You are currently browsing all posts tagged with 'Therapy'

Does my 19 year old daughter need to seek therapy about her complusive shopping?

  • Posted on February 16, 2011 at 10:21 am

She has her own job and currently is the owner of a debit card. She spends like its going out of style. there is NO need for her to be buying 40 dollar bras, 60 dollar jeans, 300 dollar handbags, and fishing out 26 dollars for mascara, 14 dollars for eyeliner, and 14 dollars for lipgloss. that is completely uncalled for. So I just told her to hand me over her wallet, and i took her debit card Apparently she cannot control her shopping urges, so i’m doing it for her. She calls it retail therapy. i call it an ADDICTION that needs to be medicated. I told her she will not step FOOT into a shopping mall for 3-4 months. and she will also not be allowed to buy anything. She has enough clothes in her room to last her a lifetime i’m sure, what’s the need for more. I caught her in her room crying.

  • Share/Bookmark

Should I force my daughter to undergo intensive drug therapy?

  • Posted on August 13, 2010 at 7:26 pm

My daughter recently turned 16 years old. She is a wonderful child for the most part, extremely intelligent, friendly, usually polite, and gets mostly A’s in her A.P. classes. She is also a marijuana user as well as having tried things like cocaine and ecstasy several times(although I know for sure she hasn’t used them more than that, she mainly uses marijuana) , and has gotten into some trouble in the past year. She was arrested 6 months ago for marijuana and paraphernalia, but she went through a diversion program and that is pretty much off the record.
My husband and I forced her to see a counselor against her will after that incident, and again after she was sexually assaulted several months later. Both times she was very resistant and rude to the counselors. Several weeks ago she was nearly arrested for stealing liquor at Albertsons, but she was lucky and they didn’t press charges. An officer was sent to our house to put a scare into her, and she ran off barefoot as soon as she saw him. She was gone for nearly ten hours, until after 11:00 at night, and we really thought she was dead during this time. It turned out that she had been hiding in recycling bins and the desert barefoot all day, and came back with blistered feet (We live in a very hot environment, it got up to the 100′s that day)
A few days ago we forced her to see another counselor, who she was at first just as resistant to as before, but reluctantly agreed to cooperate after my sister’s prodding. She showed absolutely no desire to quit marijuana, she doesn’t view it as a problem because she functions so well, doing better at school than most non-drug users. I had caught her smoking pot in her room the night before, and confiscated it from her after she somewhat willingly handed it to me. I KNOW this is the first time she has smoked in 2 weeks and she was more or less normal those 2 weeks, and she is definitely not addicted to any substances. She was very cooperative and respectful, but the counselor told us that there wasn’t much he could do and recommended an intensive drug group therapy program, which meets 3 days a week 3 hours each day, and has mandatory drug tests with a person in the room watching.
This morning I took her to have an evaluation with this program’s therapist, and she was just horrible. She barely spoke to me all morning, slammed doors, and was incredibly rude to the therapist, going so far as to walk out of the room after he called her a stubborn Taurus Irish girl. After we left tears were pouring down her cheeks the whole way home, and she threw her book in a tantrum. She previously told us that she would resist this program, and has proved EXTREMELY resistant. I don’t think i’ve seen her more upset about anything in her whole life, she has just been so depressed and upset ever since the counselor recommended this, with very untypical behavior, making threats like that she’s not going to try at school anymore if we make her do this, or that she’s going to start doing even more drugs on purpose. I am not sure if my husband and I are doing the right thing, I want what’s best for her, but she is so incredibly resistant and unhappy, I believe that if I take her she won’t even talk or she will physically resist, should I make her do this or are there any better options out there?

  • Share/Bookmark

Trigger Point Therapy

  • Posted on January 22, 2010 at 2:20 am

There’s nothing quite like sitting down on a crisp fall Sunday morning to write about my wife’s uterus. I suppose I could have written something generic about the topic of uterine fibroids, but I prefer to write personal stories about true-life experiences that have the potential to inspire and motivate readers.

It all started about a year after we got married. During our first year of marriage, like most couples, our focus was on starting a family, which meant we did our best to make that happen. So far, so good.

But after almost a year of trying without success, we began to wonder if something might be wrong. Off we went to see the fertility specialist, who first asked how old my wife was, then took a blood sample to measure her level of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which is the main hormone involved in producing mature eggs. Then he did an ultrasound test to check out her uterus.

When they gave us the results, it would have felt better if they had used a shotgun. At age 39, my wife had an FSH score of 12 (the odds of conception at anything over 10 is virtually zero). Not only that, but they also found three uterine fibroids in three different areas, or levels, in the lining of her uterus.

How bad news spurred us into action

I’ll spare you the grief and heartache we went through that day—the day we were told we would never have a child. I can tell you that when I get bad news, I feel the same emotions of hopelessness, grief, and frustration as anyone else would in the same circumstances. I also have to admit that I expressed my rage in a torrent of choice words (mostly R-rated). For me, it was the release I needed, and it was the first step on our road to recovery.

For as quickly as the bad news had created a sense of hopelessness, my wife and I were somehow able to put aside the negative and begin to focus on what we could do rather than what we couldn’t. Within 12 months of that terrible day, we finalized the adoption of our daughter, Jessica Taylor.

In fact, from the first day we signed any paperwork to the time we were standing in front of a judge, it took only 10 months—a land speed record in the world of domestic infant adoption. Jessica will be 5 next month, and if my wife and I had simply sat by and gotten negative and depressed, she surely would not be in our lives today.

What you need to know

While not truly understanding what a uterine fibroid tumor was at the time and only hearing the word “tumor,” I immediately went to work to learn everything I could about them. And, like anything else, the answer is out there—you just have to ask the right questions, find the right people, and knock on the right doors.

Of course, the doctor we had only wanted to sell us a $20,000 Egg donor fertility package. He could not have cared one bit about the fibroids and the emotions my wife was experiencing when she learned she had them—let alone offer us a solution.

The first bit of good news I found was that fibroids are rarely cancerous. In fact, some are even asymptomatic, meaning they don’t have any symptoms. Many women, however, will experience symptoms such as abnormal bleeding, pelvic pain, bowel and bladder irregularity, and painful or uncomfortable intercourse. In some case, fibroids can cause a distended abdomen.

What exactly are fibroids?

Uterine fibroid tumors are small, solid collections of smooth muscle cells and fibrous connective tissue that can develop in various parts of the uterus.

What causes them?

No one really knows why they develop, but there is a well-established correlation between fibroids and hormonal imbalances—specifically, higher estrogen levels and lower progesterone levels.

Being in an estrogen-dominant state should not come as a surprise to women these days—even up to premenopausal ages—because of the widespread use of birth control pills and even the large amounts of soy we all eat. Yes, I said soy.

The best way to overcome a challenge is to overwhelm it

If you suspect (or know) that you have a uterine fibroid, please seek proper medical attention. In our case, we were not offered any treatment, which is common. The typical recommendation is to do nothing but wait and see what happens.

Well, we weren’t going to wait until these fibroids got to be the size of bowling balls before we took any action. (Personal observation: sometimes when we are faced with a medical situation that is not life-threatening, we tend sit back and hope that things will get better on their own. Seldom do we decide to attack the problem from as many different angles as possible—all at once, in an effort to overwhelm it, stop it, or at least control it as quickly as possible.)

