10/11/2005

Welcome!

It has been quite some time since our last newsletter.  We have been busy designing a new web site www.premieracupucnture.com and setting up a new and more efficient system for sending out our newsletter.  The newsletter will be  shorter than in the past, but will ideally be sent out more frequently.  I am hoping for twice each month. 

The newsletter concept is being expanded a bit.  Women's health will remain the emphasis, but I am including information on pain management.  Please send any questions or comments you have related to women's health or pain issues to pacmnewsletter@yahoo.com   Questions of broad interest will be answered in the newsletter. 

We have added Laser therapy / Laser acupuncture to our treatment options.  We strive to have the most technologically advanced natural medicine / Oriental Medicine clinic in South Central Alaska.  Combining laser therapy with our current treatment and diagnostic  modalities allows us to provide you with he best in natural health care.  For additional information on laser therapy, please see the pain treatment section below.

I hope you all had a wonderful summer.  Keep yourself healthy.

Yes, I know my mug shot leaves a little to be desired.  But...

Michael Wedge
L.Ac., M.Ac.O.M.,DCH
 

       Useful Information

I hope all the information in this newsletter is helpful, but I wanted a section that would provide you with information you could act on immediately and improve your health.  So for lack of a better heading, we have the Useful Information heading.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D is necessary for good health and in fact a deficiency of vitamin D can lead to neuromuscular diseases, depression, certain forms of cancer, osteoporosis and more.  Our skin makes vitamin D when exposed to ultra violet light.  During the winter we do not produce adequate amounts of vitamin D.  Recent research has found a very high percentage of Americans are deficient in vitamin D.  This is true even in state like California, specifically southern California, due to the use of sun screen.  One researcher made the comment that for every cancer we prevented using sun screen, we probably caused 20.  This is probably an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

The RDA for vitamin D is 400 IU for adults.  There is evidence this is to little.  I generally recommend around 600  IU daily of D3.  D3 is the most active form of vitamin D.  Some researcher have recommended 1000 IU daily and other have recommended as high as 2000 IU daily.  The best dose is not known, and will be dependent on your health and any health conditions you might have.  There is a blood test available to assist with monitoring vitamin D levels.  Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and therefore has the potential to become toxic.

Proper nutrition is vital for good health.  Supplementation is necessary for good nutrition in many if not most cases.  But remember, just because a little is good, a lot is not better.

We are once again offering our Breast Cancer Awareness Month Special.  1 in 8 women (rapidly approaching 1 in 7) will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.  The figures were 1 in 11 in the 1970's.  This is a growing concern for everyone.  If a breast cancer is found when it is less than 5mm and there is no lymph node involvement the long term (> 5 years) survival rate is just under 100 percent.  If the cancer has grown to 1cm (10mm) and there is no nodal involvement the survival rate drops to about 95 percent.  Finding a cancer early is extremely important.  No imaging method is 100 percent accurate unfortunately.  Mammography leaves much to be desired, but it is the current standard.  Breast thermography, while not 100 percent accurate, is an excellent method to assist with the evaluation of breast health and the presence of breast cancer.  There is a considerable amount of research supporting its use.  Breast thermography use is growing rapidly around the world and is being utilized in breast clinics, medical schools, and private practice clinics.  You have the ability to access this technology in Palmer. 

In recognition of breast cancer awareness month, we are offering the following special until October 31st.  The regular price for a breast thermogram is $220.  This includes having the thermogram read and reported on by Dr. Cockburn, one of the leaders within the thermal imaging community.  During October the cost is $150.  If you bring a friend or family member for a breast thermogram and you schedule on the same day, the second thermogram is $130.  Hard to beat those prices.  Due yourself and your family a favor, schedule your thermogram today.

Women's Health

Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Since this is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I would like to talk about Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC).  Women usually associate breast cancer with a lump in the breast.  IBC is different.

