- Tahoe Neuro HealingVan Harding, LAc, Dipl.OM
Truckee, CA Life's A Journey. Make It A Healthy One.
Articles by Van Harding
How Does Acupuncture Work?
Acupuncture has been studied for years in the west to scientifically understand how these little needles provoke healing. Here are a few of the conclusions:
1. Acupuncture increases the circulation of blood- reducing pain and swelling
2. It causes the release of certain neurotransmitters- benefitting mental health
3. Acupuncture stimulates the natural release of opioids- reducing pain
4. A reaction with the central nervous system occurs- benefitting overall health.See the Scientific Research section under FAQs.
Why Herbs & Nutraceuticals instead of pharmaceutical drugs?
Herbs and Nutraceuticals correct the underlying dysfunctional biological mechanism that causes the symptoms whereas drugs only seek to alleviate the symptom.
Herbs and nutraceuticals are safer than drugs. According to the CDC there are “0” deaths annually due to herbs and nutraceuticals whereas prescription drugs cause approxiamtely 250,000 deaths annually.
2010 Drug Overdose Deaths: 38,329 and of that 30% were Anti-anxiety meds and 18% were Anti-depressant.
2008 Pain Relief Medication deaths: 14,800
2007 NIH: Surveillance of prescription drug-related mortality using death certificates
Military Pokes Holes in Acupuncture Skeptic’s Theory
by Blake Farmer Feb. 16, 2012The US Army has begun to make Acupuncture more widely available to troops returning home for P.T.S.D, Traumatic Brain Injury and back pain.
Research Articles
Electro-Acupuncture & Depression
J Altern Complement Med. 2013 Sep;19(9):733-9. doi: 10.1089/acm.2011.0637. Epub 2013 May 6. Effects of electroacupuncture on depression and the production of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor compared with fluoxetine: a randomized controlled pilot study. Sun H1, Zhao H, Ma C, Bao F, Zhang J, Continue reading
Inhibition of ROS-induced p38MAPK and ERK activation in Microglia by Acupuncture relieves Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Exp Neurol 2012 Aug 23;236(2):268-82. Epub 2012 May 23.
Inhibition of ROS-induced p38MAPK and ERK activation in Microglia by Acupuncture relieves Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury in Rats
Doo C Choi, Jee Y Lee, Eun J Lim, Hyung H Baik, Tae H Oh, Tae Y Yune
Effects of acupuncture on declined cerebral blood flow, impaired mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in multi-infarct dementia rats
Neurochemistry International Volume 65, January 2014, Pages 23–29 Effects of acupuncture on declined cerebral blood flow, impaired mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in multi-infarct dementia rats
Stimulation of gastric slow waves with manual acupuncture at acupuncture points ST36 and PC6–a randomized single blind controlled trial
2012 May;24(5):438-45, e211-2. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2982.2012.01877.x. Epub 2012 Feb 6.
Stimulation of gastric slow waves with manual acupuncture at acupuncture points ST36 and PC6–a randomized single blind controlled trial. Witt CM1, Meissner K, Pach D, Thiele C, Lüdtke R, Ghadiyali Z, Deter HC, Zimmermann-Viehoff F. 1Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Continue reading
Acupuncture modulates resting state connectivity in default and sensorimotor brain networks
Journal for the International study of PAIN
Volume 136, Issue 3 , Pages 407-418, 15 June 2008
Acupuncture modulates resting state connectivity in default and sensorimotor brain networks
Rupali P. Dhond, Calvin Yeh, Kyungmo Park, Norman Ketter, Vitally Napadow
Abstract
Previous studies have defined low-frequency, spatially consistent networks in resting fMRI data which may reflect functional connectivity.
Using MicroPET Imaging in Quantitative Verification of the Acupuncture Effect in Ischemia Stroke Treatment
Using MicroPET Imaging in Quantitative Verification of the Acupuncture Effect in Ischemia Stroke Treatment
Huafeng Liu,1, 4 Xiaoyan Shen,1, 4, Hongtu Tang,2, 4, Jia Li,2, Ting Xiang2, & Weichuan Yu3,
Scientific ReportsVolume:3,Article number:1070DOI:doi:10.1038/srep01070
Received 23 October
Parsing brain activity associated with acupuncture treatment in Parkinson’s diseases
Movement Disorders
Volume 24, Issue 12, pages 1794–1802, 15 September 2009
Parsing brain activity associated with acupuncture treatment in Parkinson’s diseases† Younbyoung Chae KMD, PhD1, Hyejung Lee KMD, PhD1, Hackjin Kim PhD2, Chang-Hwan Kim KMD, PhD3, Dae-Il Chang MD, PhD4, Kyung-Mi Kim KMD, MS1 and Hi-Joon Park KMD, PhD1,*
Article first published online:
**Lateralisation of cerebral response to active acupuncture in patients with unilateral ischaemic stroke: an fMRI study
2013 Sep;31(3):290-6. doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2012-010299. Epub 2013 Jul 3.
Lateralisation of cerebral response to active acupuncture in patients with unilateral ischaemic stroke: an fMRI study. Huang Y1, Chen JQ, Lai XS, Tang CZ, Yang JJ, Chen H, Wu JX, Xiao HL, Qu SS, Zhang YD, Zhang ZJ. Continue reading
Acupuncture Stimulation for Motor Cortex Activities: A 3T fMRI Study
Sin-Soo Jeun et al, Am. J. Chin. Med. 33, 573 (2005). DOI: 10.1142/S0192415X0500317X
Acupuncture Stimulation for Motor Cortex Activities: A 3T fMRI Study Sin-Soo Jeun Correspondence to: Dr. Sin-Soo Jeun, Department of Neurosurgery, Kangnam St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, #505 Banpo-Dong, Seocho-Gu, Seoul 137-040, Korea. Tel: (+82) 2-590-2734, Fax: (+82) 2-594-4248. Department of Neurosurgery, Continue reading
The salient characteristics of the central effects of acupuncture needling: Limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network modulation
Human Brain Mapping
Volume 30, Issue 4, pages 1196–1206, April 2009
The salient characteristics of the central effects of acupuncture needling: Limbic-paralimbic-neocortical network modulation Jiliang Fang1,2,*, Zhen Jin3, Yin Wang4, Ke Li3, Jian Kong2, Erika E. Nixon2, Yawei Zeng3, Yanshuang Ren1, Haibin Tong1, Yinghui Wang4, Ping Wang1 and Kathleen Kin-Sang Hui2
Article first published online: