Good things seem to be happening for our profession and recent developments show we are all on board.
Talking about being on board, this September The Veterans Express-Purple Heart Tour is expected to make its way out of the station. This is a vintage train set composed of eight cars, a caboose and an old steam engine. All of these cars have been found, reclaimed and refurbished and repaired by United States veterans. The cars were used for doing surgery to veterans while riding between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. But the most important fact is that there is going to be an entire car dedicated to the practice of acupuncture!
The tours that this train will take will be used to fundraise for the cause of slowing down and stopping the daily rate of 22 veteran suicides. Acupuncture is playing an important role in this cause by reducing pain and treating vets with PTSD. More information on this exciting trip to come in the following months. Make sure to stay tuned to Acupuncture Today for updates.
AWB Training in California
In other news, recently Acupuncture without Borders conducted a class in Southern California. The class was on Community Trauma Training. Acupuncture without Borders is a group of acupuncturists who volunteer to go into areas after a disaster has occurred. These volunteers set up make shift offices, usually in tents and treat whoever comes their way. The individuals who volunteer is growing and centrally expanding their knowledge and efforts for the common cause of helping people in need.
This most recent class was well attended and taught by two women. They are teaching preparedness and how to deal with people who have had and are experiencing trauma. These victims present with a wide variety of conditions in which all is overlaid with trauma. The class attendees must be recognized for their efforts to come out and learn so that when the time to volunteer is necessary they are ready and prepared. These acupuncturists are beginning to experience that special feeling you get when you are giving. Whether you give money, goods or of yourself and your time a certain feeling of worthiness is felt in your inner being. One of the best feelings is that of helping another being on this planet.
Great Strides at Chicago Pain Center
Recently I was invited by Frank Yurisek, from National University of Health Sciences, to visit the pain clinic at John Stroger Hospital in Chicago. This is the second largest public hospital in the United States. Frank supervises acupuncture interns in the pain clinic. This is an integrated setting within the hospital. MDs and acupuncturists sharing in the care of patients.
How did this happen? Well, Frank just kept knocking on the doors. He did not give up. Persistence has paid off. This is a win-win situation for all involved. Doctors, acupuncturists and the patients are all receiving the benefits.
The patients were so happy. Their pain was reduced and in many cases the pain was down to a zero. One of the patients said that he was taking so much medication that he was groggy and had trouble playing his base guitar. He came in and was taking acupuncture treatments. He is back playing and performing with his band. He said "It feels great to be back in the game. Acupuncture has really helped me." Another female patient came in and had surgery on her heel. The nerves were severed and she had spent six months in a wheel chair. After just the third treatment she is walking with no pain.
There are countless stories like this at the hospital.
Update on Diagnostic Codes
As most of you know the profession is raising money for the United States contribution toward the development and inclusion (the interfacing) of Acupuncture diagnostic codes into the International Classification of Disease Codes-11.
Approximately 800 codes have been discussed, written and included in the current version of the International Classification of Traditional Medicine.
Now a huge thank you goes out to the profession. Individuals in this profession have stepped up and given donations in the amount of 25, 50 and 100 dollars towards the goal of $300,000.00. The Council of Colleges, the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Southern California University of Health Care Sciences, American College of Oriental Medicine in Houston, Yo San University, KPC Herbs, Golden Flower Herbs, and Golden Sunshine and the American Acupuncture Council have all donated to the cause.
A total of $200,000 has been contributed. We are in the home stretch for this project. These codes have to be ready for presentation to and voting on by the World Health Organization General Assembly in 2015.
The formation and completion and eventual implementation of these codes, marks an unequaled milestone in the growth and future establishment of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine profession in the United States and global healthcare.
Please do not stop giving we still have our last amount to complete. Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to Pacific College of Oriental Medicine on being granted Candidacy toward WASC accreditation. Meeting the WASC Standards of Accreditation is a significant milestone for Pacific College in the journey toward higher education recognition for the institution and the profession. Let’s keep moving forward with more exciting developments!
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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