News

9-Dec-2024: Guardian:
Is it true that … we should all drink more water?
This myth has persisted in our culture for a long time and many still stick to it religiously. The amounts like 8 glasses or 2 L are often pretty arbitrary and do not account for activity levels, heat, water in food and other factors. As a rule, listening to your body and drinking when you are thirsty is a good rule, and if your urine is coming out clear, then its probably your body expelling excess water it does not need.

8-Dec-2024: Nautilus:
Torn Muscle? Hold the Drugs or Surgery—Massage May Be the Best Medicine
Long hampered in research by its lack of precise reproducibility, a recent study using robotic mechanotherapy (basically massage by a machine) found improved clearance of neutrophils which can hamper muscle repair.

6-Dec-2024: Independent:
What is slapping therapy? Self-healing philosophy critics say has no scientific basis
Paida Gong is a part of several martial arts, used as a self-massage to invigorate blood circulation. It is quite effective used this way but should not be confused with internal therapy for serious medical conditions.

4-Dec-2024: ITV:
Acupuncturists in Warwickshire 'frightened' by rise in short courses putting patients 'at risk'
There has been a sharp rise in the number of short courses offering to teach acupuncture over a few days. Acupuncture is a complete medical system increasingly used by people with complex, chronic conditions, often with a psychological component. Suggesting that you can be trained to treat these cases after 3 days is irresponsible, potentially harmful and clearly shows a profit over welfare attitude of both the organisers and attendees. A petition has been started to have this raised in parliament and the story reached the national news.

26-Nov-2024: Guardian:
Irregular sleep pattern raises risk of stroke and heart attack, study finds
Disruptions in sleep are one of the first symptoms used to diagnose a disharmony of the Heart in Chinese medicine and, once again, a study finds there is truth to this claim.

16-Nov-2024: BBC:
'Spa refused me a massage because I have cancer'
I remember being taught something similar to this by a cancer support charity who, while not completely forbidding massage, suggested avoiding the entire quarter of the body that was affected. It is good to see that times are changing because there are plenty of ways massage and acupuncture can assist people living with cancer and being denied treatment not only stops them having the benefits it gives but also creates a mindset of being stigmatised.

10-Nov-2024: Guardian:
UK trial to assess if red grape chemical can prevent bowel cancer
Resveratrol, the compound in grapes famous for for potentially conferring the health benefits of the occasional glass of red wine, is to be trialled by the NHS as a cancer preventative for people susceptible to bowel cancer. It is also present in a number of other plants, including Japanese Knotweed.

9-Nov-2024: Guardian:
Nine in ten honey samples from UK retailers fail authenticity test
It is an improvement on all UK samples being adulterated as found in the last report, and shows that you can get genuine honey if you buy from local beekeepers. This is an important consideration if you are using honey medicinally.

8-Nov-2024: BBC:
Caterpillar fungus found to slow cancer cell growth
Cordyceps, known in Chinese as Winter Bug Summer Grass (Dong Chong Xia Cao) for the way it transforms a caterpiller into a fungus that grows upwards like grass, has been used in Chinese medicine since at least 1757 when it was first documented. It has attracted a lot of interest in modern times for its potential anticancer activities.

7-Nov-2024: Reuters:
U.S. FDA proposes ending use of popular decongestant present in cold medicines
Phenylephrine, common in over-the-counter decongestant medications like Sudafed, Benadryl, Advil, and Tylenol, is to be discontinued after trials reveal it to be no better than placebo. The compound is an artificial substitute for pseudoephedrine, which is still in use, and is itself derived from Ephedra sinica, a Chinese medical cold and flu remedy that has been in use since at least the Han Dynasty (c. 200 AD).

18-Oct-2024: BBC:
Tai Chi students learn walking stick self-defence
Most articles focus on the health benefits of Tai Chi for older people but this explores its traditional use as a martial art whose movements can easily be adapted for a number of weapon forms including walking sticks and umbrellas.

