Blood Test Results

I attended a fascinating class recently on reading blood test results. It was an intensive, 16 hour, continuing education weekend course.

Conventionally speaking, when you get a blood test done and you get the results, the lab ranges provided on the results are based on a pathological state. It is based on the thousands of blood test samples taken at labs throughout the region. Because conventional healthcare system addresses a person only when they are sick, most blood samples tend to be heavily weighing on an already diseased state. What that means is that if your number falls in that lab range, you are already in a diseased state.

There is very little conventional medicine can do during the often slow stages of someone becoming sick, i.e. some becoming pathological. Based on the top 5 drugs prescribed in America, the most commonly addressed health concerns are cholesterol, pain, hypothyroidism, bacterial infections, and high blood pressure. These conditions are often indicators of deeper, organic malfunction. For example, high cholesterol is not just about cardiovascular health. It also indicates the state of the liver detoxification system and gastrointestinal function. Same thing with hypo- and hyperthyroidism. It is not just about the dysfunction of the thyroid organ per se, but has also a lot to do with blood glucose levels, liver function, gut health, and so forth.

I have a patient who has been coming to me for a few months because she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. She came to me specifically because she wanted to try and prevent it from getting worse because her doctor told her, "There's nothing we can do until you get worse. At that point, all we can do is give you drugs." So this patient came to me, and since our treatments, her symptoms have markedly improved - she now has regular periods, decreased PMS and pain during menses, decreased swelling in her face and throat, lost weight, hair has stopped falling out, sleeping well and through the night, and has regular bowel movements, more energy, decreased skin rashes, just to name a few. I educated her about the importance of a clean, healthy diet, to forego exercise at the expense of exhaustion, and to get more sleep every night. (People underestimate the importance of consistent good night's sleep and its impact on good health.) It has helped tremendously that she is on a gluten-free diet and is very compliant with office visits and intake of her herbs. But it is this cooperation and education between patient and I that is a win-win situation towards prevention and re-establishing of better, optimal health for my patients. And this is something most conventional doctors cannot provide because of their lack of education in preventative medicine and the constraints health insurances place on doctors' time with patients.

Anyway, I digressed. Back to what I learned in the weekend course.

What this particular class taught us instead was to learn how to read lab findings based on lab ranges that are pre-pathological. Based on those findings, we can asses potential dysfunctional health patterns and thereby address it before it becomes an actual diagnosable diseased state or condition. So if you came to me with a recent blood test result, I can read your results and tell you based on them whether you are en route to a certain dysfunction. I will confirm those findings doing a thorough intake of your present and past medical history. Your symptoms or signs - however subtle or meaningless to a conventional doctor but meaningful and indicative to a licensed acupuncturist like myself trained in the art of prevention - will help to confirm those lab findings. These dysfunctions, if not addressed properly, can - and often will - turn into a full blown diagnosed condition, like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gallstones, tumors, etc. Based on your findings, we can together come up with a customized prevention plan using acupuncture, herbs, nutritional supplements, dietary changes and exercise program. Talk about prevention! That's the real strength of complementary medicine - prevention.

So if you:

• haven't had a blood test done in a long time
• have been concerned about certain symptoms or signs that conventional doctors can't or haven't been able to address
• want to know your current health status
• have certain conditions that run in your family, like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. and want to know where you stand
• want a reality check

Come see me! I can help!

How Organic is your Organic Milk?

Where do the more commonly available (at least in Los Angeles) organic milk brands of Trader Joe's, Horizon, Whole Foods (365 Organics), Costco, and even Ben and Jerry's stand in terms of integrity in an independent survey? See for yourself!

A friend of mine hooked me on to a very useful site that rates organic milks. The scorecard was created by Cornucopia.org and they have a full report on the state of organic milk farms, industrialized milk farming, USDA enforcement, and consumer guidance on organic milk-buying, among other issues. The ratings alone can be found here but to fully understand their ratings I recommend you read the report.

As for me, I think I'll begin supporting 365 Organics and Straus more.

Acupressure Face Lift and Recipe to Beautify Yourself

For those of you who want to beautify naturally, here are couple tips from this month's Iyashi Wellness Newsletter.

To sign up for this free monthly e-newsletter, go to my website, Iyashiwellness.com.

Past newsletter subjects have included:

Smoking Cessation

Heart Health

Acupuncture and Headaches

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Acupuncture

Enjoy!

The 5-Minute Acupressure Face Lift

Here is a 5-Minute Acupressure Face Lift to smooth wrinkles and firm up the face.

To draining the lymph system and smooth the skin

• Begin at the center of the forehead using the thumbs, and stroke across the eyebrows. Repeat 3 times.

• With the pads of the thumb, move from the outside edge of the eyebrows to the hollow in front of the ear (Fig 1).

• Using 3 inner fingers of both hands to massage the back of the neck from middle towards outside for 30 seconds with circular motion.

To lift and tone the face, chin and neck

• Stroke upward in lines from the eyebrows into the hairline. Repeat 3 to 5 times (Fig 2).

• Press on DU20 (the point on the very top of the head) to bring energy upward. Repeat 3 to 5 times.

• Using the pads of the thumbs, stroke in a circular motion from the eyebrow to temple to jawline and to the points below the eye. Repeat 9 to 12 times (See Fig 3).

• For neck wrinkles: Stroke upward from the collar bone to the jawline. Repeat 3–5 times (See Fig 4).

Recipe for Nourishing Beauty - Sweet Rice Congee

Sweet black rice, when cooked with longan berries (euphoria longana) and Chinese dates, becomes a congee that nourishes blood and Qi.

