This month HuffPost Living has featured an abundance of great articles on the importance of sleep, with excellent tips on how to enhance your slumber from experts in a variety of fields.
An approach that can also aid in the quest for a good night's sleep is that of Chinese Medicine. This ancient healing system has offered relief to the sleep challenged for thousands of years. While new to many, Chinese Medicine is mainstream in China, and it is used today for a wide range of conditions by an estimated one-fourth of the world's population.
The Roots of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Chinese Medicine is considered the oldest, most continuously practiced, professional, literate medicine in the world. Written records date back over 2000 years, although the medicine is believed to go back even further. Some experts believe Chinese Medicine is at least 5000 years old.
Chinese Medicine employs acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional therapy, tuina (pronounced "twee nah") massage, acupressure, and qigong.
The Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) is considered the Bible of Chinese Medicine, emphasizing medical theory and acupuncture. Some scholars estimate that it dates back to the first century B.C. In addition, The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica Classic) details the medicinal uses of 365 herbs and is believed to have been compiled around 200 A.D. Many of the protocols mentioned in these ancient texts are still used today.
Chinese Medicine and the West
The development of East-West relations has promoted the use and interest of Chinese Medicine in the United States. During the past 30 years, the practice of Chinese Medicine has dramatically increased here. The National Institutes of Health (N.I.H.) has reported that visits to Chinese Medicine practitioners in the U.S. tripled from 1997 to 2007.
At the same time, the United States is seeing an increase in the practice of integrative medicine. University centers and hospitals are offering Chinese Medicine. Integration has been common in China, where Chinese Medicine is often practiced side-by-side with Western Medicine.
The Chinese Medicine Approach to Sleep
Insomnia comes in various forms, such as trouble falling sleep, difficulty staying asleep, and having dream-disturbed sleep. When a Chinese Medicine practitioner is gathering information to put together a treatment plan, the pattern of the sleep disturbance as well as health and lifestyle issues will be taken into consideration.
A Chinese Medicine practitioner might use the term "calm the shen" when describing a treatment principle. "Shen" is best translated as the spirit of the person in a nonreligious sense. When evaluating Shen, the Chinese Medicine practitioner is looking for the emotional state and presence (or lack) of radiance, calm, and balance. Often with sleep disturbances, the patient will be experiencing patterns of stress, anxiety, or agitation. Chinese Medicine would call this "disturbed shen."
Treatment for insomnia from a Chinese Medicine practitioner could include one or more of the following therapies: acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutritional counseling, Chinese massage (acupressure/tuina), and qigong.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into specific points of the body to reduce pain, to promote relaxation, and to treat various health concerns. Insomnia and sleep disorders are common reasons why people visit an acupuncturist.
The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) lists insomnia as a condition for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown. Continuous research is underway to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for sleep issues. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published a review of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture treatment for insomnia. After looking at 46 randomized trials, the conclusion was that acupuncture appears to be effective in the treatment of insomnia, and larger, rigorously designed trials are warranted.
Chinese Herbal Medicine
There are many traditional Chinese herbal formulas to help regulate the sleep pattern. A formula is chosen for each person based on their symptoms, constitution, and medical history. It is best to have a licensed medical practitioner select the proper formula. Some herbs that are used in these formulas include Suan Zao Ren (Sour Date Seed), Bai Zi Ren (Arborvitae Seed), Fu Shen (Poria Paradicis), and Wu Wei Zi (Schizandra Fruit).
Hyla Cass, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist and integrative medicine expert, has reported great results with her sleep-challenged patients using a Chinese herbal compound Wulinshen. You can read more about this herbal approach in her blog on natural solutions to sleep.
Chinese Nutritional Therapy
Chinese Nutritional Therapy includes basic advice on healthy eating as well specific food recommendations for each patient. Some points emphasized in Chinese Medicine for better sleep include not eating for at least two to three hours before bedtime, as well as the avoidance of greasy or sweet foods. Chinese Medicine also recommends staying away from cold drinks. While Americans are big on ice-cold beverages, this is a huge no-no in Chinese Medicine. Also, when a patient seeks help from a Chinese Medicine practitioner for insomnia, a very detailed review will be made regarding the quality of their digestion. Chinese Medicine places a strong emphasis on the connection between digestion and sleep.
Chinese Massage Therapy (Acupressure/Tuina)
Chinese massage therapy consists of applying pressure to specific points on the body (acupressure) and techniques such as kneading, rolling, and pressing (tuina). Acupressure and tuina have demonstrated effectiveness for improving the quality of sleep. Research from China reported the effectiveness of acupressure and tuina in the treatment of insomnia patients. An Italian study reported improved sleep quality after acupressure stimulation for those suffering from sleep disorders, particularly in cancer patients experiencing insomnia.
Qigong
Qigong is a practice that uses movement, breathing, visualization, and meditation to reduce stress, improve flexibility, and enhance overall health. Like a physical therapist will prescribe specific exercises for the orthopedic patient, the Chinese Medicine/Qigong practitioner will often prescribe individualized qigong techniques for each patient. The regular practice of qigong is strongly associated with stress reduction and the encouragement of a deep, restful sleep.
Resources for Further Exploration
Understanding Chinese Medicine can be a bit daunting to the neophyte. Chinese Medicine has a different approach than Western Medicine, although some practitioners integrate both systems with a complementary approach. There is an explosion of interest in the West, and more is being written to bridge the gap between the Eastern and Western understanding.
If you are interested in Chinese Medicine, an excellent primer written for the layperson and novice is The Web That Has No Weaver by Dr. Ted J. Kaptchuk. Dr. Kaptchuk is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School.
