Abundant Heaven Traditional Chinese Medicine

We have been integrating this type of information to inform our safety measures since we re-opened and will continue to keep everyone safe by considering these factors and our space/interactions. Please consider these in your daily lives to remain safe as we head into winter. This is a highly relevant and powerful evidence-informed info-graphics to instruct us on various high-risk spaces/circumstances during the pandemic of SARS-Cov-2 and how changing certain factors, namely numbers of people in a space, time spent in space, ventilation/air flow/filtration of space, mask wearing, and activities in those spaces: https://english.elpais.com//a-room-a-bar-and-a-class-how-t

Why not use the available tools if we know they can help?

A newly published study shows a strong and independent correlation between elevated inflammatory markers and survival of the COVID-19 infection: "We found that high serum IL-6, IL-8 and TNF- levels at the time of hospitalization were strong and independent predictors of patient survival (P < 0.0001, P = 0.0205 and P = 0.0140, respectively)." The researchers suggest:... "To mitigate inflammation caused by SARS-CoV-2, immunomodulatory agents, including small molecules and monoclonal antibodies targeting cytokines, have rapidly been entering into clinical trials, and many such FDA-approved agents are already being used routinely in the clinic in an off-label manner." While these are important for more severe cases that find their way into the hospitals, these drugs are still not available and are being researched for their safety. What about less serious but still impactful and challenging infections of COVID-19 that don't make it into the hospital-level of care? Can't we use immunomodulatory agents known to be effective and safe such as well-studied and widely used Chinese herbal formulas? We need options that are freely available, known to be safe, and can address less severe cases, which are more common but may cause more long-term costs and health challenges. We can point to a lot of experimental and clinical research showing the immunomodulatory effects of Chinese herbal formulas for viral infections 1,2,3 and continue to provide these as options for patients who cannot get rare or unavailable experimental drug treatments. If you are struggling with any viral infection, it is best to manage inflammation and regulate your immune system prior to infection as well as during and after acute infection, during recovery. We can help, using evidence-based medicine, informed by integrative and holistic herbal medicine. 1. Xiong, X., Wang, P., Su, K., Cho, W. C., & Xing, Y. (2020). Chinese herbal medicine for coronavirus disease 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Pharmacological Research, 160, 105056. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105056 2. Zhang, D., Zhang, B., Lv, J.-T., Sa, R.-N., Zhang, X.-M., & Lin, Z.-J. (2020). The clinical benefits of Chinese patent medicines against COVID-19 based on current evidence. Pharmacological Research, 157, 104882. doi: 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104882 3. Eng, Y. S., Lee, C. H., Lee, W. C., Huang, C. C., & Chang, J. S. (2019). Unraveling the Molecular Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Formulas Against Acute Airway Viral Infections as Examples. Molecules, 24(19), 3505. doi: 10.3390/molecules24193505 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1051-9

More solid evidence that masks work to reduce spread and reduce infection: "The power of mask mandates They’re restrictive, tedious and hotly contested, but sin...ce the early days of the pandemic we’ve known masks to be an efficient and cost-effective way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. And they’re even better, it turns out, when you oblige people to wear them. Take Kansas, where a real-world experiment in face coverings emerged this summer. In early July, Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, issued a statewide mask order, but was forced to let counties opt out of it under a law limiting her emergency management powers. Only 20 of the state’s 105 counties enforced the order, which required residents to wear masks in public. Those 20 counties saw half as many new coronavirus infections as the counties that did not have the mandate in place, according to a new study from the University of Kansas. Cellphone-tracking data from the University of Maryland showed no differences in how often people left home in the counties with or without mask mandates, so it seemed likely that the masks made the difference. Experts say it’s part of a countrywide trend: Localities that impose mask mandates often see fewer cases, fewer hospitalizations, fewer deaths and lower test-positivity rates than nearby localities that do not. Other studies have turned up similar results in Alabama, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. A recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a 75 percent drop in coronavirus cases in Arizona less than a month after mask-wearing became enforced and bars and gyms were shuttered."

