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Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine are excellent for all women's issues especially those related to menopause. At this age keeping your body in balance is crucial as are plenty of exercise, good diet, good sleep, good mood and satisfying life choices.

I have seen good results with using GABA for clients with anxiety. Acupuncture plus GABA works even better! For people who are looking for a non-pharmaceutical approach to anxiety - consider GABA and some acupuncture.

Like Peter I use amino acid therapy along with acupuncture, diet and essential fatty acids (Omega 3s) to help people with depression and have seen excellent results in my clients. This approach eliminates dependence on pharmaceuticals and puts the client in charge. Many people today are looking for ways of dealing with depression without pharmaceuticals - please don't hesitate to work with an acupuncturist who is well versed in amino acid therapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine!

L-Tryptophan and 5HTP are very beneficial for most people who are depressed or have Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If you read the work of Julia Ross THE MOOD CURE or THE DIET CURE you can see that most people who are depressed have depleted Serotonin which can be built back up with L-Tryptophan or 5HTP. In Europe many times doctors prescribe L-Tryptophan along with pharmaceuticals for depression.

I agree that Traditional Chinese herbal medicine is best taken with the guidance of a trained practitioner, however the benefits of using this approach far outweigh the negatives you mention. I don't think your article is especially balanced which does a disservice to this excellent and still relevant medicine which has incredibly good, inexpensive and highly effective solutions for most health problems that modern humans have.

See my other posts on this site for more insights on how to use Chinese herbal medicine or ask questions, I'm always happy to answer herbal medicine questions.

I want to comment that there are a number of online directories for acupuncturists. One that is quite popular is Acufinder http://www.acufinder.com Some states have an online directory of acupuncturists. In California our acupuncture board allows you to search and see the licensure status of all licensed practitioners. The NCCAOM which is the national board provider for acupuncturists also has an online directory of all its diplomates.

Traditional Chinese Herbal medicine is incredibly effective solution for many illnesses. From the common cold to hepatitis C to depression and beyond. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine has had clinical trials of several thousand years and over a billion people have benefited from its excellent solutions. This is a proven, ancient medicine that is still as relevant today and it ever was.

The common cold is a simple example of the power of Chinese herbal medicine to kill viruses and bacteria in a way that Western medicine just doesn't. When you go to a traditional Chinese herbal medicine practitioner he/she will ask you some questions, look at your tongue, feel your pulses and determine which of a series of patterns your symptoms match. Once your diagnosis has been established, your practitioner can choose from a variety of herbal formulas to find the very best one for you. Because the diagnosis is so precise to your unique situation the herbal formula can be customized to best suit you. This is best done when your practitioner develops a custom formula for you using single herbs which you can decoct (cook) into a tea or soup. Most Americans prefer herbal formulas in pill form for their convenience, even though a pill will be a bit less custom than a tea where the practitioner can adjust the dosage of each ingredient.

Before I went to Acupuncture school myself I had only had experience with herbal formulas in pill form. These had worked very well for me both in preventing illness and in resolving infections. When I was in school the Chinese teachers often prescribed teas for us which they customized. These were even more powerful. I remember having bronchitis for 4 weeks when one of my teachers made me a tea so powerful that in 2 days I felt significantly better.

I've had similar experiences with herbal formulas I've prescribed for my patients. I've seen my patients be on the mend and back in action within 24 to 48 hours after being very sick with a bad cold or more serious infection for example. I've also seen very dramatic changes in my women clients who've had severe pain from menstrual cramps or endometriosis where a Chinese herbal formula completely got rid of pain. In addition to killing infections or eliminating pain Traditional Chinese herbal medicine is really effective at building up what's deficient in your body whether it's tonifying your immune system to help you fight off disease preventitively, or building up a very depleted system as in the case of a person dealing with chemotherapy or radiation, or a chronic illness (e.g. cancer, AIDS, HIV, hepatitis).

If you've never tried Traditional Chinese herbal medicine but are curious about it, find a practitioner you feel comfortable working with and ask questions. Many of us speak English very well and are happy to answer your questions. In California the herbs we sell have to meet very high quality standards. I tend to purchase the herbal formulas I sell from California companies I trust because I know the quality will be excellent.

I would like to comment on training and certification for Chinese Herbal Medicine in the United States. In California in order to be a licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.) you must pass a California state exam which requires you to be proficient in Chinese Herbal medicine. You must know over 300 single herbs by heart and about 100 herbal formulas by heart in order to pass this test. If your practitioner is licensed to practice in California they are most likely quite proficient in Chinese herbal medicine.

The national board exams also have rigorous herbal requirements but not all states require acupuncturists to pass the herbal components of the exam. As a person who has passed both the California and national herbal exams I can attest to their rigorousness. Ask your practitioner whether they have passed a board exam in Chinese herbal medicine. If they have, they most likely are quite comfortable with herbal formulas, unless they choose not to practice herbal medicine.

For those of us who love to practice Chinese herbal medicine, we love finding herbal solutions to health problems. I think of myself as an "herb geek". I feel especially happy when a patient comes back excited by the excellent results they've had.