In the Oriental medicine system of food cures, these three foods work together to enhance beauty and longevity.

• The sweet rice promotes the flow of liver Qi, which helps keep angry feelings at bay and leads to calmness.

• The Chinese dates (different from the Mediterranean variety) nourish blood and spleen, promoting restful sleep and mental clarity.

• Longan fruit, a blood enhancer, was used by the ancients to add luster to the skin. From a Western perspective, we know that longans contain large amounts of Vitamin C and phenolic compounds, which may help to detoxify and protect the liver.

Sweet Rice Congee
(Taken from Ancient Healing for Modern Women, by Dr. Xiolan Zhao, C.M.D.)

Ingredients:

6 cups water
1 cup black sweet rice (wash before using)
½ cup dried longan fruit
10 Chinese dates
2 tablespoons raw sugar
½ inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

Instructions:

In a large heavy saucepan, add 6 cups of water, black sweet rice, longan fruit, dates, and raw sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Garnish with ginger. Makes four servings.

Note: All ingredients are available at most Asian grocery stores.

Author: Elizabeth G. Lynch

Rate hikes withdrawn!

Great news to insurance holders of Anthem Blue Cross!

In February, I blogged about Anthem's request to raise their rates (to read, click here and here), but now, they have decided to withdraw their proposed rate hikes of up to 39%. According to Los Angeles Times reports, state regulators said the plan was "seriously flawed" with numerous errors in its rate filings. Anthem is still planning to propose new rate hikes in May, but they declined to comment when and how much. But it looks like for now, insurance holders have won!

To read the full report, click here.

Career Day at Beverly Hills High School

Last week, I participated in a fantastic Career Day event at Beverly Hills High School. I was invited by my colleage Dr. Jonathon Herbert, D.C., to join him in explaining the ins and outs of our careers. We were in a classroom with students interested in learning about our careers. We each gave about a 15 min talk plus Q&A of what it takes to be - and what it's like to be - a Doctor of Chiropractic and Physician of Chinese Medicine. The students asked many interesting questions. It was a nice reminder for me to see how far I've come in my private practice to be able to mentor these students about my career, and in a more large scale, to see how far I've come as an adult! Sometimes, it just feels like yesterday that I was a teenager, completely lost and trying to find my place in this world!!

Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) has been organizing this event for 15 years now, and each year, it grows. They have keynote speakers each year to motivate students in finding their path (I unfortunately missed the keynote speaker's speech). The organizing committee is made up of both administration and students and the BHHS Career Center, and the planning takes a year, culminating in a fabulous event once a year with individuals from all industries and professions. In addition to myself and Dr. Herbert, there were other medical professionals, law enforcement individuals, people from the military, actors, musicians, artists, marketing executives, lawyers, culinary pofessionals, engineers, professors, bankers, and the list goes on. It says a lot about this event that of the 152 confirmed participants, 151 showed up to the event.

As a token of appreciation from BHHS, we were provided a delicious lunch prepared by the BHHS students enrolled in the culinary program. Delicious, healthy food!

I really enjoyed speaking to the students and helping them see a possibility in a medical career. This was a superbly organized event and the BHHS students are truly lucky to have such an amazing resource available to them to prepare them for the future. Go BHHS students!

Acupuncture for dental work

An article just came out on LA Times that talks about the calming effects of acupuncture for patients having to go through dental work. The study found that within 5 minutes of a few needle insertion in the head, the anxiety scale of patients dropped more than 50 percent! This is true in my non-dental clinical experience because day in and day out I see stressed, anxious, or wound-up patients coming in, and within minutes of my needle insertion, most of my patients' anxious energy levels drop significantly. One minute they are engaged in a lively conversation, then the next, their eyes are shut and they are profoundly relaxed. So if you have never tried acupuncture before and suffer from anxiety, insomnia, not being able to shut off your mind, or stress-related disorders like IBS (irritable bowel disorders), PMS and more, try it! You'll be amazed how peaceful you'll feel lying on the treatment table with needles in you.

Since acupuncture has been shown to improve immune function, it is also very effective in pre- and post-surgery care (both dental and otherwise). It prepares the body before surgery to be in the best possible shape given its circumstances so that there will be minimal surgical complications and requirement for pain killers. And by doing acupuncture post surgery, healing time, scar therapy and infection rates can be reduced significantly.

And the author of the article is correct in guessing that acupuncturists require extensive training to become licensed in the US, particularly in the state of California. Unlike dentists who use acupuncture and require only a minimum of 80 total hours of acupuncture training (50 hours in didactic instructions and 30 hours in clinical training) Licensed Acupuncturists in the state of California require a minimum of almost 4000 total hours of training (minimum 3000 hours in didactic instructions and 800 hours in clinical training) plus passing the country's most rigorous licensing exam conducted by the state's acupuncture board. So rest assured, when you're getting care by a Licensed Acupuncturist in the state of California, you are seeing one of the finest in the nation.

Happy Hour Hiatus

I have had numerous people ask me about the status of my Acupuncture Happy Hours that I was holding weekly on Wednesdays at Casa de Tree during the latter 6 months of 2009. I was going to resume in late February/early March of this year once the days became slightly longer, allowing for more light in the cafe which tended to have a darker mood lighting at night. Unfortunately, I found out that Casa de Tree has shut down operations as the owners are returning to Japan this year.

So for now, I'm sorry fans, my Acupuncture Happy Hour is going to be on indefinite hiatus until I can find a new location. Come back periodically to the Iyashi Wellness website for updates on this.