Acupuncture and Diabetes 
The rate of diabetes in America is alarming, 29 million Americans to be exact. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2030 the number of people with diabetes worldwide will double from the current 380 million people who currently suffer from the disease.
 
Living with a chronic illness like diabetes does not only affect someone’s physical health, but mental and emotional as well. 

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, diabetes represents a deficiency and dysfunction in the spleen and pancreatic system. 

If the spleen/pancreatic system’s function declines, it cannot produce the insulin necessary to handle glucose in the bloodstream, which causes a variety of diabetic symptoms. 

Chinese medicine has had an understanding of diabetes for thousands of years. It is known as aiaoke, which means an emaciation-thirst, as diabetes can cause a person to lose weight and have extreme thirst. In ancient times, type 2 diabetes was found in the wealthiest people because of their diet that was high in fatty and sugary foods.
 
The TCM theory behind diabetes states that diabetes is a result of an imbalance of yin. Because of the imbalance, the body’s natural energy flow called qi becomes out of balance and blocked. 

A report done in 1994 in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine looked at 60 patients with diabetes and found that 2/3rds of the patients in the group receiving acupuncture noticed an effect and improvement in their symptoms. The other group received a diabetes pill, and researchers concluded that although both had therapeutic effects, acupuncture was more effective in prevention including cardiovascular diseases. 

Although a lot of Westerners don’t think of acupuncture as a treatment for chronic disease, specific acupuncture points on the body have been proven to be effective for diabetes. 

Unlike prescription medication, acupuncture has almost no side effects and is completely natural. The treatment is painless, and along with treating your illness, acupuncture can leave you feeling relaxed and calm. If you or someone you know is suffering with diabetes, ask an acupuncturist how they can help you on the road back to better health.

Diabetes-Friendly Foods

Symptoms: fatigue, lassitude, abdominal bloating, loose stool, a pale tongue with white coating, and a fine weak pulse

Recipe: Rice porridge with common yam and lotus seed - Boil a suitable amount of rice, yam and lotus seeds until all are very soft.  The final consistency should be of a thick soup

Symptoms: fatigue, weakness, soreness in low back and knees, feverish sensation on the palms and soles, a cold sensation on the backs of the palms and soles, a pale tongue, and a deep fine pulse

Recipe: Walnut and black bean porridge - Wash 50g black bean and 100g millet. Cook it with 30g walnuts and water until the consistency is thick and all the ingredients are cooked well


Sources: http://bit.ly/1LwljDO, http://bit.ly/1LwlrDj

You never have to wonder when the cold and flu season is around the corner. The pharmaceutical industry will be sure that you are reminded of its arrival.  

With ads in store windows and magazines, its easy to feel like the pharmaceutical industry and the medical community at large are depending on you to leave the fate of your health and well being up to the workings of pharmaceutical pills and shots - because they are. The Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture world take a slightly different approach by tapping into the innate healing power that runs through your body and the living world around you, however, offering a welcome alternative to those who are interested.

In Chinese Medicine we recognize that a cold or flu will progress through specific levels and stages of illness in the body. Everyone's journey is unique, as you have probably experienced at home.

Have you ever noticed in a family of 4 or 5, for instance, that when everyone is exposed to the same germs and viruses, only one or two family members get ill while the others don’t?  The issue is not the germs, but the body’s response to them, caused by an individual’s immune system.

While the symptoms and progression may be slightly unique person to person therefore, the path their immune system progress along is prescribed. Some people just jump a few steps sometimes resulting in different looking journey's, and over the past 3,000 years Chinese Medicine has made a thorough and detailed analysis of this progression. We call it "4 Levels" and "6 Stages" and we can predict based on tongue, pulse and symptoms where you are in any given cold or flu and where you are likely to go next without intervention.

Using a combination of Acupuncture and prescribed herbal interventions, colds and flu's can either be reversed or, in some cases, quickly progressed to shorten the duration of illness and speed you to a healthy recovery!

