Yi-Po Anthony Wu, MD, M.P.H.
Medical Director and founder of PCMC

• Western medical training at National Taiwan University, Worcester City Hospital, University of Massachusetts Medical Center
• Masters degree in Public Health, University of Hawaii
• Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine
• Acupuncture training in Taiwan and at New York University
• Director of Pacific Pain Clinic 1988-93
• Director of Pacific Complementary Medicine Center since 1999
  

CAM GOES MAINSTREAM -
ALTERNATIVE NO MORE

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has opened The Zakim Center for Integrated Therapies. Here, the options include acupuncture, mind-body techniques, exercise programs, therapeutic touch, nutritional consultation, music therapy, and massage therapy. This was in year 2000. Fifty years ago no one would have dared to suggest such therapies for cancer.

A pattern of change is evolving throughout mainstream medicine in the United States. It is reflected by the terminology. Anything not approved by the medical establishment fifty years ago was called "quackery." Nowadays, the common vocabulary used includes 'alternative medicine' inferring 'instead of' and 'complementary medicine' suggesting 'along with' conventional medicine. Still a fine line separates acupuncture, massage, herbal therapy and meditation from mainstream practice.

In the future, the key word will probably be 'integrative medicine,' as introduced by Andrew Weil, M.D. One day, predicts Joseph B. Martin, dean of the Harvard Medical School, some treatments that are now 'alternative' will become standard treatments.

From 1990 to 1997, patient visits to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers had increased 47%, to 625 million. Today, half of all adults in the U.S. use CAM. In 1992 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) created an Office of Alternative Medicine with only a $2 million annual budget. By 1998 it had been renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine with a research budget of $100 million.

In the spring of 2000, the Bernard Osher Foundation granted $10 million for Harvard to create a new Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies. This grant is augmented by $2 million to create the Osher professorship in complementary and integrative medical therapies.

The chair's first occupant, David M. Eisenberg, M.D. is a pioneer in the field. He was the first U.S. medical exchange student to China since the Cultural Revolution. Today, medical students in prestigious institutions insist on education in this field to balance their training.

Young scientists are asking research questions and seeking answers. The NIH recently awarded Harvard's new division a $2 million grant to build the first clinical model of integrative care within an academic teaching hospital, eventually to be replicated throughout the United States.

Complementary and alternative medicine as we know it today could become an accepted tool of tomorrow's medicine. In the foreseeable future, we may say there is no such thing as alternative medicine. All valid medicine is one.

Information in this article is taken from Craig Lambert's report entitled 'The New Ancient Trend in Medicine-scientific scrutiny of "alternative" therapies', which is the cover article of the Harvard Magazine, March-April 2002.

Music for Health and Healing

Music can be therapeutic if the arrangement of tones is in consonance with the qi circulation in the body. Chinese health music restores the balance of yin and yang and brings about a harmonious interaction of the five elements.

According to traditional Chinese music theory, the five tones - gong, shang, yu, jue, and zi correspond to the five elements - earth, metal, water, wood, and fire, which in turn correspond to the internal organs, the meridians, the reacting emotions, the five directions, the five colors, the five tastes, the seasons, the hours of the day, and so on and so forth. Everything is interconnected with everything else.

The five tones in traditional Chinese music, like acupuncture and herbs, can be used to enter the corresponding meridians to mobilize qi. Music has the capacity to counter both mental and physiological imbalance. It is an ideal complement to herbal, acupuncture, and massage therapies. Traditional Chinese medicine acknowledges the intricate relationship between physical and mental health.

Moreover, we are affected by fengsui and seasonal changes and our lifestyle. Bringing us in touch with the most basic of all natural cycles and environment, music can calm our emotions, restore our balance, and counteract the potential for illness. Health music reaches into the psyche to cleanse so as to eliminate biological toxins resulting from emotional build-up.

It is also perfect for meditation and relaxation. PCMC Herb Center has introduced a number of Chinese health music CD's. We have new titles of Chinese feng shui music (Dragon, Phoenix, Serpent, Tiger, Tortoise), melodies composed according to the Yellow Emperors' Classics on Internal Medicine (Calming the Emotions, Invigorating the Spirit, Returning to Simplicity), music scores to exercise by (taichi, qigong, zhan-zhuang gong, and ba-duan-jin), and compositions with explicit medical indications such as hypertension, ulceration, headache, and obesity.

However, neither the music nor the textual description are intended to be a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. Be sure to consult your physician or practitioner if you are experiencing medical problems.

