Acupuncture to treat cortical blindness

[Guest guest]

Hi Sagiv & All,

 

Sagiv, may I have your permiossion to post this to PA-L, PVA-L and

Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine also?

 

Sagiv, your great post raises three main issues for me.

 

(1) Great scientists and philosophers prioritise the following questions:

(a) Is Phenomenon X REAL and REPEATABLE?

(b) If so, what MECHANISMS explain the REALITY of Phenomenon X?

 

IMO, " #1 vet ophthalmologist in the world " is neither a great scientist, nor a

great philosopher, because he/she allowed lack of data to question (b) to

bias his/her acceptance of the reality of the clinical response (answer to

question (a).

 

Had he/she known of it, she/he probably also would have rejected the paper

by Liu SD. " Cure of 2 cases of cortical blindness with acupuncture therapy. "

J Tradit Chin Med. 1982 Dec;2(4):303-5. [No abstract available]. PMID:

6765728 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

(2) Using many different methods (point-marking with injected dyes, nerve-

and tract- marking with horseradish peroxidase, PET, MRI, etc), research

continues on pathways between acupoints and the brain centres.

 

As in all research areas, different research groups often publish conflicting

conclusions. However, there is little doubt that peripheral (trunk & limb)

acupuncture works, partly at least, by signals ascending via the sensory

nerves and ascending spinal tracts to control centres in the brain &

especially those in the PAG.

 

Signals from head points (earpoints, eyepoints, etc) probably go to the brain

centres via the cranial nerves and/or ganglions.

 

NOTE: The paper by Liu (above) is the ONLY hit on Medline today for the

search profile: cortical blindness AND (acupuncture OR acupoint*)

 

However, Medline has 67 hits for the search profile: (brain OR cerebr*) AND

(visual cortex OR optic OR optical OR ophthalmic) AND (acupuncture OR

acupoint*) - see: http://tinyurl.com/ykndrw

 

(3) Changing the name of a thing (or concept) to meet commercial or

political aims is an old ploy. Thereby, the simple spade becomes a PADI

(pedally-activated digging instrument)!

 

Because of political tensions between China and Russia/eastern block

states and In the the 1980s, most eastern bloc papers on acupuncture or

electroacupuncture referred to it as reflex therapy, neurological stimulation,

or neural electrostimulation, " , etc. All changes, yet nothing changes.

 

(4) It is great that forward-looking (entrepreneur-based or investment)

companies are prepared to do serious research / clinical work with

complementary modalities, such as acupuncture.

 

I hope (but do not expect too much) that they will have the honesty to report

all the main results " as it is " , including the failures and " negative results " .

 

" Commerce is commerce / business is business " . Alas, commercial

research is often (always?) OVERPLAYS the positive and UNDERPLAYS

(or " buries " ) results that do not suit the commercial aims of the company.

 

As Sagiv said, " so, that's life " also!

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Paraphrasing Sagiv's mail to the TCM List:

> I treated my first case of cortical blindness in dogs [in] Dec 1999.

> The dog regained full sight [and] the vet college ophthalmologist did a

> good report on the case. [However,] #1 vet ophthalmologist in the world

> rejected the report as " nonsense " , claiming: " can you demonstrate the

> anatomical pathway from the acupoint to brain blood vessels, and

> related physiological data...? "

 

> Have I or you the abilities to map the pathways from acupoints to

> specific loci / blood vessels in the brain? After all - we are just

> simple clinicians without MRI, CT and [other hi-tech] machines.

 

> Then, between 1999 and 2004, I added 2 more cases with similar

> success, yet - more rejections.

 

> In Sept 2005 I was called to join a company called Brainsgate. They

> heard about my work, and apparently - that what they are doing in

> people! now - suddenly I am sitting in a company worth about 100

> millions US$, doing the same electroacupuncture. Now, however, the

> company registerst patents, sends data to FDA etc and the publications

> are in " Neurology " journals etc.

 

> Conclusion: It is not a question of DATA but of MONEY. Commercial

> interests (the money-people) want to know: Can you get investors to

> make / fund a company? Can you patent the product/idea? Can you protect

> it?

 

> For the last 70 years, scientific-medical literature has data on the

> neurological pathway from ST01 or SI18. [All great ophthalmologists,

> and for sure vet #1, knew it. I did not know it then, but I gained

> access later to the data - advanced data usually not available to

> common clinicians like me],

 

> Here, in Brainsgate, we have 10 publications on electroacupuncture,

> but this time we call it " neurological stimulation " . So, that's life, S. :-)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Best regards,

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Phil, Happy New Year to you and list members,

you wrote>>Sagiv, may I have your permiossion to post this to PA-L, PVA-L and

Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine also?<<

Yes, sure. I just love to see the continuation of the discussion on the issue,

and the question from my side -

how could I? (I am a memeber only in PVA-L out of the 3 mentioned

sites))...hopefully it is not much of a problem, and if so - go ahead with your

plans & forget my question.

