New Study: Acupuncture can relieve pain on par with morphine.

Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco have determined that acupuncture stimulation reduces pain. The acupuncture induced pain relief was determined to be the equivalent of a moderate dose of morphine. Dr. Goddard from the renown University of California, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department conducted a laboratory experiment to measure the effects of needling acupuncture point ST36, located on the lower leg.

In detail (Acupuncture "shop talk") 

Acupuncture point ST36 (Zusanli, Leg Three Measures) has a function within Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to activate the Stomach (Yangming) channel and relieve pain. Although more commonly known for its ability to tonify Qi, Blood and Yin, ST36 is indicated for the treatment of leg, back, chest, breast, abdominal, eye and knee pain. Headaches are also indicated. In general, ST36 is indicated for pernicious cold damp painful obstruction related disorders.

ST36 treats channel specific pain. The research of this study measured the analgesic effects of ST36 for electrically induced pain of the lower incisor. It is not surprising that ST36 was found effective given that the channel runs along the gums and jaw. The primary Stomach channel begins at acupuncture point LI20 beside the nose and ascends to the root of the nose where it intersects UB1. Next, the Stomach channel descends along the lateral aspect of the nose and enters the upper gum and joins with acupuncture point DU26. The channel then circles around the corner of the mouth and meets with CV24 at the mentolabial groove. Next, the Yangming channel follows the angle of the jaw and runs upward in front of the ear. At this point, the primary channel traverses other regions of the body.

New Study: Acupuncture has proven results for reducing pain, inflammation after knee surgery.

New research concludes that acupuncture reduces pain and inflammation after knee replacement surgery. The research also finds that acupuncture improves range of motion following knee replacement surgery. Further, physical measurements of the swelling around the knee were significantly lower in the acupuncture group than in the control group.

Acupuncture was applied to patients with total knee arthroplasty starting at day 7 following knee replacement surgery. Acupuncture was administered three times per week until day 21 when the treatment regime was discontinued. Range of motion improved, swelling measurably decreased and pain levels were significantly lower in the acupuncture study group than in the group that did not receive acupuncture therapy. As a result of these findings, the researchers conclude that acupuncture is effective in the post-acute phase of knee rehabilitation following total knee replacement surgery.

This study builds on earlier findings that acupuncture benefits the knee. In other recent research, investigators discovered that acupuncture reduces knee pain and increases range of motion for patients with osteoarthritis. An interesting study, it compared sham acupuncture with modern acupuncture and classical acupuncture techniques. The sham acupuncture, a form of simulated placebo acupuncture, did not significantly improve the knee condition. However, both modern and classical approaches to acupuncture were highly effective in reducing pain and improving range of motion. The modern acupuncture style involved the application of points known to benefit the knees and the classical acupuncture style derived custom acupuncture prescriptions based on a differential diagnosis. The modern acupuncture style was over 60% effective and the classical acupuncture was over 70% effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. The researchers concluded that the efficaciousness of acupuncture is “method-specific.”

Reference:
Mikashima, Y., et al. "Efficacy of acupuncture during post-acute phase of rehabilitation after total knee arthroplasty." Journal of traditional Chinese medicine= Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan/sponsored by All-China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine 32.4 (2012): 545.

Max Karner, Frank Brazkiewicz, Andrew Remppis, et al., “Objectifying Specific and Nonspecific Effects of Acupuncture: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial in Osteoarthritis of the Knee,” Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, vol. 2013, Article ID 427265, 7 pages, 2013.

http://www.healthcmi.com/acupuncturist-news-online/714-acupuncturekneereplacementsurgery

Mummies reveal clues about the history of disease.

When studying mummified remains, pathologist, Michael Zimmerman also is studying the earliest known cases of many diseases, many of which may have claimed the lives of the person that is now being studied, thousands of years later. But what can this information teach us? For starters, in his studies, he finds that cancer was relatively uncommon. 

By staining samples of its lung tissue, he found the pathogen that causes tuberculosis, thus establishing the oldest known case of the disease. The only previous evidence of TB dating back that far had come from artwork depicting figures with bone deformities characteristic of the disease.

In 1991, the head of the anthropology department at Austria's University of Innsbruck called him after a 5,300-year-old frozen body, "Otzi the Iceman," was found in the nearby mountains, preserved by ice and snow. He missed his chance to examine the body when scientists realized that Otzi's final resting place was on Italian side of the border and that the Austrians had to give him up to an Italian museum. There, a CT scan revealed the cause of death: an arrowhead lodged in Otzi's left shoulder.

Over the years, Zimmerman has seen mummies with arthritis, club foot (King Tut suffered from it), cirrhosis of the liver and plaque in their arteries - ailments similar to what doctors see in autopsies today.

