Who isn't Stressed?!?

Do you know anyone who isn't stressed? Recently, I had someone come in who said that he was in the emergency room twice in the past week, diagnosed with panic attacks. When he came in to see me, he told me that he did not feel panicked or stressed. As he went on with his story, however, it seemed pretty apparent that there were multiple stress-ers in his life. He has several children to worry about, including a rebellious teenager. His job is very high powered with lots of responsibilities and people to manage. His family life is complex and involves juggling the needs and wants of many, many individuals. As he spoke of his life... he realized that perhaps he was stressed.

How do we know if we are stressed? Stress is, unfortunately, incredibly common in the lives of most Americans. A small amount of stress can be a positive driving force. However, in most of our lives it has blown out of proportion, with tight muscles being everyday occurrence and our hormones being thrown out of balance because of our anxieties. Probably the best way to tell how stressed we are is to provide a contrast. My personal favorite, easy way to de-stress is acupuncture. Acupuncture changes the hormones in our brains and literally puts us into a de-stressed frame of mind. Our brains release feel good chemicals and our bodies respond with deep relaxation. Our face muscles relax and we wake up looking younger from our acupuncture naps. All this and it's good for our health!

Stress can cause a huge variety of other medical conditions to happen. This means acupuncture can be used to help with a myriad of health disorders, all while making us feel really good. More info on acupuncture and its effects can be found at www.AcuSpaWellness.com

Tried & True Medications

My pharmacology professor made a comment once that I will never forget: "I only take drugs that are old - I never take the new drugs because we do not know what their long term effects are." Isn't this statement absolutely fascinating? It made me reflect upon my thesis paper on how culture effects medicine. Americans are raised in a culture that values "new" and "young". This way of thinking carries over into medical treatments, where new drugs are often touted as the next wonder of the world. In many cases, newer is better. But perhaps not when it comes to everything.

When working with prescription medications that have been on the market for a few decades, their effects are more thoroughly documented. Long term effects are more likely to have been spotted and built into consideration before they are prescribed. Most medication trials are not decades long, as companies work to get their products into the market as soon as possible. This means we usually don't know the long term implications of prescription medications when they are new.

Compare to this to the hundreds, if not thousands, of years of research we have on traditional Chinese medicine. Herbal medicine may seem old fashioned in comparison to some drugs on the market, but our ancestors have spent many, many years documenting their effects and side effects. Some of the effects that have been observed can be quiet surprising. The scientists of the past have been very thorough in their observations of how the human body will respond to different herbal medicines.

It therefore strikes me as quite odd when medical doctors express concern over herbal medicine. I would argue that, under the correct supervision, Chinese herbal medicine is much safer than prescription medication. This prejudice is probably due to a conservative approach to something that they have not studied and do not understand. Acupuncturists in the state of California have been taught and tested regarding Chinese herbal medicine. Finding a practicitioner that is licensed is a good first step to making sure that you are properly monitored while taking Chinese herbal medicines. More info on the applications of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture can be found at www.AcuSpaWellness.com