In western medicine, doctors are notoriously slow to embrace new techniques. Even more amazing is how slow they are to accept even minimally invasive treatments with a successful track record spanning hundreds or thousands of years.
Acupuncture, rooted in Traditional Chinese medicine, is one of these largely ignored yet proven pain treatments. It seems that treatments whose workings remain a mystery cannot be accepted as good medicine in some circles.
As Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the University of Rochester’s Center for Translational Neuromedicine explains, “acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained skeptical.”
New research conducted at the University of Rochester appears to have uncovered one of the physical mechanisms through which acupuncture relieves pain in the body-finally providing solid scientific evidence supporting what proponents of acupuncture have known for millennia: it works.
Specifically, the researchers discovered that the insertion and rotation of acupuncture needles in mice greatly stimulated their body’s
production of adenosine-finding an increase of 2400% in tissues near the site of insertion. Besides helping regulate sleep and acting as an anti-inflammatory, adenosine serves as a natural painkiller similar to the localanesthetic lidocaine.
The researchers were further able to prove that acupuncture had no effect on specially prepared mice without an adenosine receptor, but tripled its effectiveness on regular mice when a cancer drug known to make the elimination of adenosine from tissue more difficult was administered. And since the study was conducted on mice, researchers were also able to eliminate any concerns about a “placebo effect.”
Here’s the bottom line. Acupuncture works even if we do not completely understand every aspect of how it relieves pain. More importantly, it reduces pain without nearly the risk of pharmaceutical drugs and most other modern interventions. If you’re suffering from any kind of pain, acupuncture is worth considering.
Related references
Goldman N, et al. Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture. Nature Neuroscience. 2010 May 30; doi:10.1038/nn.2562.
In 1995, actress Karen Duffy – better known as MTV’s VJ “Duff” – returned home to New York after the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in excruciating pain.
She later described the initial pain in her head like “a burning, sharp pain that felt like I was being electrocuted.” As bad as the pain felt, it soon grew even worse.
Before long, Karen’s monster headache had transformed into a full-body experience. Most of her body was wracked with pain so severe she would curl into a fetal position and try not to cry – even her tears felt like sulfuric acid sliding down her cheeks. The only parts of her body that didn’t hurt were areas mainly on her left side
left numb and paralyzed from whatever disease she had become afflicted with.
Six months of endless MRIs, spinal taps, and other tests later, her doctors through a process of elimination finally diagnosed her condition: a systemic inflammatory disease called sarcoidosis. In Karen’s case, the disease attacked her central nervous system, leaving her partially paralyzed to this day.
While sarcoidosis may affect virtually any area of the body, it most commonly attacks the lungs and lymph nodes where small nodules of immune cells called granulomas are formed. Sometimes these nodules disappear on their own. Other times they leave behind areas of fibrosis, or internal scar tissue.
In the lungs this scarring can permanently impair breathing through pulmonary fibrosis. Actor Bernie Mac, known for his comedic roles in
numerous television shows and movies, was another high profile individual known to have suffered from sarcoidosis. After being hospitalized in 2008 with pneumonia, his publicist announced his sarcoidosis had been in remission for three years and Bernie was expected to make a full recovery. Sadly, Bernie passed away several days later.
Christmas night 2004, yet another legend passed away. Hall of fame defensive end Reggie White, better known to fans as “The Minister of
Defense,” died in his sleep of a cardiac arrhythmia. Sarcoidosis affecting his heart and lungs was ruled the primary cause of death.
While sarcoidosis is a fairly rare autoimmune disorder, inflammation and fibrosis affects every one of us. Half of all heart attacks are caused by inflammation. Considering the widespread problem, no wonder heart disease remains the number one killer in the United States. But that’s not all. Inflammation is also strongly linked to strokes, arthritis, chronic fatigue, and even Alzheimer’s and
other dementing diseases.
Fortunately, the mechanisms behind controlling systemic inflammation are fairly well understood. It boils down to the level of proteolytic
enzymes which counter the body’s inflammatory response to injury, sickness, or tissue irritation.
When we’re young, our bodies heal quickly. Around our mid-20s, a precipitous drop in bodily production of proteolytic enzymes lead to
extended recovery periods from injuries. The older we get, the longer it takes to heal.
Proteolytic enzymes do more than fight inflammation. They also clean your blood, help fight off viral and bacterial infections, and break down excess scar-creating fibrin. Taking supplemental systemic enzymes not only helps your body keep inflammation in check, it keeps you
healthier by boosting cardiovascular, respiratory and immune system functions throughout your body.
