The Optimum Time Theory (TOTT)

In a group on Linkedin.com I got to knew about a theory for using time based acupuncture that is similar to chrono acupuncture. That is a theory to calculate which points to use at a specific time.

The theory is based on the Chinese calendar and uses its Stem-Branch system. I will not go deeply in on Stems and Branches, but just give the basics. (To get to know more you can read here: http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/about-chinese.html,and to get to know the BaZi date there is a calculator here: http://www.fengshui-innovations.com.au/chinese-astrology/bazi-calculator, or http://www.absolutelyfengshui.com/chinese-calendar-converter.php).

To be able to calculate the points to use we have to be aware of some theories:

• 5-Elements and their relationships
• Stem/Branch cycles, mostly the order.
• And of course some knowledge about the channels and points.

5-Elements

Here we need to know the creating and controlling cycle.

In the picture the creating cycle is the one that goes in the order Wood -> Fire -> Earth -> Metal -> Water. The controlling cycle is the one that looks like a star, that is, it is skipping one and controlls the one after (Wood -> Earth -> Water -> Fire -> Metal).

Different patterns to get the points and channels to use

First pattern: which points to use

On Jia day start with Zi-branch, for each branch go with this cycle: water, earth, wood, metal, fire and repeat. When you get to the Stem-day  that is for the treatment time the element that is on that for this cycle it gives the element of the 5 Shu points for the Yin channels. These are:

• wood -> Jing-well
• fire -> Ying-spring
• earth -> Shu-stream
• metal -> Jing-river
• water -> He-sea

If you look a bit closer you can see that each day start with the next element in the creating circle from the starting element of the previous day. If you remember this it is easier to calculate.

Second pattern: First two meridians.

The way to calculate two of the meridians to use is similar to calculte which points to use. The difference is that one a Jia the sequence starts with Earth for getting the Yin meridian.

When getting the element of the Yin channel. The second channel is the Yang channel to the element controlling the Yin channel.
For example: for Jia day at midnight, the Yin channel is Earth and the Yang channel is Wood.

Third pattern: Last four meridians.

This cycle is a bit different from the other two. First of all within a day it cycles as the creating cycle. And secondly it does not change element every block but keeps the same for two blocks, as the image below illustrate. However, it starts with water as the first cycle.

The first 2 channels is the Yin and Yang channels for the element in this cycle. The other two are the channels for the element controlled by the first.
For example if we get Jia day at midnight. First pair it Water, the second pair is Fire.

Examples:

15th of May, 14.00:

Stem: Xin, (Yin Metal)

Active Channel: Small Intestine

1. Get the points to use.
1. Xin day starts with Fire. Follow the cycle until you reach 13-15. (fire, water, earth, wood, metal, fire, water earth)
2. Earth means you shold use Shu-stream points.
2. Get the first two channels.
1. Xin days starts with Water in the second diagram. Follow this cycle until you reach 13-15. (water, earth, wood, metal, fire, water, earth, wood).
2. Wood Yin is Liver
3. The element controlling Wood is Metal. Metal Yang is Large Intestine.
3. Get the rest of the channels.
1. Xin day starts with Fire. Follow the creating cycle until 13-15. (Here it changes every two block: fire, earth, metal, water).
2. Water gives Kidney and Bladder
3. The element controlled by Water is Fire, this gives Heart and Small Intestine
4. The points to needle are: Liver-3, Large Intestine-3, Kidney-3, Bladder-65, Heart-7, Small Intestine-3

23nd of May, 10.00:

Stem: Ji, (Yin Earth)

Active Channel: Spleen

1. Start element: Water, 
1. element at 10.00: Water
2. Water -> He-sea points
2. First two channels:
1. (earth, wood, metal, fire, water, earth)
2. Spleen
3. Gall Bladder
3. The rest of the channels
1. (water, water, wood, wood, fire, fire)
2. Heart/Small Intestine
3. Lung/Large Intestine
4. Needle: Sp-9, Gb-34, Ht-3, Si-8, Lu-5, Li-11

Applications

This can be used on its own. But if you want to treat for specific condition, for example, Lung deficiency, add Lu-9 to tonify.

In this method the needles should not be retained for mor than 15 minutes.

Good luck and happy needling.

To speak or not to speak

As the great Lao Tzu once said.

"He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks does not know."

Well I can agree with that.

In Sweden there is an organization called "Vetenskap och folkbildning (VoF)" (loosely translated as "Science and people education) that seam to want some kind of cultural revolution throwing out everything they can label as alternative medicine. the good thing is that they only have about 2000 members, but maybe that is bad enough because these are like the ones Lao Tzu talks about when he says: "He who speaks does not know".

The thing is that even if there is some of the members that on paper is so called highly educated, most of them are not really. They hide behind the term "Science" but the way they argue has nothing to to with science at all. Their arguments are all about ridicule the opponent and make them feel stupid so they keep quiet. The problem is that the arguments they use have nothing to do with science, they just use the word science and the only references they may provide is from someone else within the organization that is they reference each other to make it look like it i science. As is written at Zen ... and the Art of Debunkery

What is "debunkery?" Essentially it is the attempt to debunk (invalidate) new fields of discovery by substituting scientistic rhetoric for scientific inquiry

you can see their strategy to debunk everyone that does not agree with them.

