Rhino horn is not medicine

Full text of my letter to the Sunday Times commenting on Richard Girling's article (Horns of Plenty, Sunday Times Magazine, 29 April 2012). The original article needs a subscription to view.

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Dear Madam/Sir

I read with interest and dismay Richard Girling's article (Horns of Plenty, Sunday Times Magazine, 29 April 2012). I must commend the writer for highlighting the abhorrent illegal trade in rhino horn.

Unsurprisingly, this was the major topic of discussion at Save the Rhino International's excellent Rhino Mayday event held at UCL last Tuesday. As an attendee and speaker at this event, I learned a lot about the demand and illegal supply of rhino horn. Although Mr Girling is correct that rhino horn is listed in 5,000 year old texts of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), alongside other such medical delights as mercury, cinnabar and realgar, it should be pointed out that TCM is a living and ever-evolving form of medicine with an unbroken tradition dating back many millennia. It has been illegal to medicinally use rhino horn in China since 1993 (fortunately, mercury fell into disuse many centuries earlier).

In the UK, the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine (RCHM) strongly condemns the illegal trade in endangered species and has a strict policy prohibiting the use of any type of endangered species by any of our members. We do not consider rhino horn to be a medicinal ingredient and herbal substitutes are readily available. No animal/mineral products should be used in TCM in the UK as it is illegal to use animal/mineral products in unlicensed medicines and most herbal medicines come into this category.

It would be naive to think that none of the rhino horn illegally imported into places like China and Vietnam ends up as part of under-the-counter medicines (the per capita demand for rhino horn in Vietnam seems to be greater than any other country). However, from presentations made at Rhino Mayday, it seems the illegal trade in horn has now gone far beyond the limited medicinal market. Why would someone of a criminal persuasion grind up a valuable asset like a rhino horn when the powdered version would be indistinguishable from a cheap substitute such as horse hoof? The major problem now appears to be the use of horns as extravagant business gifts or an investment alternative to gold.

It is interesting to note that no one has ever been able to track down the source of the ridiculous myth that rhino horn can treat cancer. It certainly does not come from any ancient TCM text book. The best guess from knowledgeable people in the field is that it was an internet rumour put out by rhino horn salesmen in order to boost demand.

There are perfectly adequate laws in place to prevent the trade in rhino horn (and other endangered species) but enforcement is sporadic due to lack of will and/or lack of manpower (for example, the National Wildlife Crime Unit in the UK has only 8 full-time officers to cover everything from reptiles to bird eggs to rhino horn).

Rather than blaming Traditional Chinese Medicine for rhino poaching and museum theft, perhaps a more fruitful approach might be to encourage the Governments involved to enforce existing legislation. Britain’s imperial past as a colonial big-game hunter (hence all the Victorian-era rhinos in UK museums) means we must be at our diplomatic best when raising this subject in Asia and Africa. Current economic difficulties make the task even harder. However, doing nothing is not an acceptable option for the world’s remaining wild rhinos.

Yours
Gary Minns
President, Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine
London

The CAM and new university debate

This essay is the full text of a response made to David Colquhoun's comment on a Times Higher Education article. You should probably go and read the originals first.

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Sadly and predictably, Mr Colquhoun is quick to turn a perfectly reasonable article celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act into one of his oft-seen rants on the award of degrees in complementary medicine (aka CAM). The fact seems lost on him that the 1992 Act opened wide the door to university education for thousands of people who, previously, were effectively excluded.

As a Middlesex graduate from one of the degrees so hated by Mr Colquhoun, I feel a mixture of amusement, mild annoyance and pity at his continued intellectual snobbery. I don’t doubt Mr Colquhoun quotes accurately, albeit massively out of context, from the bullet-pointed slides he mentions. However, as he well knows from his many years of university experience, a few headlines on a slide does not make a lecture. What his persistent and irrelevant freedom of information requests fail to trawl up are the actual words spoken by lecturers in classes; the hours of interaction between enquiring student minds and experienced practitioner-lecturers; the weeks of student clinical observation/practice.

Mr Colquhoun also misrepresents Middlesex and many other CAM courses when he calls them “anti-science”. A quick search of readily available information (no need to waste other people's time and money with freedom of info requests) highlights that the current Middlesex CAM courses comprise modules that are split approximately ¼ Western medicine, ⅓ research related with the remaining 40% or so being CAM. Unscientific? Unsafe? An appropriately holistic view of the courses would suggest not.

I wonder if Mr Colquhoun’s real gripe is not so much with CAM degrees but with the belief that the 1992 Act began an evolution (or perhaps he would prefer the word “erosion”) within the British university system that saw universities become businesses and students become customers. Like it or not, in a free market, the forces of economics will prevail.

Circa 1995, some visionary and perceptive people within Middlesex saw that students/customers wanted to study CAM and so they supplied courses to meet that demand. Personally speaking, Middlesex did not make me study a CAM degree, I chose the subject and then found an institution that provided what I wanted (interestingly, doing a lot of my studying on a campus Middlesex share with Mr Colquhoun’s überscientific UCL). No doubt, if the demand ever diminishes, so will the number of CAM courses on offer (although Middlesex’s 17 straight years of offering degree level CAM courses would suggest demand remains good).

