Research

Acupuncture Overall Safety

• Large study on acupuncture safety: 229, 230 patients receiving 2,200,000 treatments: 2009 Apr;16(2):91-7. doi: 10.1159/000209315. Epub 2009 Apr 9. Safety of Acupuncture: Results of a Prospective Observational Study With 229,230 Patients and Introduction of a Medical Information and Consent Form. Claudia M Witt, et al. https://doi.org/10.1159/000209315>  Most adverse events 6% of the 8% reported were bleeding or hematoma.
• A systematic review of the safety of acupuncture: Adverse events correlate with lack of training 2017 Jun 13;7(1):3369. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-03272-0. Safety of Acupuncture: Overview of Systematic Reviews. Malcolm W C Chan. PMID: 28611366 PMCID: PMC5469776 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03272-0

Acupuncture Safety During Pregnancy

• Acupunct Med 2014 Jun;32(3):257-66. doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2013-010480. Epub 2014 Feb 19. The Safety of Acupuncture During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review. Jimin Park  1 , Youngjoo Sohn  2 , Adrian R White  3 , Hyangsook Lee  PMID: 24554789 PMCID: PMC4112450 DOI: 10.1136/acupmed-2013-010480

Acupuncture and Cancer

• Integr Med Res: 2019 Sep;8(3):160-166. doi: 10.1016/j.imr.2019.05.002. Epub 2019 May 17. Evidence, Safety and Recommendations for When to Use Acupuncture for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms: A Narrative Review. Stephen Birch 1 , Myeong Soo Lee  2 , Terje Alraek  1 3 , Tae-Hun Kim>  4 Affiliations expand PMID: 31304088 PMCID: PMC6600712 DOI: 10.1016/j.imr.2019.05.002
• Med Acupunct: . 2015 Jun 1;27(3):224-229. doi: 10.1089/acu.2015.1099. The Safety of Acupuncture in Patients With Cancer Therapy-Related Thrombocytopenia. Paul A Cybularz  1 , Karen Brothers  1 , Gurneet M Singh  1 , Jennifer L Feingold  1 , Mark E Lewis  1 , Michelle L Niesley  PMID: 26401193 PMCID: PMC4491150 DOI: 10.1089/acu.2015.1099

The Microbiome

• Human Microbiome Project: NIH gut project focused on identifying and characterizing human microbial flora.
• The American Gut Project: Crowd-sourced microbiome project. “American Gut gives you an opportunity to participate and to compare the microbes in your gut to those in the guts of thousands of other people in the US and around the world.” You send in a stool sample and join the bank of samples of human gut microbiota. Great project!
• The Plantrician Project: Good info on how eating meat affects our planet and how to eat more plants. Good informational graphics.
• Forks over Knives: Good info on eating a flexitarian or vegetarian lifestyle.
• Center for Nutrition Studies: T. Colin Campbell; geared toward plant-based diets.
• “Livestock’s Long Shadow”: Large report from the United Nations on how meat production affects the planet.

Fasting/Cancer Research

• The next three studies are from Dr. Valter Longo’s site. Dr. Longo is also the developer of the Fasting Mimicking Diet

1. 1. 1. “The effects of short term fasting on quality of life and tolerance to chemotherapy in patients with breast and ovarian cancer. A randomized crossover study.” 
      2. “Protective effects of short term dietary restriction in surgical stress and chemotherapy.
      3. “Safety and feasibility of fasting in combination with platinum based chemotherapy: Prolonged Nightly Fasting and Breast Cancer Prognosis. This web page discusses the importance of delaying eating for at least 13 hours and its effect on recurrence of breast cancer. /

• Frequency and Circadian Timing of Eating May Influence Biomarkers of Inflammation and Insulin Resistance Associated with Breast Cancer Risk. Marinac CR, PLoS One. 2015; 10(8):e0136240.
• Fasting and cancer: molecular mechanisms and clinical application. Abstract about the emerging theories on fasting’s effect on cancer cells. References included to help you dive deeper. You can buy the study for $8.99
• The microbiome and breast cancer: a review. An analysis of the circular relationship between the microbiome and estrogen metabolism. This is an excellent review of the relationship between a healthy gut and breast cancer and other hormonal imbalances.

Endocrine Disruptors

 

• Gut Microbiota, Endocrine Disrupting chemicals, and the diabetes epidemic.  Further evidence as to why we must watch our intake of plastics, etc. 
• Transcriptome Profiling Reveals Bisphenol A Alternatives Activate Estrogen Receptor Alpha in Human Breast Cancer Cells. Let’s go look at all our plastic water bottles, etc. Go with glass, silicone, stainless steel instead
• Environmental Working Group. To check your cosmetics, home cleaning products, etc. for safety. The site also has several important shopper guides to download.
• Breast Cancer Prevention Partnership “Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) provides current research and raises awareness of environmental toxins, which can affect breast cancer rates. BCPP helps transform how society thinks about and uses chemicals and radiation, with the goal of preventing breast cancer and sustaining health and life.”
• National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. An introduction to endocrine disruptors; what they are and what they do to the body
• “Undergoing Fertility Treatment? Watch Your Plastics: Evidence mounts that BPA reduces the chances of success for in-vitro fertilization”
• EDC-2: The Endocrine Society’s Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals Endocrine Reviews, “In this second Scientific Statement, we reviewed the literature on a subset of topics for which the translational evidence is strongest: 1) obesity and diabetes; 2) female reproduction; 3) male reproduction; 4) hormone-sensitive cancers in females; 5) prostate; 6) thyroid; and 7) neurodevelopment and neuroendocrine systems.”
• The exhaustive list of all human hormones – where they’re produced and what they do. For nerds!
• National pesticide information center http://npic.orst.edu. Good info on pesticides, fact sheets, info on disinfectants 

Sources of Clean Containers

• Kleen Kanteen: “From water bottles to insulated tumblers, coffee mugs to food canisters, steel straws to kid and baby bottles, we offer reusable stainless steel solutions for everyday life.”
• Life Factory: “From cradle to table” bottles, food storage, glassware
• Pure Stainless: Lots of safe baby bottles, silicone accessories
• Takeya: Stainless bottles, pitchers, accessories
• Stasher Bag: Silicone refrigerator storage bags
• Ecoware: For businesses – compostable war