Friday, June 01, 2007

Summer Referral Special

Refer a new patient and receive a $10 gift card to area merchants (ex. Starbucks, Movie Theaters, grocery stores, restaurants, etc. or $10 off your next acupuncture visit)

Discounts available from June through August 2007.
Not good with any other discount.

Green Tea Eases Rheumatoid Arthritis

Researchers have found that Green tea appears to act as a mild Cox-2 inhibitor. In addition to its cardiovascular and anticancer benefits, Green tea also seems to reduce inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis. According to the Arthritis Foundation, about 2.1 million Americans have rheumatoid arthritis.

Historically, green tea is used in Chinese herbal medicine and dietary therapy to treat inflammatory conditions. It also has the ability to calm the stomach; relieve diarrhea, nausea and vomiting; treat headaches and help with treating damp stagnation leading to obesity.

Green tea stimulates the central nervous system, thus benefiting chemotherapy patients. It also reduces the risk of developing colon polyps and reduces total blood cholesterol.

One expert said the new green tea study was intriguing. "This study is very specific," said Stephen Hsu, an associate professor of dentistry, molecular medicine and genetics at the medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

Professor Hsu has found that green tea may help protect against certain autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome, in which the body triggers an immune response, basically attacking its own cells.

Chinese herbal and dietary therapies are based on the concept of using the energetic properties of substances to counter the “nature” of a disease. Since green tea is bitter and cooling, it is easy to see how it can benefit most inflammatory conditions. There has been research that shows green tea mildly reversing MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and PRSA (pefloxacin-resistant S. aureus), both dangerous infectious bacterial strains. Green tea is a safe herb. The only caution is that it contains caffeine and may interact with certain prescription medications.

Meridian Harmonics

Summer Season’s Health Challenges

The recent onset of summer weather brings with it a season plagued with specific types of ailments. In Chinese medicine, each season is characterized by certain properties. The summer season will generally aggravate conditions having heat as an underlying cause.

Examples of symptoms and diseases sensitive to excessive external climatic heat are:

General signs & symptoms: skin rashes and itching, spasms, common cold, nodules and tumors, elevated sexual desire, diabetes, eczema, psoriasis, jaundice, hepatitis, convulsions, summer flu, acute viral and bacterial infections, edema, arthritis and joint pain, numbness, menopausal syndrome.

Upper Body: headache and migraines, emotional stress, red painful dry eyes, sore or swollen throat, irritability, restlessness, insomnia, high blood pressure, ringing in the ears, coughing with thick sputum, thirst, mouth ulcers, swollen and painful gums, mental confusion, cataracts, hyperthyroidism, dizziness, nosebleed, scrofula and goiter, upper respiratory problems, sinusitis, rhinitis, allergies, tuberculosis, asthma and wheezing, ear pain, insufficient lactation, strokes, lockjaw, hemiplegia, chest pain, palpitations.

Lower Body: constipation or diarrhea, urinary difficulty, hemorrhoids, urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, abdominal pain, miscarriage, genital itching, vaginal discharge, gallbladder pain, morning sickness, hernia, heartburn, acid reflux.

Oriental medicine is all about restoring the body to an optimal balanced state. Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese dietary therapy and acupuncture can all be used to treat “heat” type conditions. This is accomplished by clearing heat from the body, specific organs, and acupuncture meridians. One great example of a Chinese medicinal herb that clears heat from the body is green tea.

Meridian Harmonics