Turning Point Acupuncture Newsletter
Vol. 2 Number 1
Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Patients,
HAPPY SPRING!
Finally New York City is beginning to feel like Spring! In this issue of the Turning Point Acupuncture Newsletter we
will take a look at this season of new beginnings from the perspective of Chinese Medicine. We will give special
attention to those of you who suffer when the flora starts to bloom. Spring also brings new faces to our staff. See below
for details.
Newsletter Contents:
1. Spring Allergy Season
2. Staff News
3. AIDS Walk
4. Turning Point Acupuncture Spring Hours
1. Spring Allergy Season
It's that time when the world outside wakes from the long winter slumber. The trees bud and toss off pollen to announce
their awakening. It's the onset of trouble for the 35 million Americans who suffer from seasonal allergies characterized
by itchy eyes, runny noses, sneezing, sinus headaches and even asthma. Western medications, typically
antihistamines and decongestants, help to alleviate many of these symptoms but do not address the underlying energy
imbalances that are at the root of the problem.
Chinese medicine teaches us that wood is the element of spring and the color of the season is green. The wind (feng)
of the early spring season is the mixed dregs of the winter blasts and the new breath of spring. The organ system
associated with the spring is the liver (not to be confused with the western understanding of the anatomical organ).
This means that it is the most susceptible to injury at this time of year. Add this seasonal propensity to the constant
taxing stresses of urbanite life and the pathology which leads to allergy response ensues. A weakened liver gives way
to blood deficiency (by Chinese standard, NOT necessarily anemia by western standard). Blood deficiency leaves
space in the vessels, making them ripe for invasion by wind. Disturbances of the liver are often compared to the wind
moving through the trees. Itchy eyes and skin rashes, that come on suddenly, fall into this description. When the wind
attacks, it attacks at the exposed surface of the body, the skin. The skin and its defensive capacities belong to the
lungs. When the temperature rises, the pores open and the defensive shield of the lungs is further weakened.
Invading wind symptoms of spring allergies are similar to the symptoms of colds and flu
(http://www.nycacupuncture.com/archive.html#3); though unlike cold/flu, allergies are most commonly related to
wind-cold invasion.
It might be tempting to pull out the shorts and tank top on a sunny spring day. But give your body a chance to get used
to the new weather of spring. Follow the wisdom of Chinese medicine and, until the weather is consistently warm,
take care to protect yourself by keeping (especially the neck) covered. If you've tired of the winter scarf, why not try an
ascot for a change?
There are a number of herbs which are described to have the property of "dispelling wind." Most often, these herbs are
light (e.g., flowers, twigs) and have an acrid taste. It was thought by the ancient Chinese that these substances floated
to the skin level or surface of the body because of their lightness and could disperse the congestion there by virtue of
their acridity.
At Turning Point Acupuncture we combine acupuncture and herbal medicine as a regime to relieve allergies.
Acupuncture is used to balance and to remove blockages in the body's energy (qi). It also strengthens the lung and
liver qi and in particular the defensive qi (wei qi) to the end of blocking the invasion of the wind - and therefore in our
modern thinking, blocking the evil air-borne pollens, bacteria and virus pathogens.
In our herbal formulary there are four formulas commonly used together to defend the body from wind assaults. Jade
Windscreen and/or Astra C tonify the wei qi/lung qi. Xanthium Relieve Surface and Minor Blue Dragon do a
great job of supporting the body in quelling and dispelling the wind. Minor Blue Dragon is better suited to addressing
profuse clear and thin sinus discharge.
Xanthium Relieve Surface, Jade Windscreen, Minor Blue Dragon and Astra C will all be on sale in April and
May.
Finally, some vitamins and supplements can help the body inhibit the allergic response. These include vitamins C, E,
B3, B5, B6 and B12, and the minerals calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Concentrated bioflavonoids, especially
quercetin and/or Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids can also inhibit allergies. Discuss this with your practitioner to assess
which are right for you.
Chinese medicine offers a complete system of therapeutics to address seasonal allergies in all types of its
presentation. In fact, many of the western treatments for allergies have been derived from isolated compounds of
single herbs. The art of deriving maximum benefit is not in using the same herb or its isolate to treat all cases, but in
using the right herb in the context of the formula suited to the Chinese diagnosis of each patient.
