At the sharp end of Chinese medicine
The Dominion Post | Monday, 8 January 2007

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ENERGY INJECTION: Needles and herbs are becoming increasingly
prominent in the spectrum of medical treatment.

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Needles and herbs are increasingly prominent in the spectrum of
medical treatment, and one Wellington man has found them an effective
alternative to pills and ointment, Rebecca Palmer reports.


The mystical-sounding Chinese medicinal principles of qi and yin and
yang date back thousands of years.

Nowadays, you can find dozens of their practitioners listed in your
local Yellow Pages.

An increasing number of Kiwis are turning to the ancient disciplines
of acupuncture, herbalism, moxibustion (acupuncture combined with the
burning of herbs) tuina (medical massage) and qi gong (breathing
exercises) as treatment for virtually any ailment.

For Wellington man Rob McDonald, 57, acupuncture has become a semi-
regular part of his life.

"I've never liked the intervention of taking pills that much . . .
Some people probably think that sticking in needles is more invasive.
It seems to me that it's using the resources of your body a little
bit more than throwing drugs at it."

Rob, a manager, first had acupuncture about 10 years ago for a knee
injury. Since then, he has also turned to it for hip pain, allergies
and back pain. He says it was particularly effective for occupational
overuse syndrome.

He's not squeamish about needles and doesn't wince as acupuncturist
Karuna Olatunji inserts their fine points in his forehead. He
describes it as a relatively effortless treatment. "You turn up. They
stick a few needles in. You lie about for a while. Twenty minutes
later, you shove off and you tend to get an improvement."

Besides acupuncture, he has used other branches of traditional
Chinese medicine. He practises tai chi (or taiji) – a gentle exercise
that helps reduce stress and maintain mobility and flexibility. ACC
promotes tai chi as part of its "preventing falls" programme for
older adults.

He has taken herbals in the form of "little black pills" that include
a range of ingredients to meet his body's needs. "I've used some of
the herbal remedies a bit, but generally in conjunction with
acupuncture."

He has also been treated with tuina – Chinese medical massage.

Rob sees three practitioners on a semi- regular basis. He compares
them to "detectives" who work to find the source of an ailment and
treat its root, rather than just the symptoms.

He keeps his doctor up-to-date on the treatments he receives. "I
think it's probably quite important that you have a GP who is quite
accepting of that sort of thing. I think most of them probably are
these days.

"The GP would still be my bedrock layer. I'm a standard Kiwi bloke in
that sense."

At the core of the various branches of Chinese medicine is the
concept of qi (sometimes written as chi), which can be translated as
life force or energy. Also important are the opposite qualities yin
and yang – terms many of us will recognise as associated with female
and male, darkness and light. Traditional Chinese medicine says that
if the two become unbalanced, illness can result.

"If that energy (qi) is moving through the body and it's unimpeded
then you would remain healthy," says Adejola Olatunji, director of
the New Zealand School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese
Medicine, which provides four-year courses in the discipline.

"But if it's blocked or stopped, if there's too much in one place and
not in another, you tend to see that as illness."

He likens it to a traffic jam, with "too many vehicles in a given
place at a given time".

Acupuncture aims to restore the body's natural balance by inserting
fine needles into the energy pathways of the body. The needles are
inserted into carefully selected points and left in place for an
average of 20 minutes. A patient might have two or three needles
inserted – or they might have more than 10.

The number of treatments they require depends on the condition being
treated.

"To the average person, they only know it as pain relief, when in
fact it's more than that," Mr Olatunji says. "It handles internal
problems. It's a preventative. Having regular treatment is like
health insurance."

The placement of needles depends on the person and the nature of
their conditions. For instance, needles would not be put in certain
places on a pregnant woman's body.

Diagnosis is a key part of identifying the source of the problem and
deciding how to treat it, Mr Olatunji says. There is a range of
systems for diagnosis that incorporate detailed questioning,
observation, listening and even smelling. Emotions, temperature,
activity and lifestyle are among the things patients can be asked
about.

His wife, Karuna Olatunji, says people can suffer from a depletion of
qi, in which case their therapist would look at using herbal
supplements to bring levels back up.

"Sometimes the herbals are really essential when you need to
strengthen and nourish."

Many of the herbal medicines have rather ordinary, recognisable herbs
like liquorice, cinnamon and ginger. "There's a huge number of
herbals. There's herbals that will have a warming and dispersing
effect on the body. There's herbals that will cool you down in a
fever situation."

She personally tends to give patients "patent" remedies with a range
of herbs to treat their conditions, because they fit in better with
people's lifestyles.

Though traditional Chinese medicine is often considered a natural,
alternative remedy, that does not mean it should be taken lightly.
Karuna emphasises that people should not self-prescribe Chinese
herbal remedies. "They have very specific actions these herbals, and
they need to be dispensed with some knowledge."

At present, there is no legal requirement for people to get training
before practising Chinese medicine. The couple recommend patients
check whether a traditional Chinese medical practitioner belongs to a
professional body, such as the New Zealand Register of
Acupuncturists.

Mr Olatunji says Chinese medicine is becoming increasing mainstream.

"I think what's happening is acupuncture is becoming more and more
acceptable."

A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal last month backs
that up. It found more than 70 per cent of GPs recommended
alternative treatments – the most common being acupuncture,
chiropractic manipulation and osteopathy. One-fifth practised a form
of complementary medicine themselves.

College of GPs president Jonathan Fox says acupuncture has become
widely accepted by Western medicine, with many physiotherapists and
doctors using it.

However, Chinese herbals are less enthusiastically embraced. "There
are a lot of concerns about some of the medicines that are
available", he says.

"Although they are promoted as herbal, some of them have some very
powerful drugs." For instance, they can contain steroids, anti-
diabetic drugs and Viagra. Even drugs people think of as "natural"
could be powerful.

"A lot of natural things are quite toxic – arsenic is one."

Furthermore, natural medicines can interfere with other drugs. For
instance, the blood thinning medication Warfarin could be affected
by "quite a few" herbals – such as St John's Wort.

It has become a normal part of a general practitioner's repertoire to
ask people about herbal medicines.

Some people working in traditional Chinese medicine have no training
or professional registration, he says. He advises people to consult
only registered ACC treatment providers.

As for Rob, he has no hesitation in recommending traditional Chinese
medicine to others who are unwell or suffering pain.

"Acupuncture was quite an unusual thing to do once, but it's just a
part of standard medication now."