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	<title>alternative medicine &#187; Acupuncture</title>
	<atom:link href="http://hmaucc.org/tag/acupuncture/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://hmaucc.org</link>
	<description>health, mental, alternative medicine, universal medicine...</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:11:10 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Natural Tendonitis Remedies</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/natural-tendonitis-remedies.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/natural-tendonitis-remedies.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:51:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[friction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[learn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[massage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[remedies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tendonitis]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/natural-tendonitis-remedies.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Learn about natural remedies for tendonitis, including acupuncture and friction massage.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Learn about natural remedies for tendonitis, including acupuncture and friction massage.</p>
<p>Continue reading here: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" target="_blank" href="http://altmedicine.about.com/od/healthconditionsdisease/a/tendonitis.htm" title="Natural Tendonitis Remedies">Natural Tendonitis Remedies</a>
</p>
<p></p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Acupuncture</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/acupuncture.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/acupuncture.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:37:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conditions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[information]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[treated]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[treatment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[typical]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[works]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/acupuncture.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Information about acupuncture therapy, including the history of acupuncture, how acupuncture works, conditions treated by acupuncture, and what a typical treatment is like.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Information about acupuncture therapy, including the history of acupuncture, how acupuncture works, conditions treated by acupuncture, and what a typical treatment is like.</p>
<p>View original post here: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" target="_blank" href="http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/treatmentsad/a/acupuncture.htm" title="Acupuncture">Acupuncture</a>
</p>
<p></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Natural Remedies for Migraine</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/natural-remedies-for-migraine.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/natural-remedies-for-migraine.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:05:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[herbs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[learn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[remedies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supplements]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/natural-remedies-for-migraine.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Learn about natural remedies for migraine relief, including herbs, supplements, and acupuncture.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Learn about natural remedies for migraine relief, including herbs, supplements, and acupuncture.</p>
<p>Go here to read the rest: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" target="_blank" href="http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/headachemigraine/a/Migraine.htm" title="Natural Remedies for Migraine">Natural Remedies for Migraine</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Remedies for Back Pain Relief</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/remedies-for-back-pain-relief.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/remedies-for-back-pain-relief.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:31:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[back]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[capsaicin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[herbs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[popular]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[relief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[remedies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vitamins]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/remedies-for-back-pain-relief.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Back pain relief - Here are some of the most popular remedies for back pain relief, including acupuncture, capsaicin cream, vitamins, herbs, and more.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Back pain relief &#8211; Here are some of the most popular remedies for back pain relief, including acupuncture, capsaicin cream, vitamins, herbs, and more.</p>
<p>Link: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" target="_blank" href="http://altmedicine.about.com/od/chronicpain/a/back_pain.htm" title="Remedies for Back Pain Relief">Remedies for Back Pain Relief</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Natural Sleep Aids</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/natural-sleep-aids.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/natural-sleep-aids.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:01:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[diagnosis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[insomnia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[learn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[remedies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sleep]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/natural-sleep-aids.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Insomnia is the lack of sleep on a regular basis. Learn the causes, diagnosis, and natural sleep aids and remedies for insomnia, including herbs, supplements, acupuncture, and more.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Insomnia is the lack of sleep on a regular basis. Learn the causes, diagnosis, and natural sleep aids and remedies for insomnia, including herbs, supplements, acupuncture, and more.</p>
