Acupuncturist/TCM Practitioner Qualifications

It is important that you check up on any TCM practitioner you may visit or anyone that claims to perform acupuncture. There are many credential initials following people's names these days. How can you tell what these initials mean and what steps were taken to earn such credentials. Many medical professionals at this time are able to complete acupuncture 'certification' courses. These certifications are often very short and very general introductions to a complex system. In Colorado some people claiming to practice acupuncture may have NO training at all or even as little as 46 hours of training! The Acupuncture Association of Colorado recently reported the following:

Sadly, there are other standards for those calling themselves "Acupuncturists" or utilizing forms of "Acupuncture" here in Colorado:

• Physical Therapists (P.T.s)- were recently approved by the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies to practice dry needling with acupuncture needles. The only requirement is a 46 hour training and no separate registration with DORA.

• Chiropractors (D.C.s)- need only 100 hours of training, review 25 case histories and no examination to legally perform "acupuncture" in Colorado.

• Medical Doctors (M.D.s) and Doctors of Osteopathy (D.O.s) have no minimum training requirements to do "acupuncture" in this state. They call themselves "Medical Acupuncturists."

• There is an optional class at UCLA for physicians to learn "acupuncture." It is only 350 hours.

Any true TCM practitioner must pass the 4-year Master's program, pass all 5 national exams (for the Dipl. OM certification vs. 3 exams for Dipl. Ac certification) and obtain an individual state license to practice. At this time individual state requirements for licensure are different. An easy source to find state board information is the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Here is more of what the Acupuncture Association of Colorado has put together regarding practitioner qualification.

Adenosine A1 and it's role in acupuncture

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article based on a study found in Nature and Neuroscience. The study suggests that Adenosine A1, a neurotransmitter, aids in the analgesic effect of acupuncture. Check here for more details.

Food Allergy and Chinese Medicine

With an increasing dependance on processed foods we see more and more food allergies occurring in our population. Many of these allergies and related medical conditions are often highly variable and difficult to treat. Would you use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for your food allergies? If not, why? Consider the following from Acupuncture.com

Twenty patients participated in this study. There were twelve men and eight women ranging in ages between 6-67 years old. They have all complained of food allergy gastritis after eating certain foods. The main symptoms were abdominal pain and distention, indigestion and diarrhea. A few had nausea and vomiting and some had complained of hives after eating the allergenic food. There were reports of asthma and joint pain. Some of the offending foods were shellfish, cow’s milk, walnuts, lamb and pork.

A daily formula was decocted and administered to each patient that consisted of Huang Qi, Bai Jiang Cao, Ma Chi Xian, Di Ku Dan, stir-fried Shan Zha, Bai Zhu, Fu Ling, Huang Qin, Hou Po, Huang Lian and Huo Xiang with some modifications for particular presenting symptoms.

According to the study, a cure was defined as a complete disappearance of symptoms, a negative skin patch test, a lowering of IgE levels to normal, and the ability to eat the offending foods without presenting symptoms for up to one year. Fourteen out of twenty were considered cured. Five patients improved and one patient did not improve. Improvement was defined as the disappearance of symptoms, lowering of IgE levels to normal, a positive skin patch test and some allergic symptoms after eating allergenic foods. Overall, there was a 95% effective rate.

Zhang Xin-Cheng, et al. Xin Zhong Yi (New Chinese Medicine). #9 pp.59-60. 2002