The latest pro-athlete in the news to receive acupuncture is Swedish soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic.  He was treated over the weekend for a swollen knee, in preparation for Euro 2008 this week.  I think we're approaching the day when it won't be news that an athlete is getting acupuncture, since nowadays it seems more common than not.  I think it should only be news if a player ISN'T getting acupuncture for a sports injury!

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/06/15/euro-ibrahimovic-sweden.html

At an American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago recently, new research was presented on acupuncture for head and neck cancer patients.  The study was done at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.   Seventy post-radiation patients were divided into two groups - one group had standard treatments and the other group had standard treatments plus acupuncture.  In the group which had acupuncture, 39% of patients reported improvements in pain and mobility.  In the group without acupuncture, only 7% reported improvements.  In my opinion, this is the direction medicine should be going - the integration of Western and Eastern approaches.  There's no reason why we can't take the best that each has to offer and have the best of both worlds.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNewsMolt/idUKN3140082420080531

Well, I've managed to find an acupuncture news item in another unusual place - in the "Seasons of the Garden" column of Mother Earth News.  This column covers backyard gardening news and this month's edition has a piece on acupuncture for corn.  Apparently, when a toothpick is stuck through the base of an ear of sweet corn, the ear ripens earlier and has extra sweetness!  The way it works is that sugar concentrates near plants wounds.  Actually, a lot my clients seem sweeter after acupuncture, so I think this theory applies to humans as well.   

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/1985-07-01/The-Seasons-of-the-Garden.aspx

Acupuncture is hitting the mainstream in more ways than ever and the latest news out of Portland, Oregon proves it.  Portland is getting an acupuncture treatment!  Adam Kuby placed the first needle by the Willamette River and hopes to place more soon, giving Portland a boost of Qi where it needs it most.  It got me thinking, if I were to do an acupuncture treatment on NYC, where would I put the needles?  I would definitely put some local points around town - like Times Square and Penn Station for the stagnant Qi - and some distal points in the Tri-State area - say, Albany and Trenton for the harmonizing effects.  I'd have to charge more for the outcall though.  = )

http://www.torontosun.com/News/World/2008/05/11/5531451-sun.html

According to a survey sent to 1400 hospitals around the nation, about 25% offer complementary therapies.  The modalities offered include acupuncture, massage, herbal medicine and chiropractic care.  The hospitals which have these modalities available tend to be large facilities in urban areas.  I think we're trending in the right direction here, with the future of health care being an optimal blend of allopathic and alternative medicine! 

http://report-trans-union-expression.blogspot.com/2008/04/july-20-2006-more-than-one-in-four-us_27.html

I'm not a big fan of bureaucracy (who is?) but after reading this article, I have more appreciation for the way acupuncture is regulated in the US.  According to AdelaideNow, Australia is having a problem with fake acupuncturists!  It's scary to think that people who may be entirely unqualified are actually putting needles into other people.  However, we haven't gotten it right yet either.  In some states there are no regulations whatsoever.  In other states, acupuncturists have to be supervised by an MD.  I'm hoping that as American acupuncture evolves from it's stage of infancy to adolescence, these kinks will be worked out to the benefit of both practitioners and consumers.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,23578614-2682,00.html