Talking with Jennifer Knapp D'Andraia: All healed and healing others
By ALLAN DRURY
THE JOURNAL NEWS
Jennifer Knapp D'Andraia
Title: Licensed acupuncturist
Residence: Norwalk, Conn.
Age: 30
Education: Bachelor's degree in biology from Loyola College in
Maryland; master's degree in acupuncture from the Tri-State College
of Acupuncture in Manhattan.
Personal: Married, one child


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After graduating from Loyola College in Maryland in the spring of
1998, Jennifer Knapp D'Andraia began feeling fatigued, suffering from
insomnia and her body retaining water and swelling.

Doctors diagnosed a rare kidney condition called focal segmental
glomerular sclerosis, a disease characterized by scarring and
hardening of blood vessels in the kidney, and prescribed medication.
She thought she would need a kidney transplant eventually.

"It really wasn't a good prognosis," said D'Andraia, 30. "They (her
doctors) said there were varying degrees of response to the
medication. "They basically said that I could respond well but, even
if I did, episodes of the swelling and scarring could keep coming
back."

Along with taking the medication, D'Andraia made other changes in her
life. She cleaned up her diet - a challenging task for an admitted
junk food lover - started using herbal treatments and doing yoga.

She also moved back home with her parents so that she wouldn't be
stressed by financial pressures.

She also started getting acupuncture treatments from her sister,
Cindy Frantz, a licensed acupuncturist.

More than eight years later, D'Andraia's kidneys are fully
functioning and though she doesn't think that acupuncture was the
only reason for her cure, she believes it played a role. In fact, she
was so convinced of that in 2000 that she enrolled at the Tri-State
College of Acupuncture in Manhattan and got a master's degree in
acupuncture.

She now practices acupuncture at the Westchester Health & Sports
Therapy in Yorktown Heights, a place where patients can also get
chiropractic care, massages, nutritional advice and other health
services.

D'Andraia, one of two acupuncturists who work out of the center,
treats 10 to 15 patients a week. The fee is $90 for a first session
and $70 for each subsequent session. She participates with Oxford
Health Plans Inc. and Health Net insurance plans.

Each day that passes is a small victory for her. That's because
doctors told her that the more time that passes without the kidney
condition recurring the less likely it is that it will ever return.

When she became pregnant with her daughter, who is now 11 months old,
D'Andraia was labeled a "high-risk patient" because of her past
health troubles, she said.

But she went through the pregnancy and birth without any problems.

She recently discussed her recovery and business with The Journal
News.

Q:When you were ill with a kidney illness just after graduating from
college in 1998, you began receiving acupuncture treatments from your
sister. Did you have any reservations about trying acupuncture?

A:I remember that I was apprehensive about acupuncture because I was
afraid of the needles and didn't understand how acupuncture could
work. But I had absolute trust in my sister as an acupuncture
provider and decided to give it a try.

Q:Was there anything that surprised you about the treatments? For
instance, did it hurt more than you expected? Less than you expected?

A:I came to find that the acupuncture treatment was different than I
anticipated. The acupuncture needles are far different than the
needles I experienced previously in doctors' offices - when blood was
drawn or an injection was given.

Acupuncture needles are much smaller, are as thin as hairs, and are
actually blunt. There is generally no pain with insertion. I would
say, though, that my biggest surprise was that the acupuncture
treatments worked well and worked quickly.

Q:In your practice as an acupuncturist, what are the most common
ailments that you treat?

A:Sixty to 70 percent of my practice is the treatment of pain.
Acupuncture is very effective in reducing swelling and inflammation,
relieving muscle spasm and promoting healing. Pain associated with
sports injuries, arthritis, disk herniations and migraines can be
relieved with acupuncture. The other 30 to 40 percent of my practice
includes patients with other complaints such as fertility issues,
digestive disorders, insomnia, anxiety and sinusitis.

Q:What do you tell patients who have doubts about whether acupuncture
will help them?

A:Acupuncture is part of the Chinese Medicine system that has been
around for somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 years. There is
experiential evidence of its effectiveness in treating an array of
conditions. There are no harmful side effects. And though response to
treatment differs from individual to individual, we'll know in six to
eight visits if acupuncture elicits a change for the patient.

Q:What traits do you possess that make you a successful acupuncturist?

A:It is important for all health care providers to be sympathetic,
and to some degree empathetic, in order to really take care of their
patients. Good listening skills and good clinical skills are also
important.

Q:What makes for a successful acupuncture treatment?

A:Certainly, it is essential to have a correct diagnosis and a
corresponding treatment plan. Because acupuncture treats the person
with a headache rather than the headache itself, the patient benefits
from a holistic and customized treatment.

Q:What will it take for acupuncture to become more accepted by the
medical community and the American public?

A:Skeptics seem to need observable, scientific proof. Acupuncture,
however, is difficult to study in the same conventional ways that
medications are researched. Nonetheless, awareness of the efficacy of
acupuncture continues to increase and acupuncture is soon to become a
mainstream healthcare option.

Reach Allan Drury at adrury@... or at 914-694-5069.