The Wood Element correlates to spring and the liver/gallbladder organ systems. Just as small seedlings reach upward with tenacity to unfold into their potential, we have within us strong desire to vision and plan for our life and to see if unfold.  The Liver provides us with this powerful upward thrusting energy.  It is also the energy of activism, seeking justice as well as structure and organization.  The gallbladder is the planner, the part of us that can pivot and swerve and respond to circumstances. When in balance, we are motivated and determined, when out of balance we can be frustrated and angry, or discouraged and timid.

The Fire Element is the element of summer and the associated organs are the heart, small intestine, triple heater, and pericardium. It is a time of implementation, communication, relationship, activity, and growth. It is the energy of joy or conversely lack of joy.  If we tend to do too much, engage in inappropriate relationships, or have no energy for life, it could be from an imbalance in the Fire within us.

The Earth Element is expressed by the end of summer, the time of harvest and abundance.  The stomach and spleen are the organs of Earth.  Earth is about nurturing, taking in, boundaries, care, and sympathy.  When in balance we give and receive appropriately, take in what we need, and feel supported by the available abundance.  If out of balance, we may be worried or obsessive, over care, or be unable to feel nourished.

Fall is associated with the Metal Element and the lung and large intestine organs.  It carries the energy of letting go, turning what has gone before into useful compost for the future, transforming grief into nostalgia.  The ability to evaluate and to recognize what is of value are important qualities of Metal.  If out of balance, we can stay stuck in grief about what has gone by or be unable to let go of things that no longer serve us.  It is not hard to imagine someone with a clogged large intestine, a house cluttered with unusable junk, and a mind stuck in the past, someone who can’t breathe in new inspiration.

Water is the element of winter and the kidney and bladder are the associated organs.  Winter is a time to go deep within. Seeds hold potential over the winter, water, as snowpack, holds potential that becomes the force of raging rivers.  The associated emotion is fear- will we survive.  It brings out the qualities of wisdom, perseverance, and the ability to risk appropriately.  If the Water element is out of balance, we may be paranoid, stagnant, unable to go with the flow, or we may put ourselves at risk.

Classical 5 Element Acupuncture is based on the idea that we all, either due to some experience or some original inclination, have a proclivity to associate with one element more than the others. This gives us a filter through which we see the world.  It can be our strength as well as our weakness. It is the area where we tend to go out of balance, and the emotion that provides a backdrop to our lives.  5E Acupuncture works to treat this core element or CF (causative factor) so that its full virtues can exist in harmony with the other elements or phases within us.

The elements are related in an endless round of creation, one giving birth to another, just like the seasons.  There is also a control cycle, where one element influences another by moderating it.  If the Wood Element is raging out of control, and we feel frustrated that life isn’t letting us implement our vision, we can call on the capacity of Metal to help us evaluate.  Does our vision appropriately express our core values? Is our response reflective of our true essence?  If Fire is threatening to burn out- we are doing too much, going all the time, maybe letting people into our heart that upset us, we can use the meditative energy of Water to cool the flames and find depth and calmness.

Developing the transformative capacity of each element, where a challenge can become a virtue, is part of our spiritual evolution.  By stimulating points on energetic meridians, 5E acupuncture can assist us on our journey, helping us align our inner resources and become more aware of our patterns.  As we come into energetic balance, a whole new way of feeling is possible.  Old patterns of pain, illness, and fatigue can be replaced with positive energy for life.  Experience acupuncture and be your best through all the seasons of your life.

The study, led by Dr. Brian M. Berman and reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, involved 570 patients with moderate to severe osteoarthritis, all of whom continued with their prescription treatments. They were also assigned to 23 sessions of traditional Chinese acupuncture or sham non-piercing acupuncture over the course of 26 weeks, or to a control group that received 6 two-hour education sessions over 12 weeks. After eight weeks, participants in the true acupuncture group had a 10.77-point improvement in a standard osteoarthritis function score, significantly greater than those in sham acupuncture group (7.84-point improvement) or the education-only group (5.30 points). After 26 weeks, both pain and function scores were significantly more improved in the true acupuncture group than in the sham group.

At the press conference, researcher Dr. Marc C. Hochberg said that “the maximum improvement in the sham group was about 30 percent in terms of calculated pain score and also the calculated score on functional impairment.” In the true acupuncture group, the improvement was “between 40 percent and 45 percent in both pain and function scores.” Moreover, added Dr. Berman — particularly in light of recent news about arthritis drugs — “there were very few adverse events reported, none on which was thought to be treatment related.”

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, December 21, 2004
By Karla Gale NEW YORK (Reuters Health)

Osteoarthritis most frequently affects the knee joint. Despite a limited evidence base, arthritis patients are increasingly turning to acupuncture, especially as side-effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are common and wide-ranging. Around 300 patients with chronic osteoarthritis of the knee were randomly assigned to acupuncture, minimal (sham) acupuncture (superficial needling at non-acupuncture points), or a waiting list control.

Patients were allowed to use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs throughout the study. Physicians administered acupuncture and minimal acupuncture in 12sessions over 8 weeks. Patients completed questionnaires at the start of treatment, and after 8 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. Analgesic use was similar for patients in the three groups. After 8 weeks, patients given acupuncture had a substantially lower score on an established osteoarthritis index than patients in the control group (26 points and 50 points, respectively). Minimal acupuncture also had short-term benefit compared with no acupuncture (36 points on the osteoarthritis index). However, at 1-year follow-up there was no significant difference in scores between the three groups. Lead investigator Claudia Witt (Charite University Medical Center, Berlin, Germany) comments: “Acupuncture treatment had significant and clinically relevant short-term effects when compared to minimal acupuncture or no acupuncture treatment in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. We now need to assess the long-term effects of acupuncture, both in comparison to sham interventions and to standard treatment.” In an accompanying Comment, Andrew Moore (Pain Research, University of Oxford, UK), states: “The bottom line from Witt and colleagues’ large, long, and high-quality study of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis is that doing something is better than doing nothing.” However he cautions that it is too soon to draw firm conclusions from the current study: “We are still some way short of having conclusive evidence that acupuncture is beneficial in arthritis or in any other condition, other than in a statistical or artificial way. There is limited evidence of effect and, with exceptions, of cost-effectiveness. Most importantly, the need for needles is still in doubt.”

7/8/2005 CHIPS Network