|
|
n. 4/2000
|
|
|
.
|
Abstract |
Rony Hermon Abraham Man |
.
|
Wise
is the scholar who studies
ancient theories to understand new ideas” Confucius is a growing
problem A person is considered
“obese” if he weighs more than 40% over the recommended weight for his
height. In industrialised countries the number of people considered overweight
is constantly growing. A recent survey shows that
the number of Americans considered overweight has grown substantially. In 1980 the 25.4% of the
American population was estimated to be overweight. In 1991 this estimate
has already climbed to 33.3%. The situation is similar in
Italy where overweight and obesity have lately hit respectively 39% and 7% of
men adult population and 25% and 6% of women. The “Americanisation” of eating
habits of the Italians, especially the younger generation, is very worrying. A study on 8,000 children
in the primary schools in ten regions in Italy, organised by the Italian
Association of Endocrinology and the research of diets of children, showed
that about 20% of them are considered overweight, and for the first time in
Italy it showed that 4.7% were considered “obese”. Overweight and obesity, by
general consensus are recognised as major disease risk factors. to put on weight This point depends on the
quantity of fatty cells in the body. When the size of these fatty cells goes
down below a certain level, a signal of “hunger” is sent to the brain. A
fatter person has more of these cells, therefore the signal will be much
louder. A person can fight the urge
to eat for a limited period of time, but eventually this signal becomes too
loud to be ignored, and the individual eats and puts on weight. Other important factors
influencing the tendency to put on weight are: hormonal status (such as menstruation
and menopause in women), endocrinological and metabolic problems such as hypothyroidism
and diabetes, psychological or social pressures. are obviously the
main tools for shedding excess weight As far as dieting is
concerned, there are hundreds of different diet methods that try to solve the
problem of excess weight. We all know that reducing
drastically the intake of food is the worst thing to be done as it will
expose to the risks of severe nutritional deficits and moreover it will cause
only a temporary loss of weight. The moment the individual
will revert to his usual eating habits, he will quickly put on weight till
his weight returns to what it was before the diet andsometimes even more than
that. This happens mainly because
at the beginning of the diet the body’s metabolism is slowed down to avoid
symptoms of hunger, at the end of the diet it does not immediately go back to
normal therefore causing a rapid increase in weight. It is therefore important not
only to lose weight in a healthy, balanced way but also to be able to learn
correct eating habits in order to maintain the results on the long run,
hopefully life-long. This ideal goal can only be
reached if the diet chosen meets the practical needs of present life style
and takes care of the hunger sensation. controlling
appetite That usually happens only
when people are motivated by pathological conditions which require a drastic
loss of weight, in some cases aestethic reasons might do the trick. In any case hunger and
cravings are a constant problem for people on calories restricted regimen
which obviously cuts down on quantities and quality of food compared to their
previous diet. The value of doctors’ role
in educating and motivating patients to comply is tremendous and crucial for
the success of patients dieting, but often it is not enough! Once the patient is out of
the doctors office an extra help for reducing appetite and helping patient
to comply is frequently needed. It is already useless to
enter discussions on anorexants which in many countries have been banned for
their side-effects and addiction risks: in Italy the Ministry of Health’s
veto for prescribing anorexants and even preparing galenical anorexants is
just a few weeks old. Excluding then pharmacological
help and considering also that available new pharmacological options take
care only of reducing the fat absorption but do not take care of the hunger
control issue, while new pharmacological compounds for appetite control are
still in the experimental phase, the only present options might be based
either on psychological support or on natural methods. a drug-less way to control
appetite and help
succeeding in weight
reduction In our 20 years long
experience, auricolotherapy has shown to be very effective in reducing
appetite but also very practical for doctors and patients. Doctors find that
auricolotherapy is a technique which is easily and quickly performed in the practice
as it does not need patients to undress and does not need complicated nor
expensive devices. Patients find this technique agreeable as it is painless
and obviously effective in controlling their hunger. It consists in the
application of acupuncture needles in the appetite sites in both auricles. The needles used are very
small, 1 millimetre long and their application is painless, they are
obviously sterile, disposable and practically invisible; they are left in
place for 6 weeks and checked by doctors during the weekly visits. Their action helps to
diminish the sensation of hunger but it is not responsible for the weight
loss, that aspect being taken care by the diet. Moreover the constant
presence of the acupressure needles helps patients particularly at the
beginning of dieting as a constant support reinforcing their motivation to
adhere until the correct way of eating becomes a habit. has been studied to meet patients’
needs in a natural way We should not forget that
food is not only a source of energy and substances essential to keep the
organism alive and in good health, it is also a source of pleasure, a part of
our cultural tradition: we cannot stop eating in order to lose weight, we
have to learn to eat correctly. Therefore a diet should not be associated
with suffering, on the contrary it should help people feeling better both
physically and psychologically. To be successful a weight
