Doctor who is passionate about acupuncture The blog is for information purpose only
Welcome to my blog

My Guest blog articles and Reviews
Guest blog articles
https://anamayahealth.blogspot.com/2018/03/dr-maggie-ju-talks-about-vulvodynia.html
Reviews and articles
Maggie Ju (2014) Current opinion in acupuncture on stroke rehabilitation
The Journal of Chinese Medicine And Acupuncture Volume 21 Issue 2 September 2014 P9
Maggie Ju. (2015) What Part Does Acupuncture Play in IVF?
The Journal of Chinese Medicine And Acupuncture Volume 22 Issue 1 March 2015 P21
Maggie Ju (2020) The Potentiality of COVID-19 Treatment with Chinese Herbal Medicine in the UK
The Journal of Chinese Medicine And Acupuncture Volume 27 Issue 2 November 2020 P9

Wednesday, 29 April 2020
Why is it good to eat garlic during coronavirus outbreak?
References
Arreola R et al J Immunol Res. 2015;2015:401630. doi: 10.1155/2015/401630. Epub 2015 Apr 19.
Tuesday, 28 April 2020
Why is it good to drink ginger tea during coronavirus outbreak?
Macrophages a type of defence cells in the body play a dual role in host defence. They act as the first line of defence by mounting an inflammatory response to antigen exposure and also act as antigen presenting cells and initiate the adaptive immune response. They are also the primary infiltrating cells at the site of inflammation. Inhibition of macrophage activation is one of the possible approaches towards modulating inflammation. Ginger, an herbal product with broad anti inflammatory actions was shown that it regulates immune function by inhibiting macrophage activation. A study has shown that ginger ginger improves on cytotoxicity induced by paraben (p-hydroxybenzoic acid) on red blood cells (RBC) in vitro from healthy adult human beings (25-30 years).
Ginger can help protect human bronchial epithelial cells.
Traditionally, ginger is used as an antiinflammatory drug. A recent study tested the effect of ginger extract in inflammation of human bronchial epithelial cells. They found that ginger extracts can reduce inflammatory substances production and suggested that distinct ginger compounds could be used as antiinflammatory drugs in respiratory infections.
Ginger reduces inflammatory and oxidative stress
This review investigated the effects of ginger supplementation on markers of inflammatory and oxidative stress. They evaluated the effects of ginger on some inflammation markers including serum CRP (C-reactive protein), TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-alpha), IL-6 (interleukin-6), PGE2 (prostaglandin E2), TAC (total antioxidant capacity), and MDA (malondialdehyde). The results of this study indicated a statistically significant effect of ginger on serum CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, TAC, and MDA levels following ginger supplementation in compared to the controls. Also, the effects of ginger on serum PGE2 was marginally significant. They suggested that ginger supplementation has a significant effects on serum inflammatory and oxidative stress markers.
References
Tripathi S et al BMC Complement Altern Med. 2008 Jan 3;8:1. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-8-1.
Ginger extract inhibits LPS induced macrophage activation and function.
Asnani V, Verma RJ. Acta Pol Pharm. 2006 Mar-Apr;63(2):117-9. Aqueous ginger extract ameliorates paraben induced cytotoxicity.
Podlogar JA, Verspohl EJ. Phytother Res. 2012 Mar;26(3):333-6. doi: 10.1002/ptr.3558. Epub 2011 Jun 23. Antiinflammatory effects of ginger and some of its components in human bronchial epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells.
Jalali M et al Phytother Res. 2020 Mar 8. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6638. [Epub ahead of print]
The effects of ginger supplementation on markers of inflammatory and oxidative stress: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.
Monday, 27 April 2020
Acupuncture for in vitro fertilization in women with poor ovarian response
Acupuncture has been used to treat infertility and has been very popular in assist IVF. This is because it improves the endometrium, promotes ovulation, and reduces pain during egg retrieval, and improves fertilization rates. Consequently it increases pregnancy rates in women undergoing IVF. A study evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture in improving clinical pregnancy rate (CPR) after IVF, in women with POR from randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Their result has shown that clinical pregnancy rate is 37.8% in acupuncture group vs 24.3% in control group. This study suggests that acupuncture may improve CPR, AMH, AFC and the number of retrieved oocytes in women with POR undergoing IVF.
References
Jang S et al Integr Med Res. 2020 Jun;9(2):100395. doi: 10.1016/j.imr.2020.02.003. Epub 2020 Feb 27.
Saturday, 25 April 2020
Imperial’s scientists are leading the response to the coronavirus
J-IDEA, the Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics, headquartered at Imperial College London, was only setup last year to rapidly respond to emergencies such as pandemics, extreme climate events, and natural and humanitarian disasters. Not long after it was launched, the first cases of the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 from Asia was reported.
Imperial’s MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis (MRC-GIDA) is leading the College’s COVID-19 epidemiological response, working closely with institutes across the School of Public Health under the umbrella of J-IDEA, as the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team.
Since January the teams have responded rapidly to the emerging coronavirus threat and have analysed the continuously changing data in real-time, and produced more than a dozen reports on the pandemic, which have informed governments and health services around the world.
References
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/196659/the-disease-outbreak-centre-where-scientists/
Friday, 24 April 2020
Acupuncture helps orofacial pain
References
Badel T et al Acta Clin Croat. 2019 Jun;58(Suppl 1):82-89. doi: 10.20471/acc.2019.58.s1.12.
Thursday, 23 April 2020
Acupuncture reduces head and neck myofascial pain.
References
Farag AM et al Complement Ther Med. 2020 Mar;49:102297. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2019.102297. Epub 2020 Feb 1.
