Thursday, September 8, 2011

Another use for acupuncture in comprehensive cancer care


Acupuncture is not "alternative" medicine, it is "complementary".  No where is that more important that in the treatment of cancer.  Chemo, surgery, and radiation are the best tools we have to eliminate cancerous growths, but they come at a price.  Acupuncture can reduce or eliminate all the side effects.  This is my area of expertise.  If you know anyone fighting cancer, please encourage them to get acupuncture in conjunction with their regular treatment.  They will have fewer and milder side effects, greater quality of life, greater survival times and greater survival rates.  The following article reports a study showing acupuncture's ability to help lymph edema (swelling) after breast cancer surgery.   

Recent Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center research demonstrates that acupuncture significantly reduces lymphoedema related arm swelling in women after breast cancer surgery. Lymphoedema is a when there is fluid retention and tissue swelling in the body due to disorders of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system controls the return of interstitial fluid to the bloodstream. After breast cancer surgery, the lymphatic system can be damaged by lymph node surgery or radiation therapy. Symptoms may appear quickly or take several months or years to become apparent. Swelling of the arms and sides of the body is most common after lymphatic system damage due to breast cancer procedures.
The researchers at Sloan-Kettering in New York note that existing conventional treatments for lymphoedema are only “marginally beneficial, rarely reducing arm swelling in any meaningful way.” The new study concludes that acupuncture is safe and that some of the women in the study showed a 30 percent or better reduction of lymphoedema related arm swelling.
Acupuncture Results
In this study, lymphoedema was diagnosed when the affected arm was greater than 2cm in circumference than the unaffected arm. Participants received acupuncture at a rate of 2 times per week for a total of four weeks. Results were tabulated after a six month follow-up. No serious events were reported and the study concludes that “acupuncture appears safe and may reduce lymphoedema associated with breast cancer surgery.”

acupunctureceuslymphedema
Reference:
Acupunct Med. doi:10.1136/aim.2011.004069. A safety and efficacy pilot study of acupuncture for the treatment of chronic lymphedema. Barrie R Cassileth, Kimberly J Van Zee, Yi Chan, Marci I Coleton, Clifford A Hudis, Sara Cohen, James Lozada, Andrew J Vickers.
Author Affiliations:
Integrative Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
Breast Cancer Medicine Service, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.
Integrative Medicine Service and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Jeanie Bussell is Back to Work

Jeanie Bussell, the top fertility acupuncturist in the Midwest, has completed her maternity leave and is again treating patients at A Center for Oriental Medicine in Wilmette.  If you are trying to conceive naturally or with Assisted Reproductive Therapies, Jeanie can help.   And the sooner you start, the more she can help.  Please call 847-251-5225 to set up an appointment.