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Acupuncture and Multiple Sclerosis
by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc
Brian is the founder of the Pulse of Oriental
Medicine, medical professor at Pacific College of Oriental
Medicine, and author of Powerful
Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs,
and Acupressure. |
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I asked today by a family member for my opinion on acupuncture
and multiple sclerosis for a friend of theirs. That's
a tough one. A degenerative disease with no cure, right?
Our typical modern expectation is that advanced
scientific techniques, perhaps stem cell research, perhaps
the exploitation of new human genome technology
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It might seem surprising, or perhaps laughable, then, that an
ancient natural medicine could offer hope. But there is always
hope with herbs and acupuncture for several reasons. First, acupuncture
since it is regulatory and health promoting in most cases. Second,
acupuncture is a whole body therapy that works primarily through
the nervous system, the system in which multiple sclerosis does
its damage. Moreover, the immune system plays a role, and acupuncture
regulates immunity. Acupuncture and multiple sclerosis is sounding
less far fetched, isn't it?
Acupuncture's ability to promote and regulate health: usually,
the most basic acupuncture points that we learn in our first year
of school will improve the health of anyone. But when the goal
is cure, it's harder to say, and expertise is more important.
Still, Chinese medicine can be personalized to a high degree,
so individual problems, tendencies, and obstacles can be overcome.
Acupuncture's neurologic and immunologic mechanisms are discussed
in more detail in acupuncture research,
and well summarized in Donald Kendall's Dao of Chinese Medicine.
More:
That's plenty to chew on. The answer is: find
the best acupuncturist in your area and work with them weekly
or twice a week for several months at least and see what happens.
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