21-Sep-2024: Guardian:
Metabolism and diet are linked to root of bipolar depression, say researchers
Researchers link bipolar disorder to metabolism and circadian rhythms, noticing a connection with the seasons and an improvement on keto diets, leading to experiments on how bipolar individuals' cells respond to light. The earliest descriptions of bipolar disorder in Chinese medicine described it as "Yangming Syndrome," for which Yangming translates as "Yang Brilliance" and therefore "Sunlight" (Great Yang being a name for the sun), making it the "Sunlight Syndrome" and related to the stomach and intestines among the internal organs, and hence diet, digestion and metabolism.

18-Aug-2024: Daily Mail:
Say 'ahhh': Computer programme diagnoses diseases by analysing the colour of your TONGUE
A recent study using Artificial Intelligence algorithms applied to the Chinese Medical system of tongue diagnosis were able to predict disease with up to 98% accuracy

9-Aug-2024: New York Times:
Are Robot Massages Worth the Hype?
Manual therapies are such sensitive and subjective practices that I always thought it would be one area of employment that robots would never replace. However, this company is attempting it with a robot masseuse. How would you feel about having a massage from a robot?

5-Aug-2024: Mirror:
Why Paris Olympics 2024 competitors have colourful tape on their bodies
Slightly different to cupping, taping has much more modern origins with a Kenzo Kase, a Japanese chiropractor in the 1970s, who invented "kinesiology tape" and has since been adopted by physiotherapists and sports medicine practitioners. Some think it is just a placebo but in the world of competitive sports, a psychological advantage can make a difference. It can be incorporated within the Chinese medicine paradigm too, taping along meridian lines.

29-Jul-2024: Standard:
Olympics 2024: What is cupping and why do swimmers have red circles on their skin?
Another Olympics, another round of articles on cupping. This was rapidly followed by the Independent, Eurosport, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. It is a practice common in traditional medical systems, originating in ancient Greek and Roman medicine before being adopted by the Chinese. Its original goal was to draw "bad blood" to the surface be let, but is now practised by a number of physiotherapists and sports medicine practitioners as a way of alleviating pain and preventing future injury through, theorised to be due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the breakdown products of blood as it is reabsorbed.

28-Jul-2024: BBC:
The Kenyan enthralled by the healing power of plants
There is great healing potential in plants all around the world and, with the vast number there is to investigate, it is important that we keep knowledge of their traditional uses alive so we have some way of narrowing the search down.

26-Jul-2024: iNews:
Slapping therapist guilty of manslaughter
Percussive methods and the induction of redness to stimulate circulation are all parts of Chinese medicine, and most forms of massage. What this therapist did wrong was interfere with his patient's medicine regime when he had no medical training. A follow up article by the BBC calls for greater regulation of alternative medicines and suggests only using therapists who are on a professional register. The BAcC and RCHM require Bachelors and Masters degree education as a minimum including anatomy, physiology, pathology, common conventional treatments and first aid training to recognise red flags that require referral. They should never give advice on changing your prescription and always refer you back to your doctor to manage dosing if reducing or stopping medication is your goal.

17-Jul-2024: iNews:
The dark side of mindfulness training
Based on a recent study into the effects of mindfulness which, as well as reporting a number of benefits, also found some side effects, such as feelings of disembodiment and other altered states. These would be considered beneficial within the original Buddhist context, with no-self and unity with the universe being goals in this religion, but they may be less desirable for the purposes for which mindfulness is usually taught. I have commented before on the irony of a system that aims to reduce desires to find inner peace being used by industrial capitalism to make workers more productive.

9-Jul-2024: Forbes:
Modern Versus Natural Medicine Is A False Dichotomy
Has a tone like it is blowing the trumpet for modern medicine, but it does acknowledge that the improvements in life expectancy over the last 120 years are as much to do with sanitation, refrigeration, nutrition and socioeconomic changes as developments in medicine and covers the inclusion of acupuncture, massage, herbs and meditation in modern healthcare.

2-Jul-2024: Standard:
Best turmeric supplement UK to reduce inflammation and joint pain, tried and tested
Disappointing that it promises to evaluate the best turmeric supplements on the market but undertakes no independent testing so is really just an advert for different companies. It also fails to mention the poor bioavailability of curcumin, or the importance of other components like α-turmerone which may also have effects on the body.

1-Jul-2024: Guardian:
Healthy childhood diet can ‘keep mind sharp into 70s’ and ward off dementia
Hippocrates said "let food be thy medicine" and this recent study suggests exactly that, that a healthy diet in your younger years, low in processsed foods with more whole grains, leafy green vegetables, beans and whole fruits, can prevent problems later in life. This can also include changes made in your 40s.

25-Jun-2024: Cosmopolitan:
Here's everything you need to know about cosmetic acupuncture: The glow is unreal
A journalist describes their experience of cosmetic acupuncture.

21-Jun-2024: BBC:
Chimpanzees 'self-medicate' with healing plants
After the earlier story of a Sumatran orangutan who applied a herbal poultice to heal a wound, more evidence of primates using herbal medicine emerges. A recent study in PLOS One found Ugandan chimpanzees seek out herbs with antibacterial properties when sick and a fern with antiinflammatory properties when injured.

20-Jun-2024: Radio 4:
Acupressure Mats
Radio 4's Sliced Bread podcast interviews a clinical acupuncturist at Manchester Metropolitan University and the research director at the Northern College of Acupuncture regarding the recent trend of acupressure mats. Topics covered include how acupuncture works, do these have the same effect, and what is the evidence base for both.

14-Jun-2024: Harper's Bazaar:
#SkinSchool: Is facial acupuncture the needling treatment to rival Botox?
Magazine investigates some of the principles of cosmetic acupuncture.

29-May-2024: Independent:
Amazing discovery shows Ancient Egyptians were trying to cure cancer 4,000 years ago
Paper in Frontiers in Medicine that challenges our notion that ancient medicine was just superstition and guesswork. Two skulls show that ancient Egyptians were attempting to treat and perform postmortem examinations of cancer to better understand the disease as early as the 3^rd millennium BCE.

24-May-2024: BBC:
'I tried acupuncture to help me quit binge drinking and feel less angry all the time - here’s what happened'
It is a good point that acupuncture can be used to help us get to the root of unhealthy behaviours and is a better approach than attempting to use it as a simple craving reduction tool. I sometimes think of it as a discussion on the causes, followed by an assisted meditation on the issues raised and where to go next, supported by the physiological changes induced by acupuncture.

14-May-2024: Evening Standard:
Eloise Coulson: the hottest acupuncturist in London
Makes a good point about acupuncture complementing western medicine by threading all its different specialities together.

2-May-2024: BBC:
Wounded orangutan seen using plant as medicine
Evidence that suggests herbal poultices for wound healing may go even further back than the human race itself. It was later identified as Akar Kuning (Fibraurea tinctoria), a plant known for its pain relieving properties in local traditional medicine.

1-May-2024: Guardian:
My first time doing tai chi: 'It feels like my brain is solving a Rubik’s Cube'
Which is one of the reasons it is so good for maintaining health as we age: not only does it aid flexibility, strength, balance, coordination and aerobic conditioning, it can also help with blood pressure, and is something of a mental workout too.

22-Apr-2024: BBC:
Why are we so ill? The working-age health crisis
Among the main contributors affecting working age morbidity discussed are chronic pain, mental illness and diabetes. Chinese medicine has a lot to offer in the prevention and management of these conditions. Unfortunately the article also identifies economic and social deprivation as major factors which will prevent people from seeking help from Chinese medicine, despite it generally being cheaper that western interventions. This highlights the need for health providers to recognise the value in early, milder interventions over drastic ones once the condition has become unmanageable. As the saying goes: "it is too late to start digging a well when you are already thirsty."

9-Apr-2024: Women's Health:
Study shows direct link between teenage exercise and improved adult mental health
It is always worth remembering that correlation does not equal causation but there is a likely mechanism here as exercise can help mental health and both are connected with mitochondrial function, so setting up a healthy mitochondrial basis whole you are young could have lasting impacts.

26-Mar-2024: BBC:
Beni kōji: One dead and dozens sick after taking red yeast pill in Japan
Fungal contamination can be a serious issue, which is why products like this need quality oversight.

26-Mar-2024: BBC:
'The headset helps my depression so I can be a dad again'
We think of electrical brain stimulation as a modern intervention but it's history goes back to ancient Egypt and Rome where people used electric fish for medical purposes, including on the head! Acupuncture also has a modern history of using electrical stimulation, from which many of these ideas are probably derived.

