9000 Needles

9000 Needles is the story of Devin Dearth, a champion bodybuilder and family man from Kentucky who suffers a devastating stroke. After a hospital stay and physical rehabilitation, he is sent home, still with limited mobility. Desperate for further treatment, Devin's family searches and somehow has the good fortune to find Dr. Shi Xuemin and the Tianjin acupuncture hospitals he is affiliated with. And then...? I don't know, all I've seen is the trailer above.

I admit that I am excited about the possibility that this film could bring greater awareness of how effective acupuncture is and can be. I'm also looking forward to watching interviews with the famous acupuncture doctor Shi Xuemin. However, the film also looks like an incredibly moving story about a family struggling through some tough times. The film was actually made by Devin's brother Doug Dearth.

It's coming to L.A. for two screenings in the next few weeks. One is a benefit screening in West Hollywood (tickets are $40), and the other is at Oasis Theater on Wilshire (tickets $10). I'll be going to one of them. If you're an acupuncturist, acupuncture student, acupuncture school administrator, or just enjoy a good movie, be sure to watch!

On the web:

• 9000 Needles Official Website
  
• Where to Watch - a list of upcoming screenings.
  
• Acupuncture for Stroke Rehabilitation: Three Decades of Information from China featuring an article on Dr. Shi Xuemin and his particular method of acupuncture for stroke. (Google Books link)
  
• Dr. Shi Xuemin's profile on the website of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Tai Chi Improves Balance in Stroke Victims

According to this study in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, tai ji quan improves balance and strength in people who have suffered a stroke.

When compared with the controls, the Tai Chi group showed greater COG excursion amplitude in leaning forward, backward, and toward the affected and nonaffected sides (P < .05), as well as faster reaction time in moving the COG toward the nonaffected side (P = .014) in the end-program and follow-up assessments. The Tai Chi group also demonstrated better reliance on vestibular integration for balance control at end-program (P = .038).

Here's a short summary from the New York Times in plain English.

Traditional Chinese Medicine gets good results treating stroke victims. One particularly successful form of therapy is scalp acupuncture.

Efficacy of Scalp E-Stim Acupuncture

A study published last week in PNAS described the use of non-invasive electrical stimulation to improve motor skills. The research was conducted in hopes of finding a treatment that would help stroke victims during rehabilitation. The experiment involved placing electrodes over the primary motor cortex that stimulated the volunteer test subjects for 5 days. Those that were electrically stimulated were able to perform a set of tasks better than those who were given the sham treatment, and follow-up three months later showed that they also retained the ability to perform those skills better than their untreated counterparts.

The primary motor cortex is indicated by the green area below:




Now, take a look at this drawing that represents the lines used for scalp acupuncture:



Notice how the green highlighting on the map of the brain corresponds to the motor area used in scalp acupuncture? That, of course, is not a coincidence as this particular mapping used in scalp acupuncture was developed in modern times. The Chinese have used scalp acupuncture since 1971 to successfully treat diseases such as stroke rehabilitation, severe head injuries, intracranial inflammation, extra-pyramidal diseases, Meniere's and others.

The needling technique utilized in scalp acupuncture is to rotate the needle at a rate of 200 times a minute, for five minutes, and it is generally believed that the stronger the stimulation the better. The manipulation should be repeated 2-3 times during the course of a 20 minute treatment. Using electrical stimulation on the acupuncture needles allows for continuous stimulation administered at any desired frequency, with the potential for multiple needles being stimulated simultaneously.

Scalp e-stim acupuncture is a safe and effective way to treat a multitude of syndromes that involve damage to the brain. The new research conducted at Johns Hopkins supports the efficacy of electrical stimulation as a treatment modality in stroke rehabilitation.