Archive for January, 2012

4 Ways to Avoid Ingesting Carcinogenic BPA from Plastics

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012
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BPA has been linked to cancer growth, reproductive health issues, and heart disease.

Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a type of chemical found in plastic products. It became a buzzword for health and safety concerns when a report in 2010 from the FDA linked BPA to child and infant toxicity.

1. Identify the type of plastic you’re using. Every plastic container carries with it a number for recycling purposes.  If the number is 1, 2, 4, 5, or 6, then it is unlikely that there is BPA in the container.  If the number is 3 or 7, then the plastic probably contains BPA.  If you are unsure of the number, best to be safe and take precautions listed below.

2. BPA is heat sensitive, which means it can leach out once the plastic is heated.  So the next time you heat something in the microwave, use a ceramic or glass container, and make sure not to use the plastic lid as a cover.  Also, avoid putting plastics in dishwashers; the high temperature of the water and harsh detergents can cause BPA contamination.

3. BPA is found in many food products. BPA is not always obvious in the products you use. A lot of containers have plastic linings that contain BPA.  Avoid canned foods because they carry the plastic lining.  Drink cartons (such as juice boxes) will contain BPA.  Also, some metal water bottles will contain a plastic lining.  Instead, look for stainless steel water bottles that don’t have the lining.  Best thing to do is to buy products that are in glass containers or specifically label themselves as free of BPA.

4. BPA is in many other everyday products.  It is found in carbonless copy paper, such as the receipt you get at the store.  It is used in household electronics, in sports equipment, medical devices, dental fillings, the list goes on and on.  The main thing to remember, in terms of your health, is how it enters your body.  As long as BPA is not in your food or drink, nor constant contact with skin, then you will not be in danger of BPA toxicity.

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SF College Launches Letter Campaign to Have Acupuncture Added to Affordable Health Care Act Essential Services

Sunday, January 29th, 2012
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At Inner Gate Acupuncture we are also showing our support for the inclusion of acupuncture in the affordable care act.  We have printed letters that only require a signature and to be mailed at our front desk area.  Please stop by if you’d like to support this important bill.

The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) in San Francisco is asking the public to write to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and ask that acupuncture be added to the list of essential health benefits covered under the Affordable Health Care Act immediately-as the deadline for public comment is January 31, 2012.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) January 27, 2012

Until the end of January, 2012, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is accepting public comment regarding its approach to establishing essential health benefits (EHB) that will be covered under the new health care system being developed as a result of the Affordable Health Care Act. The American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) is asking members of the public to show their support for making acupuncture an EHB by sending an email to HHS.

A strong public show of public support for acupuncture as an essential health benefit will draw the attention of policymakers and set the stage for further federal acupuncture initiatives. Alissa Cohan, Director of Communications at ACTCM says the easiest way to voice support is by sending email to EssentialHealthBenefits@cms.hhs.gov-and be sure to include name and address.

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The Power of Acupuncture for Sports Medicine

Monday, January 23rd, 2012
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Inner Gate Acupuncture has begun to focus more of our time and energy attending seminars and building our skills to excel in the treatment of athletes and sports medicine injuries in Portland.  We have been working with a senior a acupuncturist in San Diego who specializes in Sports medicine and also treats N.F.L. players.  I don’t know If I want this woman’s travel schedule but it is certainly an interesting article.

Acupuncturist Treats 40 N.F.L. Players in 4 Cities

By GREG BISHOP

Published in the NY Times: November 29, 2010

Stretched out on a massage table in his Long Island City condominium, Jets fullback Tony Richardson closed his eyes. Over the next hour, he groaned and grimaced and eventually fell asleep, as Lisa Ripi, the traveling N.F.L. acupuncturist, went to work.

Ripi poked and prodded Richardson on a recent Tuesday, using blue and pink needles, until his body resembled a road map marked with 120 destinations. “SportsCenter” provided mood music. Afterward, Richardson said his soreness had mostly vanished.
“They always tell me I’m their little secret,” Ripi said. “I feel like the little mouse who takes the thorns out of their feet.”
Professional football players partake in a violent game, and as the season progresses, they spend more time in training rooms than on practice fields. They visit chiropractors and massage therapists, practice yoga, undergo electronic stimulation and nap in hyperbaric chambers.
Yet relatively few receive acupuncture, which brings smiles to the faces of Ripi’s clients. They remain fiercely territorial. They fight over Fridays because it is closest to their games. They accuse one another of hogging, or trying to steal her.
All swear by Ripi’s technique, which she described as closer to Japanese-style acupuncture than to traditional Chinese methods. She focuses less on established points and more on sore areas, using needles to increase blood flow, relaxing muscles tightened in the weight room.
Players say her sessions are their most important treatment. They feel more loose, more flexible. Richardson finds acupuncture uncomfortable but said it made an immediate 10 percent difference. For sculptured bodies tuned like racecars, 10 percent constitutes a significant improvement.
As Pittsburgh linebacker James Farrior said: “I’m not the same if I don’t have it. It’s like getting the game plan. You can’t go into the week without either one.”