N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and the Resolution of Neuroinflammation - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6755339/ Based on understandings of the anti-inflammatory effects of n-3 PUFAs on the nervous system, it would make sense to treat #LongCovid with high doses of DHA/EPA n-3 PUFAs. To purchase the highest quality omega-3 fatty acids - please see our link in the comments below:

The integrative approach achieves better results: " 'Our work motivates the design of novel multimodal interventions that incorporate both aerobic fitness training and nutritional supplementation, and illustrates that their benefits extend beyond improvements in physical fitness to enhance multiple measures of cognitive function,' Barbey said. The U. of I. team conducted the intervention with study co-author Adam Strang, a scientist in the Applied Neuroscience Branch of Wrigh...t-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, along with his colleagues in the Air Force Research Laboratory. The U. of I. team also worked with research fellow and study co-author Tapas Das and his colleagues at Abbott Nutrition, who led the design of the nutritional beverage, which is a mixture of nutrients targeting both muscle and brain. The specially designed beverage provided ingredients that previous studies have shown are associated with improved physical cognitive function." See more

"I have seen Jessica for acupuncture for 3-4 years now. I had terrible TMJ pain, shoulder pain and headaches. I was referred to her by a client of mine. I have never done acupuncture before Jessica and I was really nervous. She made me feel super comfortable and was very gentle with her approach. She takes the time to listen and makes sure you're ok during the whole visit. She has helped so much with my TMJ that the pain.." says Diana on Google

"Acupuncture is a cost-effective and safe treatment modality for the alleviation or elimination of migraine headaches. Harvard Medical School, Georgetown University, University of Arizona, Creighton University, and Louisiana State University researchers report findings showing that acupuncture reduces the frequency, intensity, and duration of migraine attacks. The investigation team indicates that patients receiving acupuncture are also less prone to secondary anxiety attacks and depression. ... The research team notes that their findings are consistent with multiple studies and prior investigations. A Cochrane Systematic Review concludes that acupuncture reduces that duration and frequency of migraines. The team points out that numerous studies conclude that true acupuncture is superior to sham acupuncture intervention."

"The new guidance released by the California Department of Public Health on Friday allows outdoor private gatherings of up to three separate households, provide...d certain social distancing protocols are met. The guidance does not apply to religious or cultural gatherings otherwise specified in the state’s reopening blueprint. And indoor gatherings with people outside of an immediate household are still not permitted. In a press briefing Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged people to stay vigilant even as the guidance allows for more socializing than before." Start preparing outdoor heating and tenting with ventilation/fans/air circulation and exchange to help keep your family safe while still being near one another. Wear masks as much as you comfortably can. This will saves hundreds of thousands of lives that are threatened by a second wave this Winter.

We would recommend acupuncture - a treatment that directly engages and helps correct dysfunction in the nervous and immune systems - both which need repair and added treatment following a broadly harmful viral infection like COVID-19. We would also recommend herbal formulas to help clean up after such a viral battle within the nervous system, something we see and know how to assess and address through empirical experience with other types of infections: "Confusion (53%) was the most common neurologic manifestation in patients with COVID-19, followed by impaired consciousness (39%), agitation (31%), and headache (16%). Ischemic strokes (27%) were the most frequent neuroimaging findings." https://n.neurology.org/content/95/13/e1868

This makes sense from an immunoneurological perspective and what we know about long-term inflammatory stress due to exposures to environmental factors that trigger low-grade inflammation. This research helps solidify hypotheses about the vulnerability of the nervous system to these long-term environmental toxins/substances that cause difficult-to-measure low-grade injury but may be measurable in epidemiological data patterns as shown in this kind of study. What we know about... certain plant compounds as protective antioxidants and immune regulating compounds is that they may be helpful, based on how we understand their impacts and other long-term epidemiological data. Although there is no conclusive evidence of a direct cause/benefit due to limitations and challenges in measuring subtle, long-term effects of these complex systems, if we look across various types of research and piece together understandings of the immune response, we can make educated and informed hypotheses that suggest it would be beneficial to consider eating a diet rich in fruits/vegetables, plant-based compounds like those in tea, mushrooms, herbs, and protective fatty acids, like omega-3-fatty acids, all of which show experimental, clinical, and epidemiological evidence of protecting and minimizing injury to the nervous system. In other words: drink tea, eat fish/take omega-3fa's, eat fruits/vegetables, supplement melatonin, and consume therapeutic herbs/mushrooms. If you are curious about specific studies related to these topics, please ask or go to our website where some of it is available.