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What are we doing about it?

Recently our Five Branches Clinic in Santa Cruz was recognized by the Central California Alliance for Health for the treatment of pain. This means that Medi-Cal patients can get help to avoid the use of opioids by receiving acupuncture treatment at our Clinic in Santa Cruz.

This project started 2-3 years ago when our President and our Clinic Manager of our Santa Cruz Campus met with the leadership of Central California Alliance for Health to do a pilot clinical trial to show the efficacy of acupuncture for the treatment of pain. They wished to avoid the use of opioids when patients came to them with problems of pain. As opioid pain killers are addictive, this has become such a National problem, that President Obama has taken a keen interest and many have heard him speak publicly in towns where the problem is epidemic.

“The President made clear that addressing this epidemic remains a top priority for his Administration, and has escalated the fight against the epidemic (prescription drug abuse and heroin use) on three different fronts: expanding access to treatment, preventing overdose deaths, and increasing community prevention strategies.”

Helping the Santa Cruz Community

As a result our Five Branches Santa Cruz Clinic is receiving 10-15 new patients a day from referrals. The Alliance also increased the remuneration for these treatments from $17 to $34 per patient, and increased the number of visit a patient could use. The Central California Alliance for Health thanked us for accepting Medi-Cal and serving the health needs of our low-income community for decades, even with only a $17 remuneration.

This means that our patients can get acupuncture for pain treatment instead of using opioids.

We are upgrading our systems to more easily process our new patients. Soon Five Branches will be meeting with the Alliance leadership to facilitate this for our San Jose clinic.

Intrinsic asthma manifests when the body suddenly needs more oxygen. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, throat or chest tightness, and wheezing. Unlike extrinsic asthma, which is triggered by pathogens, allergens, or illness, intrinsic asthma can be triggered by physical activity or emotional stress. Dr. Janice Walton-Hadlock’s initial observations in twelve patients found that these individuals all had a specific electrical blockage causing inadequate activation of sympathetic mode and the adrenal glands. Upon removal of the electrical blockage, using either acupuncture or gentle physical therapy in the blocked area, healthy adrenaline release and other features of a healthy level of sympathetic mode occurred almost immediately. The chronic throat constriction and overall tendency for asthma quickly ceased. After more than six months, patients were still asthma free. The Kaiser medical research department called these preliminary results “intriguing.”

Beginning January 2020, Dr. Janice Walton-Hadlock will conduct a 60-person treatment program to assess the sub-dermal electrical systems of people with intrinsic asthma and correct any electrical errors using acupuncture or physical therapy. To participate in the study or inquire about details, candidates are asked to email Dr. Janice Walton-Hadlock at pdinfo@cruzio.com or leave a message at 831-423-2649. Patient assessment and treatment usually takes two hours. In rare cases, a second treatment session might be needed. An appointment is required.

For an e-copy of the asthma article in the Journal of Chinese Medicine, please send a request to Dr. Walton-Hadlock at the above email address.

“I’m trying to control my excitement, but what I’ve seen so far has been life changing for those people who no longer have asthma,” said Dr. Walton-Hadlock. “It now appears that this simple treatment might save many lives.”

About Dr. Janice Walton-Hadlock, DAOM, LAc

Dr. Janice Walton-Hadlock, DAOM, LAc, has been a professor of acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine at Five Branches University, in Santa Cruz, California, since 1998. She is the founder and director of the non-profit Parkinson’s Recovery Project and has led research projects on Parkinson’s disease, on the long-term effects of shock and on the bioelectric basis of Chinese medicine. Dr. Janice Walton-Hadlock lectures widely and has been published in many peer-reviewed journals of Chinese medicine. She was the first non-MD acupuncturist to have a commentary accepted for publication in the New England Journal of Medicine (Mar 31 2005).