Small Changes Lead to Big Changes in Preventing Diabetes

Tim and Paul Daly, identical twins. One has diabetes, one does not.

Here's an inspirational story about beating diabetes. Tim and Paul Daly are identical twins who were inseparable up through young adulthood - they even joined the Army together. Later they took different paths, and while Tim kept playing basketball every week with friends on Tuesday night, his brother didn't do any exercise at all.

In 1996 Paul was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. His identical twin Tim was pre-diabetic. Then...

Tim volunteered to take part in a huge national research study aimed at determining exactly what it takes to prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes.

Like him, all of the 3,234 volunteers in the study were at high risk of developing the disease. The volunteers were broken down into three groups.

Tim was randomly assigned to the "lifestyle intervention" group. He received intensive counseling from a dietitian and motivational coach who helped him develop a plan to eat less and exercise more.

A second group of participants took a diabetes medicine called Metformin twice a day. These volunteers received information about diet and exercise, but they didn't get motivational counseling. A third group received placebo pills instead of Metformin.

Researchers wanted to know which intervention would work best to prevent diabetes and all of the complications that can develop as a result: loss of vision, kidney failure, amputations and a substantial increase in risk of heart disease and stroke.

As it turns out, the study found lifestyle changes to be twice as affective as the medicine.

Twice as effective!! Keep that in mind when you read the possible side effects of Metformin:

Metformin may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe, do not go away, go away and come back, or do not begin for some time after you begin taking metformin:

• diarrhea
  
• bloating
  
• stomach pain
  
• gas
  
• constipation
  
• unpleasant metallic taste in mouth
  
• heartburn
  
• headache
  
• sneezing
  
• cough
  
• runny nose
  
• flushing of the skin
  
• nail changes
  
• muscle pain

Some side effects can be serious. The following symptoms are uncommon, but if you experience any of them or those listed in the IMPORTANT WARNING section, call your doctor immediately:

• chest pain
  
• rash

Some female laboratory animals given high doses of metformin developed non-cancerous polyps (abnormal growths of tissue) in the uterus (womb). It is not known if metformin increases the risk of polyps in humans. Talk to your doctor about the risks of taking this medication.

Metformin may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while taking this medication.

Just more evidence that exercise is good for nearly everything. The audio version of this story, available for free on the NPR website, has more detail than the printed version.

Preventing Diabetes: Small Changes Have Big Payoff by Allison Aubrey
Diabetes Prevention Program Study Repository
Medline Plus: Metformin

At the age of 100, Xing Yi Master Wang Ji Wu Describes His Principles of Living a Healthy Life

This gem was brought to my attention by licensed acupuncturist and tai chi teacher Robert Martinez of New York City. Thanks Robert! It has wonderful words of wisdom for anyone interested in health, and for doctors and martial artists in particular.

I believe it may have been taken from this book, Xing Yi Nei Gong.

The Heart is Calm, Quiet as Still Water
My own history is from the end of the Qing Dynasty, through the period of the republic to the People's Republic, already a hundred years. My life has seen its share of ups and downs, times of poverty and hardship, honor and dishonor, the changes of the seasons, all of which have left a deep impression on me. After the founding of the People's Republic, my life became stable, but with the Cultural Revolution, disaster once again overran the country and I was forced out of business. All of these events served as a means of cultivating my spirit, and afforded me the opportunity to practice the "gong fu" of living in the world.

One must always maintain a calm heart even when influenced by the Seven Emotions; joy, anger, happiness, worry, sadness, fear, and surprise. The heart must remain as calm as still water, never allowing any personal desires to stir up a ripple of disturbance. My thoughts are pure; in spirit I seek to forget myself and transcend the common affairs of the world, keeping my life simple and my desires few. With a clear heart, I do not contend with others or make demands upon the world, but rather seek to contribute what I can for the benefit of all, aiding those in need and protecting those in danger.

Without desire one is strong, without desire one is quiet, without desire one may return to that which is natural, without desire one returns to the Original State. With a heart like still water, from the extreme stillness will spring action, from the Void comes that which is alive, yin and yang are in harmony and the qi flows unimpeded. With a heart like still water, the qi is sufficient and the spirit full. When the qi is sufficient and the spirit full, the Organs function normally, the blood is nourished, the meridians, nerves, digestion, and circulation are all healthy and the metabolism stimulated. When the factors that prevent aging are all strong, one may prevent illness and live a long and healthy life.

Humans are holistic beings which are possessed of a certain vitality. The spirit and flesh are inseparable and form a complicated entity. The human vitality supports, influences, and is responsive to the person as a whole, while the spirit is the leader and controller, the "commander-in-chief" of the being as a whole. Under certain circumstances, it can be said that the spirit, "pulls one hair and the whole body follows," or, at the slightest stirring of the spirit the whole being responds, and each movement of the spirit has a real effect on the individual. Therefore, I put special emphasis on the spirit as leader, ever strengthening my resolve to cultivate the spirit, maintain calmness of heart, and become as pure as light without a speck of dust. This is akin to the Song Dynasty poet who wrote "to understand the highest virtue" applied to the present time. Better yet, this cultivation of the spirit and heart will improve the physical constitution of the people, protect their health, and contribute to a long and healthy life.

