Natural Health Care

One of the topics that I am most frequently asked about at our clinic is acupuncture. What is acupuncture, exactly? How does it work? What conditions are acupuncture helpful for? How is it different from acupressure? Does it hurt?
Let's take it from the top.

What is acupuncture, exactly?

Acupuncture is a system of health care that involves placing needles at specific locations throughout your body, usually for 15-60 minute treatment sessions. Over thousands of years, practitioners have learned through trial and error that placing needles in specific locations and combinations can help improve various health conditions.

If you're still going for a mammogram screening once every year or two years, please consider the following:

Over the past several months, many people have visited our clinic or written letters asking what they can do about various aches, pains, and cramps in their legs.

Here's an example of such a note that came in this past week:

I'm 83 and have a problem that has slowly developed over the past year. More and more I am experiencing cramps in my legs and inner thighs. They interrupt sleep and this morning it was extremely hurtful in my left leg. I have searched medical books that I have, but (haven't been able to find out) what is wrong.

I'm sure there is something natural that my system is lacking, but I don't know what. Is there anything you can recommend that I can try?

As a general marker of overall health status, few tests carry greater predictive weight than homocysteine.

The amount of homocysteine in your blood is one of the best objective indicators of how healthy you are and how long you are going to live.

Hello,

I feel compelled to write this e-mail because of your comments about chiropractors which I linked to off your article regarding x-rays. Funny, because I just started seeing a chiropractor and I signed up for his treatment package based on the results of the x-rays he did. I guess I regarded chiropractic care as 'alternative' medicine and thought that this approach might be healthier and better for me than seeing my traditional family doctor. I understand that some and maybe most chiropractors might be motivated by the same monetary 'needs' as traditional doctors. But are you also saying that spinal adjustments aren't effective as treatments for certain conditions? Or that they are not useful for helping promote general good health?

In 1965, a 17 year-old college student tried to set a world record for staying awake. During his quest he experienced the following symptoms: visual and auditory hallucinations, increased heart rate, low blood pressure, and psychosis. After 264 hours and 12 minutes (just over 11 days), he collapsed due to profound weakness. Thankfully, he made a full recovery after sleeping 14 hours and 40 minutes.

One of the most important steps that you can take to improve your health, regardless of your current situation and health challenges, is to make sure that your intestines have plenty of friendly bacteria.

Take a look at the keyboard that sits in front of you. Is it on an angle that is causing your wrists to be an inch or two lower than the rest of your hands? If your hands are extended like this on a regular basis, you are at risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome.

Here are two simple measures that you can take to avoid this:

A favorite staple in the Korean diet is a soup called den jang gook. For those of you who aren’t familiar with den jang gook, it is Korea’s version of miso soup, made out of fermented soy beans. During their first year or two of marriage, Korean women like to joke about their husbands' gas from indigestion smelling like den jang gook. In other words, they are crazy in love.

In 1986 McGill Cancer Center scientists surveyed 188 oncologists who specialized in the treatment of lung cancer. Asked what they would do if they developed the disease, 75% said that they would not participate in any chemotherapy treatments. What were their reasons? "The ineffectiveness of chemotherapy and its unacceptable degree of toxicity."

In 1989, approximately 150 cancer specialists around the world were surveyed about the cancer treatment choices they would make for themselves. The survey showed that "the personal views of many cancer specialists seem to be in striking contrast to communications intended for the public."