Acupuncture

by Sean Christiaan Valentine-Marshall, D.Ac. and Bonnie L Walker, DC If you are already familiar with Chinese medicine as it is currently practiced then you may not be very comfortable with much of what you are about to read. If you are new to the field or have an open inquisitive mind you are in for a treat. This introduction to Chinese medicine purposely breaks away from the styles of previous attempts to explain Chinese medicine which present the Chinese concepts and then remanufacture them into something else that fits into a familiar Western paradigm. This has never worked, nor will it ever. Chinese medical concepts are nothing like Western medical concepts and the criteria [...]

This month we’re going to talk about auto-immune and endocrine disorders. But first we should talk about these two systems; the immune system and the endocrine system. They are both crucial to maintaining a healthy body. You can think of your immune system as the Defense & Repair Department of your body. It consists of different types of cells, structures, and materials, each of which serves a specific purpose in protecting and defending you from “all enemies, foreign and domestic”.  Your very life depends on its coordinated strategies to fend off attacks from outside forces as well as to detect and repair internal imbalances. It’s so powerful that it can do great harm when it [...]

Stroke is the #2 killer in America, second only to heart disease. Your chances of having a stroke...and dying of it...increase with age. But all is not lost...the good news is that with diet and lifestyle changes, you can cut your risk of stoke and improve your recovery should you have one. It's not too late to make changes, even if you've already had a stroke. It can help prevent repeat attacks. Prevention is way better than rehabilitation. The explanation of stroke from an acupuncture energetic perspective is that Heat (inflammation) occurs and builds up in the body. This heat effectively "cooks" the blood, making it more sticky and sludgy, so it doesn't flow as [...]