May 2014 John Weeks Integrator Round-Up: Integrative Care

Cleveland Clinic Chinese herb program with Crane Herbs makes huge waves in mediaThe Time Magazine feature "Cleveland Clinic's New Medicine" was here. The Wall Street Journal's "A Top Hospital Opens to Chinese Herbs as Medicines" is here. "Can Herbs Help?

Cleveland Clinic Chinese herb program with Crane Herbs makes huge waves in media

The Time Magazine feature "Cleveland Clinic's New Medicine" was here. The Wall Street Journal's "A Top Hospital Opens to Chinese Herbs as Medicines" is here. "Can Herbs Help? Dr. Oz Explains Eastern Medicine" is here. Katie Couric's Today Show piece on it, “Why One Hospital is Turning to Chinese Medicine" is here. Links to each of these are in this press release from the operation behind the story, Crane Herb Companies, the supplier of the product. Crane sources their supplies via KPC Herbs, which requires the most rigorous testing of herbs in that category, according to Crane officials. Couric’s Today Show segment included a series of leading questions that promoted integrative care. Cleveland Clinic lists a broad array of conditions for which they argue that the herbs may be useful. Notably, the American Botanical Council took on Time for its fallacious assertion that there are no regulations for herbs.

Comment: The Couric show featured interviews with a Yale-based integrative medical doctor, David Katz, MD, MPH, and Pina LoGiudici, ND, LAc who fielded her lobs. Following the interview, Katz wrote an exceptional piece in Huffington Post on how to think about evidence in the integrative dialogue. The Cleveland Clinic move, and Crane Herbs work behind the scenes, created a huge jolt of generally friendly integrative health media.

The New School in New York City pioneers auricular acupuncture and acupressure in university setting

A recent issue of Guidepoints, the newsletter of the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association features the Provision of Auricular Acupuncture and Acupressure in a University Setting, as a report in the Journal of the American College of Health was titled. The program is at The New School in New York City. The program focuses on auricular acupuncture’s use "as a tool to enhance harm reduction and (better) mental health services." The Guidepoints issue features an interview with two of the co-authors, Rachel Knopf, MPH and Tamara Oyola-Santiago, MPH. Each was trained at the field's mother ship, the Lincoln Recovery Center in the South Bronx.  Treatment is through The New School’s student health center. They reportedly work in tandem with both medical and mental health teams. They also provide acupressure in other settings at the University. They promote the program, which is typically used for substance issues, as a stress management technique and for "general wellness."