Blog Dedicated to Research, Studies and Reports Regarding Acupuncture, Herbal Remedies and Traditional Chinese Health Traditions. Facilitated by Tony Burris, L.Ac., Of Eagle Acupuncture in Eagle, Idaho. Mr. Burris is a 20-Year Practitioner of Traditional Chinese Healing, Spiritual and Martial Arts.
Showing posts with label herb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label herb. Show all posts
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Traditional Chinese Medicine Could Help Treat Cardiac Diseases, Study Says
Shi Wing Wong measures herbs for packaging at Wing Kong Tong Herbes de Chine on Clarke avenue in Chinatown. A recent study shows traditional Chinese medicine may effectively treat cardiac diseases.
Presse Canadienne More from Presse Canadienne Published on: June 13, 2017 | Last Updated: June 13, 2017 4:31 PM EDT PHIL CARPENTER / Montreal Gazette
Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, may help treat patients with cardiac diseases, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers analyzed a random set of studies conducted over the last 10 years on the use of traditional Chinese medicine in treating such illnesses as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis and chronic heart failure. All the studies concluded that traditional Chinese medicine performed as the researchers expected when treating these diseases. Many Chinese products, for example, seemed to effectively treat hypertension. These results offer interesting alternatives for patients who cannot use or are unable to afford Western medicine. Further long-term studies are necessary to determine whether these treatments are beneficial in the long term. The author of the study noted that products used in traditional Chinese medicine are often complex mixtures that are then adjusted to suit each individual patient.
Tony Burris, L.Ac., is an 20+-year practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and is an expert in safe and effective acupuncture therapy and herbal remedies. He is the only practitioner in the United States that offers a “Painless Acupuncture- Or Your Money Back!” Guarantee. Tony helps frustrated and injured athletes and chronic pain sufferers discover a unique therapy system that often provides long-lasting or even permanent pain relief. His patients include members of the San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions. Tony also treats members of the Seattle Mariners, Olympic medalists, mixed martial artists and NCAA competitors. Call Tony's office at 208-938-1277 for more information and all interview requests, or visit EagleAcupuncture.com.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
How Diet And Herbs Alleviate Arthritis (An Interview With Tony Burris, L.Ac.)
by Ada Kulesza
on July 18, 2015
More
than 20 percent of American adults suffer from arthritis. Joint inflammation is
painful and sometimes debilitating. Most people looking for relief from doctors
get medicines that temporarily stop the pain, but don’t really address the
cause — or stop the disease progression.
Arthritis is a condition that shows the flaws in the American medical system, and the standard American lifestyle. On the personal level, it starts with choices at grocery stores, kitchens and restaurants, and on the collective level, with toxic environments and harmful farming practices.
Chronic pain leads to stress, weakness, and depression. Does one-fifth of America have to suffer with pain, immobility, and the frustration that comes with arthritis? Are one in five people doomed to take painkillers every day, or get steroid injections to manage the condition?
Reset.Me
interviewed five natural health experts about treating the most common types of
arthritis, rheumatoid (or gout) and osteoarthritis. We’ve compiled natural and
gentle treatment options that alleviate pain and swelling without the side
effects of chemical meds.
More
importantly, the experts share herbs, supplements, and lifestyle changes that
can halt, and possibly reverse, the disease progression.
A Behind-The-Scenes Disease
Rheumatoid
and osteoarthritis share joint inflammation and pain in common. Osteoarthritis
often affects older people, where the cartilage between bones deteriorates and
eventually bone meets bone, limiting movement and creating pain. Rheumatoid
arthritis, on the other hand, can be caused by an injury, or as a result of an
autoimmune condition.
Scientific
literature shows that both types of arthritis are linked with lifestyle. Diet
is a big factor when it comes to arthritis onset and progression. Once someone
has arthritis, a healthy diet becomes the most important and effective way to
alleviate pain and slow down the disease.
“The
first thing I look at is diet,” says Dr. Matthew Brennecke, a naturopath based
in Colorado. “I always give patients a diet diary to keep track of everything
they eat for a year. It’s very important to get a real idea of what patients
actually put into their mouths every day.”
Food allergies
often cause inflammation because the immune system flares up to fight what it
mistakes as a harmful substance. Brennecke tests for allergies with food
allergy panels to get “a lab result of what foods we should take out of the
diet and what we should add. Most people have problems with dairy, wheat, and
eggs.” Meat is also known to create inflammation.