Despite the bullying tactics of Mr Colquhoun, and others with equally sincere but misguided beliefs, it is refreshing to see universities such as Middlesex coming out so strongly and robustly in support of CAM and, in Middlesex’s case, seeming to make CAM a specialist subject area or “centre of excellence”. Long may this freedom of choice continue to be victorious over the academic censorship Mr Colquhoun seems to advocate.

VC Driscoll’s article reads rather like that of any CEO heading a company in a crowded, competitive market place during difficult economic times. His company needs to adapt, change, specialise and successfully sell its products. The difficult decisions taken by VC Driscoll and the governors will determine whether Middlesex follows in the footsteps of Kodak or Fuji; Rover or Nissan; RBS or Santander. My guess would be that CAM degrees, like all other university courses, will remain for as long as they are popular with students and, as VC Driscoll suggests, they are “thoroughly entitled”.

Before embarking on any more of his epic and infamous whinges, perhaps Mr Colquhoun would do well to step back and take time to appreciate the rapidly changing environment within which universities, both pre and post 1992, must now operate. VC Driscoll looks to be successfully cutting his cloth accordingly.

I await Mr Colquhoun's inevitable response.

Declaration of interests: the writer is an acupuncturist/herbalist in private practice and part-time supervisor/lecturer on a BSc (Hons) Acupuncture course (but not the one at Middlesex). In other words, the writer makes his living from CAM in the same way that Mr Colquhoun makes his living from “science”.

NHS Cancer Newsletter: use of CAM in cancer patients

This newsletter features an article by Dr Peter Fisher on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). He brings together the evidence of the benefits and the safety concerns of CAM for cancer patients (source: NHS Evidence).

Herbalists to be statutory regulated

I'm incredibly happy to pass on this information from the Department of Health that, amongst other things, announces herbalists will be statutory regulated through the Health Professions' Council (HPC). The full announcement is available here but the relevant section can be found on page 19, paragraph 4.13. Enjoy!

Effects of Sophora japonica flowers (huaihua) on cerebral infarction

Sophora japonica contains both anti-haemorrhagic and anti-haemostatic substances. Sophora japonica reduces cerebral infarction partly as a result of its anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities. Further study is required to determine the relationship between Sophora japonica-mediated reduction in cerebral infarction size and its effects on platelet aggregation and cardiovascular function (source: BioMed Central Chinese Medicine).

Herbal medicine may inhibit tumor growth

Scientists in Hong Kong have demonstrated Chinese herbal formula tianxian liquid may inhibit the the growth of colon cancer cells (source: BioMed Central Chinese Medicine).

Acupuncture of benefit for IBS sufferers

#Acupuncture treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) has been recently recommended by researchers from the World-renowned Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The researchers concluded that the use of acupuncture in treating IBS is "recommended due to its satisfactory therapeutic effect" (source: Journal of Acupuncture and Tuina Science).

Chinese medicine for fibromyalgia

Recently published research suggests #Chinesemedicine appears effective in treating fibromyalgia. Researchers from the UK, Norway and China undertook the review of clinical trials (source: Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine).

Acupuncture for children with cerebral palsy

A new review has concluded that #acupuncture treatment may benefit children with cerebral palsy. The research has been conducted by the prestigious Beijing University of Chinese Medicine together with the China Academy of Chinese Medical Science, Beijing (source: Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine).

Acupuncture cuts oxytocin use at Iraq childbirths

Doctors in Iraq have successfully used #acupuncture during childbirth to cut down on oxytocin use. Oxytocin is a drug which is often given to mothers just after a Caesarean delivery to help the womb contract and to cut the risk of bleeding. However, this drug was in short supply in Iraq. Oxytocin is a hormone that also occurs naturally in the body during labour.

The study covered emergency Caesarean sections at the Red Crescent Hospital for Gynaecology and Obstetrics in Baghdad between 2004 and 2006, when oxytocin stocks were low. "Oxytocin proved largely unnecessary in my series of patients, apparently through the action of acupuncture" Lazgeen Zcherky, an anaesthetist who led the study, said in a statement. "We were thus able to conserve stocks of those drugs we held in short supply without ill effects on our patients" (source: Reuters).

Acupuncture may help asthma

The World Health Organization (WHO) deems #acupuncture to be a viable treatment for asthma and a study by the University of Vienna Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care has found that 70 percent or more of patients treated for asthma with acupuncture see improvement (source: EmpowHER).

Acupuncture aids spinal recovery

Research in South Korea shows #acupuncture reduces inflammation and nerve cell death in subjects with damaged spines, thereby facilitating better recovery (source: Neurobiology of Disease, New Scientist).

Acupuncture relieves the pain of childbirth

Danish trials involving 607 women suggest #acupuncture reduces the need for pain relieving drugs during childbirth. The study concluded that "acupuncture is a good supplement to existing pain relief methods" (source: Birth).