It's not hard to find mummies, he said. When modern Egyptians built railroads, so many mummies turned up during the digging that workers burned them for warmth. Since that first Smithsonian mummy, he said, he has examined 200 to 300. When he started out, he did a complete autopsy, cutting up the body and removing the organs. Now, he uses less-damaging procedures, imaging them with CT scans and inserting endoscopic instruments through small holes.

What amazed him was that among all these mummies, he saw only two cases of cancer, though he says tumors are easy to spot. During a recent talk at Villanova, he showed a slide of a rectal cancer found in a middle-aged Egyptian mummy, explaining how the cells stained a distinct color and showed signs of abnormal cell division.

Zimmerman and University of Manchester professor Rosalie David, who founded the university's renowned Egypt Mummy Project, wrote a 2010 paper for the journal Nature on the lack of mummified cancer and their speculation that cancer might be more tied to modern environments than has been assumed. Zimmerman attributes most of the difference to the modern prevalence of smoking: There's nothing in the historical or archaeological record to suggest that ancient Egyptians smoked.

The paper stirred up controversy, with some questioning whether the low cancer rates in ancient people are merely a consequence of shorter life spans - perhaps people simply didn't live long enough to get cancer. But even taking age into account, Zimmerman said, there's surprisingly little cancer. Besides, he said, he sees osteoarthritis, clogged arteries and other diseases of aging in these mummies. Some of the pharaohs lived past 90.

Geneticist Mary Daly of Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center said it's also likely that obesity plays a role in making cancer so much more common today than it was in ancient Egypt. If you took away cigarettes and obesity from today's population, Daly said, you'd see a drastic drop in cancer rates. That's essentially the population you're studying in ancient Egypt.

Other researchers share Zimmerman's interest in diseases of the distant past, though most study bones rather than mummies. Bones have revealed ancient cases of osteoporosis and a striking decline in height and general health in a number of societies after the adoption of agriculture, possibly due to unsanitary conditions and a sudden shift from varied diets to ones based primarily on grain.

-excerpt from the Washington Post 

Cauliflower: Pale in color but not in nutrients.

We've all heard that brown rice is more nutritious than white, whole-wheat bread beats plain white and white sugar not only lacks health benefits but also might be toxic. We've heard the darker the green vegetable the better and other encouragements to eat a rainbow of colorful foods. So what's the story with cauliflower? It is not colorful. It is white. Is it really good for us?

Unlike processed white foods, cauliflower has many health benefits:

l The antioxidants avert oxidation and damage to our cells, helping to prevent cancer and other diseases.

l The anti-inflammatory properties of the vegetable help to prevent arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome and other inflammatory diseases.

l The fiber helps to support digestion and detoxification.

l Cauliflower is full of B vitamins, potassium and phosphorous, which support the nervous system, muscles and bones, respectively.

We have been experimenting with the vegetable, because with all of those health benefits, I would like to secure a place for cauliflower in our family's dinner rotation. My favorite is cauliflower soup with chives, but my children's preference is what I call "cauliflower popcorn." They claim it isn't nearly as tasty as real popcorn, but they agree it has a similar flavor and texture. They tend to eat more when I add a little cinnamon to the recipe, and little do they know that cinnamon is beneficial to their blood sugar levels.

Here are some fun facts about the vegetable:

l The head, which is called a curd, is a bunch of undeveloped flower buds.

l The trunks are edible, too.

l The coarse outer leaves protect cauliflower from sunlight, preventing the chlorophyll from turning it green. Broccoli's outer leaves don't cover its flower buds as extensively, so it has more opportunity to turn green from the sunlight.

l It is in the same family as broccoli, kale, cabbage, Brussels sprout and collards; these are called the cruciferous vegetables.

l It is easy to overcook and turn into mush, so be careful!

l When cooking, avoid aluminum and iron pots: Cauliflower incites a chemical reaction with these surfaces, turning the vegetable yellow. Science experiment, anyone?

The Medical Benefits of Garlic: More than just a seasoning.

Originally cited as an ancient remedy of the Egyptians and current knowledge of it's cardiovascular benefits: garlic is much more than a seasoning. 

Garlic can ward off vampires, according to an old superstition. Modern science also ascribes protective powers to the pungent bulb -- against health problems.

"Garlic was cited as a remedy in ancient Egyptian writings as far back as 1550 BC, and it's regarded to this day as a prophylactic agent and remedy for many illnesses," noted Margret Morlo, a member of Germany's Nutrition and Dietetics Association.

