While receiving my degree in Nutrition, I worked as an intern at MD Anderson hospital. I came across many patients utilizing acupuncture to help with the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation. After speaking with patients about the benefits they received, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in Oriental medicine.
Acupuncture is certainly a form of medicine that has been recognized by the World Health Organization. In fact, the WHO recognizes acupuncture to be effective at treating many conditions such as: Addiction, Anxiety, Arthritis, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Colitis, Depression, Dental pain, Dizziness, Nausea, Pain, Reproductive Problems, Sinusitis, Trigeminal Neuralgia, and Menopause to name a few.
Several research studies have come out on what points, herbs, and how many treatments are needed to help patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiation. Over the past four years, I have been working with MD Anderson on a systematic review investigating articles using acupuncture for cancer patients. A small listing of articles published on this topic include:
Acupuncture treatment of vasomotor symptoms in men with prostatic carcinoma: A Pilot Study. Hammar M, Frisk J, Grimas O, et al. J Urol. 1999;161:853-856.
Acupuncture-point stimulation for chemotherapy-induced nausea or vomiting. Ezzo JM, Richardson MA, Vickers A., et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;(2).
Pain-relief and movement improvement by acupuncture after ablation and axillary lymphadenectomy in patients with mammary cancer. He JP, Friedrich M, Ertan AK, Muller K, Schmidt W. Clin Exp Obstet Gynecol. 1999;26:81-84.
Regression of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ After Treatment with Acupuncture. Dehen R. J Altern Complement Med. 2013 Mar 28.
Systematic Review of Acupuncture in Cancer Care: A Synthesis of the Evidence. M. Kay Garcia, Jennifer McQuade, Robin Haddad, Sonya Patel, Richard Lee, Peiying Yang, J. Lynn Palmer, & Lorenzo Cohen.J. Clinical Oncology. 2013
Acupuncture treatment of vasomotor symptoms in men with prostatic carcinoma: A Pilot Study. Hammar M, Frisk J, Grimas O, et al. J Urol. 1999;161:853-856.
Acupuncture-point stimulation for chemotherapy-induced nausea or vomiting. Ezzo JM, Richardson MA, Vickers A., et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;(2).
Pain-relief and movement improvement by acupuncture after ablation and axillary lymphadenectomy in patients with mammary cancer. He JP, Friedrich M, Ertan AK, Muller K, Schmidt W. Clin Exp Obstet Gynecol. 1999;26:81-84.
Regression of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ After Treatment with Acupuncture. Dehen R. J Altern Complement Med. 2013 Mar 28.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) changes and saliva production associated with acupuncture at LI-2 acupuncture point: a randomized controlled study. Deng G, Hou BL, et al. BMC Complement Altern Med, 2008; 8: 37.
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