Live an Enthusiastic Life, Serve the Public Good
I have traveled the long road of life, experiencing hardship, difficulty, and I know the sentiment of man is often as thin as paper. I have seen corruption and those whose only concern is realizing their own desires. Because of this, I have striven even harder to live a practical life, willing to sacrifice even more for the good of the people. After the founding of the Republic, I spent my time working in the streets as a doctor, treating anyone who came to me for help with wholehearted enthusiasm. When one finds happiness in serving others, one will be full of the spirit of life, seeing things as they are with a calm heart. Thus, one may reach the state where the spirit is preserved within, the body is healthy and the spirit full, the intellect wise, decisions made adroitly and reactions made spontaneously. Consequently, the life energy will be strengthened and increased while promoting the health and longevity of the body.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

To Prevent Osteoporosis: Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

Think Wang Pei Kun has a bone density problem? Please.

What is osteoporosis? According to the Merck Manual:

Osteoporosis is a progressive metabolic bone disease that decreases bone density (bone mass per unit volume), with deterioration of bone structure. Skeletal weakness leads to fractures with minor or inapparent trauma, particularly in the thoracic and lumbar spine, wrist and hip.

You've heard of the little old lady who falls down and breaks her hip? She's got osteoporosis. Fortunately there are a number of things that the little old lady can do to increase bone density and prevent fractures without the need for poisonous pharmaceutical drugs such as Fosamax, which can actually cause mandibular osteonecrosis. "Mandibular osteonecrosis" is a fancy way of saying that it kills your jaw bone. Let's not play Abel to Fosamax's Cain, okay? (Ironically, Fosamax is a product of the Merck pharmaceutical company)

Important to note is that osteoporosis is what the Merck Manual calls a "metabolic" disease. This means it is not caused by any external bacteria or virus. You can't catch osteoporosis from anyone. Your own body can create the condition of osteoporosis, and it can also therefore reverse that condition.

The number one thing that you can do to increase bone density and decrease the risk of osteoporosis is EXERCISE. Numerous studies have confirmed that even gentle exercise such as taijiquan can increase bone density. If you're not crazy about taiji, try yoga, or weightlifting, or jogging or even walking. Here's a sample of the literature on bone density and exercise:

• Tai Chi May Help Maintain Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women
  
• Bone density sharply enhanced by weight training, even in the elderly
  
• The American Society of Bone and Mineral Research says: "Research helped us to understand the need for weight-bearing exercise to build and maintain bone in order to reduce fracture risk. Falling can be reduced by strength-building exercise that increases balance and flexibility." Unfortunately they contradict themselves in the very same document (PDF) when they say "Research identified and demonstrated a variety of drugs that can reduce bone loss and fractures and even build new bone. Thirty years ago there was no treatment for osteoporosis." If weight-bearing exercise increases bone density, isn't that a treatment for osteoporosis? Unless I have been sorely misled, exercise wasn't invented less than thirty years ago.

According to Chen and Chen's formula book, there are four formulas one can use to treat osteoporosis. Obviously your options are not limited to these four formulas (独活寄生汤 Du Huo Ji Sheng Tang, anyone?) but it's a good starting point.

Kidney Yin Deficiency: 左归丸 Zuo Gui Wan
Kidney Yang Deficiency: 右归丸 You Gui Wan
Kidney Jing Deficiency: 龟鹿二仙胶 Gui Lu Er Xian Jiao
Spleen Qi Deficiency: 参苓白术散 Shen Ling Bai Zhu San

Fat Turtle Herb Company can fill all these formulas to your exact specifications in different formats: raw herbs, pre-cooked vacuum packs, granule and capsule.

p.s. The occasion for this post was a NY Times article on osteoporosis which ignores even their own archives. As my nephew Joey would say, with his hands on his head: Ai yai yai yai yai!

L.A. Times Article - Does it matter what the doctor weighs?

Dr. Regina Benjamin with President Barack Obama

Here's an interesting article from the L.A. Times on the personal health of doctors. Does it matter? Do medical health professionals need to be healthy to be effective?

"A doctor doesn't need to be perfect, but it'd be hard for me to take financial advice from a CPA who had just filed for bankruptcy," said Dr. Timothy Harlan, medical director of the Tulane University School of Medicine, who says he believes physicians should make a genuine effort to be healthy.

Personally, I believe it's my responsibility to be as healthy as possible. I'm kind of a health nut. This morning Nini and I had vegetable juice for breakfast, as we usually do: carrots, beets, cucumber, ginger, and an apple (on the weekends, when we have time, we like to follow that up with bacon and eggs with tomatoes, onions and cheese). Most mornings I'm out at Mar Vista park doing taijiquan or qigong. I drink a lot of green tea.

I don't usually advertise these activities, because people sometimes don't react well to hearing about them. Instead of "hey, good for you" it's some hardcore eye-rolling and "well of course YOU do that. You're healthy! I could NEVER be as healthy as you are."

The fact is, there's no hard line between a "healthy person" and an "unhealthy person." I haven't always had these habits. I only started juicing about a year ago (note: I'm talking about this kind of juicing, NOT this kind). I only started exercising every morning during the past month, when I finally had the freedom to organize my own schedule. I drink green tea because I like how it tastes and how it makes me feel - I'm not choking it down because it's good for me. In the future I may not have the time to exercise every morning, or make juice and then clean the juicer (which takes awhile and is kind of a hassle but still worth it - if you've never had ultra-fresh juice straight from the juicer it's like a punch in the taste buds - much better than anything you could buy in a bottle. Besides that there are all kinds of health benefits which have to do with how fast the nutritional content of juice degrades when you let it sit around - for best results drink within two to three minutes of juicing).