If you would like to further explore the Chinese Medicine approach to regulating sleep specifically, Curing Insomnia Naturally with Chinese Medicine by Dr. Bob Flaws is an excellent comprehensive guide.
For an even deeper look at Chinese herbal medicine, I'd recommend Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology by John and Tina Chen, experts in pharmacology and traditional Chinese Medicine. This 1,267 page guide details the traditional Chinese uses of herbs for insomnia and other conditions, the chemical composition, clinical studies and research, and herb-drug interaction information.
Follow Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drpatriciafitz
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Shows. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 1, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/08/090810104935.htm
Listening to music can alter brain wave activity too, but it won't sure tuberculosis.
It's amazing how few people can't comprehend the simple concept of "provable evidence."
Please provide the peer-reviewed documents that have escaped the world's attention.
According to whom? Chinese medicine is nothing other than what is known in Africa, other non-Western world, as traditional medicine. These types of medicine have been practiced in Africa, and other places, just like in China, for ages. And, it is "continuosly" practiced today! For example, there is community near my home in Africa, where people have practiced what you would call orthopaedic (sp?) medicine, since the beigining of town. Someone here (USA) was run by a car. His leg was crushed. The Western doctors were ready to amputate. The man was flown back to his home town, and within six months, he was back in the United States, walking! Of course, in West, everything African is voodoo. So, when one makes such a bland assertion that the Chinese medicine is "considered the oldest", we just have to smile, and say, it might be the oldest to Westerners. To some of us (Africans, Native Americas, Southern and Central American natives, etc.), we have always practiced traditional medicine. What makes Chinese medicine vogue today is that capitalist Westerners have found a cash cow, so we have all kinds of promotion about Chinese medicine as this new cure-all. Some are clearly effective remedies and some are plain nonesense being promoted for capitalists exploitation!
http://www.whale.to/a/null9.html
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/
While staying in the temples is Japan we learned that the meals provided to the monks were not only for their spiritual well being but also for the body's. Every food that was eaten provided a vital nutrient for every organ of the body, for the nervous system, endocrine system etc. The meals were small in comparison to western size meals. This way the monks remained in balance BMS. They were up at 5AM worked tirelessly the entire day and had no trouble sleeping. Even the old monks ran us in circles. Work on the Chi not the Shen. You'll accomplish more.
I think the focus on prevention has only become more prevalent in recent years, because I know when I was younger it wasn't emphasized as much as it is now. Or I was just too young to notice at the time. I know the only doctor that has ever given me direction on steps towards disease prevention was not my primary MD, but one of my specialists, who is a D.O. (another topic of discussion entirely). But, that's just my perspective, which is admittedly different, since I deal with RXs all day long LOL.
Today's Traditional Chinese Medicine has a number of questionable practices, yes, but Hua Tuo in the 3rd century, for example, innovated the general anesthetic, brain surgery, and aquatherapy. Innovators like that in TCM have actually helped conventional western medicine progress.
TCM has 1000's of years of wisdom under it's cap. Who are we to question a successful holistic healing modality with amazing longevity?
We should also remember the silk road. If not for the trade of concepts between Ayurvedic and Chinese Medical Concepts, we would not have the deeper levels of understanding of the "shen."
For myself, if I have trouble sleeping, I do a set of breathing exercises based in the chakra system. Imagine your body as an instrument of light. Tense, then relax every part of your body. Breathe deeply and slowly. Imagine a red light all around you as you breathe it in. The next breath, imagine an orange light, breathe it in. The next light is yellow, breathe it in. The next breath, green. The next is light blue, breathe it in. The next is royal blue, slow deep breath, then violet. I promise you, if you do this exercise correctly with slow, deep breathes, you will probably be asleep by the time you reach green.
Healing thoughts
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=930
When I trust a doctor my thoughts are totally healed.
As someone who was in science and who thought alternative medicine was something only fleabrains would believe in, it took a devastating health crisis for me to open my mind to other paradigms. Desperation drove me to experiment with my body, to test herbs and therapies that I would never have touched with a ten-foot pole. And I was impressed. Everything I tried had some effect--some more than others, but nothing worked as well as tradiitonal Chinese medicine, specifically acupuncture. Twenty-two years later, acupuncture is my first therapy of choice. It is not my ONLY one. I am glad that I have learned about all the different therapies. I am ably to knowledgeably pick and choose which therapy to try for whatever ails me and yes, I even go to a western doctor when I think it will be useful.
But unlike the article's contention, it is not out of some countercultural knee-jerk response.
I wonder how much the part of someone's personality that has trouble letting go a rigid Westernized view of sleep to consider other alternatives also contributes to their difficulty sleeping.
A friend who is a prominent Chinese medicine specialist on the Westside offered to treat me gratis. I'm more of a skeptic when it comes to alternative treatments, but I was aware that there were studies showing acupuncture's success in treatment of pain and anecdotal claims of success in treating insomnia, and with nothing to lose except for my time, I thought I'd give it a try. I went into it with a completely open mind and some sense of hope.
I had twice-weekly 45 minute acupuncture sessions and took tons of herbs. I found the acupuncture sessions, if nothing else, to be very relaxing. Unfortunately, after three months, I stopped the treatment, as it had absolutely zero effect on the insomnia.
If the placebo effect is responsible for any claims of insomnia relief with Chinese medicine, the fact that I wasn't paying for any of the treatment may have lessened any potential benefits I might have gotten. I believe that when people pay for treatment, they're more invested in the belief they will have a positive outcome.
But as far as any physiological benefit in insomnia treatment, when it comes to Chinese medicine, I'd say look elsewhere...