaging employed a 3T Siemens scanner. A professional radiologist examined the images prior to analysis.

The researchers note that of the acupuncturists, “Significantly larger grey matter volumes (p<0.01) were found in the acupuncturists as compared to NA in a subset of cerebral and cerebellar regions, i.e. the left primary somatosensory cortex (SI), the right lobule V/VI and the bilateral ventral anterior cingulate cortex/the vetral medial prefrontal cortex (vACC/VMPFC) after controlling for potential confounding variables including age, gender effects, level of education and total intracranial volume.” Significant increases in grey matter volume (GMV) were directly proportional to the number of years in practice.

The results showed that acupuncturists demonstrated significantly greater grey matter volumes over the controls in specific regions of the brain. The total volume of grey matter increases in these regions is directly proportional to the duration of acupuncture practice measured in years. More grey matter forms in the specific brain regions in response to participating in the profession.

The researchers note that the increase in grey matter volume in the cortical representation of the hand in the left SI cortex is potentially due to the necessary tactile discrimination functions an acupuncturist performs routinely. Notably, the acupuncturists studied use manual insertion techniques and manual manipulation techniques as part of their daily work routine. Results are expected to vary if acupuncturists use only tube needle insertion techniques with no manual manipulation of the needles. The researchers cited investigations showing that use is a “major factor driving plasticity of cortical maps.” Additional studies cited in the research “suggest that enrichment in the afferent sensory input could induce cortical morphometry changes in the adult human brain.”

The researchers note increased grey matter volume in the right lobule V/VI for licensed acupuncturists. Further testing revealed that acupuncturists have highly developed fine motor skills. The researchers note that these findings are consistent with research showing that finger movement control areas are dependent upon activation of the cerebellum in the specific brain regions showing increased grey matter. Further, the duration of acupuncture practice and training periods are consistent with the long-lasting abilities of acupuncturists to maintain high levels of dexterity in the fingers and the associated increase in grey matter volume.

The next part of the study finds that acupuncturists have bilateral increased grey matter in the vACC/VMPFC. The researchers note that studies show that this region is involved in the modulation of emotional responses. The vACC/VMPFC is involved in “suppressing and reappraising negative emotional stimuli” and is actively involved in this effect on behavior. The researchers noted that a long-term meditation study demonstrates that increases in grey matter in the vACC/VMPFC are consistent with increased ability to regulate emotions and control behavior. As a result, the bilateral vACC/VMPFC increase in grey matter of acupuncturists is probably related to emotional regulation development.

The researchers conclude that acupuncture training and practice is related to consistent, systematic structural changes in the brain. These changes are probably caused by the engagement of specific skill sets during training and practice. The researchers suggest further studies of training strategies, neuroplasticity and rehabilitation techniques based on these findings.


Reference:
Dong, Minghao, Ling Zhao, Kai Yuan, Fang Zeng, Jinbo Sun, Jixin Liu, Dahua Yu et al. "Length of Acupuncture Training and Structural Plastic Brain Changes in Professional Acupuncturists." PLOS ONE 8, no. 6 (2013): e66591.

- See more at: http://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1217-acupuncture-practice-expands-brain#sthash.bnxRs4e0.dpuf




For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Researchers confirm that acupuncture and other Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) procedures are effective Parkinson’s disease treatment modalities. Specialized TCM procedures demonstrating efficaciousness include scalp acupuncture, moxibustion, and acupotomy. The researchers conducted a meta-analysis and concluded that acupuncture significantly improves the overall condition of Parkinson’s disease patients.

Parkinson’s disease is a nervous system disorder characterized by tremors, slow movements (bradykinesia), rigidity of musculature, balance disorders, and difficulty with daily activities including writing and speaking. There is no known cure for Parkinson’s disease. Medications used to control Parkinson’s disease include levodopa, dopamine agonists, MAO-B inhibitors, COMT inhibitors, anticholinergics, and amantadine. Additionally, deep brain stimulation and surgery may be employed.

Parkinson’s disease was recognised as a biomedical condition in the occident after the publication of James Parkinson’s An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in 1817. James Parkinson became a surgeon at the age of 29 in 1784 after graduating from London Hospital Medical College. A decorated humanitarian, Dr. Parkinson advocated for progressive social reforms.

