Time flies!

There is a time for doing and a time for simply just being.

Let's begin with I'm so sorry I have been unable to be reached by bloggers and occasionally by my own family and friends while in the outback, farm, bush or jungle.

Honestly, I regret not updating my blog when I could of easily popped in some internet cafe and bunged my memory stick with work from my laptop like some a eager beaver but really I was just a lazy slag livin' la vida loca!

As I turned my focus on being and blowing where the wind breezed for a while I discovered new things.

By chance on my journey to over seven countries, as a part-time doctor and most of the time traveller, I did encounter ill people:) So, I was inclined to be of help with maybe some ear magnets, acupuncture needles and other tools of the trade in some randomn places like supermarket check out lines, a public bathroom, farmer's markets or makeshift clinics.

I will happily give you an account of my many clinical experiences since travelling abroad as I regain a foothold on how to help more people.

I've turned a new leaf. Allowing the past of blogging inactivity over various constraints, hyper crtical editing and plain old laziness to be forgiven and gone...

Well, I'd really like to know who is still interested?

If you read this blog post, kindly let me know what you would like to read:

What is ear acupuncture? Acu-detox? Why birds are similar to jumpy menopausal women? How acupuncture is in the news? Hmm.

I guess..I'll start with that and see who is out there:)

Oh baby: The future of parenthood

Babies are everywhere! Though the international decline in population recently has been dramatic, I can't imagine how. The number of strollers I almost get run down by within a day, I can't tell ya. But aren't they so adorable...

Do I hear a biological clock ticking away?

I'm turning 30, so some people wonder where my children are, and then tell me "honey, you ain't getting any younger". Thanks for the update, I say, is that a fact? How long can you wait to have children I wonder? Can you believe women in their fifties are having babies???

I like the idea of being an older mom. Women for the first time in history have had more babies in the age group of 30-35. A friend of mine recently had a baby, she was 41. Wow, that's old, right? Not really. Check out this hot mama at 66 yrs of age?!?

But what about the birth defects?

Against popular belief, most children with Down’s syndrome, a complication believed due to age of the mother, are born to younger mothers: 51% to mothers under 30, 72% to women under 35. Older women are more likely to have complications during pregnancy like high blood pressure. But there is no reason why a fit and healthy woman in her forties should not have a successful pregnancy.

What if I'm not getting pregnant?

Technology is almost Sci-Fi, combined with ancient wisdom, its almost miraculous. Acupuncture actually improves I.V.F fertility treatments by 50%. How phenomenal! To me this means more options for women today who want to conceive later than traditional standards. Women in their 30's are having their eggs frozen so that they conceive later in life.

But then again, is parenthood really for me?

Good question.

Parenthood has lost its charm they say. Europe's plunging birthrate has hit new lows. A clinic in east Germany used to deliver around 2,500 babies a year, now the number has fallen to 880.

"The problem is that some people have become less tolerant of children. They see them as loud, stressful and a bit of a pain," Dr Schulz from the clinic, said. "They'd rather have a cat or a dog."

For myself, children seem way too much to handle. Maybe later, maybe never. But hopefully, not now.

Fat???: TCM's take on the bulge

Everywhere around the world, people are getting really fat. Even the Chinese!

You have finally made the decision to lose weight. You know it won't be easy but not impossible. You also know how you'll go about the diet and excercise part but won't know if its the best way until it works. Others you know have lost weight maybe doing Atkins or Slimfast and may have fallen into that sorry 95% of people who just gain it right back!

Have you ever wondered why people are not getting it right. Today, the dogma of calories in vs. calories out dominates weight loss thoery, but maybe we're losing sight of the bigger picture?

Similar to the modern understanding of weight loss, Traditional Chinese Medicine showed around 200 B.C that bad eating habits and lack of excercise are the main culprits of obesity. However, much emphasis was placed on your underlying body condition and how it can contribute to weight gain. Contrary to the one size fits all approach to slimming down nowadays.

The proper function of your Liver, Spleen, Kidney and Urinary Bladder lead to weight loss. T.C.M focuses on getting these in good working condition to elimante fat effectively. You may be wondering, how effectively?

Does Guiness World record breaking effective sound good?

A hospital in Tianjin City, north China, has set a world record for its weight loss treatment program for obese patients. The Aimin Fat Reduction Hospital has successfully helped over a thousand extremely overweight people to slim down.

Two patients, have set records for losing high amounts of weight within short periods of time. In one case, a man who weighed 265 kg(585 lbs) lost 80 kg(176 lbs) in 100 days.

Check out some great before and after weight loss photos of China's little emperor's.

Skin care: beauty is skin deep but ugly is to the bone...

So, like most women, I dread the thought of one day...I'll be wrinkled and old.

I do try little things that go a long way to delay the aging process.

1. Applying sun screen everyday, mineral based.
2. Sleeping on my back with my face up (never wake up that way but it's worth a try!)
3. Rubbing facial expression lines before bed to smooth out the wrinkles so to speak.
4. Always reminding myself to drink more water to keep hydrated.
5. Sleeping well and trying not to wait till I'm completley exhausted to go to bed.

In the west, creams, serums and surgery are the main defense against aging. Unlike the east, women understand that their internal harmony of health keeps aging at bay and beauty blossoming.

However, recently, there has been a rise in 'cosmeceuticals' in the west. A term used for cosmetics with drug-like effects. Cosmeceuticals work at a deeper level. For example, increasing collagen at the skin's cellular level. Check out a good article by the FDA on the current trend of using medicine to improve beauty.