 

Dr. Sagiv Ben-Yakir

BSC DVM(in honor) MRCVS CVA(IVAS)

benyakir

 

-

Chinese Medicine

Saturday, January 06, 2007 8:35 PM

Acupuncture to treat cortical blindness

 

 

Hi Sagiv & All,

 

Sagiv, may I have your permiossion to post this to PA-L, PVA-L and

Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine also?

 

Sagiv, your great post raises three main issues for me.

 

(1) Great scientists and philosophers prioritise the following questions:

(a) Is Phenomenon X REAL and REPEATABLE?

(b) If so, what MECHANISMS explain the REALITY of Phenomenon X?

 

IMO, " #1 vet ophthalmologist in the world " is neither a great scientist, nor a

great philosopher, because he/she allowed lack of data to question (b) to

bias his/her acceptance of the reality of the clinical response (answer to

question (a).

 

Had he/she known of it, she/he probably also would have rejected the paper

by Liu SD. " Cure of 2 cases of cortical blindness with acupuncture therapy. "

J Tradit Chin Med. 1982 Dec;2(4):303-5. [No abstract available]. PMID:

6765728 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

(2) Using many different methods (point-marking with injected dyes, nerve-

and tract- marking with horseradish peroxidase, PET, MRI, etc), research

continues on pathways between acupoints and the brain centres.

 

As in all research areas, different research groups often publish conflicting

conclusions. However, there is little doubt that peripheral (trunk & limb)

acupuncture works, partly at least, by signals ascending via the sensory

nerves and ascending spinal tracts to control centres in the brain &

especially those in the PAG.

 

Signals from head points (earpoints, eyepoints, etc) probably go to the brain

centres via the cranial nerves and/or ganglions.

 

NOTE: The paper by Liu (above) is the ONLY hit on Medline today for the

search profile: cortical blindness AND (acupuncture OR acupoint*)

 

However, Medline has 67 hits for the search profile: (brain OR cerebr*) AND

(visual cortex OR optic OR optical OR ophthalmic) AND (acupuncture OR

acupoint*) - see: http://tinyurl.com/ykndrw

 

(3) Changing the name of a thing (or concept) to meet commercial or

political aims is an old ploy. Thereby, the simple spade becomes a PADI

(pedally-activated digging instrument)!

 

Because of political tensions between China and Russia/eastern block

states and In the the 1980s, most eastern bloc papers on acupuncture or

electroacupuncture referred to it as reflex therapy, neurological stimulation,

or neural electrostimulation, " , etc. All changes, yet nothing changes.

 

(4) It is great that forward-looking (entrepreneur-based or investment)

companies are prepared to do serious research / clinical work with

complementary modalities, such as acupuncture.

 

I hope (but do not expect too much) that they will have the honesty to report

all the main results " as it is " , including the failures and " negative

results " .

 

" Commerce is commerce / business is business " . Alas, commercial

research is often (always?) OVERPLAYS the positive and UNDERPLAYS

(or " buries " ) results that do not suit the commercial aims of the company.

 

As Sagiv said, " so, that's life " also!

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Paraphrasing Sagiv's mail to the TCM List:

> I treated my first case of cortical blindness in dogs [in] Dec 1999.

> The dog regained full sight [and] the vet college ophthalmologist did a

> good report on the case. [However,] #1 vet ophthalmologist in the world

> rejected the report as " nonsense " , claiming: " can you demonstrate the

> anatomical pathway from the acupoint to brain blood vessels, and

> related physiological data...? "

 

> Have I or you the abilities to map the pathways from acupoints to

> specific loci / blood vessels in the brain? After all - we are just

> simple clinicians without MRI, CT and [other hi-tech] machines.

 

> Then, between 1999 and 2004, I added 2 more cases with similar

> success, yet - more rejections.

 

> In Sept 2005 I was called to join a company called Brainsgate. They

> heard about my work, and apparently - that what they are doing in

> people! now - suddenly I am sitting in a company worth about 100

> millions US$, doing the same electroacupuncture. Now, however, the

> company registerst patents, sends data to FDA etc and the publications

> are in " Neurology " journals etc.

 

> Conclusion: It is not a question of DATA but of MONEY. Commercial

> interests (the money-people) want to know: Can you get investors to

> make / fund a company? Can you patent the product/idea? Can you protect

> it?

