CIOM Medical Center

04/02/2014

The History of Osteopathic Medicine

Osteopathic medicine is a distinctive form of medical care founded on the philosophy that all body systems are interrelated and dependent upon one another for good health. This philosophy was developed in 1874 by Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, who pioneered the concept of "wellness" and recognized the importance of treating illness within the context of the whole body.
Osteopathic physicians use all of the tools available through modern medicine including prescription medicine and surgery. They also incorporate osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) into their regimen of patient care when appropriate. OMM is a set of manual medicine techniques that may be used to diagnose illness and injury, relieve pain, restore range of motion, and enhance the body's capacity to heal.

Physicians licensed as Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs), like their allopathic counterparts (MDs), must pass a national or state medical board examination in order to obtain a license to practice medicine. DOs provide comprehensive medical care to patients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Currently, there are more than 50,000 DOs practicing in the United States. Reflecting the osteopathic philosophy of treating the whole person, many DOs serve in the primary care areas of family medicine, general internal medicine, and pediatrics, often establishing their practices in medically underserved areas. But many others are found in a wide range of medical specialties including surgery, anesthesiology, sports medicine, geriatrics, and emergency medicine. Still others serve as health care policy leaders at the local, state, and national levels. In addition, an increasing emphasis on biomedical research at several of the osteopathic colleges has expanded opportunities for DOs interested in pursuing careers in medical research.

Andrew Taylor Still was born in Virginia in 1828, the son of a Methodist minister and physician. At an early age, Still decided to follow in his father's footsteps as a physician. After studying medicine and serving an apprenticeship under his father, Still became a licensed MD in the state of Missouri. Later, in the early 1860s, he completed additional coursework at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Kansas City, Missouri. He went on to serve as a surgeon in the Union Army during the Civil War.

After the Civil War and following the death of three of his children from spinal meningitis in 1864, Still concluded that the orthodox medical practices of his day were frequently ineffective, and sometimes harmful. He devoted the next ten years of his life to studying the human body and finding better ways to treat disease.

His research and clinical observations led him to believe that the musculoskeletal system played a vital role in health and disease and that the body contained all of the elements needed to maintain health, if properly stimulated. Still believed that by correcting problems in the body's structure, through the use of manual techniques now known as osteopathic manipulative treatment, the body's ability to function and to heal itself could be greatly improved. He also promoted the idea of preventive medicine and endorsed the philosophy that physicians should focus on treating the whole patient, rather than just the disease.

These beliefs formed the basis of a new medical approach, osteopathic medicine. Based on this philosophy, Dr. Still opened the first school of osteopathic medicine in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892.

Osteopathic medicine is also rapidly growing! Nearly one in five medical students in the United States is attending an osteopathic medical school.

In addition to studying all of the typical subjects you would expect student physicians to master, osteopathic medical students take approximately 200 additional hours of training in the art of osteopathic manipulative medicine. This system of hands-on techniques helps alleviate pain, restores motion, supports the body’s natural functions and influences the body’s structure to help it function more efficiently.

One key concept osteopathic medical students learn is that structure influences function. Thus, if there is a problem in one part of the body’s structure, function in that area, and possibly in other areas, may be affected.

Another integral tenet of osteopathic medicine is the body’s innate ability to heal itself. Many of osteopathic medicine’s manipulative techniques are aimed at reducing or eliminating the impediments to proper structure and function so the self-healing mechanism can assume its role in restoring a person to health.

In addition to a strong history of providing high-quality patient care, DOs conduct clinical and basic science research to help advance the frontiers of medicine and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the osteopathic approach to patient care. Currently, several organizations are involved in osteopathic clinical research in coordination with the Osteopathic Research Center. The facility’s staff develops, facilitates, and conducts multi-center, collaborative clinical research studies.

04/02/2014

04/02/2014

About Osteopathic Medicine

Osteopathic medicine is a distinct form of medical practice in the United States. Osteopathic medicine provides all of the benefits of modern medicine including prescription drugs, surgery, and the use of technology to diagnose disease and evaluate injury. It also offers the added benefit of hands-on diagnosis and treatment through a system of therapy known as osteopathic manipulative medicine. Osteopathic medicine emphasizes helping each person achieve a high level of wellness by focusing on health promotion and disease prevention.

