San Francisco Site of 2005 Qigong Convention
The Eighth World Congress on Qigong and the Eighth American Qigong Conference will hold a joint convention this November at the Golden Gateway Holiday Inn in San Francisco. The theme of this year's event is "Qigong for Individual and Planetary Health: An Essential Balance," and is designed to help attendees focus on how qigong and traditional Chinese medicine play a vital role in the development of health, balance, and peace on individual and global levels.
Effie Chow, PhD, RN, LAc, a former member of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy, is the chair of this year's event. Last year, Dr. Chow received the "Bridges of Integration" award from the Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation. Other speakers scheduled to appear at the conference include Dr. Steven Aung, president of the Canadian Medical Acupuncture Society; Bill Douglas, the founder of World Tai Chi & Qigong Day; and Dr. May Loo, author of several books on pediatric acupuncture. The convention will also include a series of plenary sessions, workshops and clinical presentations.
The convention officially begins Friday, Nov. 18. For more information, visit www.eastwestqi.com and click the "World Congress on Qigong" link.
SCUHS Secures New Scholarship for Acupuncture Students
Southern California University of Health Sciences has reached an agreement with Sheng Chang Qualiherb, a local herb company, on the creation of a $2,000 annual scholarship for students attending the university's College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. The agreement was formalized this summer, and will be used to provide awards of $500 each for four students.
"We're very pleased to welcome Sheng Chang Qualiherb to the university family," commented Dr. Gary Schultz, SCUHS's vice president of academic affairs, at a signing ceremony marking the event. "The generosity of this company will go a long way to assist our acupuncture and Oriental medicine students and help us in the positive promotion of the science."
In addition to the scholarship, Sheng Chang donated $1,000 to further the development of the university's medicinal herb garden, and an additional $1,000 for a project dedicated to promoting traditional Chinese medicine through concentrated single herbs or formulas.
"This relationship is very positive because, in part, we share the company's belief that only when sound mind and body is available can a human being explore further depth in life," remarked Dr. Wen-Shuo Wu, dean of the university's acupuncture and Oriental medicine program. "It is also dedicated to the enhancement of the quality of life and the improvement of positive outcomes of traditional Chinese medicine."
For more information on the new scholarship, call (877) 434-7757 or visit www.scuhs.edu.
Staff Changes at Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
The Texas College of Traditional Chinese Medicine has appointed Luzhi Guo, PhD, LAc, as the school's new president. Dr. Guo's appointment is the latest in a series of reforms intended to improve the school's educational standards and prepare its students for participation in an increasingly integrative health care field.
Dr. Guo has a long affiliation with the college, having served as an instructor at TCTCM since 1994. She earned her PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of North Texas in 1992, and previously served as a resident physician at the Affiliated Hospital of the Beijing College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In addition to her role as president, Dr. Guo maintains a private practice in Round Rock, Texas, and is a certified acupuncturist instructor.
In related news, TCTCM has added three new members to its board of governors:
G. Wellington Smith, JD, is the board's new vice chair. Mr. Smith has been president of The Texas Doctors Group since 1975, and also holds a private law practice in Austin. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the State Bar of Florida, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
James A. Mattox, JD, was the attorney general for the state of Texas from 1983 to 1991. Prior to that, he served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1973 to 1977 and a member of Congress from 1977 to 1983. He was also a delegate to the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Democratic National Conventions. In addition to his duties on the board, he continues to participate in a variety of public interest and educational activities and organizations.
Yusheng Feng, PhD, brings considerable experience in applied mathematics, engineering and computational science to the board. After receiving two master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma, Feng enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, receiving his doctoral degree in 1995. Dr. Feng currently serves on the faculty of Concordia University as an assistant professor of mathematics, and is continuing his research work at the UT-Austin Institute for Computer Engineering and Science.
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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