The lifesaving treatments for breast cancer often come at a cost. Most women experience night sweats, fatigue, and hot flashes. However there is new research that suggests that acupuncture may be more effective than antidepressants at helping to ease some of these side effects. This study compared the effectiveness of drug therapy to acupuncture. It was determined that acupuncture was just as effective as drug therapy while having no side effects. The study also showed that the effects of the acupuncture lasted longer. The acupuncture patients didn’t begin having symptoms until about 15 weeks after stooping treatment while it only took about two weeks after stopping drug therapy for the symptoms to return in those women. In this study, acupuncture was compared to the use of the antidepressants in women who had breast cancer. Each woman was assigned randomly to receive a twelve week course of acupuncture or the antidepressants. Immediately before the beginning of study, those women participating in the study reported having a minimum of fourteen hot flashes per week. At the conclusion of the study intervention, both groups reported similar improvements in menopausal symptoms including hot flashes. However, while many women who were in the antidepressant group experienced trouble shooting, constipation, headache, dry mouth, nausea, and other side effects, the group who had the acupuncture experienced none of these side effects. Through this study it has also been determined that the practice of acupuncture can potentially increase a woman’s sex drive while improving her sense of well being and help reduce hot flashes in breast cancer patients. The study, which has been published in The Journal of Oncology, suggests that when compared to traditional drug therapy, acupuncture is more effective in reducing night sweats and hot flashes for women who are receiving hormone therapy for breast cancer treatment. Acupuncture, when performed by a licensed acupuncturist, offers the patients a durable, effective, and safe treatment option for hot flashes, which is something that affects the majority of breast cancer survivors. Acupuncture actually has benefits when compared to drug therapy which have more side effects. Patients also reported that acupuncture increased their energy and improved their thought clarity. While acupuncture has very few side effects, it is important to seek out a fully trained licensed acupuncturist rather than going to a medical doctor or chiropractor with a few hours training in acupuncture calling themselves “medical acupuncturist”.
Learn the differences of and traditional and you will see the incredible amounts of differences in both training and experience.
Back pain will affect 90% of adults in this country at some point during their life. It is one of the most commonly cited reasons for missed work, and is generally treatable without major intervention. Fortunately, surgery, once a common option for those with chronic back pain, has become the option of last resort. A better understanding of the causes of back injury and treatment has moved medicine away from a surgical approach to one that is more holistic in nature. Chronic versus Acute Back Pain – Most patients who deal with lower back pain have experienced the onset of pain in the past 24-48 hours. These people suffer from acute pain, typically brought on by some excessive use of their lower back. Weekend gardeners, over-enthusiastic gym attendees and folks that head out to shovel snow early in the season often fall into this category. Chronic back pain sufferers typically have months of pain that may be difficult to pinpoint. It is much more common to find people with herniated disks, stenosis and sciatica in this group. Fortunately, there are ways to treat both types of pain without the use of medication or while significantly minimizing drug usage. Exercise and Back Pain – In the past, when a patient would turn up experiencing back pain the doctor would send them straight to bed for several days or even weeks. Now we know that these periods of extended rest often make the situation worse. A day or two of taking it easy is all that is called for under most circumstances. Returning to activity is the best thing you can do for your back. Starting a physical therapy program as soon as possible is the next step. Your goal, and that of your therapist, is to strengthen your back and abdominal muscles. This will help prevent additional injuries to your back. Stretches, controlled muscular activities and massage can get you out of pain and back into your normal life. Studies Indicate Yoga is Beneficial – A recent large scale study showed that Yoga is of particular help to those who suffer from low back pain chronically. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The first group engaged in biweekly yoga classes of 90 minute durations. The other group received medications to control their pain. The study found that those who engaged in yoga showed lower levels of pain and depression while exhibiting greater flexibility and strength. They were also more content with their recovery. The patients in the control group treated with medications were less pleased with their results and suffered considerably higher levels of depression due to their discomfort. Improving the Outcome for Patients with Low Back Pain – For the best results when treating patients with low back pain, it is important to stress the use of exercise as a palliative option. In addition to prescribing anti-inflammatory medications at the outset, engaging in massage and chiropractic care, properly supervised exercise, such as Yoga, helps complete the picture of a back that heals quickly and stays well for the long term.