2. Staff News
New Acupuncturist!
We welcome Joan-Ellen Macredis, ND, LAc., a naturopathic physician who went on to study Chinese and Japanese
acupuncture and herbology at the New England School of Acupuncture. Dr. Macredis will have hours at Turning Point
on Monday mornings from 7:30 am until 1 pm starting April 23rd. Although she will be practicing Chinese Medicine
exclusively at Turning Point, she will be available for consultations in Homeopathy by special arrangement with the front
desk. For more about Joan-Ellen and her personal philosophy of medicine go to the Doc Bios page at:
http://www.nycacupuncture.com/docbios.html
Massage!
We also welcome John T. Smith, OT, an occupational therapist and licensed massage therapist to our practice.
John will be available for therapeutic massage on Saturday afternoons starting May 12th. John has extensive
massage experience having been on staff with American Ballet Theater for some years and having toured with Mikhail
Baryshnikov and Natalia Makarova. He has been Dr. Rabinowitz's massage therapist since the 1970's!
Appointments can be made by calling
212 579-4754.
Other new faces:
Joining us this Spring at the reception desk are Ihsan Bracy and Nancy Lewis Jones. Mr. Bracy is a writer, theater
director and performer. A Bennington College graduate, he has three children of his own in college now! His latest
book of short stories, Ibo Landing, was published by Cool Groove Press
(http://www.coolgrove.com/cgpress.htm).
Nancy has very broad work experience that includes managing Monty Python's Flying Circus, so we are sure nothing
can fluster her! Her husband, actor Simon Jones, is currently starring in the off-Broadway play Passion Play. Lourdes
Guzman, currently completing the Lincoln Hospital acupuncture detox technician program, will be joining us shortly to
assist in the treatment rooms. Lourdes is a Reiki master and teacher.
Other Staff News:
Kelleigh McKenzie, our resident musician, will be getting married to Jeff Michne (our former Tai Chi instructor) on
May 19th. May they enjoy years of bliss!
Rita Hoo is working towards completion of her first year of course work in Chinese Medicine at the Pacific Institute of
Oriental Medicine.
Carmen Cameron-Wolfe has left us to pursue her twin passions of flamenco dancing and stained glass making.
Patricia Lockery, tap dancer extraordinaire, is assisting choreographer Luigi in the preparation of a new show (with
visions of Broadway dancing in their eyes).
Deborah Oster Pannell, our office manager, is producing and directing a documentary film on the humanitarian
consequences of economic sanctions against Iraq called Christmas in Baghdad. There will be a benefit for the project
on Wednesday evening, June 13, 2001.
More information is available at
http://www.geocities.com/christmasinbaghdad.
David Glynn has moved to Los Angeles to pursue his career as a computer artist. He can be reached through his
web site
http://www.glynns.com
3.AIDS Walk
Again this year we are supporting the GMHC annual AIDS Walk Sunday, May 20, 2001.
To register online follow this link:
http://www.aidswalk.net/newyork
4. Turning Point Acupuncture Spring Hours
Starting April 23rd we will be seeing patients daily from 7:30 am (8 am on Tuesdays) until 6:30 pm (7pm on
Wednesday and until 6 pm on Friday). Saturday hours are 10 am - 3pm.
In May John T. Smith will see massage clients on Saturday from 3pm on.
Dr. Macredis is available to do homeopathy consults by appointment only at 1 pm on Mondays.
To review our usual hours and staffing click here:
http://www.nycacupuncture.com/patientinfo.html
Elevator note:
We will all be inconvenienced for the next six months by long needed repairs on the building elevators. For quickest
access to our fifth floor office, all patients should use the freight elevator located west of the 1841 building entrance
(between the Rich and Famous Deli and Mike's Copy Center). The stairs can also be used by the hardy. Ask our front
desk people for directions.
We all at Turning Point Acupuncturee wish you ...
A Happy and Healthy Spring!
Naomi Rabinowitz, MD and E. Shane Hoffman, MAcOM, Lac
17 April 2001
Turning Point Acupuncture
1841 Broadway, Suite 509
New York City, NY 10023
212 489-5038
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copyright 2001 Naomi Rabinowitz and Shane Hoffman
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