Sick? Enjoy Your Illness!

When I would get sick as a child, my only prescriptions were fluid, rest, and a little day-time TV. I came to believe that getting sick periodically was good for you and to this day I steer clear of flu shots and anything with the suffix -cillin. A couple of years ago I was sitting in on a lecture by one of the state's leading endochronoligists where she posed the theory that autoimmune diseases were on the rise because the industrialized countries were too clean, and too vaccinated. She believed that the immune system would essentially get bored and attack itself if there was nothing else available. These attacks could come in the form of random new allergies or in the more debilitating diseases such as Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Naturally, her theory stuck a cord with me not only professionally, but personally. While acupuncture and Oriental Medicine may not cure or reverse these diseases, it is a helpful modality in slowing the progression and relieving the symptoms.

`Too Clean' Environments Have A Price
By WILLIAM HATHAWAY, Courant Staff Writer

Acupuncture Relief

Acupuncture reduces symptoms of fibromyalgia, researchers report in the June issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Fibromyalgia is a chronic, debilitating disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and fatigue. There is no known cure, and treatment is often difficult.

Mayo Clinic researchers used acupuncture or sham acupuncture treatment on 50 fibryomyalgia patients. They found that symptoms in patients who received acupuncture substantially improved compared with subjects who got sham treatments.

"The results of the study convince me there is something more than the placebo effect to acupuncture," said Dr. David Martin, a Mayo anesthesiologist and author of the study.The value of acupuncture in the treatment of fibromyalgia has been controversial. In two other studies, one found acupuncture to be effective, while another found it offered no pain relief.

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