FYI (recent research) Acupuncture activates the brain

[lightofdarkness]

(this relates to five-phase theory and so the five-phase I Ching etc - http://www.iimetro.com.au/~lofting/myweb/icfive0.html)
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http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050425/full/050425-12.html

Acupuncture activates the brain

Andreas von Bubnoff
Acupuncture has a measurable, if mysterious, effect on the brain, UK
scientists have found. The study adds to evidence that patients benefit
from acupuncture not simply because of their expectations.

The research team used brain imaging to show that treatment with genuine
needles activates brain areas beyond the ones that light up when trick
needles are used. "This is the first brain-imaging study that has shown an
effect beyond placebo," says George Lewith, an expert in complementary
medicine at the University of Southampton who led the study.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese treatment for illness, pain or even
addiction, which uses fine needles in defined points of the body. The
mechanism behind this is far from understood, and clinical trials into
acupuncture have had mixed results. "It has worked in some trials, it
hasn't worked in others, it's very complicated," says Ted Kaptchuk, an
acupuncture researcher at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. Many
studies have suggested that the placebo effect accounts for most of the
benefits seen.

Part of this confusion may be thanks to the use of badly defined controls
in acupuncture tests, experts say. Some studies use needles in
non-acupuncture points, for example. But this may simply prove that
needling is an effective treatment.

?2005 Nature Publishing Group

 

[yly2pg1]

"It has worked in some trials, it hasn't worked in others, it's very complicated," says Ted Kaptchuk, an acupuncture researcher at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts."

I used to have chronic headache.
I went through few courses of acupuncture treatment three years ago. The symptom vanishes immediately after the treatment. Today, three years after the treatment, there is no relapse yet.

The needles used varies from 1 ~ 7 inches, depending on which part of the body the needle is applied. For chronic headache, in most occasions, relevent nodes are found on the neck, the shoulder and of course the relevent nodes correspond to the root of yin/yang inbalance in the body. Rarely on the head!

The "doctor" told me that typical acupuncture practice is not effective partly due to the inappropriate application of the needle length as each application of a needle is to disperse the obstruction of chi. He said, "the meridian system is like the copper trace on a electronic board. Applying the needle is like reworking the old board. You can have a temporary relief if you attach a solder to allow for electronic flow. But that will not last long because the solder will peel off from the corroded trace. A better solution is to "clean" the copper trace before you put on the solder. That will last long! "

Then I ask the doctor, "then where we get the solder?".
"Your own recuperative system," replied the doctor.

Overall I'd have to go through 6 to 7 courses with 5 to 6 needles in each course! What a poor guy!

 

[yly2pg1]

Abstract:
if we review E = MC^2 we in fact end up with an equation vaguely like E = S/T where S is space, T is time. This leads into the fine structure constant where there is the indication that 1/137 of our mass is in EM form.

Explanation:
1/137 of the kinetic energy of a moving electron resides in the surrounding magnetic field. A fraction, 1/137, of the inertial mass of the electron is therefore in the form of
electromagnetic energy" (time, space, & things : B.K.Ridley) In atomic spectra this is known as the fine structure constant.

 

[yly2pg1]

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese treatment for illness, pain or even addiction, which uses fine needles in defined points of the body. The mechanism behind this is far from understood, ...

XOR operator: 1/137 effect?
AND within: nodes?
AND between: meridians?

 

[lightofdarkness]

There is a relationship and the clue is in categories of Five-Phase.

When we order the categories in their energy levels so they map to the binary ordering, mapping a power law, spetrum, pattern - we can use the trigrams to reflect it all -- and then note that the XOR methods applied to hexagrams etc MUST be reflected in five-phase (and basic circulations in economic theories etc - microeconomic focus on supply/demand, shortage/surplus dynamics with a focus on equilibrium pricing)

The structure (XOR) is thus:

EARTH - earth, mountain
WATER - water
WOOD - wind, thunder
FIRE - fire
METAL - lake, heaven

Corresponding Economic associations -

FILTRATION
CONSUMPTION (Internal distribution)
PRODUCTION
DISTRIBUTION
EXCHANGE

The cycle (AND) is presented as:

WOOD - production
FIRE - external distribution (wholesale)
EARTH - filtration
METAL - exchange (retail)
WATER - internal distribution (consume)

See diagrams etc in:

http://www.iimetro.com.au/~lofting/myweb/icfive0.html

 

[yly2pg1]

But the physical fundamentals of nodes and meridians are still far from understood?

 

[yly2pg1]

qi_jing_ba_mai (8_Vessels)

 

[lightofdarkness]

As we understand the universals so the local names become understandable. Possible interpretations are in that the core focus re the vessels is on PROTECTION and so map these to earth based hexagrams (or water based etc - yin focus overall):

Du Mai - core yangness
Ren Mai - core yinness

aka heaven(12)/earth(02) (increase yang, increase yin)



Chong Mai - agents of regulation
Dan Mai -

aka water(08)/fire(35) (contain yang, yin (bring down, put breaks on, structure distribution))

Yangqiao Mai - agents of transformation
Yinqiao Mai -

aka wind(20)/thunder(16) (over time/immediate, new)


Yangwei Mai -
Yinwei Mai -

must be related to mountain(23)/lake(45) (issues of sharing space, bonding etc)?


BUT we note that " Since these eight vessels also contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis, some times they are called "Homeostatic Meridians.""

So the focus on balance through yin trigram in TOP position:

12, 33, 06, 44, 24, 36, 19, 11

(earth, mountain, water, wind, thunder, fire, lake, heaven)

If you play around with the differentiate/integrate dichotomy these should map out as agents of blending, bounding, bonding, binding or their composites (as in hexagrams).

 

[yly2pg1]

Qi Jing Ba Mai is part of the Meridian System.

It plays a big part in the effectiveness of acupuncture (and Tai Chi) in the self-recuperative process. One of the main purpose of Tai Chi is to clear the obstruction in Du Mai and Ren Mai to achieve tian ren he yi - the unity of MAN and HEAVEN.

In modern science, it is like saying MAN as a medium of EM field on EARTH planet, is to live a life in accord with the EM field of the cosmo via the proper "regulation" of qi in the Meridian system.