My wife found her solution in enzymes

My wife had been off any birth control for a while before she found out she had fibroids. But the hormonal imbalances were already evident. We did look into hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but this was right around the time when this approach was getting bad press and some of these products were even being pulled from the market. She did try some natural progesterone cream for a while, until she discovered something called “proteolytic enzymes.”

Can Proteolytic enzymes reverse fibroids?

Proteolytic enzymes are a remarkable substance, and they are responsible for a host of bodily functions. When it comes to uterine fibroids, proteolytic enzymes help break down and remove excess fibrous tissue, which is what fibroids are mostly made of. That’s why these enzymes work so well.

Let me tell you what happened in our case. We both started to take them. Why both of us? Well, for one thing, my wife had never heard of these enzymes, and she felt that it was something we should do together. In less than a week, we both started to feel better—and I’m talking all over. Simple aches and pains began to disappear, and we found we had greater flexibility in our hands (We were both massage therapists at the time and our hands are everything to us).

By week two, my wife started to have what the scientists and the developers of the enzymes call a “side activity.” Why they can’t just call it a side benefit is beyond me. Anyway, she started to get this vaginal discharge that she called “the goo.” I called it “money” because it was a signal that remnants of the fibroids were passing through her.

This continued over the next four to six weeks. My wife did not complain of any vaginal pain during this period. She simply said, “Things just worked better if you know what I mean.”

The one interesting thing about enzymes is that they work at several different dosing levels, in the beginning there is an Activation dose, the Activation dose is different for everyone so you will need to experiment with your dose by incrementally adding one or two capsule per day.

The Activation dose can be continued as long as your are experiencing the side activity, once the side activity starts to subside you can start on what is called a maintenance dose.

That was five years ago. Today, we still take the enzymes for the numerous health benefits they provide, including cardiovascular support not to mention helping to control the levels of systemic inflammation in our bodies the root cause of virtually every disease known to man. It goes without saying that when your enzyme levels drop or stay too low for too long, you will eventually find yourself planted on the other side of the grass.

  • Share/Bookmark

Parkinson’s Disease & TAI CHI THERAPY

  • Posted on January 12, 2010 at 4:24 am

In a special to CNN, the Mayo Clinic’s mayoclinic.com reported that, “Parkinson’s disease is progressive, meaning the signs and symptoms become worse over time. But although Parkinson’s may eventually be disabling, the disease often progresses gradually, and most people have many years of productive living after a diagnosis.” This would indicate that there may be effective interventions that could perhaps slow the progress of the disease. When we get such a diagnosis, our first reaction might be to withdraw and give up. However, the old adage “use it or lose it” tells us that just the opposite is true. If you have Parkinson’s, you’d likely be best off to use everything your body is, every which way, on a regular basis.

Tai Chi movement’s gentle balance enhancing motions can obviously help the Parkinson’s patient by helping to reduce the gradual loss of balance that Parkinson’s sufferers often experience. However, there may be much more it offers. For example, Tai Chi movements rotate the human body in about 95% of the ways the body can move, when a long form is practiced. This is far beyond what other exercise offers, and in fact the closest would be several swimming strokes, which together would only rotate the body in about 65% of the ways it can move. For Parkinson’s sufferers, or anyone for that matter, this would indicate that by “using” 95% of the body’s possible motion several times a week, the possibility of “losing” the ability to do so diminishes accordingly. This isn’t rocket science, but simple common sense.

Yet, perhaps Parkinson’s patients have even more to gain from Tai Chi. A few years ago I taught several classes at local medical centers. I was continually frustrated because although I’d seen emerging reports that Tai Chi was beneficial to people with Parkinson’s Disease, or arthritis, or chronic hypertension, etc., even though the departments that specialized in those conditions were often just down the hall from my Tai Chi class . . . they might as well have been a million miles away. Because the physicians who ran those departments were either ignorant of or unwilling to refer their patients to the possibilities that Tai Chi offered their lives.

I remember though, that at one medical center a visionary neurologist began to refer patients with balance disorders to my Tai Chi classes and the result was very beneficial for his patients. Another physician actually wrote prescriptions for my Tai Chi classes to treat the chronic hypertension of his patients, who’d seen a significant drop in their blood pressure since beginning the classes weeks before. A clinical psychologist brought me in to teach Qigong (Chi Kung) meditation and Tai Chi to her patient group to enhance their sense of well being and provide effective stress management training. So, even back then some physicians were seeing the potential Tai Chi offered their clients, and even more are now, but the number of physicians who are still not informing their patients of Tai Chi’s direct therapeutic or at the least adjunct therapy benefits to their patient’s efforts to deal with their conditions and life, is increasingly indefensible in this day and age. Given the research that has exposed the many physical, mental, and emotional benefits Tai Chi offers, for physicians to not educate themselves on this and share their knowledge with each and every patient is tantamount to mal-practice. Health educators should likewise be making such therapies part of their medical student education programs as well.

Tai Chi for Parkinson’s is being recommended increasingly by support groups and some progressive medical centers, but until everyone that has Parkinson’s knows about it, then our work at World Tai Chi & Qigong Day is not done, nor is the medical community’s. There are many obvious reasons everyone with Parkinson’s should be doing Tai Chi, but it’s the ones that are not yet obvious that may be the most intriguing. One obvious reason is that Tai Chi is the most powerful balance and coordination enhancing exercise known. In many studies at major universities Tai Chi was found to be TWICE as effective in reducing falls as the other balance enhancing exercises being studied. For people with Parkinson’s, who often see their balance deteriorate as their condition progresses, it is unforgivable for them to not be informed of Tai Chi’s potential benefits at the earliest stage possible while their balance is still good.

Now, regarding the less obvious reasons Tai Chi may benefit Parkinson’s patients. Both my wife and daughter, who co-taught a Tai Chi class together noticed that a young man with severe Parkinson’s tremors . . . completely lost his tremors once he joined the class in flowing through the Tai Chi movements in class. In another class I was teaching an older man with advanced Parkinson’s attended my classes for many months, and he always came in very slow with his walker. Once we began the Tai Chi movements he no longer used his walker, and had learned the entire long form of Tai Chi I taught, which was over 15 minutes of continuous changing forms. His form was unique and tailored for his limitations, but nonetheless a challenging set of exercises he was able to accomplish without the use of his walker. What do these anecdotal experiences portend for others with Parkinson’s? I don’t know, but there should be massive research dollars coming from the National Institutes of Health to find out. Given the promise Tai Chi seems to offer people on so many profound physical, emotional, and mental fronts from preliminary research, the current total research money earmarked for complimentary and alternative medicine’s (CAM) is a mere pittance.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), now in its sixth year, supports more than 300 research projects and has an estimated budget of over $120 million for 2005 (up from $50 million in 1999). Total spending on CAM by all NIH institutes and centers is expanding as well, and is expected to reach $315 million by 2005.

Sounds like a lot? However, $120 million is less than “one half of one percent” of the total NIH FY2005 budget. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges the NIH’s total annual budget for FY 2005 is $28.8 billion (http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/05pch8.htm). Remember, we are talking about only spending much much less than one half of one percent to study an exercise that preliminary research has shown to: n Lower High Blood Pressure (about 1/3 of Americans have hypertension – roughly over 90 million Americans) n Boost Immune Function profoundly (a study sited at drkoop.com indicates that a Tai Chi practicing group was TWICE as resistant to the shingles virus, and researchers believed this would carry over to other viral resistance as well.) n Dramatically reduce falling injuries by about half (complications from falling injuries in older Americans is the 6th leading cause of death for seniors in America)

If Tai Chi only addressed this chronic condition affecting 1/3 of Americans, while boosting the immune system of all practitioners profoundly, and cutting in half the sixth leading cause of death for seniors, without any negative side effects, that would seem to be, for the rational person a reason for pouring massive resources into researching it further. However, Tai Chi’s benefits only begin with the above preliminary findings. We also know that it may very well relieve depression, anxiety, and mood disturbance, as well as reduce ADHD symptoms in teenagers diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. There are indications that Tai Chi may greatly reduce or even eliminate chronic pain conditions, and lessen allergic and asthmatic reactions, and improve overall respiratory function.