My general philosophy is that you should enjoy life. If life isn't enjoyable, what's the point? I've tried drinking, and cigarettes, and various recreational drugs. I've tried all different kinds of exercise. I've tried not exercising. As a patient, I've tried acupuncture, massage and herbs. I've tried meditation and talk therapy and EFT. For myself, I have found what works, and continue to discover new things all the time. Through learning and teaching martial arts and four years of formal TCM education, I have tools that can help me to understand what works for others. I encourage you to experiment, and find what works for you. If you want to change something about your health, or your life, your body, your mindset, try something different. Don't be afraid to ask questions or seek guidance in unexpected places.

Find a doctor that you connect with. Everyone needs help with health challenges, so don't be afraid to accept professional help. But the best doctor is within yourself. Go look for him or her. They're in there.

After Treatment, Then What?

From Dana Jennings prostate cancer blog:

When I had radiation for about two months last winter, it began to feel as familiar as a job. I knew the names of the hospital parking attendants and the receptionists. The nurses, doctors and therapists all smiled and said hello, and I did the same.

Each day I arrived at radiation oncology, checked in, got my hospital bracelet, changed into a drafty gown, then waited with my fellow patients — my colleagues in cancer — to be treated. Once a week, my weight, blood pressure and temperature were taken and I met with my radiation oncologist. I had become a regular at the radiation spa, had even learned to artfully jiggle the key in the stubborn locker doors.

You can read the rest here...

Is it just me or does this seem kind of perverse? How could you love treatment so much that you would be disappointed when it ends? As a patient you should be looking to get better, not enjoy your treatment. If medical treatment is so enjoyable, why not be sick all the time?

Swine Flu, Concerned Parents, Western Medicine and Chinese Medicine

Yesterday I got an email from my dad. I've been sick for the past few weeks, but what with finals and the end of school, I only got serious about treating it last Friday, when I went to see Dr. Yuhong Chen at the Yosan clinic (scroll down to read her bio). I had two acupuncture treatments and she wrote a kick-ass herbal formula, and five days later I'm back to 100%.

My main symptom was sore throat, persisting for three weeks, plus fatigue, and at various points during that four weeks I had body aches, slight fever, night sweats, thick sticky green phlegm streaked with blood, thin white phlegm, and probably something else too. It sounds bad when I write it all out, but it didn't bother me too much. All those symptoms didn't occur at the same time, and when they did occur they only lasted a day or so. The only thing that persisted was the sore throat.

In a phone conversation last weekend, my dad suggested that I go get a throat culture and, if it turned out to be strep throat, take antibiotics. I told him that I was fairly sure it wasn't strep, and even if it was, I'd rather take Chinese medicine. Like many Americans, I don't have health insurance, and my last trip to the ER cost me nearly $1000.

Then the swine flu media panic got out of control over the weekend, and I had the email exchange reproduced below with my dad. I guess I was a little defensive about Chinese medicine - after all, I just spent four years studying this completely different, completely effective system of medicine, and now my dad wants me to take antibiotics and Tamiflu? Sheesh.

But I think it's instructive about the way a lot of people feel about Chinese medicine - that's it's good for mild symptoms, but if it's "something serious," then you absolutely have to "go see a doctor," which means an M.D. The fact is, Chinese medicine can treat everything. Let me say that again: Chinese medicine can treat everything.

And now, without further ado...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
11:54 AM (22 hours ago)
(My Dad)
to me

Hey Jonah,

Not sure if your symptoms fit this profile, but if they’re in the ballpark I would urge you to go to a clinic or even a hospital ER somewhere to get a test. This has public health implications – the only way the CDC can track what’s happening is by monitoring test results – but more important the health networks are well stocked with anti-virals (tamiflu and another one whose name I forget) that so far have been effective if the result turns out positive. So no need to panic, but also no reason not to be proactive. From the news reports it looks as if this could get serious down the line. As you have probably been reading, the group most at risk from this outbreak are healthy young adults in the 20-40 age range.

Love,

Dad



From: Lisa
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 7:29 PM
Subject: IMPORTANT UPDATE! Swine Influenza Outbreak.
Importance: High

Fellow Employees:

The World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) have confirmed an outbreak of the Swine Influenza A/H1N1 (swine flu) in Mexico with now twenty (20) confirmed cases in the United States. Swine Influenza is a respiratory disease found in pigs caused by type A influenza that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza among pigs. CDC has determined that this swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is contagious and is spreading from human to human. However, at this time, it not known how easily the virus spreads between people.

The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. In the past, severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and deaths have been reported with swine flu infection in people. Like seasonal flu, swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

Spread of this swine influenza A (H1N1) virus is thought to be happening in the same way that seasonal flu spreads. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing of people with influenza. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.

Your health and the health of your family is greatly important. Please take some general precautions during this time.

Since influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people, there are many things you can to do preventing getting and spreading influenza:

Everyday actions:

· Cover coughs and sneezes with tissues or by coughing into the inside of the elbow. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

· Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.

· Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

· Limit close contact (within 6 feet) with others when possible.

· Stay away from places where there are large groups of people.

· If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

All offices remain open at this time. However, we would like to recommend that business travel to/from Mexico be delayed/re-scheduled. In lieu of travel, please consider conducting conference calls and/or video conferences.

The following link is the CDC’s Q&A which provides the detail regarding when to contact your health care provider, especially for children or someone with pre-existing health issues. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm

We will continue to send you updates on any important information as it becomes available. Please contact your HRBP or the Benefits Team if you have any other questions or concerns.

Regards,

Lisa
Vice President, Human Resources

--------------------------------------------------
1:23 PM (21 hours ago)
Jonah Ewell
to (My Dad)

Hey Dad,

I appreciate your concern! But I'm getting much better. Chinese medicine is much much more effective for any kind of influenza than drugs. When SARS broke out in China, they used herbal medicine. If Chinese medicine were in wider use in the Americas, swine flu would be much easier to contain. Obviously, to treat the root of the problem you need to stop having factory farming and crowding huge amounts of pigs together, which concentrates effluvia (aka pigshit!) and breeds disease. Until that happens, Chinese medicine, handwashing, and rest are the best way to recover from a flu.

I'm currently taking a Chinese herbal prescription which consists of 15 herbs. Some of the key herbs, such as 茵陳蒿 Yin Chen Hao (a type of artemisiae) and 山豆根 Shan Dou Gen (a type of sophora root) have been proven in laboratory testing to have broad-spectrum antiviral and antibacterial actions. No need to worry, Chinese medicine is on the case!

love,
Jonah
------------------------------------------------

1:53 PM (20 hours ago)
(My Dad)
to me

OK, sounds good. But do you know whether you have the particular virus that’s in the news?

Love,

Dad

---------------------------------------------------------

2:35 PM (19 hours ago)
Jonah Ewell
to (My Dad)

In the framework of Chinese medicine, it's unimportant what exact microbe or virus is causing you problems. Western science and medicine is reductionist, always looking for that ONE THING that they can point to and say is the cause of illness. When you find the exact bacteria or virus, all you have to do is kill it, or remove it, or block it, or any of the other things Western medicine does. This is a relatively recent development, hinging on the invention of advanced microscopes. Thanks to these instruments, we have made incredible advances in being able to look at and detect these small microbes and viruses, which has helped the world deal with serious health problems. However, as we are seeing, looking for the one microbe and trying to eliminate it is a textbook case of missing the forest for the trees.

What causes disease? Why do some people get sick and others don't? If the swine flu was really so contagious, why haven't more people become sick and died? According to what I've heard on the radio and read in the newspapers, less than 10% of people with swine flu have died. Over 90% recover. Think of fruit in a basket. If you leave it for awhile, you might find that one piece of fruit has mold on it. Another piece of fruit, sitting right next to it and even touching it, cheek-by-jowl, is unaffected. Why is that?

Louis Pasteur, the father of modern bacteria studies (the process of pasteurization was named for him) was said to have renounced bacteria-based medicine on his deathbed, saying "Terrain is everything." Terrain means our bodies, our immune system, our environment. If you have a strong immune system (what the Chinese call 卫气 wei qi, or defensive qi) without underlying deficiencies, and live in harmony with your environment, you will not become sick.

Chinese medicine has, over the course of 2000-3000 years of recorded history, developed a number of powerful diagnostic systems that, properly applied, can cure nearly everything. Modern medicine has a place, and it adds to the world's knowledge. But it doesn't replace Chinese medicine.

Chinese medicine looks at the totality of a person and treats the person, not the disease. The herbal formula I'm taking was written exactly for me, taking into account all my body systems, my constitution and my presenting symptoms. This is what good medicine is. Simply telling millions of people, young, old, tall, short, skinny, fat, to go dose themselves with Tamiflu is ridiculous.

If you have an epidemic situation, in Chinese medicine it falls under the general classification of 温病 wen bing, or warm disease. There are many subcategories within it, but one of note is called 杂气 za qi, or miscellaneous qi. This is a type of qi that arises under special circumstances and is outside the realm of the ordinary system of Chinese medicine, which holds that there are six types of exogenous pathogens. This seventh type of qi was discussed by 吴有性 Dr. Wu Youxing in his work the 温疫论 Wen Yi Lun in 1642 A.D., many centuries after the main classics of Chinese medicine were written but two centuries before Dr. Pasteur made his discoveries in the area of germ theory.

In other words... don't worry!

love,
Jonah

--------------------------------------------------

6:05 PM (16 hours ago)
(My Dad)
to me

In principle I can see your point, but the 1918 flu pandemic killed millions of people in a single year before it ran its course, and the treatments that have been developed since then to combat viruses of this type are pretty specific and pretty effective once the agent has been identified. Not sure of the details, but I think that anti-virals are different from antibiotics, which are less specific and also ineffective against viruses. Also, according to the NYT article on it yesterday, what makes this particular virus so deadly is not so much what it does directly as the immune reaction that it triggers, literally drowning the patient as the body tries to activate its natural defenses to meet a perceived but not well understood threat. Viruses (which are basically small free-floating pieces of genetic code) are tricky, and developing an effective anti-viral agent on the molecular level seems mostly to be a matter of strategy. So maybe the most appropriate medical text for this kind of threat would be the Sunzi…

Anyway, my 2 cents for what it’s worth.

