"We have gone terribly astray in the last 30 years. What went wrong?"
The title of this post is from Jan Bellamy, noting that 30 years ago Claude Pepper's subcommittee on health and long-term care published a report trashing the then-$30 billion a year health quackery industry. That's everything from naturopathy to acupuncture to homeopathy -- all fraudulent, then as now. And yet, instead of getting itself stamped out, this fraudulent enterprise has only grown, not only in size but also in acceptance. Quackery has wormed its way into medical schools and prominent clinics, from Harvard to the Cleveland Clinic. It even has its own institute within NIH.But it isn't just health care fraud. The p...
Source: Stayin' Alive - October 30, 2014 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
Book Review: The Moon over Matsushima – an exhaustive look into moxibustion
Books about moxibustion are few and far between.
Up until very recently, I wasn’t aware of any books that covered the topic separately that weren’t just poor translations of Chinese clinical manuals. My dear friend and colleague, @bravethevoid, turned me on to “The Moon Over Matsushima”, Merlin Young’s incredibly refreshing, exhaustively researched, and inspiring take on moxibustion, and after considerable effort (keep reading), I was able to finish it. Here’s some of my thoughts on it, I hope they inspire you to read the book and milk it for all the practical hints and exhaustive knowle...
Source: Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine - October 30, 2014 Category: Alternative Medicine Practitioners Authors: Cintain 昆游龍 Tags: Acupuncture, Herbs & Other modalities Source Type: blogs
Top medicine articles for October 2014
A collection of some interesting medical articles published recently:Hand-grip strength is an amazingly good predictor of future rates of mortality and morbidity, or sickness http://buff.ly/1BK759H -- Hand grip strength should be considered as a vital sign useful for screening middle-aged and older adults http://buff.ly/1DglFaI -- Measuring hand-grip strength is very simple and cheap. Every primary care doctor should have a dynamometer in their office. At every visit, the doctor could check grip strength for older patients. If someone was in the 45th percentile for their age and the measurements were stable, great. But if ...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - October 24, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Health News of the Day Source Type: blogs
Your Friday Dose of Woo: Just what acupuncture needs. Holograms. And more quantum.
It’s been a bit of a depressing week. I suppose it’s not any more depressing than usual, with the usual unending stream of pseudoscience, quackery (particularly of the Ebola type), and, of course, antivaccine nonsense to deal with. Then, as I’m writing yet another in a long line of unfunded grants, I find out that… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - October 24, 2014 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking Source Type: blogs
Passport Stamped for the Land of Pain: Learning to Live in a Foreign Land
The following post originally ran on the Pain Action Alliance to Implement a National Strategy’s (PAINS) website.
For many years, my passport was stamped in the land of the well, but a poor response to oral surgery in 2013 cancelled that document, leaving me in the land of the sick, the suffering, the other. While I was a well-one, I’d hear stories from that other country—and listen as best I could when others told tales of their visits– but I did not know what it truly meant to live there all the time.
Learning to live in another country is hard work. There are unfamiliar customs to understand, a language to l...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - October 22, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Chronic Conditions Consumer Health Care Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Oh goody. Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day is fast approaching.
A mere couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to “celebrate” a week designated to celebrate the sheer quackiness of the quackery that is naturopathy. True, that’s not what the woo-friendly Senators and Representatives who imposed Naturopathic Medicine Week 2014 on a disinterested world that didn’t need, want, or understand it. They represented it as… (Source: Respectful Insolence)
Source: Respectful Insolence - October 21, 2014 Category: Surgery Authors: Orac Tags: Complementary and alternative medicine Quackery acupuncture AOM Day Ebola Insane Clown Posse magnets World Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Day Source Type: blogs
Lifelong learning in Chinese medicine – increasing flexibility and joy
As anybody who has read this blog for any period of time knows, I enjoy studying. As a student, I was always immersed in one book or another, or tasting herbs, or taking yet another extra-curricular seminar. Beyond that, I was always curious about expanding my study techniques in various ways including with technology and with my senses.
Since graduating, I’ve had a lot on my plate
More than I did as a student, by far. Running my practice (currently in a big growth spurt) and teaching herbs and business at NCNM have dominated my energy more than I imagined they would. These are all good things, of course, and have m...
Source: Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine - October 16, 2014 Category: Alternative Medicine Practitioners Authors: Eric Grey Tags: Study and Scholarship Source Type: blogs
Research and Reviews in the Fastlane 053
This study combines the results from the WARFASA and ASPIRE trials looking at aspirin prophylaxis. The results are promising. Aspirin 100 mg reduced the rate of recurrent VTE from 7.5%/year to 5.1%/year (HR = 0.68) without a significant change in bleeding rate (0.5%/year vs 0.4%/year). We often see patients in the ED with a history of unprovoked VTE who are on no long-term prophylaxis. This article argues that we consider aspirin for all these patients.