My point is, “where is the massive attention this would garner on talk shows, and in health newspaper sections, if this were a drug or surgery that could provide such a seemingly massive breakthrough in health treatment?” Peter Chowka, in a brilliant two part series for Natural Health Line, entitled “Complementary & Alternative Medicine in 2000,” wrote, “Conflicts of interest are not uncommon in most aspects of life. But in medicine, the biggest business in the U.S. (over $1.5 trillion a year constituting over 14 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine report issued January 10, 2001), serious conflicts are particularly well entrenched.” Mr. Chowka wrote of physicians like Dr. Marcia Angell voicing concerns of the “troubling” result massive research money from drug and medical-equipment companies was having on the scientific process. In the New England Journal of Medicine’s May 18, 2000 issue, Dr. Angel wrote an editorial entitled, “Is Academic Medicine for Sale?” She wrote, “As we spoke with research psychiatrists about writing an editorial on the treatment of depression . . . we found very few who did not have financial ties to drug companies that make antidepressants. . .The problem is by no means unique to psychiatry. We routinely encounter similar difficulties in finding editorialists in other specialties, particularly those that involve the heavy use of expensive drugs and devices.”

So, who can make a multi-billion dollar fortune teaching Tai Chi to people? No one can. Tai Chi cannot be bottled, or mass marketed. It is a decentralized labor intensive industry that employees many people, but keeps the profits small and local. Yes, there are videos and DVDs that teach Tai Chi effectively, but ultimately even those who utilize videos are drawn to live class like structures. As I mentioned before with the “anecdotal” experiences of my students with Parkinson’s, Tai Chi seems to offer something profoundly beneficial to the quality of life of Parkinson’s sufferers. It needs further study. We are in a catch 22, where many health professionals feel they cannot recommend Tai Chi because too much of the preliminary research is anecdotal. However, when Tai Chi is jockeying for position to get a crumb of the .5% of total NIH money going to ALL complimentary and alternative medical therapies . . . the result will be many long years of millions of people suffering needlessly from conditions or symptoms of those conditions that Tai Chi could likely safely lessen or even eliminate.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT TAI CHI AND PARKINSONS?

Tai Chi is being recommended by some forward thinking medical institutions already. The Cleveland Clinic of Neuroscience Center encourages Parkinson’s Disease patients to seek out a hobby or activity they can enjoy and stick with such as “Tai Chi” and other activities. The Alexian Neurosciences Institute in Illinois offers a course in their The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Also, the American Parkinson’s Disease Association at Stanford University Medical Center, in it’s “Beyond Pills…. Alternative Approaches to Coping with Parkinson’s Disease” program, offered “Tai Chi, The Art for Living with Parkinson’s” by Mwezo & Jane of Kujiweza Healing Arts. (Learn more at: http://parkinsons.stanford.edu/symposium.html). The Parkinson’s Society of Canada recommends Tai Chi for Parkinson’s patients, suggesting “Tai Chi may prevent or at least slow down the onset of degenerative diseases; in the long run, it can reduce need for rehabilitative care.” (http://www.parkinsons.ca/managing.html#taichi)

In the United Kingdom a Parkinson’s Tai Chi study was conducted at Camborne Redruth Community Hospital, Cornwall. Their conclusion of the study was such, “Tai Chi training was well tolerated by PD patients in this study, but had no measurable effect on motor performance using UPDRS score or GAG time. There was a non-significant improvement in quality of life scores (PDQ 39). Larger studies would be needed fully to evaluate the value and efficacy of Tai Chi. However our results are encouraging, and provide evidence for its safety and tolerability and would support the feasibility of further study.” (http://www.pdcornwall.org.uk/showarticle.pl?n=30&id=81)

WCHS TV during a news report focusing on Tai Chi’s ability to boost immune system function, also reported that “Tai Chi has also been shown to help illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and arthritis.” (http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/healthyforlife/2177.shtml)

The Neurology Channel reported, “The slow flowing movements of Tai Chi help maintain flexibility, balance, and relaxation. The Struthers Parkinson’s Center in Minneapolis, which teaches a modified form of Tai Chi, consistently reports benefits achieved by patients in all stages of Parkinson’s.” (http://www.neurologychannel.com/parkinsonsdisease/surgery.s html)

Physicians at the Mayo Clinic recommend Tai Chi for Parkinson’s therapy, under their Parkinson’s “self-care” section for avoiding falls, where they suggest you “Ask your doctor or physical therapist about exercises that improve balance, especially tai chi. Originally developed in China more than 1,000 years ago, tai chi uses slow, graceful movements to relax and strengthen muscles and joints. “

At a popular health website called “RemedyFind.com” viewers can vote on therapies they’ve found benefited their condition, or didn’t benefit it. The rating there for Tai Chi as a Parkinson’s therapy received a rating of 9.8 out of a possible 10. (http://remedyfind.com/rem.asp?ID=13945)

A Study at the University of Florida in Jacksonville found that patients who attended Tai Chi classes for one hour each week for 12-weeks were less likely than a group of control patients to experience an increase in the severity of their condition and a decrease in motor function. . . ..[of alternative therapies] the most popular therapies being Tai Chi, yoga, and acupuncture. (http://www.worldhealth.net/p/275,1526.html), (SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 13th November 2002)

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported, “Parkinson’s Meets It’s Match in Tai Chi.” In this article they write that Dr. Mark Guttman, director of the Centre for Movement Disorders in Markham, Ontario, recommends people with Parkinson’s do exercises that involve a lot of stretching, similar to the movements of tai chi.

“Tai chi is wonderful; it can help people with disabilities as well as people with Parkinson’s,” he says. He added that studies on animals show exercise induces a change in the brain that prevents the symptom’s of Parkinson’s from emerging.