Acupuncture reduces food cravings

Psychological #acupuncture has been shown to be successful in reducing food cravings in people who are overweight or obese. Lead researcher and psychologist Dr Peta Stapleton said the study showed the impact on food cravings was almost immediate and long lasting. Food cravings significantly reduced after just four sessions and were maintained at a six-month follow-up (source: Medical News).

Acupressure for chronic headache

Clinical trials in Taiwan suggest massage at #acupuncture points (known as acupressure or tuina) is effective in reducing the frequency and severity of chronic headache (source: American Journal of Chinese Medicine).

Moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis

Research from Shanghai suggests the #Chinesemedicine technique of moxibustion helps prevent further development of knee osteoarthritis, improves joint function and quality of life (source: China Journal of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, PubMed).

Acupuncture for chronic lower back pain

Clinical trials have shown #acupuncture combined with drug treatment is better than drug treatment alone for relieving chronic lower back pain (source: BioMed Central Chinese Medicine).

Scientists use light to prick acupuncture mystery

Chinese scientists are trying to solve the mystery of #acupuncture points of using the country's most expensive ever science project, a light-emitting synchrotron. The Shanghai-based synchrotron, which uses super-powerful X-rays to resolve the structure of matter down to the level of atoms, has detected evidence that acupuncture points differ from other parts of the body (source: People's Daily Online).

Acupuncture and moxibustion for Crohn’s Disease

Research in Germany has concluded that #acupuncture offers an "additional therapeutic benefit" in patients with mild to moderately active Crohn's Disease (source: Digestion).

Acupuncture shown to relieve migraine

Clinical trials have shown #acupuncture to be effective at relieving migraine headaches. Researchers in China gave acupuncture treatment to a group 175 patients suffering migraine. It was reported that over 40% of patients experienced complete pain relief with almost 80% of patients not suffering any recurrence of their migraine (source: Headache).

Chinese Herbal Medicine helps male fertility

A trial suggests Chinese #herbalmedicine formula qianlie beixi may improve sperm motility. Researchers at the prestigious Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China, have published promising results from a trial involving men with sperm motility issues (source: National Journal of Andrology).

Acupuncture curbs back pain in pregnancy

A special #acupuncture technique can help ease lower back and pelvic pain in pregnant women, new research shows. In a study, women who had pressure needles at three acupuncture points in their ears were more likely to experience significant reductions in lower back and pelvic pain than those women in control groups. Ear acupuncture might offer a drug-free way to help ease pain in these women (source: Reuters).

Could cupping ease chronic knee pain?

The ancient #Chinesemedicine therapy of cupping is being tested as a new treatment for knee arthritis. The traditional remedy, popular with celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, is being put through the rigours of a clinical trial. Some research suggests that cupping, which involves placing heated cups upside down on the skin, can result in significant reduction in lower back pain compared with painkillers. Other studies showed positive effects in trigeminal neuralgia, a condition that affects nerves in the face. Now, in a new trial, researchers at Charite University, Berlin, are hoping to gain similar success with patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis (source: Daily Mail).

Acupuncture for post-Caesarean pain

Research has shown post-Caesarean patients receiving #acupuncture may need less pain relief medication. The onset of post-Caesarean acupuncture patients requesting pain killers seems to be delayed and the doses required appear to decrease (source: Chinese Medical Journal).

Acupuncture in stroke rehabilitation

Randomised clinical trials demonstrate #acupuncture may be effective in the treatment of poststroke rehabilitation. This is the view of the influential American Heart Association. It is a view seemingly supported by the NHS (source: Stroke, American Heart Association, NHS Evidence).

Acupuncture may enhance sports performance

Newly published research suggests #acupuncture treatment may enhance sports performance. Researchers found the use of acupuncture in resistance and endurance sports activities tended to increase muscular strength and power. Acupuncture also seemed to improve the haemodynamic parameters of endurance athletes (source: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, PubMed).

Peter Hain in support of CAM

Complementary therapies, such as #acupuncture and #herbalmedicine, should be made available on the NHS, according to Welsh Secretary Peter Hain. The Neath MP, a fan of alternative medicine, will write to Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones in a bid to persuade him to consider introducing a pilot scheme in Wales. Mr Hain’s comments come as English Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced a pilot project will assess the feasibility and benefits of complementary and alternative therapies to treat low back pain in the NHS.

Mr Hain said: "I am a big supporter of integrated health and very much welcome the announcement by the Department of Health that a pilot on the use of complementary and alternative treatments will take place in England. This follows the complementary health pilot I oversaw in Northern Ireland, while Secretary of State, which focused on a range of alternative treatments for stress, depression, anxiety and musculoskeletal problems. The results of the Northern Ireland pilot demonstrated considerable benefits to both patients, who reported improved health, and to the NHS, with reduced patient visits and prescriptions as well as benefits to the wider economy with people taking less time off work. This suggests the potential for massive cost savings in the NHS drugs bills and overheads, releasing more funds to improve patient care" (source: Wales Online).