Publication Date: Wednesday Feb 11, 1998

Getting to the point

Jennifer Allen was paralyzed by morning sickness in the first trimester of her pregnancy. Plagued by constant feelings of nausea, she was unable to go about her normal work at her family printing business in Palo Alto.

When her obstetrician couldn't offer any relief, Allen overcame her fear of needles and turned to acupuncturist Aiyana Lent.

"I told my obstetrician, who said, 'Oh yes, it does work for some people,'" she said.

After the first visit to Lent's University Avenue acupuncture practice, Allen said she stopped feeling nauseous and went back to work.

"I'm a total convert," said Allen, as she lay on Lent's couch with five needles protruding from her wrists, ankles and forehead.

Two weeks after her first visit, Allen said she almost didn't need to come back for any more treatment. But she finds the one-hour sessions relaxing, she said. She normally falls asleep after a few minutes in the warm room that wafts with soothing New Age music.

"I have a really stressful job," said Allen. "This gives me a reprieve."

Acupuncture has been around for at least 2,500 years as a form of traditional Chinese medicine. But only over the last few years is it beginning to gain acceptance as a bona fide medical practice in the United States. According to the World Health Organization, there are about 10,00 acupuncture specialists in the United States, 3,000 of whom are also practicing physicians.

Last November, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded that there is clear evidence that needle acupuncture treatment is effective in the treatment of morning sickness, as well as postoperative and chemotherapy nausea. NIH concluded that there are also a number of other pain-related conditions for which acupuncture may be effective as an acceptable alternative to--or as part of--a comprehensive treatment plan.

While there is less convincing scientific evidence in the latter case, the NIH said, acupuncture may be helpful in treatment of lower-back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches and asthma.

Palo Alto acupuncturist Lent said that at least half of her patients come to her with pain-related complaints. And 90 percent come to her as a last resort, she said.

"People have been to doctors and chiropractors," said Lent. "People put (acupuncture) off for months because of their fear of needles."

But over the last few years, acupuncture has gained much more acceptance as a medical practice, said Lent, who trained in Oakland 12 years ago and is a licensed acupuncturist in California and nationally. On Jan. 1 this year, Lent signed up with the Blue Shield of California insurance plan.

And, according to Allen, she can't even feel the hair-thin acupuncture needles penetrate her skin. The needles leave tiny pink pin-pricks in her wrists and ankles after Lent carefully removes them after half an hour of treatment.

Acupuncture works by tapping into the body's energy patterns, known as "chi," according to Lent. Scientifically, this is the equivalent of releasing endorphines, she said. Lent has a huge chart hanging in her room that illustrates the hundreds of points that affect different organs or parts of the body. Lent said that the needles in Allen's wrists, ankles and forehead help to calm and soothe her.

"Usually your life force should be flowing around your body easily, but sometimes it gets stuck," said Lent. "(Allen's) chi is rising, so we're trying to settle it back down where it should be--in the stomach."

Lent said that acupuncture works best as a form of preventive medicine.

"We treat the body as a whole," said Lent. "Acupuncture starts the healing process."

Lent also offers her patients Chinese herbs to continue their treatment at home and advises on more healthy life-style practices.

Allen said that she feels there is room for alternative remedies like acupuncture alongside Western medicine.

"This has been around for much longer," she said. "And there's a place for both."

The chairman of the NIH panel, Dr. David J. Ramsay, released its findings last year. The report noted the challenge in studying acupuncture was integrating the theory of Chinese medicine into the conventional Western biomedical research model and into the conventional health care arena.

"We need more high-quality research to validate what appears to be useful for the millions of Americans that have used acupuncture in this country," said Ramsay, who is president of the University of Maryland in Baltimore.

The NIH called for more uniform licensing of acupuncturists in the United States and recommended an increase in training.

For more information, call the California Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at (800) 477-4564. 

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