The Tai Chi teacher for this program, Ms. Embree, spoke of how people with fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and Parkinson’s often attend her classes . . . “Doctors are now sending people here,” adds Ms Embree. (for the entire article, go to: PARKINSON’S MEETING IT’S MATCH IN TAI CHI, April, 13, 2005, http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/0304/lvtaichi7.html )

At the National Parkinson’s Foundation site, Melanie M. Brandabur, MD NPF Center of Excellence, University of Illinois at Chicago and Jill Marjama-Lyons, MD NPF Center of Excellence, Shands Jacksonville, wrote, “Most patients derive a great deal of benefit from today’s medications and surgical therapies for Parkinson’s Disease . . . However, benefits of these therapies can be limited. As time goes by, the medications may not seem as effective as they once were. Side effects or unpredictable response may develop. Surgical therapies are not curative and often treat only selected aspects of Parkinson’s Disease. For these reasons, patients may decide to explore other modalities, such as massage therapy, Tai Chi, yoga, or herbal preparations to augment their Parkinson’s medication . . . Many patients with Parkinson’s Disease have become interested in complementary therapies to supplement medications and other traditional PD treatments. These physicians also suggest that as Tai Chi and other modalities benefits are exposed by clinical research, physicians will advocate their use more widely. (http://www.parkinson.org/site/pp.asp?c=9dJFJLPwB&b=238635)

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day joins a growing number of health professionals specializing in fields like Parkinson’s who believe that much more research needs to be done to illuminate the full spectrum of benefits Tai Chi offers all people as well as those specifically with chronic conditions. This will enable more physicians to make Tai Chi a regular prescription written as therapy or adjunct therapy for a host of maladies many are already enjoying the benefits of for their condition, but paying out of pocket for. Ultimately more and more health insurance plans should and will make Tai Chi classes a deductible medical expense for their clients. The end result of this shift may portend the savings of hundreds of billions of dollars annually in saved health care costs as patients are better trained in self care techniques, training the great visionary Thomas Edison referred to as “the care and maintenance of the human frame,” which Edison envisioned would more and more reduce the need for expensive surgeries and life long dependence on medications as human beings maximized their own self healing abilities. Traditional Chinese Medicine has spent centuries developing and evolving self healing technologies like Tai Chi. Now the west can learn about their results, and physicians can prescribe them to their patients and our entire society will be healthier and more abundant for it.

  • Share/Bookmark

Cognitive Therapy and Tinnitus Treatment

  • Posted on January 8, 2010 at 9:21 am

Sally was referred to me by a neurologist who specializes in treating ear disorders.  The neurologist was familiar with the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy and its application in treating pain-related syndromes.  Therefore, I was chosen to complete my part of a multidisciplinary approach to managing this particular patient’s problem.

Tinnitus is a ringing, swishing or other type of noise that seems to originate in the ear or head.  Nearly 36 million people suffer from this disorder.  Many factors, such as certain medications, ear wax, fluid, infection or disease of the middle ear bones or eardrum can cause tinnitus. As with any pain syndrome or disturbance, emotional factors can impact the disorder.

Sally complained of a loud, swishing sound emanating from both ears.  The disturbance was significant enough that it began affecting her ability to function in a meaningful manner.  At home, while preparing dinner, she found herself shifting her head in a cramped position toward her right shoulder in an attempt to minimize the annoying vestibular volume.

Her bodily compensation reminded me of a clutched position that battle-scarred soldiers assume in combat that represents a way of warding off impending doom.  In reality, such posture actually characterizes the heightened hypervigilance experienced by those who have been exposed to physical and emotional trauma.

It is been my experience that a pain syndrome often serves as a mysterious metaphor for the way we relate to the world.  M. Scott Peck, author of the Road Less Traveled, used to talk about the nemesis of his neck pain.  Although he sought surgery to rectify his condition, he viewed his problem as a more complex pattern.  The origin of his neck stiffness transcended bones and tissue.  Peck often said “he was afraid to stick his neck out.” His malady was a metaphor for holding things in and avoiding conflict at all costs.  Learning to assert himself paid dividends, and further minimized the significance of this problem.

As Sally and I talked, I began to see a thread that linked her nonsensical noise into a self-defeating cycle.  “The volume was chronically turned up in Sally’s life and it made her head spin.”  She often affirmed my diagnostic impressions.

Sally had always done what others required of her.  Her earliest recollections of this behavior occurred when walking home from school on a snowy day with several friends.  As a mean-spirited lark, her friends ask her to stick her head in a snow drift.  She obliged your friends so as not to disappoint them.  She felt humiliated as her school-mates looked on and laughed at her.  From that moment forward, the power of pleasing others began to serve as a benchmark for how she would conduct her life.

Alfred Adler used to say that our earliest childhood recollections consisted of a constellation of beliefs, thoughts and feelings that had a profound impact on one’s life.  Sally’s experience in a snow-bank would fuel her later behavior in adulthood.

Sally worked as a full-time violin teacher.  Her students loved her.  One day, she taught ten students in a row, driving to and from each student’s house.  She then went home, did -the laundry and prepared her evening meal for her and her husband.  It was typical for her to push to accomplish tasks for others without ever setting boundaries for herself.  She never requested or required any thing from others – finally she gave in to exhaustion.

As Sally began to disclose more freely in therapy, her story of unyielding sacrifice for others at her own expense became more evident.  All the money she earned went to subsidize her only daughter who refused to work although she suffered from a treatable mental health disorder.  Sally enabled her daughter and now this adult/child was holding her mother hostage.  Sally disclosed that her daughter had a $400 a month cigarette habit.  Although she was conflicted about supporting her daughter’s addiction, she paid her the money to cover the cost.  Sally’s regret rather than resentment was expressed.

In order to decrease the background noise in Sally’s life, we worked on the following issues:

Balancing the need to please with a sense of personal protection Learning assertiveness skills Requesting and allowing others to care-take for her Letting go of the need for frenzied activity Listening to her body and honoring it by slowing down Learning to get un-trapped from the fear of abandonment Learning to never do for others what they can do for themselves Relaxing the sympathetic nervous system through exercise and meditation

 

In order to address the above issues and decrease the volume of her tinnitus, I work with Sally on her thoughts, distorted cognitions and underlying assumptions about life.  I taught her to rationally respond to self-defeating thoughts and behaviors.  Some of the types of thoughts we reframed were:

“Where is it written that people can’t get along without me?” “If I say no, and people don’t like it, it’s their problem.” “It’s okay to have abandonment feelings, just don’t act on them.” “I need to focus in the moment rather than stressing about things I can’t control.  If certain things don’t get completed, it’s not the end of the world.” “” I need to treat myself as if I were a dear friend. “If I give in to others, I’ll only resent it later.  What’s the hurry, anyway?”

 

As a result of the modifications of her thought-processes, Sally began to make emotional progress with her tinnitus and she learned that self-defeating thoughts were a metaphor for that which aggravated her ears.  These were factors that complicated her condition by creating unnecessary stress.

  • Share/Bookmark

Parkinson’s Disease & TAI CHI THERAPY

  • Posted on January 8, 2010 at 9:21 am

In a special to CNN, the Mayo Clinic’s mayoclinic.com reported that, “Parkinson’s disease is progressive, meaning the signs and symptoms become worse over time. But although Parkinson’s may eventually be disabling, the disease often progresses gradually, and most people have many years of productive living after a diagnosis.” This would indicate that there may be effective interventions that could perhaps slow the progress of the disease. When we get such a diagnosis, our first reaction might be to withdraw and give up. However, the old adage “use it or lose it” tells us that just the opposite is true. If you have Parkinson’s, you’d likely be best off to use everything your body is, every which way, on a regular basis.

Tai Chi movement’s gentle balance enhancing motions can obviously help the Parkinson’s patient by helping to reduce the gradual loss of balance that Parkinson’s sufferers often experience. However, there may be much more it offers. For example, Tai Chi movements rotate the human body in about 95% of the ways the body can move, when a long form is practiced. This is far beyond what other exercise offers, and in fact the closest would be several swimming strokes, which together would only rotate the body in about 65% of the ways it can move. For Parkinson’s sufferers, or anyone for that matter, this would indicate that by “using” 95% of the body’s possible motion several times a week, the possibility of “losing” the ability to do so diminishes accordingly. This isn’t rocket science, but simple common sense.