Wednesday, 22 April 2020
Having blepharitis, tried acupuncture?
Blepharitis is often a chronic condition that's difficult to treat. Blepharitis can be uncomfortable and unsightly. But it usually doesn't cause permanent damage to your eyesight, and it's not contagious.
Symptoms of blepharitis include: watery eyes, red eyes, burning or stinging sensation in the eyes, itchy eyelids, red, swollen, inflamed eyelids, flaking skin around the eyes, crusted eyelashes, oily eyelids, a feeling that something is in or on the eyes, sensitivity to light, crusted eyelashes, etc. Risk factors to have blepharitis include: having eyelash mites or lice, bacterial infection, medication side effects, a malfunctioning oil gland. There are two types of blepharitis: 1) anterior eye inflammation occurs on the outside of your eye where your eyelashes are located. Dandruff on your eyebrows and allergic reactions in your eyes can cause anterior eyelid inflammation. 2) posterior eyelid inflammation occurs on the inner edge of eyelids closest to your eye. A malfunctioning oil gland behind your eyelash follicles usually causes this form of inflammation.
If you have difficulty to get rid of blepharitis, try acupuncture to help.
A case report of acupuncture on chronic blepharitis. A woman aged 61-year-old had a chronic blepharitis on her right upper eyelid for one and half years. The eyelid was red and swollen. It felt stinging. She had three acupuncture treatments. After one treatment the redness and swellings were much better and after three treatment, the blepharitis was completely gone and the eyelid was clear of inflammation.
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Acupuncture helps to recover from dental surgery
References
Gil MLB et al J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2020 Mar 20. pii: S2005-2901(20)30078-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jams.2020.03.063. [Epub ahead of print]
Monday, 20 April 2020
How does acupuncture assist IVF success?
The mechanisms of acupuncture related to application of IVF is
1, modulating neuroendocrine factors. Acupuncture improves female infertility through modulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary– ovarian (HPO) axis, estrogen regulation, and increased ß-endorphins to correct the imbalance of the endocrine system. Acupuncture can stimulate ovulation through modulation of the HPO axis in women with anovulatory infertility.
2, increasing blood flow to the uterus and ovaries. As a result, acupuncture increases endometrial and follicular receptivity, and also helps repair the endometrial lining; it improves the quality of oocytes produced by the follicles. Acupuncture can reduce uterine contractility to prevent embryo expulsion after ET. Therefore, Acupuncture increases pregnancy rates in patients undergoing IVF.
3, modulating immune factors. Acupuncture moudlates immune system. I-helper cells are a type of immune cells which is related to pregnancy and is affected strongly by pregnancy hormones. If there is a dysregulation of T-helper cells systemically and locally, pregnancy failure will occur. Acupuncture has been reported to increase T-helper cells both locally and systemically, thus, increasing pregnancy rates.
4, reducing stress, anxiety. During IVF procedure, a woman’s psychological status affects the IVF success rate greatly. Acupuncture is very effective for reducing stress and anxiety caused by changes in the cortisol hormone and the psychologic effects of IVF itself. This is because acupuncture modulates neuropeptide in the amygdala, increasing ß-endorphin production, suppressing the system’s sympathetic nerves, increasing vagus-nerve activity, and increasing levels of neurotropic factors in the hippocampus. In addition, acupuncture affects the hypothalamic–pituitary– adrenal axis so to change the physiologic response to stress.
References
Djaali W Med Acupunct. 2019 Dec 1;31(6):361-365. doi: 10.1089/acu.2019.1394. Epub 2019 Dec 13.
Tuesday, 14 April 2020
Acupuncture increases pregnancy success rates of IVF
References
Guven PG et al Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Mar;59(2):282-286. doi: 10.1016/j.tjog.2020.01.018.
Monday, 13 April 2020
Acupuncture is effective for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome
References
Li J et al Pain Res Manag. 2020 Mar 9;2020:5921038. doi: 10.1155/2020/5921038. eCollection 2020.
Saturday, 11 April 2020
Acupuncture has better effect than medication for migraines
References
Li YX et al Pain Res Manag. 2020 Mar 23;2020:3825617. doi: 10.1155/2020/3825617. eCollection 2020.
Tuesday, 7 April 2020
Acupuncture is effective for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome
References
Qin Z et al Ann Transl Med. 2019 Mar;7(6):116. doi: 10.21037/atm.2018.11.45.
Monday, 6 April 2020
Having low back pain, tried acupuncture?
References
J Acupunct Meridian Stud. 2020 Mar 26. pii: S2005-2901(20)30079-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jams.2020.03.064. [Epub ahead of print]
Friday, 3 April 2020
Thursday, 2 April 2020
Diabetes is a risk factor for the progression and prognosis of COVID-19.
References
Guo W Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2020 Mar 31:e3319. doi: 10.1002/dmrr.3319. [Epub ahead of print]
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
Acupuncture is effective for sciatic pain.
References
Liu CH et al J Pain Res. 2019 Dec 31;12:3511-3520. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S210672. eCollection 2019.
Coronavirus vaccine
In the UK, there are 2 types of COVID-19 vaccine The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and The Oxford vaccine to be used once they are approved. They ...

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Can acupuncture help patients with stroke? Stroke is a serious condition which blood supply to the brain is cut off. It is the second most...
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Hemiplegia which is severer than hemiparesis is paralysis of one half of the body on the same side. Brain damage is one of the causes. The p...
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Numbness is a loss of sensation or feeling in a part of the body. It's often accompanied by other abnormal sensations, such as a pins-an...
