Depression can lead to shortened life span
When I read this title I immediately thought, “well sure, you don’t work out as much, don’t engage in healthy activities”. But in this study they controlled for other illness and lifestyle choices. So the take away, as they state, is that depression affects the whole body. Of course in Chinese Medicine there has never…
Read MoreGetting Past “Disease” to a Science of Wellness: Institute for Systems Biology
This article appeared in the Sunday Chronicle. And though Hood’s area of interest is different than mine, his goal is the same. To detect and treat preventatively before illness can become established. This is his Institute for Systems Biology. In a system focused on wellness, physicians would spend as much or more time helping patients…
Read MoreA new model for the HPA axis explains dysregulation of stress hormones on the timescale of weeks.
This study seeks to understand how the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or HPA, can become so dysregulated. What they found is that the actual size or mass of the affected organs can change. Stress and its sequelae is so important to all aspects of health, that any insights into its workings can be key. Acupuncture lowers stress…
Read MoreEffects of acupuncture and moxibustion on serum contents of hematopoietic growth factor in mice with marrow inhibition
This acupuncture approach to bolstering deficient blood cell counts with chemotherapy, something that limits how much treatment a patient can get, may be promising. I’ve typically said that acupuncture probably doesn’t have a role in fighting cancer per se, but helps in optimizing during treatment. This may be further evidence that this could be true….
Read MoreSomato-Autonomic Effects of Acupuncture
Reading this article makes me extremely motivated to get back to my writing project!! This is part of what it’s all about and why I’ve been suspicious of non-penetrating needles as a control for a long time. Introduction Modern randomized clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture for treating a range of conditions, including…
Read MoreHow the Corona Virus Hacks the Immune System: the New Yorker
This is such a terrific article. Not only does it do a creditable job of explaining the basics of the immune system, but also how Covid 19 acts to disrupt cells and highjacks the immune system. Since I’m unsure if the article will be accessible if you’re lacking a subscription, I’ll quote some pertinent parts…
Read MoreA guide to Chemokines and Their Receptors
I’m posting this here to have as a reference for the immune system-acupuncture link. A guide to chemokines and their receptors Catherine E Hughes 1, Robert J B Nibbs 1 Affiliations expand Free PMC article Abstract The chemokines (or chemotactic cytokines) are a large family of small, secreted proteins that signal through cell surface G protein-coupled heptahelical chemokine receptors….
Read MoreDeep Resilience: Chapter Stress Matters
Updated Stress Response Chapter here Stress Response Chapter for sharing rough draft 11.21.2020 I’ve “completed” another chapter in my long form writing project called “Stress Matters.” As blog readers know, I’ve been researching stress and monitoring autonomic nervous system activity in the clinic for many years. This chapter is still in a rough form, but…
Read MoreStress and Tinnitus; Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation Attenuates Tinnitus-Triggered Stress Reaction
Study from Helsinki on 171 patients. (Impressive! Especially given Finland’s small size.) It has a measure I’ve never seen before. ie. “HRV age”. Apparently the TAVNS decreased the patients’ HRV age by 9 years. Full article here. Front Psychol . 2020 Sep 17;11:570196. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.570196. eCollection 2020. Stress and Tinnitus; Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation…
Read MoreSupraspinal Mechanisms of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Modulation of Pain: Five Decades of Research and Prospects for the Future
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6338535/ Anesthesiology. Anesthesiology. 2019 Apr; 130(4): 651–665. Supraspinal Mechanisms of Spinal Cord Stimulation for Modulation of Pain: Five Decades of Research and Prospects for the Future Eellan Sivanesan, MD,1 Dermot Maher, MD, MS,1 Srinivasa N. Raja, MD,1 Bengt Linderoth, MD, PhD,2 and Yun Guan, MD, PhD1,3 Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer Go to: Abstract The field of spinal cord stimulation…
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