Osteopathic medicine was founded in the late 1800s in Kirksville, Missouri, by a medical doctor who recognized that the medical practices of the day often caused more harm than good. He focused on developing a system of medical care that would promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself and called this system of medicine osteopathy, now known as osteopathic medicine.

Osteopathic physicians, also known as DOs, work in partnership with their patients. They consider the impact that lifestyle and community have on the health of each individual, and they work to break down barriers to good health. DOs are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine in all 50 states. They practice in all types of environments, including the military, and in all types of specialties, from family medicine to obstetrics, surgery, and aerospace medicine.

DOs are trained to look at the whole person from their first days of medical school, which means they see each person as more than just a collection of organ systems and body parts that may become injured or diseased. This holistic approach to patient care means that osteopathic medical students learn how to integrate the patient into the health care process as a partner. They are trained to communicate with people from diverse backgrounds, and they get the opportunity to practice these skills in their classrooms and learning laboratories, frequently with standardized and simulated patients.

The osteopathic medical profession has a proud heritage of producing primary care practitioners. In fact, the mission statements of the majority of osteopathic medical schools state plainly that their purpose is the production of primary care physicians. Osteopathic medical tradition preaches that a strong foundation in primary care makes one a better physician, regardless of what specialty they may eventually practice.

Today, when the challenge of ensuring an adequate number of primary care physicians extends to osteopathic medicine, the majority of most osteopathic medical school graduates choose careers in primary care. Osteopathic medicine also has a special focus on providing care in rural and urban underserved areas, allowing DOs to have a greater impact on the U.S. population's health and well-being than their numbers would suggest. While DOs constitute 7 percent of all U.S. physicians, they are responsible for 16 percent of patient visits in communities with populations of fewer than 2,500.

04/02/2014

How Laser Therapy Works

Laser Therapy energizes living systems delivers light based energy to cells, helping to accelerate the body's natural healing process at the cellular level. It targets injured cells, resulting in elimination and prevention of pain, reduction of inflammation and swelling, and improved range of motion as well as enhanced immune function and antimicrobial. Laser therapy does not just mask the pain, it actively stimulates tissue regeneration.

One important way in which laser therapy adds energy is through photon absorption by mitochondria. Mitochondria, tiny organelles which have been called the "powerhouses" of the cell, are found in most life forms, including all plants, animals and even most bacteria. Mitochondria are able to absorb laser light which then activates a series of reactions to increase and store more cellular energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). By increasing energy available in this readily accessible form, laser light is able to greatly stimulate the biological function of cells, tissue, and systems and even raise overall vital energy throughout the individual. "Bio" stimulation!
When energy becomes available, the body can heal itself. Laser therapy has been shown to stimulate the regeneration of bone, blood, cartilage, nerve, and muscle and has been documented, moreover, to enhance the quality of healed tissue, so that in many instances it is stronger than the original.

04/02/2014

What Is Acupuncture? What Are The Benefits Of Acupuncture?

Acupuncture originates from China and has been practiced there for thousands of years. Although there are records of acupuncture being used hundreds of years ago in Europe, it was during the second half of the twentieth century it began to spread rapidly in Western Europe, the United States and Canada. Acupuncture involves the insertion of very thin needles through the patient's skin at specific points on the body - the needles are inserted to various depths. We are not sure how acupuncture works scientifically. However, we do know that it does have some therapeutic benefits, including pain relief and alleviation from nausea caused by chemotherapy.

According to traditional Chinese medical theory, acupuncture points are located on meridians through which gi vital energy runs. There is no histological, anatomical or scientific proof that these meridians or acupuncture points exist. Acupuncture remains controversial among Western medical doctors and scientists. Creating case studies that use proper scientific controls is difficult because of the invasive nature of acupuncture - a clinical study involves a placebo (sham product) compared to the targeted treatment. It is very hard to devise a sham acupuncture control that one can compare to proper acupuncture. While some studies have concluded that acupuncture offers similar benefits to a patient as a placebo, others have indicated that there are some real benefits. This article in a peer-reviewed British Medical Journal explains that the principles of acupuncture are firmly grounded in science, and you don't need Chinese philosophy either to make it work, or to practice it.

