At the top of the front page of the printed version of this issue, every licensed acupuncturist and doctor of Oriental medicine in the United States has been issued a unique personal user identification tag (ID) and password that allows access to certain areas of acupuncturetoday.com.* While the immediate benefit of these features will be the topic of discussion in chat rooms and online forums across the Internet for some time, the use of a user ID/password system opens up a world of opportunities for the profession and for acupuncturetoday.com.
In the next few months, you will be treated to features not usually available on most acupuncture sites. For example, the user ID/password system will be a key component to the eClassifieds, an electronic version of classified advertising that will let users post information on practices for sale; practices wanted; job opportunities; and other items.
Additional services will be added on an ongoing basis. Among the features being considered:
Acupuncturetoday.com's team of Web designers is also in the process of redesigning the site so that users can take full advantage of all the benefits a user ID/password system offers. Be sure to write down your used ID and password as it appears at the top of the front page of this issue, and keep that information in a secure place. Also make sure to visit acupuncturetoday.com, and to keep reading this column for continuing updates.
* Acupuncture students will be able to access these features once they are licensed.
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.
