Jason Blalack is the translator, compiler and editor of Qin Bo-Wei's 56 Treatment Methods: Writing Precise Prescriptions with clinical commentary by Wu Bo-Ping, published in October 2011 by Eastland Press. He is a graduate of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in San Diego and maintains a full-time practice in Boulder, Colorado. He runs a website devoted to Chinese medicine case studies and discussion at www.chinesemedicinedoc.com/practitioners. Comments can be sent to: jblalack@chinesemedicinedoc.com.
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.