Lung

Large intestine

Kidney

Bladder

Liver

Gall bladder

Heart

Small intestine

To Heal A Child

Consistent with our mission, Pacific Complementary Medicine Center is offering acupuncture and herbal treatment for children. Methods are noninvasive and safe. It not only treats symptoms, but gets to the root of problems. Yoshiko Kage, licensed acupuncturist on the staff of PCMC, practices a kind of acupuncture that does not puncture the skin. It is painless and effective.

She uses special tools such as rollers for stimulation and a golden needle, laid flat on the skin to conduct the qi. Her training specializes in treating neurosis, night crying, insomnia, colds, nasal catarrh, poor digestion, diarrhea, constipation, malnutrition, weak constitution, enuresis, asthma, etc., in babies and children.

"One should consider a mother and a child as a single unit, each dependent on the other…Treat the mother to treat the child," wrote Julian Scott and Teresa Barlow in their book Acupuncture in the Treatment of Children. This philosophy is exemplified by Yoshiko at Family Ties, where she offers a weekly clinic for the children with parents observing, in addition to treating their mothers.

During treatment, Yoshiko instructs the mother in the care of her child. Children are indeed the same the world over, but their upbringing varies in different cultures. It follows that treatment must be adjusted accordingly.

This is where Pacific Complementary Medicine Center, with the background of Dr.Yi Po Anthony Wu and his Staff, excel. PCMC is poised to start a new pediatric department with Yoshiko Kage, Michael Shi, and others who have the experience and interest in treating children in a holistic manner.

Women's Health

Wellness is a process. "Our bodies are made up of dynamic energy systems that are affected by our diets, relationships, heredity, and culture and the interplay of all these factors and activities," it was succinctly stated by Christiane Northrup, M.D. in Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom.

By understanding the changes and dynamics that affect our well-being, every man and woman can, and should, reclaim authority to one's own health. Women go through cycles as well as linear stages of change in life. Puberty, motherhood, and menopause, are accompanied by expected changes in their beings. Here, the term 'being' is deliberately used instead of 'body' because in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) the body and the mind are always recognized as a unity, not a dichotomy.

During child-bearing years, a woman often experiencing emotional as well as biochemical changes during the monthly menstrual cycle, When not supported by proper diet and rest, or subjected to unduly stress, the woman may experience agitation accompanied by physical pain.

Then she may come to view menstruation as something negative and abnormal and extend this attitude toward life's other natural processes like birthing and menopause. Modern society creates an image of the perfect woman - beautiful, energetic, young-looking, sexy, loving, slim, and smart - making it very difficult for any woman to relax about herself.

Balance is often the first thing to give in a woman's strife under stress. TCM, with its emphasis on balance, provides the best antidote to stress that is at the root of many dis-eases.

Besides acupuncture and herbal therapies, PCMC offers health exercises (tai-chi and qi gong) to counteract stress and promote wellness. Many stress-related diseases can be prevented. More importantly, come join us at our Spring Health Seminars to reaffirm the facts of life and learn to stay healthy and vital by getting in touch with ourselves.

YERBAS BUENAS
The Good Herbs Of Orchid Origin - Vanilla

John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, Reclaiming Our Health, and other groundbreaking books on health and nutrition, jokingly wrote that, when he was small and still heir-apparent of the Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors Ice Cream, he thought that the four basic food groups were: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and mocha.

However, these flavors, by themselves, when not modified with excess sugar and fat as in rich ice cream, do have natural origins. For instance, the vanilla flavor comes from an orchid named vanilla planifolia, a native of southern Mexico.

A long bean issues from each pollinated orchid blossom of the climbing vine. The plant has many flowers, which open a few at a time and last only a day. The blooming season lasts for two months. Normally, the flowers are pollinated by a small bee found only in Mexico. When cultivated in other countries, pollination must be done by hand.

The fresh bean is rather plain looking and has no fragrance. The fragrance develops during the curing process, a discovery of the Aztecs. The process takes four to five months: First, ten days of alternately sweating at night and daily sunning. They become a deep chocolate brown.

After that, the beans are spread inside a sheltered outdoor space until they are ready for shipping. Vanilla extract is made by crushing the beans and soaking them in alcohol.

Natural vanilla is an expensive spice. The vanilla extract is very concentrated. A little goes a long way, so use it sparingly. Synthetic vanilla, available in stores and used for food manufacturing, is an inferior product. It is a poor imitation and a gourmet cook wouldn't dream of using it.

Marvel at these magic beans as you enjoy their flavor and aroma. John Robbins was wise when he said to leave out the sugar and fat, but a trace of vanilla in the right place is gourmet.

by Teresa M. Chen & Elizabeth D. Luna