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
  

On the next page, Dorel Rotar offers eloquent advice on how to take care of your physical and mental health this winter season in his article entitled “Seasonal Changes and Health.” Complementing Dorel’s advice is Yoshiko Kage’s self-help guide to fighting off colds and flus with foot-soaking, a popular Chinese and Japanese tradition. To warm your tummy, Teresa Chen provides recipes for two yang-energy soups from her upcoming cookbook of healthy Chinese soups.

We’ll be offering a mini series of health seminars (feel free to ask a staff member for more information) to demonstrate our key points for health maintenance. I know we are all getting busier as the days get shorter. Do budget in some time for yourself. We all wish you health and happiness for the Holiday Season and the coming New Year!

          Yi-Po Anthony Wu, MD

Seasonal Changes and Health

by Dorel Rotar, L.Ac.

The 4,000 year old tradition of Chinese Medicine has a holistic view on life and is a reflection of the Taoist philosophy about the Universe and its laws. Tao – the core concept of Chinese Medicine - manifests in this world through Yin and Yang, which are like two sides of the same coin of universal energy. Yin and Yang are relative terms, not absolutes.

If we have to divide the seasons into Yin and Yang, then we have spring and summer being more Yang than fall and winter, which are cooler and more Yin. It is during the spring and summer seasons that nature becomes warmer, expanding and growing (Yang qualities). It is during fall and wintertime that nature slows down its rhythms. Vegetation and animals have down time for rest and reflection (Yin qualities).

Yin and Yang should be in balance and harmony; otherwise, weakness and diseases will overcome the defensive mechanism of the human body. Our bodies do not like sudden changes, and when they happen, our bodies’ defensive systems will suffer. This is the reason why cold days during the summer, or warm days during the winter will weaken our defensive mechanism, and it will be easy to catch a cold or flu.

Because late fall and winter have colder days and longer nights (Yin), we should strive to preserve and increase the Yang qualities of our body.

How can we protect the Yang energy?
a) Protect your body from cold, and wear warm and dry clothes, preferably made from natural fibers such as wool and cotton.
b) Wear windbreakers for cold and windy days, and protect the upper body (Yang), upper back and neck.
c) Do not go outside immediately after a hot bath or shower. Dry your body and your hair before you leave the house.
d) Do not exercise too vigorously until after you have broken into a profuse sweat. Warming up too quickly will diminish your Yang energy.

How can we increase this Yang quality?
a) Eat warmer, cooked, foods (soups, stews). Small amounts of fruits and salads—at room temperature—will provide the vitamins and minerals your body needs. The diet should not consist of just raw and cold foods. Even vegetarian diets from the Far East, especially India and China, never include just uncooked foods. These cultures still have the concept that cooking is alchemy, and will transform raw materials into precious foods. Indeed, we can eat more of the uncooked foods during the summer, when we need to cool off our metabolism.
b) Drink warmer beverages, soups and teas instead of icy cold drinks. We should remember that the winter season is not a good time for iced tea or cold soda. If we follow nature’s path these drinks are forbidden during the cold season.

Yoga & Qigong
At this time of the year, we should exercise indoors whenever possible, or in protected areas. We should avoid windy, cold places. Always try to protect your Yang; do not exercise until you break into a profuse sweat. Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong are mild exercises that will stretch and limber the muscles and tendons. Such exercise will help you maintain good circulation and preserve body heat. Yoga practice includes a set of exercises called “sun salutation” and breathing techniques. Both practices will increase body heat.

Why breathing exercises?
These exercises balance the mind and increase the amount of oxygen in the system. We need warmer bodies during the winter, and oxygen is needed to increase our metabolisms (there is no fire without oxygen!) Through yoga practice, we can increase the capacity of our lungs without excessive strain and stress. Abdominal breathing can work out the lower parts of our lungs, increasing respiratory intake.

Yoga practice can balance the digestive system as well. Many of the yoga “asana” (postures) will include bending forwards, backwards, left and right, and most of the “bandhas”(abdominal exercise) will increase the flow of energy and blood in the digestive system. The cardiovascular system will also benefit from Yoga and Qigong exercise. Circulation to the extremities will improve, and heart rate will decrease. The nervous system will be balanced by slow, rhythmic exercise, accompanied by slow deep breathing.