“Then we
increase anti-inflammatory foods, such as heavy vegetables, and dark leafy
greens,” he says. “By eating an anti-inflammatory diet, we see pretty good
improvements.”
The
Standard American Diet (SAD) compromises health in a number of ways. Often, it
lacks the vitamins and minerals needed to keep bodies in balance. Too much
meat, starch and processed food also result in weight gain, which makes arthritis
worse.
Much
food is produced with chemicals that create health problems. Nearly all corn,
soy and cotton fields in the United States are sprayed with herbicides, namely
Roundup, which contains glyphosate, a chemical shown to have a serious impact on
health. Its use has outpaced research, but the World Health Organization says
it’s likely carcinogenic.
Common
cosmetics such as shampoo, lotions, and soap often contain chemicals such as
parabens and phthalates, preservatives that may interfere with the body’s
hormones. Although these chemicals are commonly found in products millions of
people use everyday, their long-term effects haven’t been extensively studied.
How Modern Medicine Treats Arthritis
As we
age, our bodies get stiffer. Circulation slows. We get weaker, and cartilage
degenerates. Skin loses elasticity, muscles deteriorate, and hair turns gray.
It’s a natural process.
“Arthritis
has basically three stages,” says Brennecke. “Stage one is breakdown of
cartilage. Stage two is abnormal cartilage repair. But at stage three, the
breakdown products in stage two induce inflammation, and then you get joint
degeneration.”
Symptoms
arise when arthritis has progressed far enough to make reversal difficult.
Often patients
visit a medical doctor and get a prescription or injection for the pain and inflammation.
visit a medical doctor and get a prescription or injection for the pain and inflammation.
“Modern
medicine uses anti-inflammatories and steroids, drugs that slow down the immune
system, so people are more likely to develop infections,” says David Foreman, a
pharmacist and author.
“With decreased immunity, you’re more likely to get
colds, flu and infections.”
“With
non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs we have the potential for gastrointestinal
upset, negative effects of liver and kidneys, and sodium retention,” he says.
“Steroids have the same effects, but will often contribute to problems with the
adrenal system, so you’re more likely to burn your body’s energy out. Fatigue,
altered mood, and depression result. They also negatively affect the blood
sugar, so weight gain is a big thing. Bones become thin and brittle.”
“Steroids
are significantly more evil to the body than non-steroid anti-inflammatories,”
he says. “You just can’t keep taking cortisone for the rest of your life.”
Foreman
says that undernourished people develop arthritis when the body takes minerals
out of bones and those minerals deposit in joints, creating a situation akin to
fine sandpaper rubbing slowly over
time.
“Too
much refined food, such as pasta and bread, alter the pH of your body, and so
the body will take minerals out of bones to adjust the body’s pH. Too much or
too little protein will make this happen,” he says.
Green
vegetables are essential to preventing, and slowing, arthritis, by nourishing
the body with minerals and stabilizing the body’s pH.
“Eat a rainbow
every day — a food from every color of the rainbow. Colorful food is rich in
antioxidants, and antioxidants go a long way in preventing all diseases,”
Foreman says. “Make your food your medicine. And add more omega-3, such as chia
seeds. Omega-6 can cause more inflammation.”
Immunity And Arthritis
Rheumatoid
arthritis has the stiffness, pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis, but is
caused by injury or an autoimmune condition.
“When
people come in, I address the immune system and stabilize it, until we can
boost it,” says Dr. Jennifer Burns, a naturopath based in Arizona. “So first, I
use herbs that are a little weaker. After we build up immunity, we use stronger
ones. I use Myers’ Cocktail intravenous nutrients.”
The
gentle herbs Burns recommends for the immune system include Siberian ginseng
and elderberry. She also uses licorice in combination with other herbs, as an
immune booster and anti-inflammatory. Echinacea also helps the immune system.
“Echinacea
has cannabinoids for pain,” she says, “but it’s also anti-inflammatory,
antibacterial and antiviral. And licorice supports the adrenals.”
She also
recommends adaptogens, herbs which stabilize the whole system, such as oats,
rosemary, and Chinese astragalus.
For
rheumatoid arthritis, devil’s claw in a cream or salve works well to alleviate
inflammation and pain topically. For osteoarthritis, salves containing
capsaicin, the active ingredient in cayenne peppers, also bring fast relief.