<p>See the rest here: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" target="_blank" href="http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/conditionsitoq/a/Insomnia.htm" title="Natural Sleep Aids">Natural Sleep Aids</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Alternative Treatment Reflection Massage</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/alternative-treatment-reflection-massage.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/alternative-treatment-reflection-massage.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anemia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[asthma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blood circulation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cholesterol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diabetes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fracture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypertension]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kidney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[migraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reflection Massage]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/?p=179</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In Indonesia beside the alternative of bee heating and acupuncture, that is also known alternative treatment reflection massage. As the other alternative treatment, this treatment has the same way to cure. The different between them is on the tool. In this treatment, the patient will be massaged in the parts of body which become the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In Indonesia beside the alternative of bee heating and acupuncture, that is also known alternative treatment reflection massage. As the other alternative treatment, this treatment has the same way to cure. The different between them is on the tool.</p>
<p>In this treatment, the patient will be massaged in the parts of body which become the main source of the disease. For example, to cure migraine the patient will be massaged on the palm of hand near the mother finger to release the rigid muscles in the head and to make the blood circulation well.<span id="more-179"></span>This alternative treatment reflection massage is very loved by the people in Indonesia because they faster to feel the result and they become more confident in doing this treatment. This treatment is just like the other treatment in curing the sickness. This treatment can cure diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, migraine, kidney, migraine, anemia, asthma, fracture, bad blood circulation and other disease.</p>
<p>The therapist in this treatment has to find the point of neuron that related with the part of body which feels pain so if the therapies will massage that location, the massage will not affect another neuron because body is contain from many neuron so it must be careful to do this treatment. @alternativemedicine</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Kind of Alternative Medicine</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/the-kind-of-alternative-medicine.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/the-kind-of-alternative-medicine.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:49:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[acupressure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alternative medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aroma therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chiropractic therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hydro therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypnotherapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[massage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meditation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mind and spiritual]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Osteotherapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[physics therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[psychotherapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reflexology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/?p=182</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the alternative medicine there are some kind alternative medicines that can be used. First is mind and spiritual therapy. This therapy is used to balance mind and spiritual that can help this treatment success. In this therapy there are two kind of therapy that usually used. It is called hypnotherapy and psychotherapy. The second [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In the alternative medicine there are some kind alternative medicines that can be used. First is mind and spiritual therapy. This therapy is used to balance mind and spiritual that can help this treatment success. In this therapy there are two kind of therapy that usually used. It is called hypnotherapy and psychotherapy.</p>
<p>The second is physics therapy. This therapy is used for the body so it can be relax because if our body relaxes, it will help us to cure our sick. In this therapy there are three kind of therapy that usually used; they are aroma therapy, hydro therapy, and osteotherapy. Aroma therapy is used to relaxation for our body. Hydro therapy is the therapy using water as the media. Osteotherapy is the therapy for our bones to prevent people suffering osteoporosis. Osteotherapy has the same function as chiropractic therapy. Chiropractic therapy is also to repair the bones arrangement. The last therapy is energy therapy. Energy therapy is a kind of therapy that uses the energy of ours. The function of this therapy is for balancing the body and mind. Energy therapy we can get the positive energy. There are two kinds of energy therapy, meditation and yoga.</p>
<p>In Indonesia is also known reflection. Reflection is a kind of therapy that given with a tool. There are many kind of therapy of the reflection. There are acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, and massage. Reflection is the kind of therapy that given to our body directly. @alternativemedicine</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Alternative Treatment Acupuncture</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/alternative-treatment-acupuncture.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/alternative-treatment-acupuncture.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:36:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anemia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[asthma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blood circulation well]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cancer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cholesterol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Diabetes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heart attack]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypertension]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kidney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kidney and cholesterol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rheumatic]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/?p=177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Alternative treatment acupuncture is one of alternative treatment that is known and used by many people in Indonesia. This treatment uses some needle as therapy tool. In this treatment, the needles is putting on the particular point on the patient’s body which are become the location of curing. As the other alternative treatment, this treatment [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<dl class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 306px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"><img class=" " src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M6xlY1dUX-U/SdoNXYbME1I/AAAAAAAAAQI/RCfdfC0yNmo/s400/Akupunktur1.jpg" alt="Akupunktur. Foto http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M6xlY1dUX-U/SdoNXYbME1I/AAAAAAAAAQI/RCfdfC0yNmo/s400/Akupunktur1.jpg" width="296" height="360" /></dt>
