NEWS RELEASE

  Acupuncture Offers Men a Tune Up During Men’s Health Week

San Francisco, CA (June 10, 2008) – Celebrated every year as the week leading up to Father’s Day, Men's Health Week aims to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. Acupuncture and Chinese medicine serve to help in this effort by providing a safe, pain-free way to maintain one’s health and prevent diseases.

Recent studies show that men are increasingly at high risk for health problems such as stress, high blood pressure, prostate cancer, diabetes, depression, addiction and obesity. Men ages 29-44 have a 40 percent higher chance of having a heart attack than women; 190,000 more men are diagnosed with a cancer each year than women; and 88% (864 million) of smokers world-wide are men. Furthermore, the American Psychological Association reports that men are often “silent sufferers” of emotional and stress-related disorders, leading number of health problems including weakened immune system, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, diabetes, pain, weight loss/gain, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, memory & concentration problems, allergies, substance abuse and more.

While studies may show men’s health steadily declining, acupuncture and Chinese medicine can offer help to many of the common ailments that men face. The 3,000-year-old practice of acupuncture helps men deal with and overcome their health issues by rebalancing the body’s immune system, hormones, and blood flow. 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 man’s health.

Acupuncture has been cited by the World Health Organization to treat over 43 conditions, including those often experienced by men such as stress. Using acupuncture to treat health problems of concern to men has been growing in popularity; a Kaiser study conducted in 1996 found that 57.2 percent of primary care physicians in Northern California used or recommended acupuncture in the previous year. And according to the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, one out of every 10 adults in the United States has tried acupuncture.

For more information on the benefits of acupuncture in men’s healthcare, please contact the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine at (415) 355-1601 x12.