ISAA Elects New Officers
At its most recent meeting, the Illinois State Acupuncture Association elected new officers to its board of directors. The new officers are:
President: Wen Xuan, LAc
Vice President: Diane Miller, Dipl.Ac.
President Emeritus: Connie Aburano, LAc
Treasurer & Legislative Chair: Mary J. Rogel, PhD, LAc
Assistant Treasurer: Debra Payne, Dipl.Ac.
Secretary & Continuing Education Chair: Patricia Worth, LAc
Board Members: Christie Jordan, Dipl.Ac., Charles Turner, Dipl.Ac.
Northwest Institute Revises, Augments Website
More than three years after its debut, the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine has expanded its website for a more professional appearance.
"More than half of our applicants are visiting our website and getting information about us there before they apply," said Mary McGhee, the school's dean of students and admissions. "We're finding the Internet to be an invaluable way to connect with potential students, who are becoming more and more technologically savvy all the time."
The site (www.niaom.edu) is divided into 11 sections for easy navigation, including a welcome page; academics and clinics information; news and research; a link to the institute's bookstore; a question-and-answer section; and a "contact us" page. In the future, the institute plans to include online discussion forums, book purchases and class registration, and a course catalog.
Organic Selenium May Prevent Cancer
An essential trace mineral, selenium has been shown to help prevent cancer in laboratory animals. A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has demonstrated that selenium may provide the same type of defense against cancer in humans.
A research team at the University of Arizona headed by Dr. Larry Clark selected 1,312 patients with a history of skin cancer and divided them into two groups. One which received a capsule containing 200 micrograms of organic selenium; the other received a placebo. Neither the patients nor the researchers knew which capsule they were receiving.
Although no differences were seen in the rates of skin cancer, there was a wide discrepancy in terms of other, more serious forms of cancer. Those receiving the selenium experienced 63% fewer prostate cancers; 58% fewer colorectal cancers; and 46% fewer lung cancers than the placebo group. In addition, the overall mortality rate of the selenium group was 50% lower than the placebo group.
"It's the most exciting finding we've ever had in nutrition and cancer," said Dr. Tim Byers, a professor of preventative medicine at the University of Colorado and a member of the study's safety committee.
Structured water (H3O2) can be considered a fourth state of water between liquid and solid. It has the hexagonal structure of ice; however, missing a critical bond, it behaves more like a gel than a solid, but retains some of its crystalline structure.
In the past five years of my clinical practice, I have seen an astonishing upsurge in the chronic use of proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications for the gastrointestinal issue diagnosed by allopathic medicine as GERD. It is not uncommon to encounter patients taking these prescriptions for five-plus years.
Working with chronically ill patients entails acknowledging the reality that not all patients will survive their diagnosis. Chinese medicine and acupuncture play a crucial role in palliative and end-of-life care, addressing medication and disease side effects, alleviating pain associated with death, reducing anxiety and stress, and helping patients find peace during the dying process.