Yet, perhaps Parkinson’s patients have even more to gain from Tai Chi. A few years ago I taught several classes at local medical centers. I was continually frustrated because although I’d seen emerging reports that Tai Chi was beneficial to people with Parkinson’s Disease, or arthritis, or chronic hypertension, etc., even though the departments that specialized in those conditions were often just down the hall from my Tai Chi class . . . they might as well have been a million miles away. Because the physicians who ran those departments were either ignorant of or unwilling to refer their patients to the possibilities that Tai Chi offered their lives.

I remember though, that at one medical center a visionary neurologist began to refer patients with balance disorders to my Tai Chi classes and the result was very beneficial for his patients. Another physician actually wrote prescriptions for my Tai Chi classes to treat the chronic hypertension of his patients, who’d seen a significant drop in their blood pressure since beginning the classes weeks before. A clinical psychologist brought me in to teach Qigong (Chi Kung) meditation and Tai Chi to her patient group to enhance their sense of well being and provide effective stress management training. So, even back then some physicians were seeing the potential Tai Chi offered their clients, and even more are now, but the number of physicians who are still not informing their patients of Tai Chi’s direct therapeutic or at the least adjunct therapy benefits to their patient’s efforts to deal with their conditions and life, is increasingly indefensible in this day and age. Given the research that has exposed the many physical, mental, and emotional benefits Tai Chi offers, for physicians to not educate themselves on this and share their knowledge with each and every patient is tantamount to mal-practice. Health educators should likewise be making such therapies part of their medical student education programs as well.

Tai Chi for Parkinson’s is being recommended increasingly by support groups and some progressive medical centers, but until everyone that has Parkinson’s knows about it, then our work at World Tai Chi & Qigong Day is not done, nor is the medical community’s. There are many obvious reasons everyone with Parkinson’s should be doing Tai Chi, but it’s the ones that are not yet obvious that may be the most intriguing. One obvious reason is that Tai Chi is the most powerful balance and coordination enhancing exercise known. In many studies at major universities Tai Chi was found to be TWICE as effective in reducing falls as the other balance enhancing exercises being studied. For people with Parkinson’s, who often see their balance deteriorate as their condition progresses, it is unforgivable for them to not be informed of Tai Chi’s potential benefits at the earliest stage possible while their balance is still good.

Now, regarding the less obvious reasons Tai Chi may benefit Parkinson’s patients. Both my wife and daughter, who co-taught a Tai Chi class together noticed that a young man with severe Parkinson’s tremors . . . completely lost his tremors once he joined the class in flowing through the Tai Chi movements in class. In another class I was teaching an older man with advanced Parkinson’s attended my classes for many months, and he always came in very slow with his walker. Once we began the Tai Chi movements he no longer used his walker, and had learned the entire long form of Tai Chi I taught, which was over 15 minutes of continuous changing forms. His form was unique and tailored for his limitations, but nonetheless a challenging set of exercises he was able to accomplish without the use of his walker. What do these anecdotal experiences portend for others with Parkinson’s? I don’t know, but there should be massive research dollars coming from the National Institutes of Health to find out. Given the promise Tai Chi seems to offer people on so many profound physical, emotional, and mental fronts from preliminary research, the current total research money earmarked for complimentary and alternative medicine’s (CAM) is a mere pittance.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), now in its sixth year, supports more than 300 research projects and has an estimated budget of over $120 million for 2005 (up from $50 million in 1999). Total spending on CAM by all NIH institutes and centers is expanding as well, and is expected to reach $315 million by 2005.

Sounds like a lot? However, $120 million is less than “one half of one percent” of the total NIH FY2005 budget. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges the NIH’s total annual budget for FY 2005 is $28.8 billion (http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/05pch8.htm). Remember, we are talking about only spending much much less than one half of one percent to study an exercise that preliminary research has shown to: n Lower High Blood Pressure (about 1/3 of Americans have hypertension – roughly over 90 million Americans) n Boost Immune Function profoundly (a study sited at drkoop.com indicates that a Tai Chi practicing group was TWICE as resistant to the shingles virus, and researchers believed this would carry over to other viral resistance as well.) n Dramatically reduce falling injuries by about half (complications from falling injuries in older Americans is the 6th leading cause of death for seniors in America)

If Tai Chi only addressed this chronic condition affecting 1/3 of Americans, while boosting the immune system of all practitioners profoundly, and cutting in half the sixth leading cause of death for seniors, without any negative side effects, that would seem to be, for the rational person a reason for pouring massive resources into researching it further. However, Tai Chi’s benefits only begin with the above preliminary findings. We also know that it may very well relieve depression, anxiety, and mood disturbance, as well as reduce ADHD symptoms in teenagers diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. There are indications that Tai Chi may greatly reduce or even eliminate chronic pain conditions, and lessen allergic and asthmatic reactions, and improve overall respiratory function.

My point is, “where is the massive attention this would garner on talk shows, and in health newspaper sections, if this were a drug or surgery that could provide such a seemingly massive breakthrough in health treatment?” Peter Chowka, in a brilliant two part series for Natural Health Line, entitled “Complementary & Alternative Medicine in 2000,” wrote, “Conflicts of interest are not uncommon in most aspects of life. But in medicine, the biggest business in the U.S. (over $1.5 trillion a year constituting over 14 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine report issued January 10, 2001), serious conflicts are particularly well entrenched.” Mr. Chowka wrote of physicians like Dr. Marcia Angell voicing concerns of the “troubling” result massive research money from drug and medical-equipment companies was having on the scientific process. In the New England Journal of Medicine’s May 18, 2000 issue, Dr. Angel wrote an editorial entitled, “Is Academic Medicine for Sale?” She wrote, “As we spoke with research psychiatrists about writing an editorial on the treatment of depression . . . we found very few who did not have financial ties to drug companies that make antidepressants. . .The problem is by no means unique to psychiatry. We routinely encounter similar difficulties in finding editorialists in other specialties, particularly those that involve the heavy use of expensive drugs and devices.”

So, who can make a multi-billion dollar fortune teaching Tai Chi to people? No one can. Tai Chi cannot be bottled, or mass marketed. It is a decentralized labor intensive industry that employees many people, but keeps the profits small and local. Yes, there are videos and DVDs that teach Tai Chi effectively, but ultimately even those who utilize videos are drawn to live class like structures. As I mentioned before with the “anecdotal” experiences of my students with Parkinson’s, Tai Chi seems to offer something profoundly beneficial to the quality of life of Parkinson’s sufferers. It needs further study. We are in a catch 22, where many health professionals feel they cannot recommend Tai Chi because too much of the preliminary research is anecdotal. However, when Tai Chi is jockeying for position to get a crumb of the .5% of total NIH money going to ALL complimentary and alternative medical therapies . . . the result will be many long years of millions of people suffering needlessly from conditions or symptoms of those conditions that Tai Chi could likely safely lessen or even eliminate.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT TAI CHI AND PARKINSONS?

