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Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture Can Make Aging Easier
As International Day of Older Persons approaches this October 1st, we become reminded of how difficult it can be to maintain health as our bodies age.
Though aging is never an easy process, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) offers many solutions to the physical and emotional strains of getting older.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the older American population<persons 65 years or older<numbered 36.3 million in 2004, and that number is expected to reach 69.4 million by the year 2030. This group represents 12.4% of the U.S. population, about one in every eight Americans.
Yet as large as it is, the elderly population in America experiences an alarming number of health problems that are often inadequately treated, such as arthritis, depression, pain, memory loss, constipation, muscle and joint stiffness, stress and loneliness.
Chinese medicine encompasses a variety of preventative techniques that can all work to make the aging process easier and even slower. These include manual therapies, such as acupuncture and massage; exercises like tai chi and Qi gong, whose gentle movements and low physical impact are ideal for aging bodies; and herbal formulas.
Acupuncture has been cited by the World Health Organization to treat over 43 conditions, including many of those experienced by senior citizens. Acupuncture can help with these ailments by increasing the circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids, reducing muscular tension, relieving pain, and releasing endorphins. Improved circulation brings fresh oxygen to body tissues, which eliminates waste products from inside the body and enhances recovery from diseases. By keeping the body balanced, acupuncture can both restore and maintain health, as well as creating a bond between practitioner and patient that can serve to relieve loneliness and depression.
According to Chinese medical practitioners, Qi (or energy) is conducted between the surface of the body and internal organs along pathways called Meridians. It is Qi that regulates spiritual, emotional, mental and physical balance. When the flow of Qi is disrupted through poor health habits, stress or other circumstances, disease can result. Acupuncture helps keep the flow of this energy unblocked, thereby helping to maintain a person¹s health.
ACTCM, a non-profit institution, has provided affordable, quality health care to the public and trained professionals in acupuncture and Chinese medicine since 1980. ACTCM has been the recipient of many awards for its curriculum, faculty and clinic, and has been voted "Best of the Bay" by both the San Francisco Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
For more information on how acupuncture and Chinese medicine can
help the health issues faced by senior citizens, please call (415)
355-1601 x12.
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