Every woman has been told to evaluate herself monthly using breast self exam (BSE) for the presence of breast lumps.  But did you know there is a type of breast cancer that grows in the form of a nest rather than a well defined lump?  This form of breast cancer results in a variety of symptoms that can be easily misdiagnosed as a breast infection, especially when some of the more obvious signs are not present such as nipple retraction.  Symptoms and signs associated with IBC include swelling of the breast, sometimes dramatically over a short period of time, nipple retraction, increased breast temperature, changes in skin texture called peau d'orange, thickening of the skin, nipple discharge and others.  Peau d'orange looks like the skin of an orange.  Not the color, but rather the texture of an orange peel.  This is one reason you look for changes in skin texture, dimpling, changes in breast contour, etc., when completing a BSE.  Average age of onset is 52 which is younger than other forms of breast cancer.  Although breast cancer in general is occurring more frequently in younger women.  IBC has occurred in girls under 12.

Images of IBC can be seen by following this link : IBC Images

Pain Treatment

Fibromyalgia

The Mayo clinic recently completed a study which found acupuncture to be an effective way of managing fibromyalgia.  As many of you know fibromyalgia is a collection of symptoms which has wide spread pain as the primary complaint.  Fibromyalgia can be quite disruptive to quality of life.  Those of us practicing acupuncture have known of the benefits of acupuncture for fibromyalgia, but it is good to see allopathic medicine (Western medicine) catching on to the benefits.  Studies involving acupuncture and other forms of Chinese medicine are regularly being reported in western medical journals.  We are beginning to see an evolution in medicine where the concept of integrative medicine is becoming a reality.  Did you know that according to a recent article, 17 percent of hospitals have acupuncturists on staff?  This is quite a change for when I started my practice almost 14 years ago.
 

Laser Therapy is now available

We are excited to offer you laser therapy.  Laser therapy has been in use outside of the United States for many years, but has only recently been approved for use in the United States.  During the last few decades a considerable amount of research has been completed on laser treatments.

Laser therapy can also be considered a form of “no needle” acupuncture.  Low Level Laser Therapy, or LLLT, is an FDA approved medical device and procedure. 

Through the action of photo-stimulation of light reactive biological receptors (chromophores) in the body, LLLT has demonstrated the ability to significantly accelerate and enhance the body’s natural defense and repair in the presence of injury, inflammation and certain disease processes.  LLLT is 100 percent safe and painless.

LLLT is useful in many areas, some of which include muscle pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, plantar fasciitis, sciatica, tendonitis, bursitis, neuralgia (nerve pain), arthritis, frozen shoulder, post herpetic neuralgia, fibromyalgia, strains and sprains, back pain, neck pain, whiplash injuries, herpes outbreaks (oral, genital, zoster), cystic acne, edema, and many others.

If you would like additional reading on this treatment there is  considerable amount of information on the internet.  One useful site is http://www.laser.nu/

In The News

1. A new study that followed 4,000 people for three decades suggests that over the long haul, 9 out of 10 men and 7 out of 10 women will become overweight.
    
2. Despite a major push by health authorities, most American women still aren't getting enough bone-building calcium even when they are being treated for osteoporosis.  "Calcium is important," says Robert P. Heaney, MD, of the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Neb. "You want to tell American women to go to the chalkboard and write 1,000 times, 'I will take my calcium."  PACM Comments:  Bone health is dependent on multiple factors including adequate calcium intake (1200-1500 mg per day)  Vitamin D intake (use D3 and take 400 -600 IU.  Possibly more if indicated), Magnesium (about 6 mg per kg of body weight, but this varies).  There are other supplements which play an apparent role in healthy bones such as boron and a variety of trace minerals.  Weight bearing exercise, such as walking or running is necessary for your body to effectively utilize these nutrients and increase bone density. 
    
3. "Low serum levels of vitamin D in the body may make elderly persons more susceptible to falls, Netherlands researchers reported here at the American Society of Mineral and Bone Research (ASBMR) 27th annual meeting." 
    
4. The British Health Protection Agency (HPA) has acknowledged that nausea, headaches, and muscle pains are potential side effects of the electromagnetic fields of mobile phones and computer screens.
    