Meditation
Meditation is another practice that will balance the mind. Through this practice, the body will calm, the mind will learn how to relax, and will achieve a state of well-being that will bring us closer to our true nature.

Wintertime and winter holidays can be a very strenuous period of the year. Nevertheless, if we follow the practical recommendations of ancient wisdom, we can achieve better health and happiness. Chinese wisdom and Yoga practice can be very useful tools to lead us to a more prosperous and healthy lifestyle.

~Happy Holidays!

Soak It Up!
Fight Colds and Flus With A Hot Foot Bath

by Yoshiko Kage, L.Ac., M.S.

The cold and flu season is coming. If you have been overworking and feeling tired, or if you have just finished a big project, you may find yourself feeling like you might suddenly catch a cold. Worse, if you catch a cold in the winter there is the added risk of developing bronchitis or other exacerbated conditions. Here are a couple of simple suggestions you can follow at home to take care of yourself in the upcoming winter. The sooner you plan for your health, the better off you will be.

Self-observation
The earlier symptoms are detected, the sooner action can be taken to minimize or prevent sickness. Take a moment each day to take stock of your body’s condition and check whether it is showing signs of a weakened immune system. When you’re catching a cold, you may feel coldness in your feet, legs, and/or low back area. Or, you may not feel cold but experience a tight neck and shoulders, tooth ache, or pain in the low back or stomach. You may feel somewhat depressed. You may also have a sore throat and notice differences between the sizes of the two sides of your face and between the temperatures of the armpits.

Self-help
If you feel yourself getting sick, try following these steps to help stave off illness before it becomes full-blown:

1. Soak your feet in hot water for 6 minutes. Use a bucket or deep dish-washing container. Use only water, adding nothing to it. The water should be a little hotter than the temperature at which you normally take a bath. Soak up to the ankles. Prepare a boiling kettle of water and keep adding boiling water little by little to maintain the water temperature for 6 full minutes.
2. Wipe your feet thoroughly with a nice dry towel and observe the color of your feet.
3. If you find one foot is pink but the other is pale, add more boiling hot water in the bucket, making it hotter, and soak the paler foot in it for 2 more minutes.
4. Wipe the foot and drink a glass of water. If you feel chills in the body, and your neck is cold to the touch, drink a cup of hot ginger tea, made by boiling pieces of fresh ginger in water.
5. Go to bed right away.

It is best to soak your feet right before you go to bed. If you’re catching a cold, don’t take a shower or bath. Ideally, the soaking will make you sweat and the cold will go away. If you have diarrhea or constipation, or any other digestive symptoms along with a cold, soak your legs up to one inch above the knees. You can do this by kneeling in the bath tub if you can. If you cannot kneel down, make an appointment for an acupuncture treatment.

Winter Blues: How To Deal With Feelings of S.A.D.-ness

As the days get shorter in the coming winter months, you may notice a marked dip in mood and energy. This sluggishness and depression you are experiencing is in part physiological -- turns out there’s a reason why they call it gloomy weather. Full-blown Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects as many as 1 in every 10 people. Fortunately, there are some simple steps to ease SAD.

What is Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a condition brought on by reduced exposure to sunlight. This occurs for most people during the winter months—onset typically begins in October or November—but can also affect individuals who work away from natural sources of light or who rarely venture outdoors.

Symptoms of SAD
Sufferers of SAD usually feel a noticeable downturn in mood and energy during late fall and winter. Most will begin to feel better as soon as spring rolls around. Symptoms may also be more severe further from the equator, where sunlight is even scarcer. Other symptoms include:

• Irritability
• Trouble waking up in the morning
• Cravings for sugar, starch, and other carbohydrates
• Sluggishness and lethargy
• Trouble focusing on work and relationships
• Feelings of hopelessness and despair

SAD can also exacerbate symptoms from other mental health conditions, such as severe depression, bi-polar disorder or severe PMS.

Treatment
For severe cases, a physician may prescribe anti-depressants. But many SAD sufferers find a treatment called light therapy (also known as phototherapy) to be effective. This treatment involves exposure to a bank of fluorescent lights behind a translucent screen to compensate for decreased sunlight.