It’s easy for me to find a well qualified medical doctor. Being a doctor myself, I know where to look, whom to ask, and what to ask for. But if I need a good lawyer or accountant, I feel a bit helpless. I may ask my friends. Probably they had asked their friends. The quest becomes a daisy chain, in which none of the participants really knows how to tell a good professional from a mediocre or even an inadequate one. They judge mainly on whether the practitioner has a pleasing and persuasive manner, whether he seems to know what he’s talking about. Clearly that’s not good enough. Finding a well qualified physician requires a little insight, but it’s easier than you think. Most physicians are members of the county medical society, although some doctors who are full time in medical schools may not bother to join. Call up the medical society in your vicinity. In Los Angeles, for example, you would find it listed as “Los Angeles County Medical Association.” Say you want to inquire about the availability and qualifications of physicians in your area of the city Hollywood, for example. The receptionist will connect you to the person who has that information. Say you are interested in finding a doctor in Hollywood who is a general practitioner, a specialist, or whatever it is you think you need. If you want an allaround doctor to give you an initial examination, to supervise you in a preventive health program such as mine, you probably want either a general practitioner or a physician certified by the Board of Internal Medicine. Ask for recommendations in that category.The county medical society will not recommend a specific person. Nor will it supply information on fees and such matters. But it will gladly give you a list of 4 or 5 practitioners located in your area and in good standing with the society. It will tell you where these physicians went to school, where they served their internships and residencies, how long they have been a member of the county society, and their hospital or medical school affiliations. If they are on the attending staff of a well known hospital Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, for example that’s a plus. Being a member of the recently formed American College of Gerontology would also be a plus.Or if you do start by asking your friends, ask more than one. Compile a short list of physicians whom your friends recommend as attentive individuals. Then call the county society and ask for the credentials of these physicians: what medical schools they graduated from, and so on . Several orgaizations now publish lists of longevity doctors for different regions of the United States. None that I’ve seen has been very discriminating. The lists include a mishmash of M.D.s, some good, some borderline, plus chiropractors, nutritionists, acupuncturists, and so on. TherE are some good people in each of these categories, but you ought at least to know what type of basic credentials you are getting. For example, “Dr.” Robert Haas, author of the best selling book Eat to Win The Sports Nutrition Bible, is not a medical doctor at all. His “Dr.” is a Ph.D. from an unaccredited “university.”8 If that’s okay with you, it’s okay with me, but know what you are getting. The county medical society is apt to have information on M.D. and non M.D. alike. Seek out this information. Having selected a short list of possible practitioners by one of these methods, call them up. Ask what their fees are, and whether they are interested in preventive medicine, nutrition, and anti aging remedies. Don’t be bashful! If they don’t want to talk frankly, go elsewhere. Don’t tolerate the authoritarian mystique that has grown up around organized medicine. Ideally, you want somebody with satisfactory credentials and an open mind on the subject of anhagjng remedies. II he does not take the present book seriously because it .is a popular book for the lay public see if he has read or will read the book by Dr. Richard Weindruch and me, The Retardation of Aging by Dietary Restriction. Our book does not exactly parallel this one, but it’s close enough,and it is a fully documented, high tech science book. A biologIst physician may in part disagree with it, but he or she cannot avoid taking it seriously. And now you have your physician.Checkups And Biomarkers What Exactly To Do Or Have DoneThe General Status Examination ,Start the program with a general medical checkup. The precise nature of this will be up to your physician. It’s interesting that a task force of the Canadian Medical As sociation, reporting on a “cost effective” basis what the “periodic health examination” should consist of (in terms of how much hidden disease per dollar spent might be found in a population)9 recommended the following for symptom-free individuals: a blood pressure determination, examination of the mouth, evaluation of hearing, a test for possible hypothyroidism, and after age 45 a test for traces of blood in the stool. The task force specifically did not recommend a routine history and physical examination, any X-rays, any blood chemistries, urinalysis, or electro cardiograms. Since you want personalized service and are not part of a large scale “cost effective” screen, your physician will be correct in doing a history and physical examination, a urinalysis, and a test for anemia. I would not personally recommend any X rays, blood chemistries, or electro cardiograms, except those included under your “biomarker for aging” tests, unless something shows up on the history and physical examination.
Michael Russell is a health specialist and has carried out research on many health related things, he also writes many too. If you found the above article useful he recommends you to visit his site at: for more related articles.