5.  A large study reconfirms that estrogen replacement fails to enhance quality of life after menopause.  The findings, from the NIH-sponsored Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial, are based on more
   than 10,000 women and were published in the September 26 issue of the Archives of Internal
   Medicine. The results are another blow to the once popular notion that post-menopausal women
   need hormone replacement therapy to maintain their quality of life.  "Overall, our results are consistent with other recent randomized trials and epidemiological studies," wrote investigators led by Robert L.
   Brunner, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno.
   "There is little or no benefit of systemic hormone treatment for most other physical, functional, and psychosocial conditions."  The WHI, a randomized clinical trial comparing oral conjugated equine estrogen to a placebo, was cut short a few years ago after only an average of 6.8 years of follow-up when researchers reported an increased risk of stroke associated with the hormones.
   
   The research team concluded that "individual women may experience some improvement." However,
   these benefits may be accompanied by some side effects. "We find no evidence of a health-related
   quality-of-life benefit for the general postmenopausal population."
    
6. Occupational exposure to mineral oil, particularly motor oil and hydraulic fluid, increases the risk of rheumatoid factor-positive (RF+) rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to the results of a case-control study reported in the September issue of Arthritis Research and Therapy.
    

Your Questions

Please note:  Your questions may be rewritten for clarity.

Q:  I have plantar fasciitis, can you explain what this is and what can be done about it?

A:  Plantar fasciitis is a very painful condition involving inflammation and irritation of the plantar fascia.  The plantar fascia is a band of tissue on the bottom of the foot.  This tissue can become irritated and painful due to bone spurs, improper walking, excess weight or other body dynamics which impact the way you walk.  The pain can be severe enough to make walking very difficult.  The pain is often described as feeling like a knife is being stuck in the bottom of the foot.  The heel is a common location to feel this pain.  Common treatments, none of which work well, include cortisone injections, orthotics, casting of the foot for a couple months to take the weight off the foot, physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medication, and others.  The bottom line is none of these treatments work very well.  The good news is there is an effective treatment.  Acupuncture and microcurrent work wonderfully for this problem.  In fact, I have never had someone not respond to treatment.  Laser therapy is apparently very useful for this condition as well, but I have no personal experience using laser for plantar fasciitis.

Q:  I was recently told by a friend that performing monthly breast exams has been shown to be of no benefit.  Is this true?

A:  Simply put, yes.  Two very large studies found no increases in survival from breast cancer in women who practiced breast self exam (BSE).  The problem apparently lies in the idea that by the time a woman can feel a breast cancer, it has been growing for many years.  Having said this, you should realize that a breast lump is usually located by the women herself, not her health care provider during a yearly clinical breast exam (CBE).  If you were not completing BSE, the cancer might not have been located until your next CBE.  That might not occur for a year or more.  I know some of you do not complete BSE, receive CBE, mammography or thermography.  This makes for a very dangerous situation.  Several women have mentioned to me that they do not practice BSE, but they felt their husbands would know if there was a lump.  First off, and let me be blunt, your husband generally has something else on his mind, and is not engaged in a diagnostic breast exam.  Secondarily, BSE has specific steps which are necessary for a thorough exam.  Check out  http://www.breastcancer.org/dia_detec_exam_5step.html  for additional information on BSE, including instructions.  I can not stress enough how important it is to monitor your breast health.  From my point of view, managing benign breast pathology and pain such as fibroadenomas, cysts, fibrocystic changes, etc. is equally important.  I do not care for the conventional approach of taking a wait and see attitude.  BSE is free, safe, increases your awareness of breast health, and increases your chances of locating a breast cancer.  So who cares what the studies have shown. 

JUST FOR FUN

http://www.grab.com/fun/specials/licensetopill  
There is a word or two that may be mildly offensive, but I think you will enjoy this.

Premier Acupuncture & Complementary Medicine
610 S Bailey #150
Palmer AK, 99645

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