Love,

Dad

-------------------------------------------------------

10:03 PM (12 hours ago)
Jonah Ewell
to (My Dad)

Sunzi is used as a medical text, but antiviral medications are a far cry from the wisdom of Sunzi. One of Sunzi's basic tenets is to follow the laws of Heaven and Earth. In medical terms, that means the exterior and the interior, the environment and the body. Viruses are highly adaptable, which is why getting a flu shot is such a crap shoot. They have to guess which flu strain is going to go around, and a lot of times they get it wrong, so all these old folks are immunized against something which poses no threat, and they have no defense against the flu strain that actually does come around.

They would be far, far better off to do the basics: light exercise daily, eat foods in accordance with the seasons, and have a stable emotional life. Add handwashing, proper clothing for the weather, and there's your natural flu vaccine. It's easy to tune out because it's so basic. The basics are hard! Huaching Ni says that having a normal life is actually quite difficult, and that few people ever achieve it. Instead of focusing on the basics, everyone's looking for the magic pill or injection which is going to allow them to continue with their bad habits.

The CDC is doing their job by telling people to wash their hands (http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/), but that doesn't get picked up by the media. Everyone's looking for a vaccine or treatment. As the Neijing says, treating an illness after it has started is like digging a well when you get thirsty, or forging weapons after the battle has begun.

There is an "attacking school" or "detoxification school" of Chinese medicine that concentrates on using harsh, bitter, cold herbs to drive pathogens from the body (攻邪学派 Gong Xie Xue Pai). It's one of the four famous schools of medical thought from the Jin-Yuan period. Most modern western medicine can be thought of as an extreme example of the attacking school. Antibiotics, antivirals, chemotherapy, radiation, are all very effective if used correctly (big if) but they absolutely destroy your body and leave it open to further attack. This mode of thought is just one of many overlapping theories that are used concurrently in Chinese medicine, and certainly not a dominant one.

love,
Jonah

-----------------------------------------------------
10:34 PM (11 hours ago)
Jonah Ewell
to (My Dad)

You're correct in that strategy is important, but if the only time you apply strategy is in a quest to find the best anti-viral medication, that's a misapplication of strategy. Everyone is looking through the microscope, which is fine, but if the virus is underneath a microscope that means it's not in a human body. At the same time as you bend over the microscope, you also have to step back and look at what's going on in a real live sick person, and then step back again to look at where that person lives, the state of the environment in which he or she lives, and all the people around them, sick or not. The strength of Chinese medicine is that we deal with living systems in their natural environments.

Modern machinery is great - who wouldn't want an MRI machine to peer inside the body? - but it doesn't replace the basics of the four examinations - palpation, listening/smelling, observation, and questioning. When you add blood tests, X-rays and scopes to that, you have a some very powerful diagnostic tools. If you rely too much on the machines and lab reports, as many modern doctors tend to do, you can very easily be misled. Western medicine, until very recently, made good use of palpation, physical exam, and the verbal investigation to form a complete diagnosis. Nowadays, it's just testing. Some of my patients in the clinic get sent for test after test after test. Some of these tests are very invasive, and at the end of it the doctors say, "we can't find anything wrong. It must be psychological." Well, they're looking in the wrong place, with the wrong tools, and the wrong mindset.

Ice Cream, Don't Do It

Here's a fun factoid: ice cream makes you sick. It's true.

Well, I should say that it made me more sick than I was before.

I had started to come down with something on Monday evening, starting with a sore throat and heaviness in the head. I blasted myself with herbs, and upon waking I was feeling better. By the end of my shift at noon, however, my sinuses were completely congested, and it felt as though it was clogged through to my ears.

I went home and nursed myself, taking a different set of herbs for my congestion. I even stayed home and canceled my shift, not wanting to infect anyone else with my evil qi. By the afternoon, I was feeling so much better that, despite better judgment, I decided to celebrate with some ice cream. Two spoonfuls, to be exact.

Before the ice cream, I had no sore throat, no headache, no congestion, and no runny nose. After the ice cream, within minutes, my nose clogged up and I was back to wiping snot off my face and I had to drink hot tea to combat the coldness I started to feel. It's as if the ice cream canceled out all of the herbs I've taken and the sleep I've gotten in the last two days.

So next time you think of having ice cream, just don't do it... Unless it's Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk, in which case it might be worth it.

A Plug For Mona Vie

To state it bluntly, I'm a skeptical cynic and don't believe most things I'm told unless I experience it myself. Although it can be a set-back in terms of time spent researching to find my own truth, all while indulging the OCD-side of me, it has led me to where I am today. With that disclosure statement, today's post is about a product called Mona Vie.

Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't. It has been featured by Lara Spencer on The Dish with Rachel Ray, freestyle motocross pro Brian Deegan on MTV Cribs, and Dr. Oz on the Oprah Winfrey Show, to name a few. For a multi-level marketing product, it has gotten more exposure and endorsement than any other health-related MLM product in recent times - and trust me, being Vietnamese and all means that I know a thing or two or three about MLM's... (I don't know what the obsession is, but Vietnamese people love them!) It's also received a fair amount of skepticism and bad exposure as well.