For thousands of years, medicine has been used to enhance beauty in the Orient. Proving that medicine can bring beauty from the inside out.

I believe women should understand that buying a $570, 2 ounce tube of cream will probably not do as much in terms of anti-aging as getting in the habit of a good night's sleep.

A popular line of skin care that offers this ridiculously expensive product is, author of the New York Times best seller book, The Wrinkle Cure...the amazing Dr. Perricone.

I do applaud his efforts in introducing cosmeceuticals into mainstream awareness.
He advises a healthy diet and lifestyle to achieve best results, and, of course, along with his supplements and creams.

The only bone I have to pick with Dr. Perricone is that he uses mostly vitamins instead of herbs to promote health and beauty. Being an herbalist and obviously bias, the fact still remains that synthetic vitamins are pale and ugly in comparison to mother nature's home brew. The spectrum of natural vitamin C and its isolated processed form differ greatly. The herbs he does offer are isolated and not in a synergistic formula with other herbs which is key.

Alas, if women cannot see the true connection of health and beauty in the their day to day lives and insist on buying it in a bottle...Hopefully, they will spend it on something that really works. But, I would rather see women not smoking instead of wasting their money on snail spit beauty creams for their wrinkles.

This is a great example of what it's about.. Its an incredible study of aging on twins, see how these sets of twins look drastically different due to the impact of their lifestyle choices.

Yin-Yang: The down low

Have you ever wondered what Yin-Yang is all about?

Well, lets just say its about everything.

The concept spans to every corner in Oriental culture, philosphy, art, and even medicine.

Its like putting on yin-yang glasses and seeing things in a differnt light.

Many people believe Oriental medicine to be of no scientific value since the explanations about Oriental Medical principles are expressed in non-modern terms such as Yin-Yang.

However, its concepts should not be rejected just because people do not understand them.

The concept of Yin-Yang is radically different from Western logic which is based upon the opposition of contraries. According to Aristotelian logic, which has dominated Western thought for thousands of years, contraries (such as "the sky is blue" and "the sky is not blue" cannot both be true.

The theory of Yin-Yang holds everything has two opposite aspects. Each thing could be itself and its opposite. The Yin-Yang nature of a phenomenon is not absolute but relative. This lack of concrete objectiveness allows an individual to observe and interpret phenomena in a constant state of change.

This differentiation is the approach Oriental medicine uses to conceptualize the human body to explain its physiology and pathology and to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Unlike Western medicine, which uniformly categorizes disease and follows universal protocols in its treatments, not one human body is believed to be the same as the next. By clearly classifying physical constitutions and individual differences, treatment methods are established based solely on the individual.

In Oriental medicine, the theory of Yin-Yang serves to explain everything in yin and yang qualities. From the organic structure of the human body as well as the nature of its functional activities, to the pathogenic factors which cause disease.

Disease results from the loss of relative balance between yin and yang, being in excess or deficiency of either.

The following is a descriptions of the physiological manifestations of yin and yang. See if you can pick up a pattern...

Excess Yang (Deficiency Yin):
1. High body temperature, likes coolness
2. Red face
3. Red Tongue
4. Restless and fidgets
5. Demands lots of water, especially cold
6. Likes plain and cool food
7. Urine is dark, scanty, and infrequent
8. Becomes easily constipated
9. Loud voice, likes to talk
10. Strong exhalation
11. Likes cold season
12. More tired after sunrise
13. Feels refreshed after sunset
14. Body is comfortable on cloudy days
15. Dislikes bright light
16. Feels worse around three o'clock in the afternoon
17. Insomnia
18. Throws off bed sheets
19. Likes to lie stretched out
20. Intense emotional activity and has difficulty staying calm

Excess Yin ( Deficiency Yang):
1. Low body temperature, likes warmth
2. Pale face
3. Pale tongue
4. Slow to move, lethargic
5. Has little thirst and likes warm water
6. Likes warm and spicy food
7. Urine is clear, copious and frequent
8. Tends to have diarrhea or loose stools
9. Weak voice, likes to stay quiet
10. Strong inhalation
11. Likes warm season
12. More refreshed after sunrise
13. Has no energy after sunset
14. Body is comfortable during clear days
15. Likes bright light
16. Feels worse around five o' clock in the morning
17. Tends to be sleepy
18. Likes to be covered
19. Likes to be curled up
20. Timid and has difficulty asserting oneself


Since the distinctions of Yin-Yang can be found in the physical constitution, in the conditions of a disease and in the properties of a herb, naturally the disease can be eliminated by applying these Yin-Yang principles to regain balance and health.


By using the concept of Yin-Yang, this is how T.C.M achieves health. It's all about balancing Yin-Yang.

Modern v.s Ancient medicine: Who's right?

Traditional Chinese Medicine (T.C.M) is based on invisble energy. According to conventional thinking, it is undeniably irrational. The terminology of energy, Qi, sounds "nonmedical". The spirit seems superstitious, and unscientific. Concepts like wind attack or heart fire are unfamiliar to Western medicine and thus illogical.

Are thousands of years of T.C.M practice on a quater of the global population a placebo effect?

Western medicine focuses on the body, as opposed to the mind, believing the two to be seperate. I believe having a scientific approach is vital yet with such a narrow focus one can easily lose sight of the whole picture.

Ah...the differences between western and eastern medicine.