The inflammation fighting and scar erasing properties of proteolytic enzymes haven’t been clinically studied yet (to my knowledge) for the specific treatment of sarcoidosis, but anecdotal evidence from members of sarcoidosis support groups who have tried them indicates it has helped alleviate even symptoms of this harsh disease.
It’s certainly worth further study for sarcoidosis patients – and worth taking to maintain good health in everyone else over age 25. A 30-day supply of systemic enzymes and other natural anti-inflammatory ingredients is currently being offered free at The Healthy Back Institute’s website for those who would like to try them.
Related references
Carney, K. Former MTV VJ tells of battle with chronic illness. CNN Headline News. 2003, Sep 19.
Duffy, K. Model Patient: My Life As an Incurable Wise-Ass. Harper Paperbacks. 2001.
Mignot, S. Actor And Comedian Bernie Mac Dies At Age 50. CBS 2 Chicago. 2008, Aug 9.
Sun-Times Media Wire. Bernie Mac Expected To Recover, Publicist Says. Chicago Sun-Times. 2008, Aug 3.
FastStats – Heart Disease. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2010, Apr 15.
Mecklenburg County Office of the Medical Examiner. Report of Autopsy Examination for Reginald Howard White. 2005, Apr 25.
If you’re a parent or grandparent, you’ve hopefully heard of the massive recall of children and infant medications from pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson earlier this month. As a father of 8, it certainly caught my attention.
According to the related FDA news release, medicines involved may have too much of the active ingredient, inadequately tested inactive ingredients, or even foreign particles which don’t belong in there at all.
All this on the heels of another major recall of 21 types of infant’s and children’s liquid Tylenol last September due to bacterial contamination and another recall of Tylenol Arthritis Pain in November due to a chemical contaminant. Clearly children and adults alike have been put at risk in the past several months.
So what’s a health conscious citizen to do? According to the big pharma influenced FDA, buy generic. Um, were they manufactured in the same plant? No word on that.
I have a better proposal. Stop using all forms acetaminophen and ibuprofen altogether regardless of manufacturer. And yes, I’m serious.
The real dangers of acetaminophen and ibuprofen
Regular acetaminophen use has been directly attributable to 8% to 10% of the estimated 50,000 annual cases of end stage renal disease in the United States. The more of it you use, even as prescribed, the greater the odds you’re going to die of kidney failure.
According to an article on acetaminophen toxicity by Dr. Susan Farrell, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, acetaminophen is one of the most common pharmaceuticals involved in both intentional and accidental poisonings. In the United States, toxic effects of acetaminophen overdose is now the most common cause of acute hepatic failure and the second leading cause of liver failure requiring transplantation.
While only about 1 in 50 overdose patients die or require a liver transplant, an overdose can occur by taking less than double the daily recommended maximum dose. Is this really a substance you want to keep around the house, much less feed yourself and your kids?
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including ibuprofen are no bastion of safety, either. In fact, they’re probably worse. Including both prescription NSAIDs and over-the-counter varieties like Motrin and Advil, over 30 billion doses are taken each year just in the United States. This number on the rise. So are related hospitalizations and deaths.
Every year in the U.S. over 100,000 people are hospitalized and over 16,000 will die from NSAID use and misuse. According to one study, 1 in every 1,200 people who take an NSAID for at least two months will die from related gastrointestinal complications. That doesn’t count those with adverse effects who survive.
Fortunately, there are safer alternatives for Tylenol, Motrin, and their generic equivalents.
Natural remedies for fever reduction, pain relief and inflammation
The most common reasons over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen are taken include fevers, general aches and pains, and to reduce inflammation. Each of these have much healthier alternatives in the world of natural medicine.
Fever
Remember, first of all, that a fever is your body’s defense mechanism. Infants under 3 months with a fever should always see a doctor right away. Otherwise, here are some simple techniques helping you or your child remain comfortable and reduce fevers:
Wear loose-fitting cotton clothing to allow your body to breathe. Keep the upper body covered to help prevent chills.
Take a lukewarm bath (sponge bath for infants). Hot water will be clearly counterproductive, but so will cold water as it causes your body to work harder to stay warm, therefore raising your internal temperature.
Drink lots of cool fluids. This helps prevent dehydration and cools the body down. Some herbal teas with licorice root or echinacea can help reduce fevers too.