They also persecute doctors, nutritionists, researchers and others to try to destroy their careers because they published book on new ways to think and new research. they call these people unscientific, misled and delusional in a try to keep them quiet. In a resent column in the Swedish paper DN. They attacked politicians that support alternative medicine in a try to influence people not to vote for them.

I have seen some of these members during 5-6 years and noticed they use forums to attack not only those who come up with new research but also ordinary people, they can attack someone who asks about some alternative method or astrology or whatever they have on their black list just to try to quiet them. Not that they know anything on the subject they ridicule, they just do it out of their personal believes without even trying to find research done or information about the subject. the only reason seams to be to ridicule, win the discussion and get the opponent silence.

If they even bother to look for research done in a field, they always choose to exemplify one or a few reports that is good for their cause, but never any research that claims other results, even if the research that show favor for them is 10% of the ones that shows favor for what they do not want. The common argument is: "There is no scientific evidence for that", "The research show that that is just a result of placebo". however, they will never admit evidence for anything on their black list because on that eye they are blind.

Often these skeptics refer to Ernst and Singhs book,  "Trick or Treatment" as a bible of scientific truth. Well in Halloween Science you can read how scientific they [not] are.


Now, it is said, even if the point of the whole post is that the one who know does not speak, I feel the need to do so in this case to give a view of who these people are.

Today's DN publishes a dabate article in reply to their narrow-mindedness.

Some tther blogs to read, regarding what they do (however there i plenty more as can be foun through the first link).
http://blogg.passagen.se/dahlqvistannika/entry/vof_vetenskap_och_folkbildning
http://www.newsmill.se/artikel/2010/02/27/vetenskap-och-folkbildning-vof-skadar-svensk-forskning
http://www.hahnbooks.com/Kurs.htm
http://blogg.passagen.se/sannaehdin/entry/vad_%C3%A4r_vof
http://roberthahn2010.wordpress.com/2010/08/31/jesper-jerkert-pa-den-vetenskapliga-arenan/

Only serious comments will be accepted.

This is really interesting stuff. Bruce Lipton is one of my favorites in thinking outside the box.

He is not really talking about alternative medicine, but energy as a mean of communication for cells. But think a little bit about it, which implications it can have.

I will ponder a bit about the subject and try to think of models to apply this to for example regarding acupuncture.

This speach is titled: "The New Biology, Where Mind & Matter Meet"

Part 1:

Part 2:

 See also articles at his site.
http://www.brucelipton.com/

Disclaimer: If this by any means is copyright material and you are the owner of it, please ask me to remove it. I put it here as I found it openly, as anyone else can.

Swedish acupuncture research a sham?

Is most of acupuncture research done in Sweden a sham itself?

As I wrote in a previous post, I regard research done with sham acupuncture is to be regarded with sceptisicm since we should not regard these methods as useless.

Research done in Sweden is as far as I know done by physiotherapists and other personell withing the monoploized Swedish health care system. Acupuncturist with longer educadion has little access to research. The problem with this is that the ones doing the research do it after a quick course of two weeks to get to know how to put acupuncture needles into someone after a schedule given at the course.

Doing medical research requires knowledge about chemistry and how cells and receptors work. Should acupuncture studies not be perform the same way? Using practisioners with years of education and experience of acupuncture. Persons that have knowledge how to interpret the symptoms that each patient present and know how to adjust the treatment accordingly.

We know that adjusted acupuncture description during the course of treatment give better result than following a scheme given for a specific condition. All individuals is different and also the symptoms, acupuncture treatments should be given with considderation of what is seen in every individual case. Of course this makes it more difficult to research but should the method have to adapt to a way to research or should the research adapt to the method? If we have a map and should go out in the nature and the nature have changed, should we then regard that the nature can not be prooven to be true since it does not fit the map?

In my opinion, the research should be done by real acupuncturists in a way that is similar to how acupuncture is used in a real setting. Not in a setting that is adjusted in a way to make statistics easy to use.

The problem with sham as placebo in acupuncture studies

Most acupuncture studies applies sham acupuncture as a mean to use placebo in acupuncture studies.

As John Amaro writes in his article at Acupuncturetoday.com Is Most of Acupuncture Research a "Sham?",

"Acupuncture research conclusions cannot be accepted as long as the research is being conducted as shown in the examples I cited. True blind or double-blind studies may essentially be impossible within acupuncture research due to the fact as long as a patient is able to feel a sensation at the point of needle contact (whether actual or simulated), it cannot be considered a valid blind study. The methods utilized in most acupuncture research are without question, a "sham.""

it is not possible to use sham acupuncture as placebo. Placebo is supposed to be without any effect and since sham acupuncture is designed to simulate the de Qi sensation I would say that they are using a placebo-method that is not without an effect.

Sham needling is shallow or just in contact with the skin. Japanese acupuncture has a philosophy of inserting needles shallow or not at all, so called touch needling, and still get effect. Japanese acupuncturist also have the aim to insert the needle with as little pain or sensation for the patient as possible.

Researchers should look beyond Chinese acupuncture and a little bit more to Japanese practitioners, specially Manaka that did a lot of research in acupuncture. Before applying bad study designs which usually show bad results, research should be done on the X-factor as described by Manaka in the "Chasing the Dragons tail". Which also elaborates the effects of needling on the same side contra the opposite side of pain. Reserch should also be done on how different needling methods gives signals in the body osing MRI and other tools not as poorly designed studies with sham acupunture as controlling element.