Recommended by: Anand Swaminathan
Trauma
Stevens AC, Trammell TR, Billows GL, Ladd LM, Olinger ML. Radiation Exposure as a Consequence of Spinal Immobilization and Extri...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - October 14, 2014 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Nudrat Rashid Tags: Alternative Medicine Anaesthetics Cardiology Education Emergency Medicine Haematology Intensive Care Neurology Pediatrics R&R in the FASTLANE Respiratory Resuscitation Toxicology and Toxinology Trauma critical care literature Source Type: blogs
How I Would Treat Myself for Ebola at Home
Health officials in Sierra Leone are admitting defeat in the fight against Ebola and are trying to set up self-treat kits for patients to use at home because of the lack of hospital beds to care for the ill.
This sad development started me thinking about what I would do if I was stuck in a place with Ebola and could not receive care from a physician or in a hospital.
***Please note that any one who thinks there might be even a tiny chance that they have Ebola should present immediately to a hospital for definitive care.***
This is purely an academic exercise but here is what I think I would do to try to self-treat Ebola an...
Source: Inside Surgery - October 12, 2014 Category: Surgery Authors: Editor Tags: Ebola home treatment rehydration fluid self-treat Source Type: blogs
Alternative medicine: There should only be one standard
“Doctor, what do you think of alternative medicine?” a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome asked me the other day. She was interested in doing something more for her severe fatigue. “Would acupuncture help me?”
I paused and, as I have done many times before, answered that my training and most of my clinical experience has been in Western, allopathic medicine. (Ironically, the word “allopathic” was first used as a derogatory term by the classically trained physician Samuel Hahnemann, who founded homeopathy after becoming disillusioned by medicine as it was practiced in his era.)
Continue reading ...
Your pati...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 16, 2014 Category: Journals (General) Authors: A Country Doctor, MD Tags: Meds Heart Medications Source Type: blogs
Chronic Daily Headache: What is the cause? (2014 Am Fam Physician review)
What is the definition of chronic daily headache?Chronic daily headache is defined as the presence of a headache on 15 days or more per month for at least 3 months. What are the causes?The most common types of chronic daily headache are chronic migraines and chronic tension-type headaches. If a red flag for a secondary cause of headache is present, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head should be performed. All patients should be asked about medication overuse, which can increase the frequency of headaches. Patients who overuse medications for abortive therapy for headache should be encouraged to stop the medications...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - September 9, 2014 Category: Universities & Medical Training Tags: Neurology Source Type: blogs
Once an Addict, Always an Addict?
This is a saying I’ve always grappled with. One part of me is against any type of labeling, let alone a heavy label to be carried for the rest of your life. We are all so interchangeably dynamic, that to categorize someone into a box forever doesn’t sit well.
Another part of me completely agrees with this statement and perceives it to be utterly valid. Instead of denying who you are, true acceptance perhaps is the only way to not only recover, but to continue to maintain your recovery. However much I am against “branding” someone for life, it is human nature to create categorizes in order to piece things togethe...
Source: World of Psychology - August 30, 2014 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Kristin Bach Tags: Addiction Celebrities Habits Health-related Mindfulness Personal Recovery Born Again Designer Drugs Party Drugs Peer Pressure Self Acceptance smoking Substance Abuse Source Type: blogs
Help support acupuncture clinical skill building and vital healthcare in Nepal!
We've Moved! Update your Reader Now. This feed has moved to: http://feeds.feedblitz.com/deepesthealthblog Update your reader now with this changed subscription address to get your latest updates from us. (Source: Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine)
Source: Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine - August 13, 2014 Category: Alternative Medicine Practitioners Authors: Guest Author Tags: Community and Cultivation Foundational Science Source Type: blogs
Help support acupuncture clinical skill building and vital healthcare in Nepal!
Founder’s note: Hey folks, this post is from a NCNM graduate who is going to be participating in the Acupuncture Relief Project in Nepal. She asked that I help her drum up funding for her endeavor – a very worthy cause. She’s going to be contributing some content about the project and her experience, starting with this post. Please give to her cause, if you can, and tell your friends!
Dear Chinese Medicine Central Readers,
In early January 2015, I will leave my husband, two young children, a sweet German Shepherd and a cozy home.
I will load a backpack aboard a flight in Portland, Oregon that will ...
Source: Deepest Health: Exploring Classical Chinese Medicine - August 13, 2014 Category: Alternative Medicine Practitioners Authors: Guest Author Tags: Community and Cultivation Foundational Science Source Type: blogs
Can Acupuncture Help Stop Ebola?
Stimulation of acupuncture points by some other modality will not kill the Ebola virus. It can be used however to help support the body’s organ systems and heighten the body’s immune defenses.
Needles should not be used to puncture the skin in patients with hemorrhagic diseases. However, the points can be accessed by placing high gauss magnets on the points and leaving them in place for several days
All points listed below should be stimulated bilaterally except where indicated.:
Large intestine 10 and 11
kidney 3
kidney 27
bladder 60
heart 3
governor vessel 14
kidney 9
large instestine 15
Left
stomach chi ...
Source: Inside Surgery - August 3, 2014 Category: Surgery Authors: Editor Tags: Infectious Disease acupuncture cure Ebola kidney large intesting magnets meridian needles stomach Source Type: blogs