I didn't know anything about Mona Vie until my sister started selling it. Now I know way too much about it. For weeks she's asked me to post a little something on her behalf, and I have been reticent... until now.

Both my parents have chronic health problems, and the kind of lifestyles that produce and perpetuate those problems. I have tried for the last year - since moving closer to home - to convince them to change their habits. I've given them teas, came over on weekends for acupuncture, tried to influence their diet, only to fail at almost all attempts to help them long term. Every time I left their house, they just went back to their same old ways.

My sister has been selling Mona Vie for only a few months now, and with that she has managed to change my parents' ingrained habits more than anything I've done. Every day, she makes sure our dad drinks the recommended 2-4 ounces a day of Mona Vie, and with that he's stopped drinking his requisite coffee every morning, as well as the three cans of soda he used to drink throughout the day. She also got our mom to drink it too: my mom's a Type 2 diabetic who is extremely uncompliant with her meds and dietary recommendations, and she's got a raging sweet tooth. When she checks her fasting blood sugar, it's usually at 180 or higher, but after taking the Mona Vie regularly, she's leveled at 73. She's been checking her blood glucose levels every day just to make sure it's still at 73.

My sister, who just had a son this past year, started taking Mona Vie given to her by a friend. She noticed that the pain she had in her heel, which began during her third trimester of pregnancy and persisted after birth, had disappeared. She also was delighted to find that she had lost 6 pounds, and decided to find out more about the stuff. Now she won't stop talking about it.

Mona Vie is a blend of different fruits: acai, concord grape, pineapple, apple, prickly pear, pomegranate, elderberry, yumberry, bilberry, blackberry, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, raspberry, aronia, acerola, strawberry, cupuacu, and camu camu. It's basically a super-duper fruit juice. It tastes great, which is why it was so easy to get my parents to do it.

So that's my plug for Mona Vie. People argue that it's just a juice, and that it's network marketing at it's best, making for tons of hype and misinformation. Personally, the fact that it is just a juice proves to me that healthy living doesn't have to come from a pill. A larger percentage of Americans suffer from chronic health illnesses compared to populations of other developed countries. The food group we are missing the most of in terms of both quanitity and variety are fruits.

The argument that it's exobitantly priced leads me to ask people to compare what they are spending on coffee every day, or for drinks at the bar each week, to the cost of Mona Vie. Ideally, we should all be buying low-cost unprocessed foods, especially fresh seasonal fruits and veggies, but the fact of the matter is that most of us are lazy, and that there is limited access to affordable healthy food choices in many parts of the country.

I try to get my parents to eat more fresh fruits and veggies. They live in California where fresh foods are abundant year-round, and they even have a juicer, which unfortunately sits in their cupboard untouched. If Mona Vie, with it's easy-to-swallow taste and easy-to-pour refrigerator-ready bottle, is the only way they'll take in their daily servings of fruit, then that's good enough for me.

Here's my sister's contact info if you want to learn more about Mona Vie:
Nina, 714-860-3518 or email her at ninamai at myway dot com.

Nature's Limits

I just came across a very interesting article on nature as it related to economics, sharks and politics.

Nature, in fact, places the most severe limits on animals and their behavior to make sure they stay balanced. Sharks don't have a "stop eating" mechanism in their biological blueprint. Under normal conditions sharks can't catch food fast enough to do themselves damage from over-eating. Nature has limited their ability to catch food. A shark in a feeding frenzy, however, given enough food, will eat until it quite literally bursts open like an overstuffed sausage. Its guts just explode out into the water. In some cases crazed, gut-busted sharks eat their own entrails, unable to distinguish between their innards and their kill.

What's the relevance to Chinese medicine, you ask? Chinese medicine takes nature as the all-powerful regulator. There is absolutely nothing man-made that can withstand the power of nature. If it doesn't drown you, burn you, sting you, gore you or freeze you, nature can wait you out. The power of time is on nature's side. Eventually humans will vanish from the earth, and many millions of years later even plastic will disappear. But the earth will still be here. If not the earth, then certainly the sun. If the sun itself has gone dead, the universe marches on.

Faced with this incredible power, the ancient Chinese tried to learn from and live in harmony together with nature, rather than conquer it (Grand Canal notwithstanding). The ancient maxim 天人合一 tian ren he yi or "heaven and man together as one" is an expression of this admiration and respect for nature.

One of the most basic things we as humans can do for better health is to live in harmony with the seasons. That means eating food that was grown in-season, not flown from halfway around the world. It means taking time out, at least once a season, to get away from the city, to a wilderness area where we can better appreciate nature's glory. It means dressing appropriately for the seasons and not letting our homes or cars become completely insulated from the outside environment - turn off your air conditioning!

Great Medical Advice from Thousands of Years Ago

The sages of ancient times emphasized not the treatment of disease, but rather the prevention of its occurrence. To administer medicines to diseases which have already developed and to suppress revolts which have already begun is comparable to the behavior of one who begins to dig a well after he has become thirsty and of one who begins to forge his weapons after he has engaged in battle. Would these actions not be too late?