</dl>
<p>Alternative treatment acupuncture is one of alternative treatment that is known and used by many people in Indonesia. This treatment uses some needle as therapy tool. In this treatment, the needles is putting on the particular point on the patient’s body which are become the location of curing. As the other alternative treatment, this treatment also can cure many kind of sickness like diabetes, hypertension, rheumatic, anemia, asthma, cancer, heart attack, kidney and cholesterol. This treatment can to make blood circulation well.</p>
<div class="mceTemp">
<dl class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 306px;">
<dt class="wp-caption-dt"></dt>
<dd class="wp-caption-dd">Akupunktur. Foto http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_M6xlY1dUX-U/SdoNXYbME1I/AAAAAAAAAQI/RCfdfC0yNmo/s400/Akupunktur1.jpg</dd>
</dl>
</div>
<p>Alternative treatment acupuncture is one of alternative treatment that the people like especially for them who like doing alternative treatment than modern medicine because for some people this treatment more success that modern medicine. They can feel better after them doing this treatment. They feel their body become healthier than before they do the treatment. After do this reflection people usually feel fit and it can be seen from their aura.</p>
<p>This treatment have to be done routinely to get the maximal result because to cure a disease need a process and process need time especially for people who have chronic sickness, it is will not easy to cure not only in this treatment but in all alternative treatment. @alternativemedicine</p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Herbal Cigarettes No Safer Than Regular Cigarettes</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/herbal-cigarettes-no-safer-than-regular-cigarettes.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/herbal-cigarettes-no-safer-than-regular-cigarettes.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:38:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alternative medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Herbal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hypnotherapy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/herbal-cigarettes-no-safer-than-regular-cigarettes.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Cigarettes made with a blend of medicinal herbs and tobacco are no healthier than regular cigarettes, a new study finds. Increasingly popular throughout the world, herbal cigarettes are marketed as safer and less addictive than regular cigarettes. For the study, researchers compared 135 people who smoked herbal cigarettes with 143 people who smoked regular cigarettes. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://hmaucc.org/wp-content/plugins/wp-o-matic/cache/d2f97_smoking.jpg" border="0" alt="" hspace="5" width="100" height="100" align="right" /></p>
<p>Cigarettes made with a blend of medicinal herbs and tobacco are no healthier than regular cigarettes, a new study finds. Increasingly popular throughout the world, herbal cigarettes are marketed as safer and less addictive than regular cigarettes.</p>
<p>For the study, researchers compared 135 people who smoked herbal cigarettes with 143 people who smoked regular cigarettes. Analyzing the participants&#8217; urine samples, they found no significant difference in four key markers that indicate delivery of nicotine and carcinogens.<span id="more-99"></span></p>
<p>Sizing up study members&#8217; responses to a questionnaire about their cigarette choices, the researchers also found that 24 percent of participants switched to herbal cigarettes because they believed the products to be a healthier alternative. What&#8217;s more, most people who switched to herbal cigarettes reported an increase in the number of the cigarettes they smoked daily.</p>
<p>There are a number of natural remedies that may be helpful to those attempting to quit smoking. These include acupuncture, St. John&#8217;s wort, ginseng, and hypnotherapy.</p>
<p>Herbal Cigarettes No Safer Than Regular Cigarettes originally appeared on <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&amp;zu=http://altmedicine.about.com/">About.com Alternative Medicine</a> on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 06:00:33.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Med, nursing schools teaching alternative care</title>
		<link>http://hmaucc.org/med-nursing-schools-teaching-alternative-care.html</link>
		<comments>http://hmaucc.org/med-nursing-schools-teaching-alternative-care.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:47:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Acupuncture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alternative medicine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Herbal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medical treatment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meditation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mind]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[proven]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[treatment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yoga]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://hmaucc.org/?p=92</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Future doctors and nurses are learning about acupuncture and herbs along with anatomy and physiology at a growing number of medical schools. It&#8217;s another example f how alternative medicine has become mainstream. And it&#8217;s often done with Uncle Sam&#8217;s help. The government has spent more than $22 million to help medical and nursing schools start [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Future doctors and nurses are learning about acupuncture and herbs along with anatomy and physiology at a growing number of medical schools. It&#8217;s another example f how alternative medicine has become mainstream. And it&#8217;s often done with Uncle Sam&#8217;s help.<span id="more-92"></span><br />
The government has spent more than $22 million to help medical and nursing schools start teaching about alternative medicine — lesson plans that some critics say are biased toward unproven remedies.</p>
<p>Additional tax money has been spent to recruit and train young doctors to do research in this field, launching some into careers as alternative medicine providers.</p>
<p>Doctors need to know about popular remedies so they can discuss them nonjudgmentally and give competent advice, the government says, and many universities and medical groups agree.</p>
<p>&#8220;Patients are using these things&#8221; whether doctors think they should or should not, and safety is a big concern, said Dr. Victor Sierpina, an acupuncturist at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston who heads a group of academics who favor such training.</p>
