Spring Lectures To Discuss New Approaches for Treating Mental Health and Pain

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health will host three lectures this spring part of the Center’s Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series on “Novel Approaches at the Intersection of Mental Health and Pain.” These new approaches for treating mental health and pain help patients get back to enjoying life again and gain a greater sense of well-being and that greatly enhances recovery. Watch the lectures yourself beginning March 24th.

First of all, a caveat, no one is claiming that any alternative medicine techniques can “cure” COVID 19, commonly called Coronavirus. Scientists are working on a drug, Remdesivir, that was previously tested in humans for Ebola and in animals for MERS and SARS. The drug is currently being tested at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and there are clinical trials of remdesivir going on in China. We are at least weeks and more likely months away from the results of that study being usable and at that, there is no guarantee that the drug will work. What are people supposed to do in the meantime? Wash your hands is the usual advice.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, there is a different approach to disease that often clashes with western medicine. Instead of patients being viewed as “victims” of their disease, patients are encouraged to be active participants in their own healing. In addition to whatever western treatments are available Chinese patients will do exercises, change their diet, use traditional herbal formulas and many other techniques like acupuncture, cupping, massage and meditations that are not available to western doctors yet can still play a role in making patients feel better. In the absence of a cure, there must be room in medicine for making patients feel better.

Mindfulness meditation encompasses a wide variety of meditation practices. Everything from formal meditations like prayer, Zen or transcendental meditation to active meditations like tai chi and yoga are forms of mindful meditation. Even reading a good book is meditation at a very simple and enjoyable level. Anything that forces us to focus the mind on a single thing to the exclusion of all of our problems acts as a meditation. With all the problems we have to think about in the modern world the brain needs to take a break once in a while and just focus on being in the world. This acts as a recharge state for the mind and allows the immune system among many other systems in the body to reboot themselves to better handle the rest of the day. Extensive research is being done on mindfulness-based interventions for a variety of health purposes. Let’s look at what some NCCIH-funded studies of mindfulness have shown:

Read more about the latest research on meditation and some great App's and aides to make it easier.

Top health officials in Wuhan China are combining western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine in an all-out effort to stem the outbreak of COVID-19 Corona Virus, So far treating Corona Virus with traditional Chinese medicine has shown some good results according to the new head of the health commission in Wuhan, Wang Hesheng. More than half of the patients in Wuhan have received traditional treatments in addition to western medicine. As a result, top TCM experts and 2200 TCM workers have been sent to Wuhan to help with the outbreak. No drugs or preventives have yet been approved against the virus, which has already claimed the lives of 1,523 people in China and affected about 66,500 people.

Pain: Considering Complementary Approaches 

Pain is the most common reason for seeking medical care. It is also a common reason why people turn to complementary health approaches. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) Has put together an eBook entitled Pain: Considering Complementary Approaches the book highlights evidence-based mind/body approaches to pain that may help people manage painful conditions such as low-back pain, arthritis, headaches, and fibromyalgia.

Read the eBook to find out what research shows about acupuncture, massage therapy, meditation and mindfulness, relaxation techniques, spinal manipulation, tai chi, yoga, and other mind and body practices.