Garlic owes its medicinal powers to its components. It contains many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins A, B and C as well as potassium and selenium. It also has a number of beneficial phytochemicals, such as polyphenols and sulfides, and a comparatively high content of adenosine, a biochemical compound important for cell metabolism.

"Since garlic is usually consumed in small amounts, not all of its health-promoting components carry weight," remarked Stefan Weigt, a member of Germany's Independent Health Advice Association. So it is with its vitamins and minerals, he said. To meet the daily requirement of vitamin C, for instance, a person would have to consume nearly 800 grams of garlic.

"It's a totally different matter as regards phytochemicals, though. Here the bulb is really outstanding -- especially with sulphides," Weigt said.

Sulphides are sulphur-containing compounds that "can have a beneficial effect on health in many ways. They're antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory" and thus help to guard against or fight infectious diseases, said Antje Gahl, a nutritionist at the German Nutrition Society.

Studies by the University of Arizona in the United States have shown this to be true in the case of colds. According to studies by the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, garlic can help prevent periodontitis and other diseases of the mucous membrane of the mouth.

The sulphides in garlic have positive effects on the cardiovascular system, too. "It's been proven that they lower the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood -- blood fat levels," Morlo said.

A team at the National Cardiological Research Centre in Moscow found a 7.6 per cent drop in total cholesterol in 42 test subjects after 12 weeks of garlic therapy. This means regular consumption of garlic may help prevent atherosclerosis -- a narrowing of the arteries due to a buildup of fats and cholesterol -- "and therefore cardiovascular disorders like blood clots, strokes and heart attacks," Weigt added. Some studies have not confirmed garlic's cardiovascular powers, however.

"Garlic is also said to help inhibit cell damage and the development of tumour cells thanks to the antioxidant effects of its phytochemicals," Gahl noted. Antioxidants have the ability to neutralize free radicals, which are atoms or groups of atoms that attack cells and can cause them to degenerate.

"There's not complete certainly on this," she pointed out. "But an analysis of animal tests and statistical surveys suggests that garlic lowers the risk of cancer." This has been virtually proven in the case of stomach and intestinal cancer, she said.

To get garlic's health benefits, "it's extremely important to consume it regularly, preferably every day," Morlo said.

New Studies on Acid Reflux preventing drugs find serious side effects.

In an effort to prevent acid reflux, many turn to drugs promising a reduction or prevention of it entirely, but what they don't mention in the TV advertisements is the extent of the potential side effects. 

From the NYTIMES: 

Long-term use of the drugs, called proton pump inhibitors, or P.P.I.’s, can make it difficult to absorb some nutrients. Ms. Rudell, 33, has been taking these medications on and off for nearly a decade. Her doctor treated her anemia with high doses of iron, and recommended she try to manage without a P.P.I., but that’s been difficult, she said. “I’m hoping I’ll get off the P.P.I. after I complete my residency training,” she said, “but that’s still several years away.”

As many as four in 10 Americans have symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, and many depend on P.P.I.’s like Prilosec, Prevacid and Nexium to reduce stomach acid. These are the third highest-selling class of drugs in the United States, after antipsychotics and statins, with more than 100 million prescriptions and $13.9 billion in sales in 2010, in addition to over-the-counter sales.

But in recent years, the Food and Drug Administration has issued numerous warnings about P.P.I.’s, saying long-term use and high doses have been associated with an increased risk of bone fractures and infection with a bacterium called Clostridium difficile that can be especially dangerous to elderly patients. In a recent paper, experts recommended that older adults use the drugs only “for the shortest duration possible.”

Studies have shown long-term P.P.I. use may reduce the absorption of important nutrients, vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, calcium and vitamin B12, and might reduce the effectiveness of other medications, with the F.D.A. warning that taking Prilosec together with the anticlotting agent clopidogrel (Plavix) can weaken the protective effect (of clopidogrel) for heart patients.

Other research has found that people taking P.P.I.’s are at increased risk of developing pneumonia; one study even linked use of the drug to weight gain.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/combating-acid-reflux-may-bring-host-of-ills/

Exercise can prevent and reduce migraine headaches.

Migraine triggers vary widely from one person to the next. A few case reports have identified people for whom periods of physical activity could precipitate severe headaches. But by and large, the research has shown that for people predisposed to migraines, regular exercise, at least a few times a week, either does no harm or may have modest benefits.

In one of the most thorough studies, published in the journal Cephalalgia in October, researchers in Sweden randomly split 91 migraine sufferers into three groups. One group exercised for 40 minutes three times a week. Another was given topiramate, a drug that helps prevent migraines. The third underwent regular relaxation exercises. The study lasted three months, and the subjects were monitored over an additional six months.