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Acupuncture Relieves Migraine Pain

Saturday, January 21st, 2012
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Link to the article


In our clinical experience, we have found that may people who suffer from regular migraines can achieve a reduction in both the frequency and the intensity of these headaches with the use of acupuncture.  This recent research validates what we have seen.

A new study conducted on 480 migraine patients showed that the traditional Chinese therapy is slightly effective in the painful condition.

After receiving 20 treatment sessions in one month, all study participants experienced fewer days with migraines but there was a small difference in improvement between those who received real and simulated acupuncture.

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Inner Gate Acupuncture Gift Certificates

Saturday, January 14th, 2012
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Gift Certificates are a great way to show your friends and family how much their health and well being mean to you.

  • Gift Certificates can be given in any dollar amount
  • Gift Certificates can be used to cover insurance co-pays
  • Gift Certificates are a great way to introduce reluctant people to acupuncture
  • You can Print one right now!  Then call to activate it.

Click Here for Printable Version

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Huffington Post: 11 Big Integrative Medicine Breakthroughs of 2011

Saturday, January 14th, 2012
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Huffington Post: 11 Big Integrative Medicine Breakthroughs Of 2011
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/27/

Inner Gate Acupuncture is excited that the Huffington post created an article based solely on all the great advances that have been made in the field of integrative medicine.

It’s been a year of big breakthroughs in integrative medicine, the approach that combines Western or allopathic medicine with complementary practices. So much so that Prevention magazine recently declared us to be in the midst of a “health care revolution” as ever more doctors work elements like yoga, acupuncture and mindfulness into more, quote, traditional care.

So we rounded up 11 of the moments we think stood out most in 2011 — moments that thrust the spotlight on the potential benefits of adopting a more integrative approach when it comes to your health.

And of course, here’s to many more of them in a safe, happy 2012!.

#2 Acupuncture Shown To Help Chronic Stress

In December, researchers with the Georgetown University Medical Center released a study showing how — at a molecular level — acupuncture can help reduce stress. The research, published in the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine showed that in rats, acupuncture reduced levels of a peptide secreted by the system in our body during the whole flight-or-fight response.

“It has long been thought that acupuncture can reduce stress, but this is the first study to show molecular proof of this benefit,” the study’s lead author, Ladan Eshkevari, Ph.D., an assistant professor at Georgetown’s School of Nursing & Health Studies said in a statement.

#3 Tai Chi Found To Aid Heart Failure Patients

An April study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that tai chi, which the Mayo Clinic describes as “meditation in motion,” may help improve the quality of life and mood in patients with heart failure.

Another benefit? The research also suggested that it may help improve exercise self-efficacy, or belief in one’s personal abilities.

#5 Acupuncture Deemed Safe For Kids

This year, acupuncture was found to be safe for kids, according to a sweeping review of the existing literature published in November in the journal Pediatrics. It found that the incidence of adverse events was around 11 percent and most were mild — like crying and bruising.

“Based on [the] available data, we are comfortable saying that in trained hands, pediatric acupuncture is safe,” Dr. Sunita Vohra one of the review’s authors told Huffington Post last fall.

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Experts Split on Whether to Recommend Acupuncture for Migraine Headaches

Saturday, January 14th, 2012
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At Inner Gate Acupuncture we have seen many patients with migraine headaches.  While some patients have gotten complete relief others have seen improvement but not complete relief while some have had no improvement whatsoever.

http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/news/20120112/acupuncture-may-be-effective-for-migraines

By Sonya Collins
WebMD Health News

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Jan. 12, 2012 — Acupuncture helps reduce days with migraines and may have lasting effects, according to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

In the study, almost 500 adults were treated with either traditional Chinese acupuncture or a sham treatment in which acupuncture needles were inserted in nonspecific points. The acupuncture treatment points were previously used to study migraine. Participants did not know which type of acupuncture treatment they were receiving during the four-week study.

After completing the study, all of the participants — including those in the sham group — reported fewer days with migraines than before the study began. Prior to the study, most suffered monthly migraines, on average six days of migraines a month. After the completing the study, they reported migraines on an average of three days in the month.