- The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic, Simple Questions, quoted in Tao: The Subtle Universal Law and the Integral Way of Life by Hua-Ching Ni

Seems pretty straightforward, doesn't it? Hua-Ching Ni goes on to explain that, in the Chinese system, "it is possible to detect energy imbalances long before they are seen as an overt disease."

From the point of view of modern medicine, health is merely the absence of disease. But, by taking a preventive route, one may elevate one's general state of health to a level at which one may consistently enjoy a positive feeling of well-being with an abundance of physical and mental energy.

Sounds great, doesn't it? How does one get there, to a state of health where you just feel great and have lots of energy all the time? Four things: regulation of the mind and your emotions, proper physical activity, proper diet, and staying in tune with the four seasons ("proper" here means both the right amount and the right type).

Acupuncture Mitigates Side Effects of Conventional Breast Cancer Treatments

There's a new study which confirms that acupuncture can relieve the unpleasant side effects of standard medication. In this case it's tamoxifen and anastrozole, which are used to help prevent recurrence of breast cancer.

Tamoxifen is a selective estrogen reuptake modulator (SERM), which disrupts the body's ability to bind with estrogen. Anastrozole decreases the amount of estrogen made by the body in the first place. Estrogen is targeted because some breast cancers respond to estrogen.

This is from the National Cancer Institute:

The known, serious side effects of tamoxifen are blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer, and cataracts (see Questions 5–8). Other side effects of tamoxifen are similar to the symptoms of menopause. The most common side effects are hot flashes and vaginal discharge. Some women experience irregular menstrual periods, headaches, fatigue, nausea and/or vomiting, vaginal dryness or itching, irritation of the skin around the vagina, and skin rash. As with menopause, not all women who take tamoxifen have these symptoms. Men who take tamoxifen may experience headaches, nausea and/or vomiting, skin rash, impotence, or a decrease in sexual interest.

And this from the NY Times:

The acupuncture worked just as well as the antidepressant Effexor to curb hot flashes. Women who received acupuncture also reported fewer side effects and more energy, and some reported an increased sex drive, compared to women who used Effexor, the study showed.

So, to recap: All the women in the study were taking tamoxifen and anastrozole. Half of them took Effexor, and half got acupuncture once or twice a week for twelve weeks.

This sort of study is very important in advancing acceptance of acupuncture in mainstream circles. For those women who are taking these highly toxic medications, which suppress the production of their natural hormones, acupuncture should be available to alleviate their suffering.

If we accept the dominant bacteriological medical paradigm, this is the best that acupuncture can do: cleaning up around the edges after the worst diseases have taken their toll. This role is least threatening to pharmaceutical money and M.D. status, and therefore is not crushed.

The "modern" medical model ignores the role of emotion, jeers at notions of "energy" and would rather wait years for highly selective "evidence" to become available before admitting that dirty air and chemically-tainted water can cause disease.

But if we are true to our medicine, and do our best to advance the Chinese medical model of health, that is where I believe we will do the most good. Cancer is a form of stagnation. Therefore, to avoid stagnation, you have to move. It follows that exercise is one the single best ways to treat just about everything.

Stagnation can also be caused by overburdening the body's digestive system. Therefore, to avoid stagnation, don't eat too much. Limit your intake of fatty, greasy and sweet foods.

Lots of people talk about the "mind-body" connection, but in Chinese medicine there is no clear line between the mind and body. The mind, as a set of neuro/emotional habits distinct from the physical brain, is a part of the body just as much as your thigh bone or your endocrine system. In Chinese medicine, we say that long-term stagnation can transform into fire, and that is certainly true of emotions. It is therefore vitally important to your health that you understand your emotions. Meditation is a wonderful way to separate yourself from your "self", to gain some perspective on your personality and see yourself from the outside. When you realize that you aren't a slave to your emotions, the whole world becomes your playground. Or so I'm told... I've still got work to do in that department. ;)

Eat well, exercise, and express yourself - the three E's. It's easy advice to ignore because it's so bland. But it becomes less bland when you personalize it. One person's eating well is entirely different from another person's eating well - a small, weak person needs fortifying foods like lamb and small amounts of alcohol to aid circulation. But give that same prescription to a 6 foot tall, 300 pound 50-year-old man with high blood pressure and you'll be sending him to an early grave. Some people have a lot of energy and need to go to kickboxing class to work it off, while for some others, some gentle tai ji quan or qi gong would be best. And of course, emotional expression varies widely.

There is a fourth E! The three E's should be done everyday! Avoid cancer! Live your life! Be happy!

An Audio Introduction to Chinese Tea

This afternoon on The Splendid Table, host Lynne Rossetto Kasper interviews Bill Waddington, the owner of Tea Source. Tea Source is a company in Minnesota that imports Chinese and Indian teas. Click here to listen (Realplayer).

Tea is one of the best possible things you can put in your body. It's a modern superfood with a legendary past, revered by cave-dwelling sages as well as research scientists.

In general, the best tea in the world comes from southern China and Taiwan (English tea is a little bit like Belgian chocolate - a remnant of the colonial past.) All tea comes from one plant, camellia sinensis. All the different varieties - green, black, white, et cetera, come from growing and processing methods.

To learn more about tea, take a look at this website.

