The past 365 days have been a tremendous roller coaster ride. Each year, the pace of life seems to get faster, and there doesn't seem to be as much time to sit back and enjoy things as there used to. When I was younger, I thought there would be more time to relax and reflect on my accomplishments. Now, I find the opposite is happening. Every week, there's a new seminar to teach; a conference to go to; or a workshop to attend. I wonder sometimes whether I've started to slow down, but then I realize I'm not slowing down; everything else is just going faster!
The progress of our profession also accelerated in 2002. Just look at some of the things we were able to accomplish:
Even in the past few months, important new developments have come to light:
These are all positive steps forward. I'm glad to see it, and frankly, I think it's about time our leaders started working together to try and get our profession moving in the right direction. With the holidays drawing near, we all tend to think about giving and thanking those around us. We would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge and thank all of Acupuncture Today's columnists and contributing authors. You play a vital role this publication, and you make my job as editor that much easier.
Thanks also to the vendors who advertise their products and services in AT. By advertising, you show that you trust us to carry your message to the profession. Last but not least, thanks to our readers, who provide important feedback and make sure Acupuncture Today remains focused on what's really important.
Collectively, these four groups - the advertisers, columnists, contributing writers and readers - are the lifeblood of Acupuncture Today. You are all responsible for Acupuncture Today's success, so whenever you stop by an exhibit booth to say "Hello" or write a letter of thanks, give yourself a pat on the back as well. As I've said before, without you, there wouldn't be an Acupuncture Today.
And now, on to next year. I wish I had a crystal ball that would tell me about all the wonderful things we're going to accomplish in 2003. Unfortunately, I don't have a crystal ball, but here are some things I hope to see happen:
This profession has just scratched the surface of what it can do personally and politically. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do now that its leaders appear to be on the same page.
What do you envision for the profession in 2003? Will we move forward? Let us know your thoughts and feelings. We'll print them in Acupuncture Today, and we'll pass them along to the Task Force for their review.
May your holidays be happy and safe, and pray for peace everywhere. See you in 2003!
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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