In the month following the treatment, all of the participants also reported improvements in the frequency and intensity of migraines.

However, lasting effects were seen only in study participants who received traditional acupuncture. Three months after treatment, people who received traditional Chinese acupuncture continued to report a reduction in migraine days, frequency, and intensity. People who received the sham treatment did not.

Although the study only showed a marginal benefit of real acupuncture over sham acupuncture, researcher Claudia Witt, MD, of University Medical Center Charité in Berlin, says previous research suggests that people who respond best to acupuncture treatments are those who have not been helped by other treatments and those who had past positive experiences with acupuncture.

Albrecht Molsberger, MD, a medical acupuncture specialist who wrote an editorial on the study, says that even in sham acupuncture, the simple insertion of needles into the skin, regardless of the exact points of insertion, can lead to fewer migraines and reduced pain.

“Putting needles in the patient twice weekly over six weeks does have a [physical] effect, but if we did it the Chinese way, we might be better off,” he says.

A previous study of 300 people showed that acupuncture is more effective than no acupuncture in the treatment of migraine. Another study of nearly 800 people showed that 11 acupuncture treatments over six weeks were at least as effective as the blood pressure drugs called beta-blockers — often used for migraine prevention — taken daily for six months, Molsberger tells WebMD.

“Acupuncture should be an option for the first-line treatment of migraine to supplement other non-[drug] treatment options,” he writes in his editorial.

Surprising Headache Triggers

Is It All in the Mind?

Seymour Diamond, MD, who is executive chair of the National Headache Foundation, disagrees.

“That would be a serious mistake. Only after a patient has had a fair trial on both [preventive] — if necessary — and [unsuccessful] medicine should they try acupuncture,” he says.

Is the benefit to acupuncture for migraine mostly a placebo effect, as a number of previous studies suggest?

“In any type of treatment, there is the expectation of results. And doctor’s interest alone should help a patient,” Diamond tells WebMD.

Ultimately, results will vary by the individual. “I don’t think acupuncture is really effective, but I never discourage a patient who wants to try it,” he says.

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A Big Thanks to Our Growing Community

Saturday, January 7th, 2012
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All of us at Inner Gate Acupuncture would like to take a moment to express our gratitude to everyone in our community who has supported us for the past 7 years!  Thank you!

We are proud to serve you all and we are honored that you continue to refer your friends, family and co-workers to our clinic.  These referrals are the best compliment you can give us.

This year, with your help, we have been able to give back to our community through a variety of different organizations.

Mercy Corps:  We worked alongside Mercy Corps creating a month long campaign to raise money for Japan after the tsunami hit.

Portland Public Schools:  This year we were able to help the Village Free School, the Emerson School and Creston Elementary School raise money for expanding their academic offerings.

Bicycle Transportation Alliance: We continued our support of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s initiative to make the roads safe for bicyclists

Sisters of the Road:  By donating services to the Sisters of the Road yearly hoedown, we were able to help Sisters support the homeless community with food and dignity.

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Evidence Linking Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Asthma Growing

Monday, January 2nd, 2012
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What is Asthma?
Asthma is a disorder of the lungs that causes airways to constrict and swell, leading to wheezing and difficulty breathing. It is estimated that there are over 25 million Americans with asthma. For the past 30 years researcher have been baffled by the steady rise of asthma cases in the United States and throughout the world.

Why are Asthma Rates on the Rise?
In the 1980’s the epidemic of asthma took a turn for the worse with new cases appearing at an alarming rate. It was during this period that Reyes’ syndrome was linked to aspirin use. Doctors cautioned parents about aspirin use in children and recommended Tylenol as an alternative.

Tylenol Link to Asthma?
Since the late 1990’s, researchers have been tracking whether this switch to Tylenol starting in the 1980’s, could have fueled the increase in asthma cases. They have gathered  enough data to substantiate a link between asthma and Tylenol, focused on glutathione.  Glutathione, an antioxidant that prevents oxidative damage to tissues including the lung is greatly diminished after Tylenol use.  This leads to an increase in swelling and airway constriction.

What should we give our feverish, teething, uncomfortable children?
For reducing fevers it appears that Tylenol is still the best option.  But if your child is simply uncomfortable or teething there are numerous natural remedies, such as homeopathic teething pills that have been used safely for generations.  As parents we should be aware the the medicines we give our children aren’t trivial and have significant side effects.  When we choose to give our children a medicine like Tylenol it should not be taken lightly.

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