Health News

Seasonal Allergies Relieved With Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture

Often referred to as "hay fever," allergic rhinitis can be caused by a variety of relatively harmless substances, ranging from pollen and dust to animal dander. The most common form of allergic rhinitis is seasonal allergic rhinitis, which typically occurs at the same time each year when certain plants are in bloom.
Other people can be afflicted with perennial allergic rhinitis (which may occur at any given time of the year) or occupational allergic rhinitis (which is caused by an allergic reaction to substances in the workplace, such as chemicals or grains). All told, between 10 percent and 20 percent of the general population is believed to have some form of allergic rhinitis, with direct and indirect health care costs totaling between $4.5 and $7.7 billion per year in the U.S. alone.1

In China, acupuncture and herbal remedies have been used to combat symptoms similar to allergic rhinitis successfully for centuries.

Acupuncture Provides Long-Term Relief of Low Back Pain

By Michael Devitt

Back pain is one of the most common reasons people see a health care provider. It has been estimated that up to 80% of the world's population will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives, with the lower back as the most common location of pain.
Although most episodes of low back pain last less than two weeks, research has shown that recurrence rates for low back pain can reach as high as 50% in the first few months following an initial episode.

Acupuncture Beats Aspirin for Chronic Headaches

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Acupuncture works better than drugs like aspirin to reduce the severity and frequency of chronic headaches, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.

A review of studies involving nearly 4,000 patients with migraine, tension headache and other forms of chronic headache showed that that 62 percent of the acupuncture patients reported headache relief compared to 45 percent of people taking medications, the team at Duke University found.