Acupuncture
The use of fine needles inserted just below the skin to obtain relief from a wide range if medical conditions has been recorded in China for at least 3000 years. The use of acupuncture was included in a medical textbook written around 200BC called "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine". There is also evidence that similar forms of treatment were used in ancient Egypt as it is mentioned in the "Papyrus Ebers" written around 1500BC.
The benefits of acupuncture may have been found by chance when goatherds discovered sharp flints could cure some conditions or soldiers injured by arrows may have coincidentally found relief from various medical problems they had been suffering from.
In Chinese acupuncture there are 12 regular channels represented on both sides of the body and two extra channels in the mid-line, front and back. Along these channels are specified acupuncture points and by putting needles in combinations of these points, relief can be obtained from a wide variety of diseases. There is also auricular acupuncture that uses points in the ear to represent parts of the body and this can be very effective too.
More recently it has been found that acupuncture needles can be used in different ways such as needling trigger points in muscles and even though this does not follow the Chinese pattern it is very effective. Modern scientific acupuncture draws on a comprehensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology and uses needles where they are most likely to be beneficial. A good deal of scientific evidence is now available to support this approach.
Nutritional Therapy
Many illnesses that we treat with chemicals can be just as effectively dealt with using supplements and dietary approaches. Drug therapy for some diseases is essential but nutritional approaches can be used as an adjunct. These are not new ideas and one negative effect of all our medical advances is that we can begin to forget about more traditional remedies. In addition, because Nutritional Therapy is now well-established and research is being done, a scientific basis for treatments now exists.
We might consider how we can balance the functions in our bodies and help Nature do the healing. Bigger doses of drugs do not necessarily lead to better responses. A gentle approach can be powerfully therapeutic and achieve a more natural outcome.
Dr John Elliott
Member of the British Medical Acupuncture Society
Member of the Register of Nutritional Therapists
European Certified Nutritional Practitioner
Southampton
UK