Even better, deliberately spending time each day in daylight has also been shown to counteract many symptoms. A regular schedule of light exercise to keep active and minimize weight gain during the party-laden winter months is also recommended.

In addition, it is important for those prone to SAD to pay attention to diet. It should be high in vegetables and low in animal products. Try to avoid sweets because they make blood sugar level unstable and hence affect mood. SAD is often associated with vitamin D deficiency, so it may be beneficial to take supplements or drink milk or orange juice that contains added vitamin-D.

 

Health News Round-up

“The Pollution Within”

A thought-provoking article in the October 2006 issue of National Geographic explores the trace amounts of toxic chemicals that enter our bodies in a variety of ways – from drinking water to fish to where we played as children.

“The Pollution Within,” by David Ewing Duncan, follows the author as his blood is tested for an array of chemicals. The results, including a dangerously high level of a compound found in flame retardants, raise an important concern that we should all pause and consider: Are the products we use to make modern life better actually harming us?

This includes not just commonly thought of pollutants like DDT and other pesticides, but also the fragrance in our shampoo and the stuff that makes pans non-stick.

According to the article, it is still unclear what these chemicals will actually do to our bodies, though many are considered toxic to animals and dangerous to children. But the article does focus on northern California and include one noteworthy thing we can do to prevent at least one pollutant, mercury, from getting in our bodies in the first place.

As Duncan writes, “mercury exposure is a legacy of the gold rush 150 years ago, when miners used quicksilver, or liquid mercury, to separate the gold from other ores in the hodgepodge of mines in the Sierra Nevada.” According to the Environmental Protection Agency, don’t overeat shark, swordfish, or mackerel, especially if you are pregnant or nursing. Shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, and catfish are low in mercury and are a safe source of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

David Ewing Duncan, “The Pollution Within.” National Geographic: October 2006.

Study Supports Use of Acupuncture
in Treatment for Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) has a major impact on patients’ mobility and quality of life. However, the anti-inflammatory drugs used to treat it are associated with a number of side effects. In recent years, patients have turned increasingly to acupuncture to relieve the chronic pain associated with OA.

One of the largest randomized trials of acupuncture to date, appearing in the November 2006 issue of the scholarly journal Arthritis & Rheumatism, examines the use of acupuncture as an extension of routine medical care, evaluating effectiveness and whether the effects last after treatment is discontinued.

Led by Claudia M. Witt (University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany), researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial of 3,553 patients with chronic pain due to OA of the knee or hip.

“Patients with chronic pain due to OA of the knee or the hip who were treated with acupuncture in addition to routine care showed significant improvements in symptoms and quality of life compared with patients who received routine care alone,” the authors state.

This was true for both the randomized and the non-randomized groups. Furthermore, patients in the control group who waited three months before beginning acupuncture showed similar improvements at six months.

Based in part on the results, the German Federal Committee of Physicians and Health Insurers is considering a proposal that acupuncture will be reimbursed by state health insurance funds. If approved, it will probably be provided as a routine medical option in treating OA.

The authors conclude that “the present results show that, in patients with chronic pain due to OA of the knee or hip who were receiving routine primary care, addition of acupuncture to the treatment regimen resulted in a clinically relevant and persistent benefit.”

Claudia M. Witt, Susanne Jena, Benno Brinkhaus, Bodo Liecker, Karl Wegscheider, Stefan N. Willich, “Acupuncture in Patients With Osteoarthritis of the Knee or Hip.” Arthritis & Rheumatism, November 2006;54:3485-3493.

Eating Poultry Can Lead To Antibiotic Resistance

An article from the November 1, 2006 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, published by the University of Chicago Press, shows that the use of antibiotic growth promoters in livestock increases the risk of antibiotic drug-resistance in humans.

Edward A. Belongia, MD, and colleagues at the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation, Marshfield, Wis. and elsewhere examined whether eating chicken increases the risk factor for antibiotic resistance to Enterococcus faecium, a gut bacterium that is an increasing cause of hospital infections.