Tai Chi is being recommended by some forward thinking medical institutions already. The Cleveland Clinic of Neuroscience Center encourages Parkinson’s Disease patients to seek out a hobby or activity they can enjoy and stick with such as “Tai Chi” and other activities. The Alexian Neurosciences Institute in Illinois offers a course in their The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Also, the American Parkinson’s Disease Association at Stanford University Medical Center, in it’s “Beyond Pills…. Alternative Approaches to Coping with Parkinson’s Disease” program, offered “Tai Chi, The Art for Living with Parkinson’s” by Mwezo & Jane of Kujiweza Healing Arts. (Learn more at: http://parkinsons.stanford.edu/symposium.html). The Parkinson’s Society of Canada recommends Tai Chi for Parkinson’s patients, suggesting “Tai Chi may prevent or at least slow down the onset of degenerative diseases; in the long run, it can reduce need for rehabilitative care.” (http://www.parkinsons.ca/managing.html#taichi)

In the United Kingdom a Parkinson’s Tai Chi study was conducted at Camborne Redruth Community Hospital, Cornwall. Their conclusion of the study was such, “Tai Chi training was well tolerated by PD patients in this study, but had no measurable effect on motor performance using UPDRS score or GAG time. There was a non-significant improvement in quality of life scores (PDQ 39). Larger studies would be needed fully to evaluate the value and efficacy of Tai Chi. However our results are encouraging, and provide evidence for its safety and tolerability and would support the feasibility of further study.” (http://www.pdcornwall.org.uk/showarticle.pl?n=30&id=81)

WCHS TV during a news report focusing on Tai Chi’s ability to boost immune system function, also reported that “Tai Chi has also been shown to help illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and arthritis.” (http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/healthyforlife/2177.shtml)

The Neurology Channel reported, “The slow flowing movements of Tai Chi help maintain flexibility, balance, and relaxation. The Struthers Parkinson’s Center in Minneapolis, which teaches a modified form of Tai Chi, consistently reports benefits achieved by patients in all stages of Parkinson’s.” (http://www.neurologychannel.com/parkinsonsdisease/surgery.s html)

Physicians at the Mayo Clinic recommend Tai Chi for Parkinson’s therapy, under their Parkinson’s “self-care” section for avoiding falls, where they suggest you “Ask your doctor or physical therapist about exercises that improve balance, especially tai chi. Originally developed in China more than 1,000 years ago, tai chi uses slow, graceful movements to relax and strengthen muscles and joints. “

At a popular health website called “RemedyFind.com” viewers can vote on therapies they’ve found benefited their condition, or didn’t benefit it. The rating there for Tai Chi as a Parkinson’s therapy received a rating of 9.8 out of a possible 10. (http://remedyfind.com/rem.asp?ID=13945)

A Study at the University of Florida in Jacksonville found that patients who attended Tai Chi classes for one hour each week for 12-weeks were less likely than a group of control patients to experience an increase in the severity of their condition and a decrease in motor function. . . ..[of alternative therapies] the most popular therapies being Tai Chi, yoga, and acupuncture. (http://www.worldhealth.net/p/275,1526.html), (SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 13th November 2002)

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported, “Parkinson’s Meets It’s Match in Tai Chi.” In this article they write that Dr. Mark Guttman, director of the Centre for Movement Disorders in Markham, Ontario, recommends people with Parkinson’s do exercises that involve a lot of stretching, similar to the movements of tai chi.

“Tai chi is wonderful; it can help people with disabilities as well as people with Parkinson’s,” he says. He added that studies on animals show exercise induces a change in the brain that prevents the symptom’s of Parkinson’s from emerging.

The Tai Chi teacher for this program, Ms. Embree, spoke of how people with fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and Parkinson’s often attend her classes . . . “Doctors are now sending people here,” adds Ms Embree. (for the entire article, go to: PARKINSON’S MEETING IT’S MATCH IN TAI CHI, April, 13, 2005, http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/0304/lvtaichi7.html )

At the National Parkinson’s Foundation site, Melanie M. Brandabur, MD NPF Center of Excellence, University of Illinois at Chicago and Jill Marjama-Lyons, MD NPF Center of Excellence, Shands Jacksonville, wrote, “Most patients derive a great deal of benefit from today’s medications and surgical therapies for Parkinson’s Disease . . . However, benefits of these therapies can be limited. As time goes by, the medications may not seem as effective as they once were. Side effects or unpredictable response may develop. Surgical therapies are not curative and often treat only selected aspects of Parkinson’s Disease. For these reasons, patients may decide to explore other modalities, such as massage therapy, Tai Chi, yoga, or herbal preparations to augment their Parkinson’s medication . . . Many patients with Parkinson’s Disease have become interested in complementary therapies to supplement medications and other traditional PD treatments. These physicians also suggest that as Tai Chi and other modalities benefits are exposed by clinical research, physicians will advocate their use more widely. (http://www.parkinson.org/site/pp.asp?c=9dJFJLPwB&b=238635)

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day joins a growing number of health professionals specializing in fields like Parkinson’s who believe that much more research needs to be done to illuminate the full spectrum of benefits Tai Chi offers all people as well as those specifically with chronic conditions. This will enable more physicians to make Tai Chi a regular prescription written as therapy or adjunct therapy for a host of maladies many are already enjoying the benefits of for their condition, but paying out of pocket for. Ultimately more and more health insurance plans should and will make Tai Chi classes a deductible medical expense for their clients. The end result of this shift may portend the savings of hundreds of billions of dollars annually in saved health care costs as patients are better trained in self care techniques, training the great visionary Thomas Edison referred to as “the care and maintenance of the human frame,” which Edison envisioned would more and more reduce the need for expensive surgeries and life long dependence on medications as human beings maximized their own self healing abilities. Traditional Chinese Medicine has spent centuries developing and evolving self healing technologies like Tai Chi. Now the west can learn about their results, and physicians can prescribe them to their patients and our entire society will be healthier and more abundant for it.

  • Share/Bookmark

Parkinson’s Disease & TAI CHI THERAPY

  • Posted on January 7, 2010 at 8:27 am

In a special to CNN, the Mayo Clinic’s mayoclinic.com reported that, “Parkinson’s disease is progressive, meaning the signs and symptoms become worse over time. But although Parkinson’s may eventually be disabling, the disease often progresses gradually, and most people have many years of productive living after a diagnosis.” This would indicate that there may be effective interventions that could perhaps slow the progress of the disease. When we get such a diagnosis, our first reaction might be to withdraw and give up. However, the old adage “use it or lose it” tells us that just the opposite is true. If you have Parkinson’s, you’d likely be best off to use everything your body is, every which way, on a regular basis.

Tai Chi movement’s gentle balance enhancing motions can obviously help the Parkinson’s patient by helping to reduce the gradual loss of balance that Parkinson’s sufferers often experience. However, there may be much more it offers. For example, Tai Chi movements rotate the human body in about 95% of the ways the body can move, when a long form is practiced. This is far beyond what other exercise offers, and in fact the closest would be several swimming strokes, which together would only rotate the body in about 65% of the ways it can move. For Parkinson’s sufferers, or anyone for that matter, this would indicate that by “using” 95% of the body’s possible motion several times a week, the possibility of “losing” the ability to do so diminishes accordingly. This isn’t rocket science, but simple common sense.

Yet, perhaps Parkinson’s patients have even more to gain from Tai Chi. A few years ago I taught several classes at local medical centers. I was continually frustrated because although I’d seen emerging reports that Tai Chi was beneficial to people with Parkinson’s Disease, or arthritis, or chronic hypertension, etc., even though the departments that specialized in those conditions were often just down the hall from my Tai Chi class . . . they might as well have been a million miles away. Because the physicians who ran those departments were either ignorant of or unwilling to refer their patients to the possibilities that Tai Chi offered their lives.

