AAMA to Hold Acupuncture Research Award Contest
In conjunction with its 2002 symposium, the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture/Medical Acupuncture Research Foundation has announced a contest for authors interested in presenting new studies in either clinical research or basic biochemical or physiological research pertaining to acupuncture. Submissions may not be previously published; however, they will be considered for publication if the publishing journal will allow presentation of the work at the AAMA meeting.
All paper submissions must be in English and must include the name and degree of the principal author (and any coauthors); the author's institution or affiliation (if any); mailing address; and telephone/fax numbers. If human subjects are involved in the research, proper informed consent must be attained, along with approval of any institutional review committees where appropriate.
Papers will be judged on a variety of factors, including originality; publishability; research design; and clinical or basic science relevance. First- through third-place winners will receive each receive awards, including complementary registration to the 2002 AAMA symposium In Los Angeles. Awards are as follows:
The deadline for submissions is March 1, 2002. To be considered for an award, send five copies of the paper to: MARF Research Foundation, 4929 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 428, Los Angeles, CA 90010. For more information, contact the AAMA at (323) 937-5514.
East, West Combine to Provide Better Care for Cancer Patients
In one of the latest examples of the coadunation of Eastern and Western medicine, a major pharmaceutical company has teamed up with a national alternative medicine organization to provide care to cancer patients and their families. AstraZeneca, a London-based drug manufacturer, recently donated $10,000 from its oncology products division to the Integrative Medicine Foundation. The money will be used to support the Sanctuary Tierra Pacifica, a 2,600 square foot complementary care center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The center provides acupuncture, nutritional counseling, mind-body therapies and other forms of care to patients undergoing conventional cancer treatments.
David Canzone, DOM, director of complementary medicine for the Sanctuary, coordinates patient care at the center along with an on-site registered nurse and several local oncologists. "It was a combined effort with the complementary practitioners, the oncologists and their staff," Canzone said when asked how the donation came to fruition. "It also came down to the fact that we simply asked · they (AstraZeneca) believed enough in what we are about and simply gave."
PCOM's Chicago Branch Receives Accreditation
The Chicago campus of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine has received accreditation by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. With ACAOM accreditation, students at the Chicago branch will be eligible for federal financial aid, and graduates will be eligible for state licensure and national certification.
On August 24, 1999, Pacific College was approved by the Illinois Board of Higher Education to offer the first graduate program in Oriental medicine in the state. For more information, contact the college at (800) 729-0941.
Acupuncture Highlighted at New Integrative Hospital in Australia
In July, Federal Health Minister Michael Woolridge announced the opening of Swinburne University Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. In addition to standard Western medical techniques, the new 60-bed facility offers complementary services such as acupuncture, yoga and relaxation therapies, making it the first hospital in the country to offer a true combination of conventional and alternative forms of care.
"This is the first in Australia · a hospital that combines traditional medicine with complementary medicine," Woolridge said at a ceremony marking the hospital's opening. "It's very exciting and, I think, the way of the future."
The hospital was the brainchild of professor Avni Sali, head of Swinburne's graduate school of integrative medicine. One of the most exciting aspects of the hospital, according to the professor, is that patients aren't forced to decide between one system of health care.
"If they don't seek complementary medicine, then it won't be given," Sali said. "But for those people who wish to use it they be will be able to choose from a range of evidence-based validated treatments from accredited professionals in that area."
In addition to offering patients more choices, the hospital is designed to provide high standards of care and an optimal environment for healing and recovery. Among the hospital's features are naturally pleasing color schemes; natural lighting; filtered water; the incorporation of windows in the recovery room; and chefs that specialize in the preparation of organic foods.
Thailand, China Join Forces to Produce Acupuncture Needles
According to the China People Daily, demand for acupuncture needles in Thailand is rising approximately 10% a year. Faced with this increasing demand, government officials in Thailand and China have formed a partnership to build a facility to produce high-quality, inexpensive needles.
In an interview with the People Daily, Mongkol Na Songkla, permanent secretary for the Thai Public Health Ministry, said that the new plant would be built either in the eastern province of Chonburi or the northern province of Lamphun, creating hundreds of jobs for local citizens. Needles maunfactured at the plant would be standardized and manufactured according to criteria set by the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies.
"Another advantage of the joint venture project is to lower the costs of the needles for Thai patients," Songkla added. Once they are locally produced, the price of an individual needle is expected to drop from 13 baht (about 28 cents) to only one baht (about two cents).
Chronic pain afflicts over 20% of the adult population. Sadly, most MDs have essentially no education in treating pain, beyond offering a few toxic medications. Then they tend to steer people with pain away from those health practitioners who are trained. This puts the acupuncture community on the front lines for addressing this epidemic.
When the body is going through a stressful event, the sympathetic system is activated. This activation will help the body with a life-threatening situation. If this state is activated for prolonged periods of time, it starts to consume energy. These traumatic events that generate stressors in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) will eventually become internalized.
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One of the things that makes acupuncture so difficult to measure is that the medicine actually does contain some esoteric aspects. There have been numerous studies that demonstrate the neurochemical reasoning behind why acupuncture points stimulate the autonomic nervous system to enact change However, not all the benefits of TCM can easily be measured by randomized, controlled trials. But does that make them fundamentally and definitively untrue?
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