"Another potential role of acupuncture in patients with cancer is the palliation of chronic pain. Several case reports and series suggest that acupuncture may provide relief when conventional measures fail to control chronic pain resulting from underlying disease or conventional treatments (surgery or radiation). However, RCTs are needed to confirm the value of acupuncture in the management of chronic cancer-related pain.
"... In summary, RCTs to date, although limited in size, suggest that it is certainly reasonable to accept the use of acupuncture in conjunction with standard antiemetics to control chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting and that recommendation for this purpose might be considered. Fewer data are available on the use of acupuncture in palliation of chronic cancer-related pain, but it seems reasonable to accept this approach if patients elect to try it.
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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.