According to WHO (World Health Organization) acupuncture is effective for treating 28 conditions, while evidence indicates it may have an effective therapeutic value for many more. People with tension headaches and/or migraines may find acupuncture to be very effective in alleviating their symptoms, according to a study carried out at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Another study at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center found that twice weekly acupuncture treatments relieve debilitating symptoms of xerostomia - severe dry mouth - among patients treated with radiation for head and neck cancer.

04/02/2014

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of medicine as well as one of the most common medical procedures which is used in the world today. It has a history which goes back beyond 2500 years ago. The principle of acupuncture is based upon balancing the QI (Chi) or natural vital energy integral within all individuals in order to promote the body's own ability to heal itself. Acupuncture also employs other methods such as herbal medicine, cupping, exercise and nutritional advice in order to achieve the optimum health.
The mechanisms by which acupuncture is effective are related to stimulation of nerves and muscle tissue as well as endorphin release and enhancement of circulation.

Acupuncture is a safe and effective way of treating many conditions such as:

- Arthritis, fibromyalgia, back pain and carpal tunnel
- Allergies, asthma and other respiratory problems
- Gastrointestinal issues
- Gynaecological problems like infertility and PMS
- Depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress
- Cosmetic acupuncture & acupuncture for 'Facelift'
- Physical, emotional and neurological issues
- Weight loss
- Smoking

04/02/2014

Baby and Children

Many of the problems that babies and children suffer are caused before, during and immediately after birth, the child may be left with uncomfortable stresses within its head and body. These can lead to problems such as suckling & latching-on difficulties, irritability, colic, wind and disturbed sleep patterns. Toddlers may suffer from difficulties with mobility, they may sit, crawl, walk early, seeking movement to relieve physical discomfort. Sleep patterns are disturbed, teething may be uncomfortable and head banging or pulling at the hair may occur.
Osteopathic treatment can bring about significant improvement in these cases, and has particular success in treating the problems suffered by premature babies. These babies inevitably suffer stresses and trauma during birth and then, further stress from the equipment that needs to be used to stabilise their condition.

Osteopathy for babies and toddlers

The bones in the baby's head are designed to overlap to create the easiest route as it passes through the birth canal. This can create moulding of the head that will normally resolve within the first few days of life. If the baby has adopted a difficult position during the pregnancy, or labour has been long or very quick, then this moulding can remain and create uncomfortable pressure within the baby's head. Tension around the base of the skull may also irritate the nerves that exit from this region. A common nerve pinched in this way supplies the stomach often resulting in colic type symptoms.

Osteopathy for children and teenagers

Distortions to the head can continue to hinder the growth and development of a child's brain as it grows older. The child's behaviour may be volatile, they may have problems with co-ordination and physical development. They may be vulnerable to chronic ear infections, glue ear, headaches, growing pains and stomach aches. They may be habitual mouth breathers, suffer from developmental problems such as dyslexia, dyspraxia and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The child's posture may suffer too, with the head being held on one side, or one shoulder held higher than the other.

During the teenage years, the body frame undergoes a number of changes. Problems may occur because of an exaggerated spinal curve or because of mechanical changes that occur through osteochondritis a self-limiting condition that causes a distortion of the bone. Other problems are caused by sporting and recreational activities that carry the risk of sprains and strains. If these problems are left undiagnosed and untreated they can worsen in later life. Osteopaths can help the body frame adjust to the postural demands made on it. By analysing, treating and managing problems associated with growth, osteopaths make a major contribution to ensuring that young people stay fit and healthy.

04/02/2014

Naturopathy

Naturopathic medicine is a distinct primary health care system that blends modern scientific knowledge with traditional and natural forms of medicine. The naturopathic philosophy is to stimulate the healing power of the body and treat the underlying cause of disease. Symptoms of disease are seen as warning signals of improper functioning of the body, and unfavourable lifestyle habits. Treating both acute and chronic conditions, naturopathic treatments are chosen based on the individual patient their physiological, structural, psychological, social, environmental and lifestyle factors. In addition to diet and lifestyle changes, natural therapies including botanical medicine, clinical nutrition and homeopathy.

Naturopathy of Infertility

Naturopathy is also a natural fertility treatment that has become an increasingly popular option for couples having difficulty getting pregnant. Naturopathy works by alleviating fertility problems by using a holistic approach that aims to improve an individual's overall health: physical, mental and emotional. As such, naturopathic medicine has been used to treat both female infertility and male infertility in order to improve an individual's chances of getting pregnant.