Editors Note: This is the last of a three-part series examining health and spirituality in Athens.
At Ohio University's Acupuncture Clinic, buried between The Convo and West Green, an ancient form of Chinese medicine meets Appalachia. No longer a tradition shrouded in mystery and revered from afar by Western medicine, acupuncture has worked its way into OU's medical school's curriculum and practice.
At OU's clinic, which was established in 2000, Dr. Edward Gotfried, the founder and an OU professor, has about 150 patients he treats for ailments ranging from chronic pain to depression to headaches.
In traditional Chinese medical theory, acupuncture works by tapping into 2,000 points throughout the body, which connect and conduct the body's energy, or gi. It regulates the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental balance, and acupuncture encourages the smooth flow of gi in the body, according to the National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine Web site (http://nccam.nih.gov).
Godfried's youngest patient is four years old.
When Mary Anne Dutton's daughter, Amy, was born four years ago with Down syndrome, her interest in acupuncture led her to design a program to help her daughter's development. The physical therapist from Vienna, W.Va., read an article about the OU clinic, and made an appointment with Gotfried. He, unable to needle the baby, showed Dutton how to perform an acupuncture massage.
Dutton enrolled Amy in a study at Johns Hopkins University, which tracked the development of Down syndrome children.
(Originally) the predictions were rather grim for physical
emotional and cognitive which just about covers all the bases Dutton said.
But after performing the acupuncture massage every day, Amy showed increased development. Dutton takes Amy back to the university once a year, and physicians are astounded with her progress, Dutton said. Though judging her development is difficult because Amy is so young, her growth and cognitive skills compare with other children her age.
She began home schooling Amy in August and she is right on target with the kindergarten curriculum.
I think as the years go by the doctors are going to be more and more impressed
Dutton said.
The acupuncture clinic is part of Ohio University Medical Associates, but must generate enough money to cover its own operating expenses, said John Brose, dean of the OU College of Osteopathic Medicine. Gotfried, the only physician at the clinic, is employed by OU as a professor.
We feel very strongly that students need to know about complimentary and alternative medicine
because their patients are going to be using it whether they know about it or not
Brose said.
Many other medical schools, including Miami University, offer acupuncture training. The OU clinic began in 2000 at the urging of Gotfried, who was trained in acupuncture at University of California in Los Angeles.
17
Archives
Emily Patterson
200310173302midsize.jpg
