Top Men’s Health Issues and Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been used to treat men’s health concerns for thousands of years, and is growing in popularity in the U.S. more and more every year. One of the reasons for this growth in popularity is that many of the health issues that men typically face, such as high blood pressure, prostate problems, and depression, respond extremely well to acupuncture treatments.
Here are five health issues that affect men and how acupuncture can help:
Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease is the leading men’s health threat, with heart disease and stroke topping the list of leading causes of death worldwide. By integrating acupuncture and Oriental medicine into your heart-healthy lifestyle, you can dramatically reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.
Taking small steps to improve your health can reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease by as much as 80 percent! Steps to prevention include managing high blood pressure, quitting smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing stress, and improved sleep – all of which can be helped with acupuncture.
Acupuncture has been found to be particularly helpful in lowering blood pressure. Research has shown that applying acupuncture needles at strategic sites in the body stimulates the release of opioids which, in turn, lowers blood pressure.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the leading cancer that kills men. Tobacco smoke causes 90 percent of all lung cancers. If you are ready to quit smoking, acupuncture can help.
Acupuncture has shown to be an effective treatment for quitting smoking. Acupuncture treatments for addiction and smoking cessation focus on jitters, cravings, irritability, and restlessness; symptoms that people commonly complain about when they quit. It also aids in relaxation and detoxification.
In one study on substance addiction, a team from Yale University successfully used auricular (ear) acupuncture to treat cocaine addiction. Results showed that 55 percent of participants tested free of cocaine during the last week of treatment, compared to 24 percent and 9 percent in the two control groups. Those who completed acupuncture treatment also had longer periods of sustained abstinence compared to participants in the control groups.
Prostate Health
The prostate is prone to enlargement and inflammation as men age, affecting about half of men in their 60s and up to 90 percent of men as they approach their 70s and 80s. If left untreated, benign prostate gland enlargement, which presents with symptoms such as frequent nighttime urination, painful urination, and difficult urination, can lead to more serious conditions such as prostate cancer, urinary tract infections, bladder or kidney damage, bladder stones, and incontinence.
Acupuncture and Oriental medicine can be used to treat prostate problems to relieve the urinary symptoms and prevent the more serious conditions from occurring. The few studies completed on acupuncture and prostatitis show positive results with participants noticing an marked improvement in their quality of life, decrease in urinary difficulties, and an increase in urinary function.
Depression and Mental Health
Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death among all men; for young men it’s higher. While experts previously thought depression affected far more women than men, it is now believed that men’s tendency to hide depressed feelings and not seek professional help has skewed the numbers.
When suffering from depression, brain chemicals and stress hormones are out of balance. Sleep, appetite, and energy level are all disturbed. Acupuncture and Oriental medicine can alleviate symptoms associated with depression and mental health issues by relieving stress and helping to rebalance the body’s internal environment.
The growing body of research supporting the positive effects of acupuncture on depression, anxiety, insomnia, and chronic pain syndrome is so strong that the military now uses acupuncture to treat troops with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and combat stress syndrome.
Sexual Health
While sexual health concerns may not be life threatening, they can still have a tremendous impact on quality life, as well as signal significant underlying health problems. Two-thirds of men over seventy and up to 39 percent of 40 year old men report having problems with their sexual health.
Acupuncture and Oriental medicine are well known for improving men’s sexual performance; in fact, there have been entire medical textbooks devoted to the subject. Chinese Emperors took their sexual health quite seriously and would consult with a team of physicians if they experienced any difficulties in the bedroom.
Acupuncture can be used to treat premature ejaculation, low sperm count, diminished sperm motility, erectile dysfunction, male climacteric (menopause), and decreased libido.