 

> For the last 70 years, scientific-medical literature has data on the

> neurological pathway from ST01 or SI18. [All great ophthalmologists,

> and for sure vet #1, knew it. I did not know it then, but I gained

> access later to the data - advanced data usually not available to

> common clinicians like me],

 

> Here, in Brainsgate, we have 10 publications on electroacupuncture,

> but this time we call it " neurological stimulation " . So, that's life, S. :-)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Best regards,

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Phil & dear list members, the issue under discussion is really painful, and

when you read the above mentioned data of mine you are going to appreciate it as

well as painful - apparently #1 vet ophthalmologist in the world had in front of

him ALL the scientific/medical data at the time, all the data that can give

great anatomical & physiological explanations to why stimulation of ST-01 or

SI-18 or GB-20 etc will open ant/mid/post cerebral arteries in the brain, remove

the obstructions/blood clots and allow the animal to see again. This data that I

could not have. Why I could not have it at the time? - one major point: it is a

data that nobody teach you in vet college, and at the same token you can not

find it the usual vet textbook. The only other option is to find it in Pub

Med(at that time=Med Line), and in Pub Med usually you can get abstracts that

for giving a proper answer to this guy are not enough. So I was stuck. When I

joined Brainsgate I found that all the great neurologists, neuroanatomists,

neuroelectophysiologist and neurosurgens in Israel are on the team. When I

told/asked them about the issue - connection of the specific acupuncture points

to the brain they looked at me with very opened eyes!!!! " Oh " , they said - " kind

of strange, we have many very good articles on this specific issue, and some of

them where even done in early 1930, and the only change during the last 80 yrs

or so are the techniques we have to document the anatomical and physiological

connection from that area to the blood vessels in the brain. It is really

strange, because most of the works where done on animals - cats, dogs, pigs,

goats, monkeys etc " . And with a big smile on their face they added: " Is that the

way you people in vet medicine treat each other? "

 

For example: when you go to stimulate ST-01 deep as you do(myself), you hit the

sphenopalatine(pterigopalateine ganglion) (also if you do SI-18 in animals), you

elicit stimulation and branches from this parasympathetic ganglion are going to

the brain vessels and increase the diameter of the main arteries by 30% and

more, and they opened also collaterals that are usually closed. By that you

provide oxygen, nutrition, take waste products away from the area that was

clotted in the dogs that were hit-by-car and lost vision, or just stroke in

human, or in small scale - migraine in humane.

 

(see below small #'s of articles they gave me), and nowadays I have a great

power point presentation that show the great anatomy & physiology

+CT+MRI+Angiograms+protocols for acupuncture that will allow each one of us to

treat very traditionally (TCVM) animals with this condition and other related to

Blood Stasis in the brain !!!!

 

Harada H., Zahng Q-J., Kuroyanagi T., Kobayashi S., Parasympathetic

Cerebrovascular Innervation: An Anterograde Tracing from the Sphenopalatine

Ganglion in the Rat, Neurosurgery 32:822-827, 1993.

 

Hara H, Jansen I, Ekman R., MaxKenzie E.T., Uddman R., Edvinsson L.,

Acetylcholine and Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide in Cerebral Blood Vessels:

Effect of Extirpation of the Sphenopalatine Ganglion, Journal of Cerebral Blood

Flow and Metabolism, 9:204-211, 1989.

 

N. Suzuki, J.E. Hardebo, J. Kåhrström, C. Owman, Selective Electrical

Stimulation of Postganglionic Cerebrovascular Parasympathetic Nerve Fibers

Originating from the Sphenopalatine Ganglion Enhances Cortical Blood Flow in

Rats, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 10:383-391, 1990.

 

Goadsby P.J., Sphenopalatine ganglion stimulation increases regional cerebral

blood flow independent of glucose utilization in cat, Brain Reasarch,

506:145-148, 1990.

 

Toda N, Ayajiki K, Tanaka T, Okamura T., Preganglionic and postganglionic

neurons responsible for cerebral vasodilation mediated by nitric oxide in

anesthetized dogs. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2000a; 20: 700-8.

 

Toda N, Tanaka T, Ayajiki K, Okamura T, Cerebral vasodilatation induced by

stimulation of the pterygopalatine ganglion and greater petrosal nerve in

anesthesized monkeys. Neurosci. 2000b; 96; 393-398.

 

L. Delépine, P. Aubineau, Plasma Protein Extravasation Induced in the Rat Dura

Mater by Stimulation of the Parasympathetic Sphenopalatine Ganglion,

Experimental Neurology, 147, 389-400 (1997)

 

NEIL M. BRANSTON The physiology of the cerebrovascular parasympathetic

 

Innervation British Journal of Neurosurgery (1995) 9, 319? 329

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Sagiv Ben-Yakir

BSC DVM(in honor) MRCVS CVA(IVAS)

benyakir