I remember though, that at one medical center a visionary neurologist began to refer patients with balance disorders to my Tai Chi classes and the result was very beneficial for his patients. Another physician actually wrote prescriptions for my Tai Chi classes to treat the chronic hypertension of his patients, who’d seen a significant drop in their blood pressure since beginning the classes weeks before. A clinical psychologist brought me in to teach Qigong (Chi Kung) meditation and Tai Chi to her patient group to enhance their sense of well being and provide effective stress management training. So, even back then some physicians were seeing the potential Tai Chi offered their clients, and even more are now, but the number of physicians who are still not informing their patients of Tai Chi’s direct therapeutic or at the least adjunct therapy benefits to their patient’s efforts to deal with their conditions and life, is increasingly indefensible in this day and age. Given the research that has exposed the many physical, mental, and emotional benefits Tai Chi offers, for physicians to not educate themselves on this and share their knowledge with each and every patient is tantamount to mal-practice. Health educators should likewise be making such therapies part of their medical student education programs as well.

Tai Chi for Parkinson’s is being recommended increasingly by support groups and some progressive medical centers, but until everyone that has Parkinson’s knows about it, then our work at World Tai Chi & Qigong Day is not done, nor is the medical community’s. There are many obvious reasons everyone with Parkinson’s should be doing Tai Chi, but it’s the ones that are not yet obvious that may be the most intriguing. One obvious reason is that Tai Chi is the most powerful balance and coordination enhancing exercise known. In many studies at major universities Tai Chi was found to be TWICE as effective in reducing falls as the other balance enhancing exercises being studied. For people with Parkinson’s, who often see their balance deteriorate as their condition progresses, it is unforgivable for them to not be informed of Tai Chi’s potential benefits at the earliest stage possible while their balance is still good.

Now, regarding the less obvious reasons Tai Chi may benefit Parkinson’s patients. Both my wife and daughter, who co-taught a Tai Chi class together noticed that a young man with severe Parkinson’s tremors . . . completely lost his tremors once he joined the class in flowing through the Tai Chi movements in class. In another class I was teaching an older man with advanced Parkinson’s attended my classes for many months, and he always came in very slow with his walker. Once we began the Tai Chi movements he no longer used his walker, and had learned the entire long form of Tai Chi I taught, which was over 15 minutes of continuous changing forms. His form was unique and tailored for his limitations, but nonetheless a challenging set of exercises he was able to accomplish without the use of his walker. What do these anecdotal experiences portend for others with Parkinson’s? I don’t know, but there should be massive research dollars coming from the National Institutes of Health to find out. Given the promise Tai Chi seems to offer people on so many profound physical, emotional, and mental fronts from preliminary research, the current total research money earmarked for complimentary and alternative medicine’s (CAM) is a mere pittance.

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), now in its sixth year, supports more than 300 research projects and has an estimated budget of over $120 million for 2005 (up from $50 million in 1999). Total spending on CAM by all NIH institutes and centers is expanding as well, and is expected to reach $315 million by 2005.

Sounds like a lot? However, $120 million is less than “one half of one percent” of the total NIH FY2005 budget. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges the NIH’s total annual budget for FY 2005 is $28.8 billion (http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/05pch8.htm). Remember, we are talking about only spending much much less than one half of one percent to study an exercise that preliminary research has shown to: n Lower High Blood Pressure (about 1/3 of Americans have hypertension – roughly over 90 million Americans) n Boost Immune Function profoundly (a study sited at drkoop.com indicates that a Tai Chi practicing group was TWICE as resistant to the shingles virus, and researchers believed this would carry over to other viral resistance as well.) n Dramatically reduce falling injuries by about half (complications from falling injuries in older Americans is the 6th leading cause of death for seniors in America)

If Tai Chi only addressed this chronic condition affecting 1/3 of Americans, while boosting the immune system of all practitioners profoundly, and cutting in half the sixth leading cause of death for seniors, without any negative side effects, that would seem to be, for the rational person a reason for pouring massive resources into researching it further. However, Tai Chi’s benefits only begin with the above preliminary findings. We also know that it may very well relieve depression, anxiety, and mood disturbance, as well as reduce ADHD symptoms in teenagers diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder. There are indications that Tai Chi may greatly reduce or even eliminate chronic pain conditions, and lessen allergic and asthmatic reactions, and improve overall respiratory function.

My point is, “where is the massive attention this would garner on talk shows, and in health newspaper sections, if this were a drug or surgery that could provide such a seemingly massive breakthrough in health treatment?” Peter Chowka, in a brilliant two part series for Natural Health Line, entitled “Complementary & Alternative Medicine in 2000,” wrote, “Conflicts of interest are not uncommon in most aspects of life. But in medicine, the biggest business in the U.S. (over $1.5 trillion a year constituting over 14 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, according to the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine report issued January 10, 2001), serious conflicts are particularly well entrenched.” Mr. Chowka wrote of physicians like Dr. Marcia Angell voicing concerns of the “troubling” result massive research money from drug and medical-equipment companies was having on the scientific process. In the New England Journal of Medicine’s May 18, 2000 issue, Dr. Angel wrote an editorial entitled, “Is Academic Medicine for Sale?” She wrote, “As we spoke with research psychiatrists about writing an editorial on the treatment of depression . . . we found very few who did not have financial ties to drug companies that make antidepressants. . .The problem is by no means unique to psychiatry. We routinely encounter similar difficulties in finding editorialists in other specialties, particularly those that involve the heavy use of expensive drugs and devices.”

So, who can make a multi-billion dollar fortune teaching Tai Chi to people? No one can. Tai Chi cannot be bottled, or mass marketed. It is a decentralized labor intensive industry that employees many people, but keeps the profits small and local. Yes, there are videos and DVDs that teach Tai Chi effectively, but ultimately even those who utilize videos are drawn to live class like structures. As I mentioned before with the “anecdotal” experiences of my students with Parkinson’s, Tai Chi seems to offer something profoundly beneficial to the quality of life of Parkinson’s sufferers. It needs further study. We are in a catch 22, where many health professionals feel they cannot recommend Tai Chi because too much of the preliminary research is anecdotal. However, when Tai Chi is jockeying for position to get a crumb of the .5% of total NIH money going to ALL complimentary and alternative medical therapies . . . the result will be many long years of millions of people suffering needlessly from conditions or symptoms of those conditions that Tai Chi could likely safely lessen or even eliminate.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT TAI CHI AND PARKINSONS?

Tai Chi is being recommended by some forward thinking medical institutions already. The Cleveland Clinic of Neuroscience Center encourages Parkinson’s Disease patients to seek out a hobby or activity they can enjoy and stick with such as “Tai Chi” and other activities. The Alexian Neurosciences Institute in Illinois offers a course in their The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Also, the American Parkinson’s Disease Association at Stanford University Medical Center, in it’s “Beyond Pills…. Alternative Approaches to Coping with Parkinson’s Disease” program, offered “Tai Chi, The Art for Living with Parkinson’s” by Mwezo & Jane of Kujiweza Healing Arts. (Learn more at: http://parkinsons.stanford.edu/symposium.html). The Parkinson’s Society of Canada recommends Tai Chi for Parkinson’s patients, suggesting “Tai Chi may prevent or at least slow down the onset of degenerative diseases; in the long run, it can reduce need for rehabilitative care.” (http://www.parkinsons.ca/managing.html#taichi)

