Not that I needed convincing. But in the past, hard scientific data on the effectiveness of alternative medicine has been difficult to come by.
That's why it is so exciting that an Olympia holistic center has just obtained those kind of results after a three-year, $500,000 study financed by the National Institutes of Health.
"We are really thrilled," said Leslie Korn, director of the Center for Traditional Medicine, a group of multidisciplinary health practitioners in west Olympia who administered the study. "Plus, we got fantastic results."
Under the tutelage of Korn, a Harvard Medical School-trained healer and public health specialist, 42 local American Indians who care for family members with dementia participated in the randomized clinical trial.
The idea was to test whether polarity therapy would reduce caregivers' stress.
The tribal members were local to South Sound, but their tribe names are not being disclosed. Participants receive d one 50-minute session of polarity therapy a week for eight weeks.
Polarity therapy is a balancing treatment that uses light touch at pressure points on two different poles of the body, such as head and feet.
The Olympia study used 21 points of touch contact. According to measured levels of cortisol and DHEA - substances in the body that react to various stressors - as well as the participants' heart rates, stress levels decreased significantly during the course of the polarity treatments.
The results were so dramatic that they prompted the Area Agency on Aging for Thurston, Mason and Lewis counties to award a $10,000 grant to the Center for Traditional Medicine to offer the same polarity therapy to its network of local caregivers for the elderly.
"We chose to fund polarity therapy for some caregivers because we were impressed with the research that the Center for Traditional Medicine had done that indicated that there was significant stress reduction value to it," said Lydia Rogers, spokesperson for the family caregiver program run by the Area Agency on Aging.
"A lot of times. caregivers don't recognize that they are caregivers - they don't seek out stress reduction or healthy activities for themselves," Rogers added. "This was something we could provide beyond just respite care."
The $10,000 is paying for 10 caregivers to receive eight sessions each, Korn said.
"This not only shows that polarity therapy and various forms of touch therapy work, it also fosters my interest in changing public health policy to incorporate complementary and alternative medicine," Korn said.
Update on stomach acid
The debate continues. In a recent column, Dr. Jonathan Wright, a holistic physician at the Tahoma Clinic in Renton, stated that Americans older than 50 who are bothered by heartburn, acid reflux and other gastroenterological problems should have their levels of stomach acid tested before they buy stacks of acid-blockers such as Pepsid, Prilosec or Zantac.
Wright said that the problem often is that the body is not making enough stomach acid - not too much, as touted in various TV commercials.
Wright said people with lowered stomach acid levels might do better to take hydrochloric acid tablets with pepsin when they eat protein. The acid tablets can assist the stomach in breaking down proteins, and eliminate some symptoms, such as heartburn, he said.
Conventional practitioners take a different tack.
Dr. Jim Kruidenier of Gastroenterology Associates in Olympia said he has found no evidence in research that gastroesophogeal reflux disease, or GERD, is caused by a lack of stomach acid.
In his practice, Kruidenier said he has had good results with prescribing various acid-blockers to his patients with heartburn, chest pain or irritation in the throat.
"We often see people who have complications, with significant inflammation," Kruidenier said. He also counsels people on the various medications to check their vitamin B-12 levels. Sometimes medication can reduce B-12 absorption over the long term, he said.
Kruidenier uses various assessments to determine what type of medication a person might need because not all acid blockers work the same way.
On the other side in Wright's camp is Karyn White, a naturopathic physician at Olympia Natural Medicine. White believes low stomach acid can trigger symptoms in some of her patients.
After using one of the various tests for stomach acid levels, White might start a patient on a low dose of hydrochloric acid with pepsin to see whether that helps resolve the complaint. If the person has more advanced GERD symptoms, such as acid reflux or burning in the throat, she will refer the person to a conventional physician - also called an allopathic doctor - for testing to make sure there is no esophageal damage.
For patients with less severe symptoms, White also will counsel on dietary changes and digestive tract-calming herbs such as licorice, slippery elm, chamomile and fennel. If her patients have been on acid-blockers previously, she also, like Dr. Kruidenier, has them checked for B-12 absorption.
If people still have gas and bloating, and the symptoms are not resolved with hydrochloric acid tablets with pepsin, White might consider prescribing pancreatic enzymes, such as lipase or amylase, which assist digestion and absorption in the small intestine. White only prescribes digestive enzymes from certain companies whose product purity she trusts.
For more information, White, whose office is at 145 Lilly Road. N.E., Suite 102, can be reached at 360-357-7902. Kruidenier, whose office is at 500 Lilly Road N.E., Suite 204, can be reached at 360-491-4982.
Keri Brenner covers Thurston County and Tumwater for The Olympian. She is also a licensed acupuncturist in Oregon and holds a master's degree in Oriental medicine and acupuncture from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland. Brenner is the author of "Sleep Disorders: An Alternative Guide" and a contributing editor to "Alternative Guide to Women's Health, Vols. I and II." She can be reached at 360-754-5435 or kbrenner@theolympian.com.