24-Mar-2024: BBC:
How traditional healers are improving mental health treatment
Video on how a Nigerian psychiatrist is training traditional healers to work with orthodox psychiatry to provide the best of both systems and help with the country's problems of poor access to conventional treatments and dangerous traditional methods.

23-Mar-2024: New Yorker:
Life in a Luxury Hotel for New Moms and Babies
One woman's experience of "Sitting the Month," a tradition where a new mother takes 30-40 days looking after herself to recover from childbirth while the family take care of the house and baby. In today's world, these family duties have become outsourced to dedicated luxury hotels.

19-Mar-2024: Metro:
Popular diet linked to 91% increase in risk of cardiovascular death
Based on a study using self-reported dietary information from two time points conducted on 20,000 U S. adults and presented to the American Heart Association. The authors do not dismiss fasting outright but "encourage a more cautious, personalized approach to dietary recommendations, ensuring that they are aligned with an individual’s health status and the latest scientific evidence." Some criticisms were published in the New York Times and Huffington Post and this research is not yet peer-reviewed.

15-Mar-2024: BBC:
Seven ways to improve your sleep according to science
Sleep is one of essential pillars of health, often forgotten about in the fast-paced modern world where time is money. However, health is time and good sleep will give you more of it.

13-Mar-2024: Metro:
The exact amount of steps you need to walk each week to extend your life by 3 years
A study finds that its considerably less than 10,000 per day; just 5,000 steps three times per week increases life expectancy by 2.5 - 3 years and save the NHS £15 billion.

13-Mar-2024: Guardian:
No one should see a chiropractor thinking they are seeing a doctor
The British Acupuncture Council forbids the use of the title 'doctor' in our marketing, unless we are medical doctors, in order to avoid this kind of confusion, even if we have a genuine doctorate. There are clear differences in knowledge and authority to diagnose and prescribe that medical doctors possess which other health professionals do not have and which some professions seek to exploit by conferring the title of 'doctor' on their members. By the same token, no one should see a doctor thinking they are seeing an acupuncturist or herbalist, even if they want to offer a more 'holistic' service. There are some very different skills and experience required to practice either of these modalities safely and effectively.

However, it should be pointed out that it was medical schools who created this confusion in the first place in the 17^th century, taking the title from academics who had completed their Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), the highest degree a university can offer, and conferring it on medical students who had only passed a Bachelors degree in medicine as a sign of prestige. The term actually comes from Latin for "teacher," while the title physician comes from "physica" meaning "relating to nature," neither of which really apply to medical doctors today.

7-Mar-2024: Yahoo! News:
Penguin Receives Acupuncture for Back Pain at New England Aquarium
Acupuncture is helping this penguin keep mobile after tripling his life expectancy in the wild.

6-Mar-2024: Washington Post:
Elevated lead found in six ground cinnamon spice brands, FDA warns
A frightening reminder of how unscrupulous merchants of herbs and spices, including those supposed to be medicinal (and cinnamon has a long history of medicinal use), adulterate their products by adding heavy metals to increase their weight, and therefore value. This outbreak relates to an earlier one reported by the FDA in November 2023.

28-Feb-2024: Metro:
Surprising new treatment helps ease depression
A study into auricular acupuncture found it more effective than drugs when administered twice a week and tgat specific points were more effective than nonspecific.

19-Feb-2024: BBC:
'Brutal' donkey skin trade banned by the African Union
A cruel and unsustainable practice that is fortunately not allowed in the UK. The RCHM released this statement to that effect.

12-Feb-2024: Guardian:
How to have healthy joints: Don’t be afraid to slouch and always wear trainers: six simple tips for healthier joints from the experts
Some more advice from experts, this time on joint health. Much of this has been a part of Chinese medical philosophy which emphasises movement to stay healthy and as such has no "ideal posture" and even a slightly slouched one in many traditional exercise systems. Not too sure on the "always wear trainers" advice though, especially when this lecturer in sport sciences seems to say the opposite.