Toxicity And Arthritis
Dr.
Susan Kolb is a plastic surgeon and author of the book The Naked Truth About
Breast Implants: From Harm to Healing. Most of her patients develop arthritis
as a result of toxicity from ruptured or leaking breast implants, but she says
that for most people, allergies and toxicity contribute to arthritis.
She uses
kinesiology, a somewhat controversial method of diagnosis, to test for
allergies and reactions to such things as wheat, intracellular infections, and
toxicity. Then she treats symptoms with supplements like curcumin, green-lipped
mussel extract, and evening primrose oil.
Most
importantly, patients need to remove the cause of the arthritis, whether that’s
a food sensitivity or infection. She also uses artificial joint injections to
rebuild cartilage.
Traditional
Chinese Medicine
“Chinese medicine views the body, our
vitality and our health, as measured in qi. It’s not a thing —
you can’t see
it. It’s a representational term for vitality in the body,” says Tony Burris,
an acupuncturist and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioner. “As we
age, qi diminishes.”
Tony Burris, L.Ac. |
Traditional Chinese medicine is a
philosophical system that views the human body as part of its environment, and
sees the systems and organs as intrinsically interlinked. As the body ages and
qi diminishes, outer forces can invade more easily. “Cold, wind, damp and heat
cause arthritis when they get into your joints,” Burris says. “They block the
flow of nutrients.”
A TCM practitioner would look at weak
teeth, hair and bones as a deficiency of the kidneys, and degenerated cartilage
a symptom of a poorly functioning liver. “The liver lubricates, nourishes and
keeps muscles supple,” Burris says. “As we age they become more brittle and
dry. Cartilage has less blood supply than muscle so it’s harder to keep plump
and moist.”
Chinese medicine assigns different
flavors different qualities, so people can easily discern what kinds of foods
and herbs can offset certain conditions. Being a result of growing older,
osteoarthritis is characterized by cold, so warmer, spicier foods and herbs help.
“Turmeric and cinnamon, which are warm
and penetrating, are good for gnarled, closed-up fingers, and will help
straighten them out,” Burris says.
Rheumatoid arthritis has a hot quality,
so cooling foods and herbs would be more helpful.
“Food can have hot or cold qualities,
but they also have flavor. Bitter is good for rheumatoid arthritis because it
has a draining quality for edema. In the West we don’t eat a lot of bitter
food, except perhaps coffee, which bears this out because it’s a diuretic and
certainly does have a draining quality,” Burris says. Other bitter herbs and
food include dandelion and bitter gourd.
Other helpful foods are acrid and
pungent, such as garlic, onions, and ginger.
The Truth About Arthritis And Aging
Aging is
inevitable and bodies deteriorate. Sadly, the American lifestyle quickens the
process — stress, sedentary work, processed food heavy on meat, toxic
environments, and a reliance on chemical pharmaceuticals to treat symptoms but
mostly ignore the cause of illness.
In a
catch-22, people who suffer from arthritis may find it difficult to exercise
and stay active, but it’s essential for managing and slowing the disease.
Overweight people are also more likely to have arthritis, so exercise is doubly
important.
Arthritis
also has links to depression, since losing range of motion can be disheartening
and frustrating. Managing arthritic pain and removing the cause of inflammation
can be key to maintaining happiness and ease in daily life. As Dr. Jennifer
Burns says, “You’re okay. You’re still a whole person, even if you need help
with simple things, even if you can’t open a jar.”
When it
comes to emergencies, allopathic medicine is amazing. But when it comes to
chronic diseases like arthritis, it’s woefully inadequate. “The word doctor
means teacher,” says Brennecke.
“When you go the conventional medicine route,
you have seven minutes with a practitioner who writes you a prescription. As a
naturopath, I spend over an hour trying to get at the root of the condition.”
Doctors
are human beings, and the medical system is a business. People who suffer from
arthritis can take their health back by changing the one habit that many people
do without thinking — eating. As Brennecke points out, “If you take anything
from me, it’s that 90 percent of all chronic illness is due to what you put in
your mouth.”
For
more information about acupuncture, herbs and Traditional Chinese Medicine,
contact Tony Burris L.Ac. at Eagle Acupuncture in Boise, Idaho at (208)
938-1277 or mailbox@eagleacupuncture.com.