Professional Attire

Last month, our colleague Jason wrote a post on the White Coat Syndrome, discussing the drawbacks of dress on patient care. With the potential of stress that it may cause, seems like it would be advantageous to do away with the white coat. However, since first impressions and appearance plays such a huge role in interpersonal relationships, it's hard to discard such a recognizable article of distinction. One of the arguments for wearing a white coat is that it gives patients a sense of comfort and professionalism: a practitioner who takes the time to polish her/his appearance must be someone well-equipped to help them with their concerns.

Beyond the white coat, what does the "professional look" actually entail?

The general formula for a male doctor would be dress shoes, dress pants, long-sleeved button-up shirt, tie, and white lab coat. For a female doctor the rules are generally the same, though the tie is not necessary, and it's sometimes acceptable to get away with capri pants or a skirt on occasion.

As an acupuncture intern, I've found that the long sleeves of a white lab coat are sort of dangerous. Getting caught on a needle, for instance, is a threat that I'd rather not take the chance on; it can either cause my patient undue pain, or a needle-stick to myself. Brushing on patients' clothing and bodies when reaching over them is also a possibility, which is not good if a patient has anything that I can carry on myself and on to the next patient. Washing my hands all day long after touching patients puts me at a higher likelihood of getting my sleeves wet as well. It is a known fact that damp and moist environments are playgrounds for germs, fungus, and bacteria. My solution to this has been to roll up the sleeves of both my button-up shirt and my lab coat, which deals with the sleeve issue, but at times restricts my movement making it difficult to maneuver into certain positions for needling.

I leave the bottom buttons of my coat unbuttoned for the same reasons, otherwise it's almost impossible to squat or bend at the waist. Although it would be more comfortable for me, leaving my coat completely unbuttoned makes it more likely for me to drag or snag on the chairs and table, as well as brush up on patients. I imagine that if I had to wear a necktie, I would feel even more restricted. I don't wear ties in the clinic because I don't have to, but I don't understand why anyone would considering they are known vectors for bacteria.

I won't even start with dress shoes and how impractical they are for long periods of standing and treating patients.

I actually enjoy looking professional and put-together, but I wonder why that can't be done without the restrictive clothing and the long sleeves. What if we created a new-era uniform for medical professionals? Not as surgical as scrubs, but not as impractical as a business suit.

Apparently, the National Health Institute in England is thinking about the same thing. In the interest of public health and safety, they've instituted a new dress code banning ties and urging doctors to wear short sleeves. That sounds great to me, but I guess it makes a lot of people uncomfortable. There are studies that show patients do care greatly about what their doctors are wearing. But what if we just change the expectations? It seems impractical and negligent to continue a practice as superficial as focusing on attire when it jeopardizes the health and safety of both practitioner and patient.

White Coat Syndrome

Today's entry comes to us from Jason Moskovitz, a fellow intern at Yosan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He's also a medical qigong intern, herbologist, and certified qigong instructor. Jason lives in Los Angeles with his wife Breanna and son Bohdan. You can email jason at jason.moskovitz (at) gmail.com.

In the short time I've worn a white coat as a clinician I've encountered many patients who've been intimidated or even frightened by the message it sends. Most people, myself included, grew up with doctors in white coats, doling out scary news or dogmatic orders regarding our life and health. No wonder the people I'm seeing so automatically put themselves in an inferior, docile position.

"I know I should be getting some exercise."

"But I just love my nightly glass of wine."

"I realize smoking is wrong."

These are the things I hear from people who are so clearly uncomfortable saying them. You might be surprised to know, as are my patients, that I and many of my TCM colleagues don't hold our patients to our suggestions. We communicate information and if it's not well received because a lifestyle, behavior pattern, or addiction is too well engrained; then we take a step back and ensure the patient that we, in these white coats, are not here to keep people from doing what they want. If people want to smoke themselves to death, they have that choice. But for those that are clear they want change, they'll find themselves in a supportive union with the TCM physician. Either way, the white coat eventually gets stripped of its power and the patient sees they'll find support no matter how they decide to live. Engendering that deep level of trust sets the foundation from which progressive life-altering steps can be taken.

It's too bad not many people know the history of the white coat. It's current pristine symbol of superiority couldn't be further from its roots. Yes, its use was primarily to communicate an antiseptic practice, despite many physicians noting their tendency to spread infection due to the lack of regular laundering. But one reason they were white was to display the blood they'd been working with. More blood meant more experience. Ironically, today you might only find that image in the local butcher shop.

Diet Soda Is Not Better Than Regular Soda

A new study further confirms that diet soda is bad for you. It's nice to know that some scientific studies follow the principles of common sense. From the New York Times:

Researchers have found a correlation between drinking diet soda and metabolic syndrome — the collection of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and blood glucose levels, and elevated blood pressure.

This study looked at the eating patterns of real people, rather than trying to calculate the nutrient value of specific foods those people ate. Take a look at this quote from ScienceDaily.com:

In general, the Western-pattern diet was heavy on refined grains, processed meat, fried foods, red meat, eggs and soda, and light on fish, fruit, vegetables and whole grain products.

Prudent diet eating patterns, by contrast, favored cruciferous vegetables (e.g., cabbage, radish and broccoli), carotenoid vegetables (e.g., carrots, pumpkins, red pepper, cabbage, broccoli and spinach), fruit, fish and seafood, poultry and whole grains, along with low-fat dairy.

Guess which one is better for you.