loss diet cannot only be balanced, healthy, it should also be actionable and
help people learning correct eating habits possibly for life. Taking into consideration
all these issues, we based our dietological method on food categories recombination
principles. That is to say that by
combining food groups and by frequently changing the combinations, we
stimulate the metabolism to work. This allows us to prescribe
diets which are varied in quality, thus avoiding the risk of nutritional
deficits, and satisfying in quantity (no reasonable quantity limit for most
of the food each time prescribed). The method produces
significative results in terms of weight loss, at the expense of fat deposits
without reducing muscular mass. Our case histories gathered
on over 30,000 patients treated in our 20 years long practice show an average
weekly decrease of 10% of the calculated overweight. Inour method excess weight
is calculated by the doctor with the aid of our exclusive software, which
considers individual patient parameters such as weight, sex, age, body mass
index etc. Data are recorded by
doctors during the complete clinical and biological initial anamnesis and
checked thereafter during the weekly visits. Usually treatment cycles
are 3 month long, allowing a maximum loss of 20 Kg, if needed. Cycles can be repeated to
achieve the calculated weight loss. The overall high rate of
success reported - over 90% of patients achieving the calculated weight loss
- is matched by an equally high rate of tolerability, the method being
practically devoid of side effects, as confirmed during the periodical
clinical and biochemical checks. High rate of success and low rate of
drop-outs (2-3%) are a consequence of the high level of acceptance of the method,
as confirmed by patients themselves. Particularly appreciated
are some practical aspects meeting the needs of nowadays life styles: no
need of weighing food, possibility of adhering to prescribed diets even working
outside home, dieting options for vegetarians persons with particular food
intolerances etc. But other aspects are also important
like variation of daily diets which are not boring, the filling and
satisfying food quantities together with the effective and natural control of
the appetite by the acupuncture in the ears. really work? Chinese medicine stands at the bonding point between
spiritualism and materialism, science and philosophy. This principle has to
be taken into consideration to understand that the explanation of the
“mechanism of action” of acupuncture cannot follow western medicine patterns.
In fact when a needle pricks the skin during acupuncture treatment, it sends
an electric stimulus to the brain, this cause the brainto transmit to all
areas of the body a “healing order”. This is the way in whichthe western
world explains Chinese medicine. From the Chinese point ofview this explanation is
not sufficient. They point out that neurologists cannot explain why in
certain points anatomically pertaining to innervated areas, the needle has an
effect while in others a few millimeters away, there is none. For the Chinese the human body is made of two parts:
the body (we are familiar with this part) and the “Chi”, the fuel of life.
There is no life if there is no “Chi” and there is no health if the flow of
the “Chi” in the body is not normal. According to the Chinese the “Chi” flows
through the meridians or more approprialtely “channels”. These can be
describedas an undergroundtransportation system along which the “Chi” can
move freely around the body. When the “Chi” flows properly through our body then
all the organs will be functional. If there is an obstruction, or the flow of
“Chi” slows down in one of the channels, or there is a drop in the amountof
“Chi” in the body, then we can expect a problem with the sytem: infection,
pain, swelling, disorders, unbalance etc. The placment of the acupuncture points is not
random. The “underground” flow of the “Chi” opens up through the skin in
those points (like control points along pipelines, that are there to help
release obstructions). By pricking a specific point, the flow of the “Chi”
can be stimulated and this will help the body to heal or to correct
unbalances. points Dr. Nogier was the first to investigate the ear according
to the principles of Chinese medicine and was able to bring new life to that
field. He discovered physiological connnections between the human foetus and
the ear that sparkeda wave of intense research in China that lead to great
developments in that field. There is an intriguing similarity between it and
the human foetus, in the upside down position it is in just before birth. The
lobe represents the head, the conchae the internal organs, etc… Scientific experimentation in both China and Europe
showed that there is physiological link between certain areas of the ear and
parts of the human body. Up to today about 200 points have been found on the
ear, when these are stimulated they send signals to the brain which diverts
it to the corresponding area of funciton of the body. Acupuncture in the ear is efficient in the cure of
many diseases as well as in the control of pain and appetite. The points in
the ear are the most important for surgery performed with the aid of
acupuncture for anesthesia. Transmission of signals occurs between the
stimulated points and the thalamus, the centre for pain control, and from
there into the cortex of the brain. (This is suggested, not a proven
explanation). Acupuncture in the ear could play a major role as a
fast, inexpensive, and simple way of curing drug and alcohol addictions. Experiments of this kind have been carried out
succesfully in the hospitalsof “Qung wa” and “Tong Wa” in Hong Kong, and
recently in the States. Studies show that the patients is totally drug and
alcohol free within 60 days from the start of the therapy. Acupuncture in the ear has also shown a considerably
high efficacy in controlling appetite disorders with a positive rebalancing
on hunger. Directors
Hermon-Man Centres Israel |
|
in the ear
|
..
Leadership Medica®
Mensile di scienza medica e
attualita`
Copyright 1997© All Rights
Reserved