Helix Clinic blog

Most of us have heard of the numberous health benefits afforded by green tea and now some new research from the Institute of Chinese Medicine has added another one to the list.  The Institute looked at some of the key compounds found in Green Tea and discovered that one in particular (called EGC) had a role to play in slowing the breakdown of bones and in helping to stimulate new bone formation.  They found that the EGC boosted the activity of a key enzyme that promotes bone growth by up to 79 percent. It also boosted the levels of bone mineralization in the cells, and  inhibited the formation of bone destroying osteoclast cells.

Green tea boasts many other benefits so including a cup or two a day is an easy way to promote and maintain good health!

Tags: green tea

A recent research study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility has given support to nutritionists who have long advised that eating a healthy diet is important for good sperm quality for couples trying to get pregnant. In essence, men who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables have higher quality sperm that also swims faster.

The Spanish scientists found good quality sperm is a direct result of a diet high in antioxidants found in fruit and vegetables and especially in peppers, citrus fruits and spinach. Alternatively, sperm are fewer and slower in men who eat few antioxidants and instead feast on meat and full-fat dairy products such as cream or cheese.

Lead researcher Jaime Mendiola, of the University of Murcia, Spain, said: “A healthy diet is not only a good way of avoiding illness, but improves the quality of semen.

“Men who eat lots of meat and full-fat dairy products have much poorer quality sperm than those who eat lots of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. People who eat more fruits and vegetables are ingesting more antioxidants, and this is the important point.”

The scientists spent four years studying men in two fertility clinics in Spain to see if anything in their diets or exposure to pollution at work was making it difficult for some to father children.  The study included 61 men, 30 of whom had reproductive problems and 31 who didn’t.

Tags: antioxidants, fertility, infertility, sperm quality

A recent study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology by Brinkhaus et.al. (Nov 2008) gives evidence to suggest that acupuncture is an effective therapy for allergic rhinitis. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture combined with routine care in patients with allergic rhinitis compared with treatment with routine care alone.

The Rhinitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) was filled in by patients at the start of the trial and again after 3 and 6 months. 487 patients were assigned to the acupuncture group, and 494 patients were in the control group (routine care without acupuncture).

The researchers found that the quality of life for patients as measured by the questionnaire was significantly higher in the acupuncture group compared to the control group after 3 months. The researchers also found that the improvement from acupuncture was greatest in the initial 3 month period.

The results of this trial are positive for acupuncture and  suggest that treating patients with allergic rhinitis in routine care with additional acupuncture leads to clinically relevant and persistent benefits.

Tags: allergic rhinitis

In March 2009, the results of a study on acupuncture for pain relief during delivery was published in the journal Birth. The study was carried out by researchers at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

The researchers conducted a randomized, controlled trial with 607 healthy women in labour. The objective of the trial was to compare the results of acupuncture with TENS (electrical stimulation) or more traditional pharmacological interventions.

The researchers found that the group of women who received acupuncture required significantly less pharmacological or invasive treatment during labour compared to the non-acupuncture groups.

The acupuncture was found not to affect the duration of labour, but the researchers did find that mean Apgar scores at 5 minutes were significantly higher among infants in the acupuncture group compared to infants in the other groups.

The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly assess the health of newborn children immediately after birth. The results of this study therefore seem to suggest that the use of acupuncture during pregnancy and particularly during labour can lead to healthier newborn babies!

Tags: Apgar, labour, newborn babies, pain, TENS

Today a patient asked me about research studies that have been done looking at the effects of acupuncture for Multiple Sclerosis, and off the top of my head I couldn’t think of any major ones so did a bit of searching on the web to see what was out there. There have been a few small scale studies but overall it is a little surprising how few studies have evaluated acupuncture in Multiple Sclerosis. I did make one interesting finding though.

The Rocky Mountain Multiple Sclerosis Center is a centre for the study of MS founded in 1978 by 2 men dedicated to finding the causes of MS and a cure for the disease. In 1999, the Rocky Mountain MS Center began to collect information about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and now provide state-of-the-art information on MS and CAM. They offer what seems to be a unique approach to research, using technology to survey large numbers of people living with MS on the effectiveness and safety of various interventions used to treat MS.

A survey carried out by the center reported the results collected from more than 1000 MS patients. It was not a controlled study, but nevertheless seemed to show promising results for the treatment of MS symptoms with acupuncture. About 20% of the respondents had used acupuncture since their initial diagnosis, and about two thirds of those reported an improvement in the symptoms of pain and anxiety. Other symptoms that were reported as improved by between 50% and 60% of respondents were fatigue, depression, muscle stiffness, numbness and insomnia. Only 4% of patients noticed a worsening of any pre-existing MS symptoms with acupuncture.

Tags: multiple sclerosis