General Health Research

Acupuncture Research and Information

Massage Therapy Research

Yoga/Exercise Research

General Health Research

Sleep

• The importance of getting adequate sleep (8 hours/night) is described in this article at NYTimes.com.  It summarizes a study performed by David Dinges, the head of the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory at the Hospital at University of Pennsylvania which determined that most of us require 8 hours of sleep to function normally.  Even with only one hour less per night we begin to show deficits over the course of only three days, as demonstrated in a similar study by Gregory Belenky, prior director of the division of neuroscience at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md.  For the full article, click here.
  

Meditation

• A daily meditation practice has been associated with changes in the density of gray-matter in parts of the brain (specifically the hippocampus) associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.  Click here for a summary article in the NY Times and for the full study, click here.
  

Nutrition

• Green tea offers many benefits but it's challenging to filter through the marketing hype for real data.  This article from the University of Maryland Medical Center offers a summary of the current research, including when tea is appropriate and when it isn't.  For the full article, click here.
  

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Acupuncture Research and Information

History of "EAMP"

• This link will take you to a PDF version of the Washington State Senate Bill 6280 which passed in April 2010 and went into effect June 10, 2010.  This bill created the new title of East Asian Medical Practitioner (EAMP)" which will substitute and/or replace the title of "Licensed Acupuncturist (LAc)."
  

• More information on the developments of this bill as it becomes codified into more practical rules or RCWs ("Revised Code of Washington") can be found in at either the following sites: Washington East Asian Medicine Association or Washington State Department of Health: EAMP.
  

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Massage Therapy Research

Massage and its effects on blood circulation and body temperature:

• This recent (2010) study from Auburn University (AL) demonstrates the effectiveness of increasing peripheral blood flow by performing neck and shoulder massage.  The blood flow (and associated local body temperature) increased not only at the massage site, but also at distal areas not worked on by the massage therapist. 
  

• Click here to access the abstract from the National Institutes of Health website (PubMed), entitled “Therapeutic massage of the neck and shoulders produces changes in peripheral blood flow when assessed with dynamic infrared thermography.”
  

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Yoga/Exercise Research

Exercise and how it can support brain function as we age:

• This article in the New York Times highlights studies which demonstrate the importance of exercise in maintaining a functioning brain specific to memory and staving off dementia. 
  

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Links and Research

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