The drug combination used to treat serious E. faecium infections is quinupristin-dalfopristin, known as Synercid. Synercid is related to a compound - virginiamycid - that is used on chicken and pork to promote growth (but which is now banned in Europe and Australia). The researchers wanted to see if making chickens meatier with the growth promoter caused the related antibiotic to become less effective for treating infections.

The group tested 105 newly hospitalized patients and 65 healthy vegetarians, using samples of conventional retail poultry and antibiotic-free poultry meat. None of the patients in the sample had a pre-existing resistance to Synercid. However, patients who ate conventionally raised chicken were more likely to become resistant to the antibiotic Synercid than vegetarians and those who ate antibiotic-free poultry.

Edward A. Belongia, MD, et al. “Use of Streptogramin Growth Promoters in Poultry and Isolation of Streptogramin-Resistant Enterococcus faecium from Humans.” Journal of Infectious Diseases: 2006;194:1200-1208.

 

Chinese Soup For The Soul

by Teresa Chen, Ph. D.

In traditional Chinese medicine, autumn is characterized as the “dry” season. It is the time of the year when it is more likely for us to have a dry throat, dry mouth, dry skin and even dry scalp. We are likely to be more irritable. In these seasonal conditions, moist food can help lubricate the throat and soothe other natural seasonal disturbances in the body. Make a soup with gelatinous and starchy substances such as white woodears, American ginseng, sea cucumber, swallow’s nest, lotus seeds and foxnuts.

SOOTHING DRIED BOK CHOY SOUP

One of the most popular and abundant Chinese vegetables, bok choy is eaten both for its delicious taste and its ability to counter internal dryness. The dried form is used off season. When fresh baby bok choy is available, you may also add 4-5 stalks.

Ingredients
5½ oz. dried bok choy
2 oz. large ‘southern’ apricot kernels
½ oz. small ‘northern’ almond kernels
6 brown dates (approx. 3½ oz.)
1¼ lbs. lean pork
1 lb. baby bok choy (optional)

Method
1. Soak dried bok choy for three hours until soft. The rehydrated vegetable should weigh about 1½ lbs. Cut into 3” lengths.
2. Put pork in a pot of hot water. Boil for ten minutes. Discard water and rinse meat.
3. Bring 6 qts. of water to boil over high heat. Put in the rehydrated bok choy and other herbs. Bring to boil again. Lower heat and simmer for 1½ hours.
4. Cut the pork in large chunks and put them in the soup. Bring to a boil again and then simmer for another 1½ hours.

Serves 6

MOM’S BORSCH WITH BEEF SHANK

Winter is characterized as the “cold” season and warming food is in order. Root vegetables in soup will warm both body and spirit. Examples of root vegetables include lotus roots, yams, potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, and ginseng. In the meat category, beef, mutton, and chicken are warming. Here is my mother’s recipe for the Chinese version of borsch, with beef shank. Enjoy.

American butchers crosscut the beef shank. The Chinese remove the bone and carve out the whole shank.

Ingredients
2 yellow onions, sliced crosswise
5 carrots
2 potatoes
½ cabbage
1 golden beet (optional)
2 large tomatoes
4 oz. mushrooms (sliced)
1 piece beef shank (approx. 2½ lbs.) or
four crosscut pieces

Method
1. Boil half a pot (8-quart size) of water with slices of fresh ginger. Add beef shank and bring to boil again, approximately ten minutes until foamy residue rises to the top. Discard water and rinse meat thoroughly.
2. Boil tomatoes in a smaller pot (2-quart size) of water until skin cracks open. Discard hot water and rinse tomatoes with cold water. Peel skin and cut.
3. In 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil, sauté the onions.
4. Bring a half-pot of water to boil. Add parboiled beef shank, the sautéed onions, carrot and potato pieces, cut up cabbage and slices of beet, bring to boil again.
5. If you are using a thermo cooker, place inner pot in thermos and leave soup to slowly cook. If you are using a regular pot, simmer on medium-low heat for two hours. Add boiling water if necessary.
6. Remove beef shank from pot. Let cool.
7. Put inner pot with the soup back on the stove. Add tomato pieces and mushroom slices, cook for another 30 minutes.
8. Ladle the vegetables and broth into the soup bowl. Thinly slice cold beef. Arrange on top.

Serves 6