The scientists found that the rate of migraines fell in all three groups, and that each intervention was equally effective. They noted that for people who want to reduce migraines without the side effects of drugs, exercise may be a good alternative.

In a smaller study, the same researchers looked at 26 migraine sufferers before, during and after cycling sessions on stationary bikes at a clinic in Sweden. The subjects cycled three days a week for three months. At the end of the study, they saw improvements in cardiovascular fitness and reductions in the severity and number of migraines they experienced.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/really-the-claim-exercise-can-ward-off-migraines/?ref=science

UCSF Trial Offers New Hope for Melanoma Patients

New research trials being done at UCSF are showing very positive results for treatment of melanoma. The below excerpt is from the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Shannon Jimerson, an advanced-stage melanoma patient being treated at UCSF, did a little dance this week while still sitting on the exam table after she got the news she desperately wanted to hear.

Nine months after starting a combination drug therapy in early-phase clinical trials, her tumors were continuing to shrink.

"You have very minimal disease left," said Dr. Alain Algazi, a skin cancer specialist.

Algazi told her that her tumors had shrunk by 85 percent, leaving her with just a few "lousy little tumors" he hoped the drugs would continue to target.

Jimerson, 34, of Fairfield has benefited since January from a growing body of research that is giving new hope to patients with melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Melanoma is diagnosed in about 68,000 Americans annually and kills more than 8,700 each year.

Before entering the trial, Jimerson wasn't sure she'd be alive at this point. Her body had become so riddled with tumors that she was afraid to lay a hand on her own skin for fear she'd find a new lump. She did find a new spot, on her shoulder, and was scheduled for a biopsy two weeks after she started taking the investigational drugs.

"But by the time I got there, there was nothing to biopsy," said Jimerson, the mother of two young daughters and children's pastor at her church. "It was absolutely a miracle, this drug."

The combination of the two oral drugs, both being developed by GlaxoSmithKline, are designed for people who have a genetic mutation that is found in about half of all melanoma cases. The drugs target two different points along a pathway the cancer uses to proliferate.

At least half and up to as many as 77 percent of 71 patients in the earliest phase of the trial experienced reductions in tumor size by a third or greater, researchers said. The company is seeking to enroll about 280 patients in second-phase studies and is already planning for third-phase trials.

The results are promising considering most of the current therapies for melanoma have been found to work in fewer than 20 percent of patients, and often have far lower levels of effectiveness.

"This is definitely a great moment for patients with melanoma," said Dr. Kiran Patel, GlaxoSmithKline's director of oncology research and development. "Our goal is to progress science and really bring new and better options for patients."

Patel said he could not estimate when the company will seek federal approval for the drug combination. "We remain enthusiastic about targeted approaches and will keep doing the right studies so we can get those answers," he said.

Until this year, the last drug approved for melanoma was in 1998. But in August, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration fast-tracked the approval of a drug from South San Francisco's Genentech Inc. called Zelboraf, which targets and inhibits the genetic mutation known as BRAF V600E. The GlaxoSmithKline drugs work on that same pathway, but also targets a second point on the path.

"We haven't had any real breakthroughs since the mid '90s, and now it's like every few months we have something exciting," said Dr. Adil Daud, director of UCSF's Melanoma Program and chief investigator of the trial.

Scientists discovered that when the protein BRAF is mutated, it can become hyperactive and cause cells to grow out of control. The Genentech drug was found to work in about 50 percent of late-stage melanoma patients with the mutation.

While researchers found the results astounding, especially considering that they previously had little to offer people with metastatic melanoma, they quickly realized that the disease started progressing in some patients after several months on the drug. They suspected the cancer was finding a "work-around" in some cases by using a pathway regulated by another protein called MEK.

The GlaxoSmithKline trial drugs Jimerson has been on since January go after both BRAF and MEK. Genentech, for its part, is in clinical trials for its own combination therapy using Zelboraf, its already-approved BRAF inhibitor, and a MEK inhibitor the company is developing. UCSF is involved in that trial as well.

The hope is that patients will be able to stay disease-free longer on a drug that blocks the cancer's pathway in two places rather than just one.

"It's like a river being blocked by two dams," UCSF's Daud explained. "Maybe you'll overflow the first dam, but then the other part will take over."

Daud's colleague, Algazi, said researchers have the challenge of figuring out what other pathways exist and what drugs can be created to fend off those new routes to give the disease a "long-term, knock-out punch."

For Jimerson -- who has experienced few side effects other than a mild rash, some fatigue and an occasional fever -- the trial means she has hope for the future.

c.2011 San Francisco Chronicle