12-Feb-2024: Guardian:
Intermittent fasting: what is it, how does it work – and is it right for you?
Some experts talk about the current health trend of intermittent fasting, its benefits, risks and evidence. Although Islam and Ayurvedic medicine are famous for their fasting practices, ancient China also had its own version called Bigu 辟穀, "avoidance of grains," which would have initiated a ketogenic state and was a part of medical, longevity and spiritual practices.

10-Feb-2024: Guardian:
'The teacher cupped her crotch. She never went back': when yoga turns toxic
A reminder of some of the dangerous elements in 'healing' culture due to its lack of proper regulation. It is always worth remembering that yoga is a modern phenomenon with roots in western calisthenics and often serving a modern capitalist agenda. The same can be levelled at many Chinese medical practices which were developed in the 1950s out of nationalist interests. However, Chinese medicine in the UK has tried hard to professionalise itself but the government has resisted statutory regulation. Therefore, it is still advisable to check out your practitioner's qualifications, additional training and experience before you visit.

9-Feb-2024: Telegraph:
Tai Chi 'more effective' for reducing blood pressure than jogging or cycling
A study published in JAMA found that 12 months of Tai Chi reduced systolic blood pressure by 7.01 mmHg, compared to 4.61 mmHg from aerobic exercise.

8-Feb-2024: Guardian:
The experts: osteopaths on 20 easy and effective ways to treat back pain
Some simple, common sense ways to manage and prevent this common ailment.

2-Feb-2024: New York Times:
Medical Meditation? Clinical Yoga? Alternative Therapies Go Mainstream.
A recent article in JAMA showed that adult pain patients using nontraditional medical care to supplement or substitute mainstream medicine has risen to 37% in 2022, from 19% in 2002.

31-Jan-2024: Harvard Health Magazine:
A sharper mind: tai chi can improve cognitive function
A meta-analysis finds Tai Chi improved the ability to multitask, manage time, and make decisions in healthy people, and slows the progression of dementia more than other types of exercise.

29-Jan-2024: Forbes:
No, Washington Post, Acupuncture Still Doesn't Work
Responding to the July article in the Washington Post, this writer accuses the review that the article is based on of cherry picking studies, while ironically cherry picking his own study on safety from 30 years ago when the profession was considerably less informed and organised as it is today. He also caricatures acupuncture theory using a simplified explanation from the 19th century that most Chinese medical scholars today would not agree with. These are commonly known as the Straw Man Fallacy, twisting the opponents argument into one that is easy to knock down without drawing a distinction. Finally, in a clear Ad Hominem Fallacy, he attacks the author of the article instead of the argument by saying that, "Alas, good credentials don’t always mean that you can trust the holder of those credentials," an argument that can equally be applied to his own impressive resume, when considering the poor reasoning of his argument.

23-Jan-2024: Financial Times:
How old-wives’ remedies became big business
A story on the rise of all things herbal in business.

18-Jan-2024: Metro:
Dragons' Den entrepreneur makes history with miracle 'ear seeds'
Ear seeds are part of auricular acupuncture as a means of stimulating points between sessions. They usually use vaccaria seeds on some tape but the idea of making them from metals on clear backing so they look like tiny piercings is brilliant. As always it is a good idea to consult an acupuncturist regarding how to incorporate them into a comprehensive treatment plan if you want to use them for anything other than jewellery.

Unfortunately this story has caused a controversial start to the year for Chinese medicine with charity Action for ME complaining about unfounded claims, and the BBC defending the episode saying she was only recounting her personal story that inspired the business idea and it was not an endorsement of the product, but pulling it anyway and then uploading an edited version. Statements were also released by the BAcC and RCHM, both making good points. One thing all agree on is that you should "only take medical advice from appropriately qualified healthcare professionals and to ensure that any treatment decisions are evidence-based and fully informed." A review of evidence for acupuncture and moxibustion has been published, although not looking at ear seeds specifically. However, they are rarely used as a stand-alone intervention in Chinese medical practice.

2-Jan-2024: Guardian:
Digest this: why your gut health is key to your overall wellness
Paid-for content ultimately being an advert for nutritional consultation, but it does cover some of the many aspects of health where the gut microbiome is involved.