If we return to the example of the 5 person family and imagine that YOU were one of the people ill, it is likely that that this last time you got sick you were running yourself ragged, missing sleep, eating improperly, perhaps slacking on your nutrition, possibly stressed out from work, skipping your acupuncture sessions (aghast!), and neglecting your workouts.  Maybe sound familiar?

This is a vicious pattern that many of us fall into, especially as the holiday season approaches, and it’s one that weakens the body and allows germs to take hold.

Your best defense against the flu, colds, or any other germ-borne illness is to bolster your internal defenses.  You stand your best chance of being at your healthiest when you have an optimally functioning nervous system and immune response.

So come in for an acupuncture tune-up, keep your lifestyle habits in good order, and maintain a positive attitude. Do so, and those pesky little germs don’t stand a chance!

Plus, if they DO take hold, your trusty Acupuncturist has 3,000 years of data behind him or her to figure out what is going on and kick those germs in their collective arsehole back from whence they came, preferably never to infect another member of your household again.

Engage in natural germ warfare today! See your Acupuncturist ASAP.

Tinnitus is a condition characterized by ringing within the ear when there’s no actual source of sound present. There may be hope for people with tinnitus with healing methods like acupuncture, that has been proven to relieve symptoms. 

It’s estimated that upwards of 10-15 percent of the U.S. population suffers from tinnitus. The good news is that most people tolerate it well, with the condition having only a slight affect on their normal daily life. However, about 1-2 percent of the population experience severe cases of tinnitus, affecting their mood, sleep patterns and even their general health.

Medical experts continue to debate over what exactly causes tinnitus. There’s some belief that ototoxic drugs can damage the inner ear, increasing the risk of tinnitus, while others believe it’s caused by a chemical imbalance within the brain. The general consensus is that long-term exposure to loud noise can lead to this condition.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the Clinic of Tinnitus of the Department of Otorlarynology Head and Neck Surgery found acupuncture to offer relief of tinnitus symptoms. Researchers treated 76 patients with either acupuncture or the placebo called sham acupuncture. While both groups experienced an improvement in their symptoms, the group that received acupuncture had a greater improvement in their symptoms, attesting to the effectiveness of acupuncture.

“We conclude that there was significant reduction of the counting of the moments pre and post needling in both the groups, and in the group study the reduction is greater that in the group control,” wrote the study’s researchers.

How can acupuncture stop ringing within the ears?  When your body’s natural energies are not flowing correctly, it can lead to a number of diseases and illnesses, including tinnitus. Licensed acupuncturists are trained in correcting these blockages by targeting various acupuncture points within the body’s meridians. When these blockages are fixed, your body can return to its natural balance.
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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16951850

I won!!! For the second year in a row now I won a Nattie Award, a.k.a. Natural Choice Award, from Natural Awakenings Magazine. Actually, not just one but TWO!! I couldn't be more honored, humbled or gracious. 

Award winners are listed in the November issue available in most natural foods stores around town. They'll be announced on the website too in short order I'm sure. 

So for those of you, my incredible amazing patients, you can now say that you not only see Portland's Favorite Acupuncture/Traditional Medicine Practitioner 2 year running, but also the 2015 Holistic Practitioner of the Year Award Winner. Kind of a mouthful, but cool to say its true!

My Alma Matter the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine also won for Favorite School for Holistic Medicine and I feel quite honored to have gone there and to be sharing the same awards page. 

The Natural Choice, or Nattie Awards are patient/community nominated and voted for, and that means it is YOU my incredible patients who have made this possible. I always strive to provide the best service I can and to help all of my patients not only heal, but to reach their full potential for lasting health and happiness. I'm pretty good at being my own worst critic, so it feels doubly amazing to receive such incredible recognition from so many of you.

Truly, thank you for voicing your confidence and support.

I consider it and honor and a privilege to be a partner in each of my patients' individual healthcare journeys, helping them assess from a Chinese Medicine perspective what is working, what is not, using Acupuncture to create lasting change, and acting as a guide to long term health and wellness using Chinese Medicine principles.

With deepest gratitude and appreciation for this special honor,
Rebecca Hurwood, LAc