Press Release

Setember 11, 2006
Contact: Kaylyn Dines
(973) 972-3000
dineskd@umdnj.edu

Physician Uses Acupuncture To Treat
Patient during Demonstration at UMDNJ

NEWARK — Ann Marie Naso believes acupuncture treated the sinus problems she had 10 years ago. With that belief, she will receive her first acupuncture treatment for a gastro-intestinal disorder during a demonstration at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The public and the media are welcome to attend the free acupuncture demonstration at noon on Thurs., Sept. 14, at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, 185 South Orange Avenue, Newark.

“ACUPUNCTURE: Current Evidence and Practice” is one in a series of workshops that are being sponsored by the Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions. The ICAM Wellness Lecture 2006 Series was developed to increase awareness of the evidence base for various complementary modalities. In addition to the demonstration, a physician will present current evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture and offer advice on acupuncture treatment.

Acupuncture is a health care modality that originated in China more than 3,000 years ago. According to http://www.acupuncture.com/, “the ancient Chinese believed that there is a universal life energy called Chi or Qi present in every living creature. This energy is said to circulate throughout the body along specific pathways that are called meridians. As long as this energy flows freely throughout the meridians, health is maintained, but once the flow of energy is blocked, the system is disrupted and pain and illness occur.”

The practice of Oriental Medicine is based on a paradigm of the body unlike that used in Western Medicine. Oriental Medicine perceives the circulation and balance of energy in the body as fundamental to the well-being of the individual.

During the demonstration Dr. Cynthia Y. Paige, a licensed acupuncturist and assistant professor of Family Medicine at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, plans to insert small needles into acupuncture points in Ms. Naso’s arms, legs, and abdominal area. Dr. Paige will explain how the treatment will impact the patient’s body and why she expects it to be effective. Ms. Naso, a 59-year-old resident of Belleville, is a research teaching specialist in the Department of Education at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.

A typical course of treatment with acupuncture is six to 10 sessions. The impact of acupuncture is believed to be cumulative, such that symptom relief will be greater and last longer after several treatments, although some conditions may only require one treatment to resolve the symptoms.

“There is evidence that indicates acupuncture can be beneficial in restoring physiological functions and relieving pain by stimulating certain points on the meridians and releasing Chi energy,” said Dr. Paige, an attending physician at the UMDNJ-University Hospital in Newark. “Many documented cases show acupuncture has successfully treated several diseases and symptoms such as chemical dependency, gastro-intestinal disorders, allergies, stroke, nausea, osteoarthritis, and lower back pain.”

According to Dr. Paige, in May 1993 an Overview of Acupuncture was published by the Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health that estimated between nine and 12 million patient visits per year. In the 1997 Consensus Conference on Acupuncture Statement, the National Institutes of Health estimated that more than one million Americans receive acupuncture each year. The World Health Organization cited a list of over 40 conditions that respond well to acupuncture treatment, including allergies, colds and flu, back pain, respiratory ailments and musculoskeletal, gastro-intestinal and eye disorders.

To RSVP for the acupuncture workshop contact Liz Cunha, of the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Profession’s Institute for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, at 973-972-8592. Members of the media, who wish to cover the session, should call Kaylyn Dines at (972) 972-5000.

UMDNJ is the nation ’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.