Acupuncture for Migraine versus erenumab: 2020 study
Manual acupuncture for migraine This is from the British Medical Acupuncture Society Blog. It is from 2020 but very pertinent today! I love the tone of this blog. Lighthearted but fervent! A large portion of my practice is devoted to acupuncture for migraine. The basic points that he makes are 1. That he was amazed that…
Read MoreEfficacy and Mechanisms of Acupuncture for Migraine
Migraine is a condition I treat frequently in the clinic. This review article goes into the different mechanisms that account for acupuncture’s often dramatic results. The studies suggest that it can affects neuropeptides, immune cells, proinflammatory and excitatory neurotransmitters, and modulate neuronal-sensitization-related mediators, endocannabinoid system, and serotonin system activation. Clinical studies show that acupuncture can…
Read MoreAcupuncture versus Ajovy_fremanezumab
There was no difference between the acupuncture and fremanezumab in the reduction of monthly migraine rates. Think about that! This is an injectable, expensive drug that you would need to take for a long time. I would venture to guess from my own experience with migraine patients, that with acupuncture you need less and less…
Read MoreTranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation improve autonomic balance and metabolic syndrome
de Moraes TL, Costa FO, Cabral DG, Fernandes DM, Sangaleti CT, Dalboni MA, Motta E Motta J, de Souza LA, Montano N, Irigoyen MC, Brines M, J Tracey K, Pavlov VA, Consolim Colombo FM. Brief periods of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation improve autonomic balance and alter circulating monocytes and endothelial cells in patients…
Read MoreEar stimulation to Lower Blood Pressure: RAVANS or TAVNS
I’ve been looking at vagal activity with ear stimulation, or transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation (TAVNS)in the clinic for several years. As readers know, acupuncture calms the stress response by increasing vagal activity. TAVNS should increase vagal activity also. If I can show this, it would give me added confidence in having people use a…
Read MoreHuberman: Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal, HRV and vagus
One of the mail goals of my practice is to improve patients’ autonomic balance and increase vagal activity. I firmly believe if we can encourage vagal activity, we will see benefits to mood, immunity, pain all of which leads to longer life. Besides acupuncture, TAVNS, exercise, probiotics and good sleep, breathing is a key lever…
Read MoreVagus Nerve as Modulator of the Brain-Gut Axis in Psychiatric and Inflammatory Disorders
I’ve been alerted to ever more mention of the vagus nerve in the popular press. I’ve been interested in the vagus nerve and parasympathetic activity for longer than I choose to admit. That is why I measure Heart Rate Variability in the clinic to get a glimpse into patients’ parasympathetic tone overall and how it…
Read MoreExpiratory-gated Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (taVNS) does not Further Augment Heart Rate Variability During Slow Breathing at 0.1 Hz
This study is relevant because of the RAVANs technology that synchronizes TAVNS with expiration. In these authors study they use 100Hz which may nor may not be optimal, just as tragus and cavum concha may not be optimal. But nonetheless, they saw now difference in HRV. TAVNS is running up against real problems in showing…
Read MoreHRV and Photobiomodulation for Vagal and Sympathetic ANS modulation
If nothing else, I aim to improve my patients’ autonomic balance by increasing their vagal activity. Stimulating the vagus nerve indirectly to increase parasympathetic activity and decreasing sympathetic activity. Acupuncture can increase vagal activity as well as transcutaneous auricular vagal stimulation. I am extremely excited by this study. Not only does it validate my approach of…
Read MorePodcast ZDoggMd and Rita Redberg: When Less is More
Readers of my blog might know that I have been so impressed with Rita Redberg, MD from UCSF. She has the courage to stand up to industry pressure and tell the truth about various very important topics. Some of these are the use of statins, overtesting for disease, the use of bisphosponates for bone density. …
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