Abigail Surasky, L.Ac.

Hi all! If you're in the Bay Area, I am excited to announce an upcoming panel in May in Oakland where I will be discussing the Chinese medicine perspective on perimenopause and menopause. The other two esteemed panelists will be Dr. Risa Kagan, OBGYN, and Tendai Jordan, Nutritionist. Please come and spread the word!

SAVE THE DATE! Wednesday, May 29, 6-8:30pm

Happy New Year! Please enjoy my latest newsletter.

Abigail's New Year/Winter Newsletter

Feel free to use, or pass along, this detailed guide I just created (with graphic design by my sister, Cecilie!) on how to prepare for wildfire smoke before the next fire season.

SMOKE!Surasky.pdf

Good article. Glad more and more M.D.'s are finally learning the benefits of acupuncture firsthand!

As a doctor, I didn’t think much of acupuncture. Then the opioid crisis arrived I had often heard of acupuncture as an alternative treatment for pain, but I had dismissed it. But I also knew that my patients deserved an alternative to opioids.

Chinese Astrological Forecast for this upcoming Year of the Dawg, from Chinese face reading expert, Lillian Pearl Bridges. Calmer than the last two years, more justice, no nuclear war, but more earthquakes/volcanoes, more worrying, though the worst fears won't manifest. More community and family time, and a little more luck for dog lovers! Click for more details.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0914/1204/files/Year_of_the_Dog_Forecast.pdf?4554263367526090895

cdn.shopify.com

Valuable perspective on depression.

Is everything you think you know about depression wrong? In this extract from his new book, Johann Hari, who took antidepressants for 14 years, calls for a new approach

Flu season is upon us. Stay healthy with vitamin D, exercise, rest, and acupuncture. But should you develop a lingering cough, here's an effective home remedy. Courtesy of one of our profession's top teachers, Michael Tierra.

Onion Poultice for Deep-Seated Coughs Have you ever had one of those lingering, deep-seated coughs (often the last hanger-on symptom after a cold or flu) that just continually and graduall...

Great explanation for kids (and adults) on how to clear your chakras. Especially for dealing with grief, fear, guilt, shame, low self-esteem, separateness, and attachment. From The Last Avatar.

Excellent mini-documentary on fat.

For Humans, Fat Is As Essential As the Heart or Liver. Why Do We Hate It? Fat is considered ugly and unhealthy. But it’s one of the primary reasons humans have been so successful.

Our minds are so interesting.
Next time someone says acupuncture is just placebo, you can tell them about all the research indicating how the placebo effect permeates western medicine, too. Including surgery! Except western medicine, through a long history of actual pharmaceutical side effects, has apparently now succeeded in generating the nocebo effect, as well.

Meet the nocebo effect, the placebo effect's evil twin that makes you feel pain A fascinating recent study finds patients report worse side effects when a drug costs more money.

Yep, it's a good thing. It helps alleviate discomfort without the need for opioids.

Acupuncture in cancer study reignites debate about controversial technique Large study suggests acupuncture could help women stick with unpleasant cancer treatments.

Fascinating! If anyone tries this, please let me know how it worked for you. This is NOT a Chinese remedy. Chinese culture FEARS cold, but I think this is different. Courtesy of Naturopaths at Bastyr College.

Dive "Feet First" Into Wellness With a Natural Remedy Feel a cold or the flu coming on? Fight back without spending a dime with the "wet sock treatment," which can help boost your immune system right in the nick of time!

Know the pros and cons of what you put in your body.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/well/live/cancer-doctors-cite-risks-of-drinking-alcohol.html?mc=aud_dev&mcid=fb-nytimes&mccr=NovemberOnboarding&mcdt=2017-11&subid=NovemberOnboarding&ad-keywords=AudDevGate&referer=http://m.facebook.com

Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol Drinking alcohol, even modest amounts, increases the risk of breast cancer and other cancers.

Yikes. Glad we have Farmers' Markets!

Scientists reveal the best tool for cleaning fresh apples could be right in your pantry. Tap water might not cut it.