Various forms of tremor disorders and their treatment regimens have been documented for over 1,000 years in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The research conducted by Qiu Congsheng et al. evaluates several approaches to symptomatic improvements. The researchers add that an advantage to acupuncture treatments is that, unlike many medications used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, it does not cause dyskinesia.

The meta-analysis examined the groundbreaking work of Zhou Sha. A sample size of 40 patients was treated with the following primary acupuncture points:

• Ya Men (DU15)
• Feng Chi (GB20)
• Wan Gu (SI4)
• Tian Shu (ST25)

The research demonstrates that the patients had significant improvements in physical, behavioral, and mental indices. Yuan Yin et al. used the same primary acupuncture points and achieved significant improvements for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The acupoint prescription is referred to as the ‘Lu Di 7 point’ combination. Three of the acupoints are bilateral and one acupoint is unilateral for a total of 7 acupuncture points. In another body of work examined in the meta-analysis, Huang Na et al. demonstrated that scalp acupuncture benefitted patients and significant reductions of insomnia were achieved.

TCM body style acupuncture has been shown to benefit Parkinson’s disease patients. Ren Xiaoming et al. targeted their treatment strategy towards befitting the liver and kidney and achieved significant positive patient outcomes for patients with Parkinson’s disease. The primary acupuncture points were:

• Gan Yu (BL18)
• Xian Yu (BL23)
• Feng Chi (GB20)
• Qu Chi (LI11)
• He Gu (LI4)
• Yang Ling Quan (GB34)
• Tai Xi (KD3)
• Tai Chong (LV3)

Yao Xiaoping randomly distributed 57 patients with Parkinson’s disease into a treatment group and control group, which consisted of 30 and 27 patients respectively. The treatment group patients received acupuncture plus levodopa. Patients from the control group received only levodopa. After a month, researchers compared results obtained from both groups and assessed criteria such as facial expression, posture, linguistic ability, pace, dyskinesia, shaking, rigidity, etc.... The treatment group achieved a total efficacy rate of 93.3% and the control group achieved a 66.7% total effective rate. The results indicate that combining acupuncture therapy with levodopa has additive or synergistic effects. In other findings, Zhu Fangjian et al. demonstrated that acupuncture alleviates constipation for patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Wang Shun et al. employed the use of threading style acupuncture with a high total effective rate for relieving the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Primary threaded acupoint pairs included:

• Qian Ding (DU21) - Xuan Lu (GB5)
• Nao Hu (DU17) - Feng Fu (DU16)
• Yu Zhen (BL9) - Tian Zhu (BL10)
• Nao Kong (GB19) - Feng Chi (GB20)

Xu Guoqing et al. focused on the TCM principles of alleviating liver and kidney disorders, controlling damp stagnation, and improving blood circulation. The researchers note that this acupuncture treatment protocol lessened the toxic adverse effects due to medication consumption and reduced tremors.

Acupotomy has also demonstrated benefits to Parkinson’s disease patients. This is an aggressive style of needling and is a form of microsurgery often used to remove adhesions. Researchers have combined acupotomy with scalp acupuncture and have achieved significant clinical results. 

Deng Xianbin et al. used moxibustion and achieved significant clinical results for patients with Parkinson’s disease. Significant improvements were noted in the relief of myotonia and improvement of functional bodily movements. The following were primary acupoints receiving moxibustion:

• Zhong Wan (CV12)
• Qi Hai (CV6)
• Guan Yuan (CV4)
• Dan Shu (BL19)
• Ge Shu (BL17),
• Da Zhui (DU14)
• Ming Men (DU4)

Zhong Ping et al. evenly distributed 60 Parkinson’s patients into a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group received Madopar, a Parkinson’s disease medication, plus moxibustion at the following acupoints including:

• Zhong Wan (CV12)
• Xia Wan (CV10)
• Qi Hai (CV6)
• Guan Yuan (CV4)
• Ming Men (DU4)

The control group only received Madopar. After 7 months of treatment, the moxibustion plus Madopar group achieved a total effective rate of 93.3% whereas the Madopar only group achieved a 63.3% total effective rate. The results indicate that an integrative therapy model improves patient outcomes.