Pain Relief
Ask any parent the most common cause of infant pain and they’ll
likely respond either tummy aches or teething pain. Here are some
great natural ways to ease infant teething and gas pains:
Teething pain can often be helped by massaging your baby’s gums with your finger or allowing them to chew on a cooled pacifier or teething ring.
Apply clove oil very lightly directly onto baby’s gums to reduce pain (older children and adults can get a similar effect for a sore tooth by holding a whole clove against it with their tongue).
Let baby chew on a natural herbal (not candy) licorice stick. Besides numbing baby’s gums, licorice also has natural anti-inflammatory properties and can ease stomach irritations.
Another great combined teething pain reliever and stomach soother is pure vanilla extract (real vanilla, not the artificial stuff). Similar to clove oil, apply by rubbing a tiny bit on baby’s sore gums.
Infants with upset stomachs, gas pains and colic can often get relief using all-natural ingredients as well. One product I like, Gentle Naturals Tummy Soother, uses chamomile and ginger – both well known for anxiety reducing and stomach soothing properties.
For general aches and pains, children (over 2 years old) and adults alike find the arnica, MSM, and menthol in Rub On Relief pain cream are work just as well as ibuprofen at relieving pain. Those with arthritis will especially love Rub On Relief for the Celadrin found in it, clinically proven to help reduce pain and increase flexibility and mobility in 100% of those who tested it.
Inflammation
Most children really don’t have a problem with inflammation. It’s when we get older that our bodies stop producing most of the proteolytic enzymes which signal our body to end its inflammatory response to injuries. That’s why it takes so much longer for something as simple as a sprained ankle to heal as an adult compared to when we were children.
Fortunately the solution is simple: supplement with the proteolytic systemic enzymes your body doesn’t make enough of. This allows your body to naturally fight inflammation. Other beneficial side effects of these enzymes are they also clean our blood, fight off viral and bacterial infections, and break down excess fibrin which leads to scar tissue inside our bodies.
In the end, there really are much healthier natural alternatives to drugs like Tylenol and Motrin. We just need to break our collective habit of reflexively taking drugs as our first response to pain.
Related references
Perneger
TV, Whelton PK, Klag MJ. Risk of kidney failure associated with the
use of acetaminophen, aspirin, and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory
drugs. The New England Journal of Medicine. 1994 Dec
22;331(25):1675-9.
Farrell S. Toxicity, Acetaminophen. Medscape. 2009 Sep 23.
Frech E, Go M. Treatment and chemoprevention of NSAID-associated
gastrointestinal complications. Therapeutics and Clinical Risk
Management. 2009; 5: 65–73.
Singh G. Recent considerations in nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
gastropathy. The American journal of medicine. 1998 Jul
27;105(1B):31S-38S.
Tramèr MR, et al. Quantitative estimation of rare adverse events which
follow a biological progression: a new model applied to chronic NSAID
use. Pain. 2000 Mar;85(1-2):169-82.
Widrig R, Suter A, Saller R, Melzer J. Choosing between NSAID and arnica for
topical treatment of hand osteoarthritis in a randomised,
double-blind study. Rheumatology International. 2007
Apr;27(6):585-91.
You’ve likely found this post because you are searching for information on “back pain exercises”…
Well, first, let me say that most back pain can be greatly reduced or completely eliminated with exercise… However, the key is knowing which exercises are going to help and which are going to hurt. It’s true, some back pain exercises could make your condition and pain worse!
So don’t make the mistake so many others do and just try any old back pain related exercise or stretch you can find… you might end up worse off than you are now. Instead, figure out which specific back pain exercises are going to be right for you.
Click on the link below to learn more about how to do this:
Are you looking for a chair that will allow you to sit without pain? Does back, neck or sciatic pain keep you from being able to sit for extended periods?
If so, you need to watch this video right now:
The chair reviewed in the video above is by far the best chair for a healthy back. It can not only allow you to sit with great posture and less or no back pain, but it will also help you prevent the pain from returning. We highly recommend this chair!
The Healthy Back Institute - 333 Main St. Suite #201 Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Phone: 800-216-4908 Fax: 866-843-4319
The Healthy Back Institute is a Get Healthy and Fit Company
In western medicine, doctors are notoriously slow to embrace new techniques. Even more amazing is how slow they are to accept even minimally invasive treatments with a successful track record spanning hundreds or thousands of years.
In 1995, actress Karen Duffy – better known as MTV’s VJ “Duff” – returned home to New York after the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles in excruciating pain.
If you’re a parent or grandparent, you’ve hopefully heard of the 