<p>Harry Potter medicine<br />
But to critics, it&#8217;s like teaching Harry Potter medicine. Students are being asked to close their eyes to science principles that guide the rest of their training in order to keep an open mind about pseudoscience, they say.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m concerned about the teaching of illogical thinking to medical students&#8221; and lending credence to biologically implausible theories like distance healing and energy fields, said Dr. Stephen Barrett, a retired physician who runs Quackwatch, a Web site on medical scams.</p>
<p>Teaching about alternative medicine implies acceptance of it and &#8220;potentially creates more gullibility and less critical, objective thinking,&#8221; said Dr. Wallace Sampson, editor of the journal Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine. &#8220;This will be felt in many indirect ways,&#8221; he said, including judgment errors, misguiding people with severe diseases, and lax standards and laws.</p>
<p>The real issue is not whether alternative medicine should be taught, but how, said Dr. Joseph Jacobs, former head of the federal Office of Alternative Medicine.</p>
<p>&#8220;The parallel here is creationism versus science,&#8221; Jacobs said. &#8220;If the topic is taught objectively, to help students communicate with patients, it&#8217;s a good idea. If it&#8217;s being taught as part of an advocacy, for acceptance among physicians, I think that&#8217;s a little bit bogus.&#8221;</p>
<p>Sometimes the line is blurry.</p>
<p>Some schools have close ties to alternative medicine providers or advocates who shape information on the schools&#8217; Web sites or classes for students and the public. Two examples:</p>
<p>* The University of Arizona&#8217;s Center for Integrative Medicine has medical residency programs in hospitals around the country, partly sponsored by well-known advocate Dr. Andrew Weil, the center&#8217;s founder. A private group that promotes such care, the Bravewell Collaborative, gives scholarships for dozens of the Arizona school&#8217;s students to get hands-on training in integrative care clinics.<br />
* The University of Minnesota offers medical students an elective course in alternative healing methods at a Hawaiian medical center founded by a philanthropist-advocate of such care, although students pay their own transportation and living expenses. In interviews with an Associated Press writer in 2007, several students raved about things they had tried firsthand, and said they returned more willing to recommend acupuncture, meditation, yoga, herbal remedies and other nontraditional care.</p>
<p>&#8220;Consumers are demanding it&#8221; and more research is needed to see what works, said Mary Jo Kreitzer, who directs the Minnesota school&#8217;s alternative medicine curriculum. &#8220;Ultimately we need to align policy&#8221; so that insurers pay for these therapies, she said. &#8220;You could say that in that respect, we are advocates.&#8221;</p>
<p>The field got a boost 10 years ago, with creation of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. It made merging alternative and mainstream medicine &#8220;a central and overarching goal&#8221; and gave $22.5 million to 12 medical schools, two nursing schools and the American Medical Student Association to develop curriculum plans.</p>
<p>Kreitzer&#8217;s and Sierpina&#8217;s universities got grants, and both are active in the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine — 42 centers involved in researching or advocating for complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM.</p>
<p>However, a review of some of those teaching plans by Drs. Donald Marcus and Laurence McCullough of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston concludes that they are &#8220;strongly biased in favor of CAM,&#8221; cite poor-quality research, and were not updated after better studies revealed a therapy did not work. The review is in the September issue of the journal Academic Medicine.</p>
<p>The section on herbals in the Medical Student Association&#8217;s plan was written by the head of the American Botanical Council, an industry-supported research and education group, the article says.</p>
<p>Sierpina, the head of the medical school consortium, said the purpose of these lesson plans is not propaganda.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are not trying to make students CAM practitioners,&#8221; but to train them to be &#8220;sensitive to where people come from, their folk medicine, their home remedies,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Just as there are true believers who ignore evidence that something doesn&#8217;t work, there are true doubters who are guilty of &#8220;arrogant thinking that we&#8217;ve got it all figured out,&#8221; Sierpina said.</p>
<p>Dr. Mehmet Oz agreed. The Columbia University heart surgeon and frequent Oprah Winfrey guest, now with his own TV show, has long shown an open mind toward complementary and alternative medicine.</p>
<p>&#8220;Medicine is very provincial. We grow up thinking the way others have taught us to think. We are naturally biased. It is imperative that we look at what alternative cultures offer us, that we at least are fair in our skepticism of their impact.&#8221; Otherwise, &#8220;we run a risk of locking out newcomers&#8221; with fresh ideas, he said.</p>
<p>That would be people like Jimmy Wu, a newly graduated doctor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Raised in a family originally from Taiwan, Wu said traditional healing practices are &#8220;very much ingrained&#8221; in how he thinks about sickness and health.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s just a very different way of observing&#8221; a patient to decide on treatments, rather than relying so heavily on lab tests and other traditional medical tools, he said.</p>
<p>The Madison medical school offered an optional course in alternative medicine. Seeking more than that, Wu spent a summer in Beijing with a university faculty member observing traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, and hopes to include these in a family medicine practice someday. With so many people using alternative care, &#8220;it is important that it be treated more than just an afterthought&#8221; by medical schools, Wu said.</p>
<p>Officials at several top schools say they teach respect for patient choices, but do not teach unproven remedies or theories.</p>
<p>&#8220;All medical treatments ought to be held to the same standard,&#8221; whether a prescription drug, an herbal pill or a mode of care, said Dr. Philip Gruppuso, Brown University&#8217;s associate dean for medical education.</p>
<p>For example, acupuncture comes up in several places in the curriculum where there is evidence that it may help certain types of pain. However, students are not taught about body meridiens that allegedly channel energy, which acupuncturists claim to affect. Whether a school is promoting magical thinking about a therapy depends &#8220;more on how it&#8217;s taught than what&#8217;s taught,&#8221; Gruppuso said.</p>
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