Visit his website at EagleAcupuncture.com.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
The Health Benefits of Ginseng (Interview with Tony Burris, L.Ac)
The English word "ginseng" is derived from the Chinese term rénshen. Rén, which means man, and shen, meaning
root, refers to the root's forked shape, which resembles the legs of a
man. Other names were also given to ginseng such as magical herb, divine
root and root of life.
There are many kinds of ginseng, says Tony Burris L.Ac., herbal expert |
The relationship between ginseng and man dates back some 5,000
years when it was first discovered in the mountains of Manchuria, China.
The root quickly became revered for its health- and life-giving
properties. Its human shape became a powerful symbol of divine harmony
on Earth. From this, the idea that it treats human conditions sprung
forth.
There are many types of ginseng: Korean, Chinese, American and Siberian, according to Tony Burris, a licensed acupuncturist and traditional Chinese sports medicine practitioner at Eagle Acupuncture in Eagle, Idaho. "Actually, Siberian ginseng is not a true ginseng at all," he says. "The type I prescribe most is the Chinese ginseng (Radix ginseng)."
For athletes, this herb helps promotes respiratory function and it also fosters fluid production in the body, which keeps the body hydrated and reduces thirst. It also improves cognitive function and reduces fatigue.
"This can be a very helpful herb in cases of overtraining," Burris
says. "I prefer to prescribe this in a tincture form, with a
standardized amount of the active components, ginsenosides at 25
milligrams daily."
American ginseng is different. Radix panacis quinquefolii
has a sedative effect of the central nervous system and is milder than
Chinese ginseng. Burris uses this as part of a recovery regimen at the
conclusion of a sports season, meet or league schedule. He prefers to
prescribe it in tincture form.
Ginseng in Chinese medicine
From a Chinese medicine perspective, ginseng is slightly bitter,
warm and goes to the "lung and spleen channels." It was used more often
for very weak patients as it is considered one of the strongest qi (life force)
tonics in the pharmacopeia, says Dr. Phranque Wright, doctor of
acupuncture and Oriental medicine and official acupuncturist for the
Chicago Outfit Roller Derby League.
It tonifies base qi — meaning it helps strengthen a body in very
weak condition. It especially strengthens the lung and spleen. It also
helps the body generate needed fluids.
Ginseng can help a variety of general weakness conditions, which is
why people think of it as an energy enhancer, but it should not be
taken as an energy enhancer if someone is already in good shape without also being sure to get adequate nutrition and proper rest.
Ginseng should not be taken long term but rather only for a few weeks to three months to curb the chance of side effects.
It is prescribed as a general health tonic, because it's thought to improve immunity
or build people back up after a long illness or surgery, and in certain
cases for asthma, erectile dysfunction and/or fertility challenges.
"Dosage varies with the condition of the patient; I recommend from 1 to 9
g, but the most common dose is somewhere in the middle," says Martha
Lucas, Ph.D. L.Ac of Lucas Acupuncture in Colorado.
"Ginseng may also be effective for decreasing anxiety in
perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Herbal formulas that contain
ginseng may relieve menopausal symptoms
like hot flashes, sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression," says
Trudy Scott, author of "The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You
Eat Can Help you Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood and End
Cravings."
Several studies have also shown that ginseng may lower blood sugar
levels, and there is some early evidence that ginseng might moderately
improve concentration and cognitive function, especially combined with
gingko biloba, another herb used in improving memory.
Dosing
Ginseng comes in a variety of forms,
including capsules, soft gels, powder, extracts, tinctures and creams.
When choosing a ginseng supplement, look for one that has at least 7
percent ginsenosides and is made by a reputable company. There is no
standard dose for each condition, so it's recommended you work with a
practitioner familiar with herbal treatments, and specifically ginseng,
to find the right dose and delivery method for your needs.
Side effects
Side effects are generally mild but can include insomnia,
headaches, dizziness and upset stomach. Ginseng is not recommended for
children, pregnant and breast-feeding women as well as people who have
high blood pressure, take diabetes medications, blood-thinning drugs or
antidepressants. Talk to your doctor before taking ginseng for any
health problem or enhancement.
Labels:
acupuncture,
ginseng,
herb,
herbal,
herbs
Location:
Eagle, ID, USA
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