A study published in November suggests acupuncture has measurable effects on the patient’s brain, and is not merely a placebo as some critics believe.

Researchers at the Department of Complementary and Integrative Medicine at University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany analyzed brain scans from 18 volunteers who underwent electric shocks, according to The Telegraph.

First, the test subjects were shocked without acupuncture, and then shocked while acupuncture needles were placed between the toes, below the knee and near the thumb.

When scientists compared the scans, they found that acupuncture had the effect of the amount of pain the patient felt, as well as affecting areas of the brain that control expectations and comprehension of pain.

“Our findings support that both these nonspecific and specific mechanisms exist, suggesting that acupuncture can help relieve pain,” said Dr. Nina Theysohn, who presented the research in Chicago on Tuesday.

A little over a week ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced statistics that show as many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050 if current trends continue.

The report predicts that the number of new diabetes cases each year will increase from 8 per 1,000 people in 2008, to 15 per 1,000 in 2050.

One of the main factors behind the projected increase in cases is an aging population susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes.

How to prevent type 2 diabetes
Proper diet and exercise can help prevent diabetes, and also help control the condition for those who already have it.

Dr. Judith Fradkin, Director of Diabetes Division at NIH, told a news station that an NIH study showed that just losing 15 pounds can reduce your risk for developing type 2 diabetes over the next three years by 58 percent. Check out the video with the interview below.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history, having diabetes while pregnant, a sedentary lifestyle.

Certain racial/ethnic groups also more commonly develop type 2 diabetes, according to the CD, identifying the groups as African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and some Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

A Diabetes Prevention Program clinical trial, led by the National Institutes of Health, reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent in people at higher risk of the disease.

While these types of government programs show promise, they also show the need for personal preventative action.

More info
You can read the full press release from the CDC here: http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r101022.html

For more information about diabetes, you can visit www.cdc.gov/diabetes or the National Diabetes Education Program at www.yourdiabetesinfo.org. For a full copy of the CDC report, visit http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/8/1/29.

Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine have been used successfully to help women become pregnant for thousands of years, and the treatment is growing in popularity across the United States.

Using acupuncture points, acupuncturists are able to help women relax and balance their bodies’ energy, to help them conceive, as the news video below discusses.

A lot of patients may be afraid of acupuncture needles at first, but the process is actually relatively painless and relaxing, as the patients in the video explain.

More and more women seem to be asking for acupuncture to help with fertility problems, and our Carmichael clinic is the perfect place to contact for treatment or simply more information for women in the Sacramento area.

One of the patients in the video is a woman who enjoys running, but found that it may have limited her ability to concieve. After a few weeks of acupuncture treatment, her body began to work more naturally.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about acupuncture, which may interest you. It discusses a scientific approach to studying acupuncture. Here’s an exercept from the beginning:

Acupuncture has long baffled medical experts and no wonder: It holds that an invisible life force called qi (pronounced chee) travels up and down the body in 14 meridians. Illness and pain are due to blockages and imbalances in qi. Inserting thin needles into the body at precise points can unblock the meridians, practitioners believe, and treat everything from arthritis and asthma to anxiety, acne and infertility.

As fanciful as that seems, acupuncture does have real effects on the human body, which scientists are documenting using high-tech tools. Neuroimaging studies show that it seems to calm areas of the brain that register pain and activate those involved in rest and recuperation. Doppler ultrasound shows that acupuncture increases blood flow in treated areas. Thermal imaging shows that it can make inflammation subside.

Scientists are also finding parallels between the ancient concepts and modern anatomy. Many of the 365 acupuncture points correspond to nerve bundles or muscle trigger points. Several meridians track major arteries and nerves. “If people have a heart attack, the pain will radiate up across the chest and down the left arm. That’s where the heart meridian goes,” says Peter Dorsher, a specialist in pain management and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. “Gallbladder pain will radiate to the right upper shoulder, just where the gallbladder meridian goes.”

Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704841304575137872667749264.html