Yes! Detox, diabetes, lots of nutrients, and antioxidants. And delicious.

Is Miso Soup Healthy for You? Miso soup, a fermented soy food, has been part of Chinese cuisine since 800 B.C. To make miso, cooked soybeans are combined with grains that have been innoculated with beneficial bacteria. The ...

Inflammation, the root of most illnesses? If so, it still works in so many mysterious ways. Chinese medicine actually has a way to differentiate inflammation. Maybe someday a combo of Eastern and Western medicine will provide the answers.

What We Learn When Two Ruthless Killers, Heart Disease and Cancer, Reveal a Common Root Understanding the link will involve unraveling the mysteries of inflammation.

New research on mice shows autism link to gut flora. Mice given antibiotics targeting the culprit bacteria resulted in healthy baby mice. This could be a game changer, or at least contribute data linking gut, brain, and immune system.

This research comes by way of collaboration (not competition) between two Korean-American scientists, Harvard and MIT, with different areas of expertise in different labs. What was the incentive to collaborate? They happen to be a couple.

Professor Huh said, “when we were doing the research together in two different labs, we sent support for each other instead of measuring whose work is better. It was very helpful for our research success.”

He continued, “our major fields of study are different as they are each Immunology and Neurobiology, and it actually helps us researching on Neuroimmunology.”

Mother’s gut microbes could be linked to autismlike disorders in children | September 18, 2017 Issue - Vol. 95 Issue 37 | Chemical & Engineering News We share our bodies with a microbial zoo. For every human cell in our bodies, there is about one bacterial cell, according to some estimates. And scientists continue to find ways in which the biology of these microorganisms influences our own.

It's true. Not many people come in for acupuncture weekly as maintenance, but when I was working with HIV patients, they made a point of coming in every week just for prevention. From that work, I saw the power of weekly acupuncture on people's vitality, well being, health, and youthfulness.

Acupuncture: the Real Fountain of Youth. Regular acupuncture treatment can make you feel more energetic and reduce the outward signs of aging. Here are seven ways acupuncture

According to the latest research, acupuncture and placebo yield similar results for pain. But WAIT! Not so fast. 1) If you look deeper at the neurophysiology of the brain, turns out acupuncture stimulates a surge of free opioid receptors that placebo doesn't (promising news for chronic pain patients); 2) the larger the physiological changes (seen in acupuncture), the longer lasting the benefits - three months and counting.
In other words, comparing pain levels in placebo vs. acupuncture patients right after treatment is not the most reliable measure. This is because the causes of pain reduction are different in acupuncture than placebo. (Placebo pain reduction is short-lived because it is due to endorphins.)

Pains and needles: brain scans point to hidden effects of acupuncture Placebo acupuncture can ease short-term pain but the real thing might help to reverse the underlying pathology of a disease

Interesting. So if the level of artificial sweetness, even if it's stevia, matches the caloric content of the food or drink, the body metabolizes the item, and any carbs consumed with it, normally and feels most satisfied. But if there is a mismatch in either direction between the level of sweetness and the caloric content, the body does not feel as satisfied and does not metabolizes all the calories.

Study: diet soda can really mess with your metabolism New research helps explain why artificial sweeteners are linked to obesity and metabolic disease.

This makes sense.
My observation is that depression is often correlated with Dampness in Chinese medicine, as it causes a sensation of heaviness, lethargy, and brain fog. The body may produce Dampness or Phlegm to "water down" the Fire of inflammation.
Another cause of Dampness is antibiotics, which are the pharmaceutical way of putting out the Fire (infection). People often feel more depressed while on antibiotics, not realizing that is the cause.

New Research Discovers That Depression Is An Allergic Reaction To Inflammation New research is revealing that many cases of depression are caused by an allergic reaction to inflammation. Tim de Chant of NOVA writes: "Inflammation is our immune system's natural response to injuries, infections, or foreign compounds. When triggered, the body pumps various cells and proteins to t...