Natural Medicine

The debate over Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) has been going strong for years. When Monsanto and other companies began designing GMO corn, soy, potatoes, tomatoes, and other crops and marketing them to third world farmers, they opened a can of worms that may never be shut.

Environmentalists take issue with the risk that GMO crops can accidentally be released into the environment and wipe out other, native, plant species.

Religious activists object to the concept of humans "playing god" with other lifeforms and our own food supply.

And health experts - especially those in natural healing, energy work, and holistic health fields - believe that GMO foods are inherently unsafe to consume, because we don't know how the combination of genes in new ways might effect a food's chemistry or its impact on the human body.

Now, we are beginning to find out.

Studies conducted in Russia in 1998 - and suppressed by the biotech industry for eight years - have finally been uncovered, showing that rats fed GMO potatoes developed tumors. The findings from these studies are being released thanks to the work of Greenpeace activists in the UK.

For more information on GMO foods, and links to the full story, see http://www.mercola.com/2007/mar/8/warning----gm-food-linked-to-cancer.htm

Reproduction System, a practitioner of Chinese Medicine

In assessing the health of the reproductive system, a practitioner of
Chinese Medicine will begin by looking at the health of the Qi
(pronounced “Chee”). Qi is the energetic component of the human body
that is responsible for all our metabolic and physiological events.
Just as the energy within a germinated seed that propells the seed to
grow up into a plant is invisible, so is the Qi within the human body
unseen directly. We can only see the results of the Qi’s actions
through the functions it performs.

In particular Qi has five basic functions:
1) Warming: Keeps the body at its regular temperature and initiates
the spike during ovulation.
2) Transforming: Turns ingested food into either nourishment or
waste. We can see how strong this function is by looking at the
strength and structure of the physique.
3) Propelling: Initiates all life’s growth and development and as well
the functional aspects of individual organs. ie. events like
maturation of the external sex organs, menarche, and the fact that the
heart beats regularly.
4) Defending: Protects the bodies exterior from invasion of external
pathogenic factors. Recurring colds and flu’s are a sign that this
function is weak.
5) Securing and Containing: Keeps everything within the body where it
should be. This includes keeping the blood within the blood vessels,
the foetus within the uterus, and preventing organs like the uterus or
stomach from prolapsing.

By asessing these functional aspects of the Qi the Chinese Medical
Practitioner will have a better idea of how to guide the body back its
natural state of balance and harmony. Thus increasing the chances for
a natural pregnancy.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Departments

Traditional Chinese medical departments in China receive nearly 300 million annual visits, sources with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SATCM) said on Saturday.

“About 234 million visits have been made to hospitals of traditional Chinese medicine, another 58.51 million to Chinese medicine sections of comprehensive hospitals,” the sources said.

According to the SATCM, the traditional Chinese medical industry, with a total production value of nearly 81.026 billion yuan (about 10.125 billion U.S. dollars), makes up more than a fourth of China’s overall medical industry, with an export value of 820 million U.S. dollars in 2005.

Statistics show that China has 3,009 traditional Chinese hospitals, with more than 310,000 beds, some combining Chinese and Western medicine or Chinese and ethnic minority medicine.

“About 70 percent of all township hospitals, 89 percent of urban community medical services and 40 percent of village clinics have traditional Chinese medical departments,” the sources said, adding that traditional Chinese medicine plays a key role in health care in areas poor in medical resources.

Nationwide, 448 standard herbal medicine planting bases have been built, which have helped nearly a million farmers out of poverty by growing and selling herbal medicines.

Acupuncture: Men are more sensitivelly

My practice is approx. 50/50 men to women. I can fully conclude, without a doubt, that men are more sensitive to the needles than women. Restated, men are, on the whole, much bigger babies than their female counterparts! Yes Yes I understand that as a rule men only go to see their doctor when something is either falling off or they are too embarassed to walk out their door because of some disfiguration, and when they finally do go it is like pulling teeth to get personal information out of them. Why are women so willing to let others help them (collective) and men are stubborn as bulls (competition)?

In the luteal phase of a womens menstrual cycle (from ovulation to menses, day 14-28) when estrogen levels are quite high women too can be quite skin sensitive to the needle poke. Is there a correlation here? Does mens estrogen levels rise when they actually let down their guard enough to allow someone to help them? I think this may be a question for Huang Di and Bob Flaws to figure out !

The long and the short of this ramble is that I really feel that it is important to address the need to figure out how men need to be treated differently. Women like the spa-like TCM clinics that are poping up in the western world, but for the most part, I don’t think that men do. This issue must be addressed. I think we exist in medical systems that were built largely by men to take care of/get to know their women (the protector role men carry with such pride). So, different ideas need to come out from the woodwork from the few practitioners that have actually dedicated some focus to male patients/clients on how, and possibly where to treat the fellas.