Show Dp ' hadon Ro—nfat Pop torn tppoo of poM and aoipiaohpa oay hafp While Western medicine has yet to explain how it works more and more doctors are acknowledging its effectiveness in treating a variety of chronic conditions: Goes Acupuncture Mainstream (Almost) TT I RECENTLY I acupuncture had as IS Eg Thl I much credibility for J most Western doc- an egg roll ors However it is now almost mainstream After years of doubt and derogation reports have begun to appear in our scientific literature confirming its potential benefits A panel convened by the National Institutes of Health (that's as “Establishment" as you can get) has concluded that acupuncture does alleviate pain and nausea in certain circumstances and is of them are MDjt) whom Americans visit 1 2 million times a year They work in hospitals rehabilitation centers private offices and yes in your city's Chinatown I first witnessed acupuncture at the University of Shanghai about 20 years womago The patient Was a an about to have open-hea- rt surgery She was placed ori the operating table wide awake and smiling Then to my astonishment the suigeon proceeded to open her chest Her only “anesthetic” was an acupuncture needle in her right earlobe that Was connected to an electrical source She never “probably effective” in treating flinched There several other medical symptoms Relatively few her face no intra- was no mask on venous needle in her arm This acprecount is not hearphysicians scribe acupuncture say I was there as freely as they do and took the photo on this page painkillers though their numbers are A The Chinese young woman believe things go increasing Don't urgory in IhangM with M aiwsthatie ' aoupunofamo Photo by the author wait for them to wrong in the body catch up If a qualified practitioner when there is an imbalance of the comthinks H can help tiy acupuncture if you plementary life forces yin and yang have a chronic disorder that has been This energy (called Cfr 7 and pronounced properly diagnosed and has not re“chee") is said to flow along 14 intersponded to conventional measures You connected main channels (“meridians”) have nothing to lose It may not work on each side of the body which surface at some 360 acupuncture points These (nothing does for everything and everybody) but there's no downside other meridians service one or more specific than the expense (about $75 to $100 per areas or organs An imbalance between session and you’ll need several) one’s yin and yang can be corrected by Should you decide to try it you won't “needling” or stimulating the appropribe alone Nor will you have any probate points on the body's surface lem finding a skilled practitioner among When 1 asked my hosts for scientific the KMXJO licensed acupuncturists (4000 proof of this theory they laughed and ACUPUNCTURE MYTHS AND FACTS IT I B MMpHwIW IB BBIIB wffg fey Aafaut htoffgpfc V' FACT) About 4666 MJlilrt thin toAAOk j FACT) Tlmcgf toffy A gffght rnUlITTTBTBTBlfBBltWB MYlH Tha sudtol gatahllafmtanl Myt otoMtoetuN la of f todufc FACT) A National inatitutog cl uTBBIUl OBIWIBlwBB IBM UUVNHUBBB tfmtitogtortotMPOigaoieaPtgto toririfftoopdop Arid nautog Arid it nig rahnmmandid imirdl into Iti AffggthrgAggA In UtllgP APiiA replied: “Why should we spend time money and resources just to convince Western doctors of something we’ve used successfully for thousands of years? What better proof do you need than that woman lying wide awake on the table with her chest open?” There are many reasons Why it has taken so long for acupuncture to be accepted in this country: h comes finom an BY ISADORE ROSENFELD MD uting Arid thOPO toM dongoP tohgntoapoggMggpttgrilligff alien society its purported mechanism of action is incomprehensible to the Western scientific mind it is not bolstered by any scientific data and documentation which American doctors demand before prescribing any treatment Yet because of their patients' wide and growing interest in it Western doctors have almost been farced to take acupuncture seriously and M came up with thco-- |