Reference:
Qiu Congsheng, Wang Xuhui, Development of acupuncture treatment for Parkinson’s disease, Hunan Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2015 (31).


For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Sleeping in the lateral, or side position, as compared to sleeping on one's back or stomach, may more effectively remove brain waste and prove to be an important practice to help reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other neurological diseases, according to researchers at Stony Brook University.

By using dynamic contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to image the brain's glymphatic pathway, a complex system that clears wastes and other harmful chemical solutes from the brain, Stony Brook University researchers Hedok Lee, PhD, Helene Benveniste, MD, PhD, and colleagues, discovered that a lateral sleeping position is the best position to most efficiently remove waste from the brain. In humans and many animals the lateral sleeping position is the most common one. The buildup of brain waste chemicals may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions. Their finding is published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Dr. Benveniste, Principal Investigator and a Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Radiology at Stony Brook University School of Medicine, has used dynamic contrast MRI for several years to examine the glymphatic pathway in rodent models. The method enables researchers to identify and define the glymphatic pathway, where cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) filters through the brain and exchanges with interstitial fluid (ISF) to clear waste, similar to the way the body's lymphatic system clears waste from organs. It is during sleep that the glymphatic pathway is most efficient. Brain waste includes amyloid β (amyloid) and tau proteins, chemicals that negatively affect brain processes if they build up.

Helene Benveniste, MD, PhD, and Hedok Lee, PhD, analyzed the glymphatic pathways of rodent models to assess how body posture affects the clearance of brain waste. In the paper, "The Effect of Body Posture on Brain Glymphatic Transport," Dr. Benveniste and colleagues used a dynamic contrast MRI method along with kinetic modeling to quantify the CSF-ISF exchange rates in anesthetized rodents' brains in three positions – lateral (side), prone (down), and supine (up).

"The analysis showed us consistently that glymphatic transport was most efficient in the lateral position when compared to the supine or prone positions," said Dr. Benveniste. "Because of this finding, we propose that thebody posture and sleep quality should be considered when standardizing future diagnostic imaging procedures to assess CSF-ISF transport in humans and therefore the assessment of the clearance of damaging brain proteins that may contribute to or cause brain diseases."

Dr. Benveniste and first-author Dr. Hedok Lee, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Anesthesiology and Radiology at Stony Brook developed the safe posture positions for the experiments. Their colleagues at the University of Rochester, including Lulu Xie, Rashid Deane and Maiken Nedergaard, PhD, used fluorescence microscopy and radioactive tracers to validate the MRI data and to assess the influence of body posture on the clearance of amyloid from the brains.

A study by Stony Brook University researchers suggests that sleeping on one’s side, as opposed to other positions such as on one’s back or stomach, may more effectively remove brain waste, a contributor to the development of neurological disorders."It is interesting that the lateral sleep position is already the most popular in human and most animals – even in the wild – and it appears that we have adapted the lateral sleep position to most efficiently clear our brain of the metabolic waste products that built up while we are awake," says Dr. Nedergaard. "The study therefore adds further support to the concept that sleep subserves a distinct biological function of sleep and that is to 'clean up' the mess that accumulates while we are awake. Many types of dementia are linked to sleep disturbances, including difficulties in falling asleep. It is increasing acknowledged that these sleep disturbances may accelerate memory loss in Alzheimer's disease. Our finding brings new insight into this topic by showing it is also important what position you sleep in," she explained.

Dr. Benveniste cautioned that while the research team speculates that the human glymphatic pathway will clear brain waste most efficiency when sleeping in the lateral position as compared to other positions, testing with MRI or other imaging methods in humans are a necessary first step.

Explore further: Scientists discover previously unknown cleaning system in brain

More information: "The Effect of Body Posture on Brain Glymphatic Transport" The Journal of Neuroscience, 5 August 2015, 35(31): 11034-11044; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1625-15.2015 
Journal reference: Journal of Neuroscience  
Provided by: Stony Brook University  


For educational purpuses only. This information has nit been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.