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Pertussis, or whooping cough, “is an acute, highly communicable infection of the respiratory tract caused by Bordetella pertussis . B pertussis organisms attach to the ciliated respiratory epithelium and multiply there.” 1 The disease has an insidious onset. Initial symptoms include rhinitis, sneezing, cough and possibly fever. After a couple…

The Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (ACAOM) has put out a call for public comment on its “Draft Standards for First Professional Doctoral Programs in AOM.” The proposed requirements are a comprehensive set of accreditation standards that would focus on institutional, program and student learning outcomes expected of…

Many people in Oriental thought, be it medicine, qigong or martial arts, honor tradition. That is fine; we should honor the past, but we don’t want to get stuck there. Studying the classics should be a requirement for acupuncturists, but exploring how to apply our time-honored wisdom to the present…

When we take the oral temperature of a person, if it is much hotter than the normal temperature of 98.6 F°, then we know they are sick. Similarly, when we take infrared images of a patient and find hot spots on the body surface, it generally means some kind of…

In my last column, I discussed the importance of understanding the contributing role diet and lifestyle play in the disease process. In this article, I would like to continue this discussion by examining a case study in which food therapy played a crucial role in the healing process. The interesting…

The year 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the Kang Wen Acupuncture Clinic in Seattle. This “golden” time is reflected in the clinic’s ability to be malleable and ductile in the face of funding challenges, while continuing to tonify and nourish the public’s health in the Puget Sound region. Founded…

Acupuncturists are a passionate bunch. We take our work seriously. I was recently sitting with a group of colleagues, and a non-practitioner was questioning us: “If it is so challenging to build this profession, what were we all so gung-ho about? Why were we grappling with each state’s legal structure,…

It does not seem possible that 2007 is drawing to a close. Time has passed so quickly. For me, the start of autumn has been a time to attend seminars. Tony Robbins reminds us that we must grow, which is why the information presented in the seminars and symposiums I…

Tutorial training in Chinese medicine is the time-honored tradition from which all modern teaching methods and curricula in acupuncture schools have evolved. Tutorial training is the traditional origin of everything you are learning in your schooling, reading and practice.

One of the most important goals for teachers, parents and school administrators is creating a healthy emotional environment for students. A study published in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Chinese Medicine has found that including a particular type of qigong exercise program helped calm and energize the…

In the wake of the June release of the FDA’s current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) for Dietary Supplements, the AAAOM has been compiling a detailed analysis of what this rule will really mean to practitioners, educators, students and patients of acupuncture and Oriental medicine. On Sept. 13, 2007, it released…

Specialty board development is an area that I have actively supported. Yet, specialization is not an area that interests me; I don’t specialize, at least not now. Curiously, I see the value in generalism as well as specialism. Further, I see them as yin and yang components, mutually defining each…

As an acupuncturist, you probably already realize that the world is entirely made up of energy. As such, you are energetically attracting the circumstances you now have in your life, based on your beliefs, opinions, attitudes and values. The universe is constantly reinforcing what you believe to be true. This…

A growing number of clinics and practitioners worldwide are choosing to specialize in disorders of the ear, including tinnitus, hearing loss and Menière’s disease, with laser therapy as the leading modality. Laser therapy has had spectacular reviews in this area. Lutz Wilden writes, “Even serious impairments such as the most…

Most of us who joined the ranks of alternative medicine practitioners share the feeling that somehow the mainstream way of doing things is seriously off-kilter. We became wholistic practitioners because we sensed this approach to healing was in alignment with the way of nature - the Tao . It was…

Recently I have begun to utilize more herbal remedies in my practice. Is there a code to bill for the time I spend with the patient, as well as for the herbs themselves?

In this column, we historically have focused much of our attention on a potential reconfiguration of aging. Such a profound cultural shift seems to be on the agenda as our predominantly baby boomer generation approaches those incontrovertible milestones of seniority.

AT received considerable e-mail following the publication of “Money Is Qi Is Money” (Felice Dunas, PhD, September AT ). Although several e-mails praised her article, the overwhelming majority criticized it. What follows is a representation of the latter type of correspondence, along with a detailed response from Dr. Dunas.

Wuyi Mountain ( Wuyi Shan ), located in the far northern reaches of the Fugian province, is famous for oolong teas as well as some of the most rural, scenic and pristine mountainous areas of the entire tea-growing region in China. Our first trip there was in 2002, and I…

Over the years, I have volunteered my expertise to help raise money for AIDS research and awareness. I have been involved with many programs for more than a decade, including California AIDS Ride, AIDS LifeCycle and Shifting Gears. I have treated thousands of cyclists ranging from elite-level racers to those…