In the United Kingdom a Parkinson’s Tai Chi study was conducted at Camborne Redruth Community Hospital, Cornwall. Their conclusion of the study was such, “Tai Chi training was well tolerated by PD patients in this study, but had no measurable effect on motor performance using UPDRS score or GAG time. There was a non-significant improvement in quality of life scores (PDQ 39). Larger studies would be needed fully to evaluate the value and efficacy of Tai Chi. However our results are encouraging, and provide evidence for its safety and tolerability and would support the feasibility of further study.” (http://www.pdcornwall.org.uk/showarticle.pl?n=30&id=81)

WCHS TV during a news report focusing on Tai Chi’s ability to boost immune system function, also reported that “Tai Chi has also been shown to help illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and arthritis.” (http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/healthyforlife/2177.shtml)

The Neurology Channel reported, “The slow flowing movements of Tai Chi help maintain flexibility, balance, and relaxation. The Struthers Parkinson’s Center in Minneapolis, which teaches a modified form of Tai Chi, consistently reports benefits achieved by patients in all stages of Parkinson’s.” (http://www.neurologychannel.com/parkinsonsdisease/surgery.s html)

Physicians at the Mayo Clinic recommend Tai Chi for Parkinson’s therapy, under their Parkinson’s “self-care” section for avoiding falls, where they suggest you “Ask your doctor or physical therapist about exercises that improve balance, especially tai chi. Originally developed in China more than 1,000 years ago, tai chi uses slow, graceful movements to relax and strengthen muscles and joints. “

At a popular health website called “RemedyFind.com” viewers can vote on therapies they’ve found benefited their condition, or didn’t benefit it. The rating there for Tai Chi as a Parkinson’s therapy received a rating of 9.8 out of a possible 10. (http://remedyfind.com/rem.asp?ID=13945)

A Study at the University of Florida in Jacksonville found that patients who attended Tai Chi classes for one hour each week for 12-weeks were less likely than a group of control patients to experience an increase in the severity of their condition and a decrease in motor function. . . ..[of alternative therapies] the most popular therapies being Tai Chi, yoga, and acupuncture. (http://www.worldhealth.net/p/275,1526.html), (SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 13th November 2002)

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported, “Parkinson’s Meets It’s Match in Tai Chi.” In this article they write that Dr. Mark Guttman, director of the Centre for Movement Disorders in Markham, Ontario, recommends people with Parkinson’s do exercises that involve a lot of stretching, similar to the movements of tai chi.

“Tai chi is wonderful; it can help people with disabilities as well as people with Parkinson’s,” he says. He added that studies on animals show exercise induces a change in the brain that prevents the symptom’s of Parkinson’s from emerging.

The Tai Chi teacher for this program, Ms. Embree, spoke of how people with fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, and Parkinson’s often attend her classes . . . “Doctors are now sending people here,” adds Ms Embree. (for the entire article, go to: PARKINSON’S MEETING IT’S MATCH IN TAI CHI, April, 13, 2005, http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/0304/lvtaichi7.html )

At the National Parkinson’s Foundation site, Melanie M. Brandabur, MD NPF Center of Excellence, University of Illinois at Chicago and Jill Marjama-Lyons, MD NPF Center of Excellence, Shands Jacksonville, wrote, “Most patients derive a great deal of benefit from today’s medications and surgical therapies for Parkinson’s Disease . . . However, benefits of these therapies can be limited. As time goes by, the medications may not seem as effective as they once were. Side effects or unpredictable response may develop. Surgical therapies are not curative and often treat only selected aspects of Parkinson’s Disease. For these reasons, patients may decide to explore other modalities, such as massage therapy, Tai Chi, yoga, or herbal preparations to augment their Parkinson’s medication . . . Many patients with Parkinson’s Disease have become interested in complementary therapies to supplement medications and other traditional PD treatments. These physicians also suggest that as Tai Chi and other modalities benefits are exposed by clinical research, physicians will advocate their use more widely. (http://www.parkinson.org/site/pp.asp?c=9dJFJLPwB&b=238635)

World Tai Chi & Qigong Day joins a growing number of health professionals specializing in fields like Parkinson’s who believe that much more research needs to be done to illuminate the full spectrum of benefits Tai Chi offers all people as well as those specifically with chronic conditions. This will enable more physicians to make Tai Chi a regular prescription written as therapy or adjunct therapy for a host of maladies many are already enjoying the benefits of for their condition, but paying out of pocket for. Ultimately more and more health insurance plans should and will make Tai Chi classes a deductible medical expense for their clients. The end result of this shift may portend the savings of hundreds of billions of dollars annually in saved health care costs as patients are better trained in self care techniques, training the great visionary Thomas Edison referred to as “the care and maintenance of the human frame,” which Edison envisioned would more and more reduce the need for expensive surgeries and life long dependence on medications as human beings maximized their own self healing abilities. Traditional Chinese Medicine has spent centuries developing and evolving self healing technologies like Tai Chi. Now the west can learn about their results, and physicians can prescribe them to their patients and our entire society will be healthier and more abundant for it.

  • Share/Bookmark

Five Facts About Depression, Therapy, Treatment And You

  • Posted on January 6, 2010 at 8:20 am

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that is found in people around the globe. Yet despite its universality, it’s frequently misunderstood.

To help you obtain better insight into depression, therapy and you, this article focuses on five facts about the disorder you probably didn’t know.

(As always, if you feel you are severely depressed or potentially suicidal, seek attention at a mental health clinic immediately.)

Fact #1: Depression Can Affect Children as Young as Preschool Age

Depression isn’t just a disorder found among teens and adults. It’s also become more prevalent in children. This reality emphasizes the need for parents to be diligent about addressing any depressive behaviors in their sons or daughters before they become debilitating. Additionally, moms and dads may want to consider long-term therapy treatment for their kids and their entire family to stave off more intense depression or uncover other disorders in addition to the depression.

Fact #2: Around Four Out of Ten People Are Too Embarrassed to Seek Depression Therapy Treatments

Even though depression is a household word, it’s still one that has a stigma attached. Consequently, many depressed individuals abstain from telling their physicians about their depression out of a fear that they’ll be labeled as “crazy”. Ironically, this kind of “hiding” or sheltering of one’s problems can actually create a deeper depression. As always, it’s best to look upon therapy treatment with a healthy attitude, not an uncomfortable one.

Fact #3: The Majority of Depressed People Are Not Engaged in Depression Therapy

Whether because of presumed cost or perceived social humiliation, most depressed men, women and children never seek out depression therapy, even when they have a mental health clinic in their neighborhoods. In fact, even those covered by health insurance will often eschew therapy treatment for their depression. This simply leads to more issues and may be one of the reasons that the suicide rate among depressed persons is high.

Fact #4: Depression is on the Rise around the World

This fact probably comes as no surprise to anyone who has read the latest news. Economies are waffling, families are experiencing stress, companies are closing their doors… this kind of anxiety can be the springboard for depression in those who are predisposed to the disorder. As a result, it may be wise to visit a mental health clinic for a depression evaluation if any major stressors have happened within the past 12 months, such as the loss of a job or the breakup of a marriage or relationship.

Fact #5: While Antidepressants are a Tool to Combat Depression, They are More Effective When Coupled with Depression Therapy

Many individuals erroneously believe that pills such as Prozac, Wellbutrin or Paxil will be cure-alls for their depression. However, without depression therapy, antidepressants can only scratch the surface and may only mask the underlying issues. Thus, therapy treatment such as cognitive behavioral therapy, couples therapy, individual therapy or another therapy method is always recommended.

Don’t allow depression to take over your life. See a professional at a local mental health clinic today.

For more information, visit TheClinicForEmotionalWellness.

  • Share/Bookmark