The Integrative Health Project -Supports Acupuncturist’s Clinical Trial in Guatemala

04APR15
Panajachel, Guatemala

A New York based Acupuncturist is doing a Clinical Trial on Reducing Blood Glucose in Patients with Type Two Diabetes

This is the first time an auricular (ear) acupuncture protocol is being tested for this outside of China.

Joan Boccino, L.Ac. a doctoral candidate in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, is trying to determine if ten small needles inserted in both ears have any effect on blood glucose levels . The “ear only” or auricular point combination she will use is derived from published literature and a survey of practitioners in the field. It is similar to another ear protocol known as the “NADA Protocol.” That combination was originally developed in the context of drug detoxification treatment in the 1970’s. However, it proved so effective that it’s use has expanded for use in general wellness and stress reduction including PTSD. In the US it is used in private practices, community settings, hospitals and by the US military.

Joan developed #BoccinoProtocol with NADA in mind as the NADA protocol has historically been taught to community members who are not “medically trained” in addition to those within the healthcare field.

Dr. BOccino knows the immediate need for pragmatic intervention in diabetes since she has been working in the Mayan Highlands since 2011. In 2012 colleagues and senior students from the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine joined Professor Boccino in founding a mission that is still on-going at the Barbara Ford Center for Peace in Quiche. Last year, she brought a successful Traditional Chinese Medicine Jornada to the District of Solola.

This year, her study is being coordinated with the assistance of The Diabetes Club which will provide patients and office space for the research in Panajachel. The study’s criteria calls for patients with a history of blood glucose levels above +125 They also must have the ability to test blood glucose levels — two times a day for four consecutive weeks. Twenty participants will all be issued meters, materials and given instructions for recording their data prior, during and after the study. During the second and third weeks of the study they will receive the acupuncture treatment.

If this study is successful Joan can seek alliances with the Guatemalan government and educational institutions to discuss running a larger study. If results of that larger study are also successful, Joan can work with the appropriate agencies to develop a curricula of certification (and professional acknowledgement) for practitioners trained in this protocol.

The study is set to begin in April pending final IRB board approval. Afterwards, the protocol could be made readily available in underserved areas where access to conventional treatment is unavailable or unaffordable. It could also be used in cases where the conventional treatment is contra-indicated or has unacceptable side effects. Joan has already given instruction in auricular acupuncture to more than 90 Guatemalan midwives, community health promoters and students. Acupuncture has been well accepted and popular in the community. Her work is supported in part by the Integrated Health Project.

So, why does the Dragoness emit verbal “selfies” instead of playing Candy Crush Saga?

This blog began life as a black box beaming back coordinates to a distant (receding) base. But the longer I drifted the more it became a message in a bottle – navigating flotsam and dolphins. Maybe I have given up on being rescued and hope to leave a trace… an actionable trace, please.

I am still so full of opinions and meddlesome advices that if I did not write I would certainly seethe in my dotage. However, I live in a place where I had to learn a new language or two and I am amazed when I can transmit a thought. My artistic friends are as fun and fashionable as ever but …they happen to be indigenous Mayans – not New Yorkers.

Swapping the Hudson for Lake Atitlan was shocking and necessary. For enough reasons, I could not afford to live in the US in the post 9/11 economy. In the weeks before I left, I fixated on the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. I can’t say how many day/nights I sat switching though the multiple cameras on the BP website and watching the robots dance even as the engineers failed. In that hot summer I would force myself out to walk 10,000 steps as I must and then, rush back to the danse macabre in progress. It was matricide live and in real time. So, when a friend responded to my request with a hook up to a volunteer opportunity in Guatemala I was on the plane in less than 24 hours. That was five years ago.

It turned out that the whole place was blooming with opportunities. But, the party did not begin until Rosa figured out how to use me. She began modestly. I would meet with 15 local kids on Saturdays. In the shortest time, they grew to be teens but Rosa has more…looks like more than 500 in three villages. Yes, she will keep me busy until they put the lid down and it is for this that I write, fume and ruminate. Go ahead, open the bottle.
—————-

Este blog nació como un cuadro negro radiante volver coordina a un (retroceso) de base distante. Pero cuanto más tiempo me quedaba más se convirtió en un mensaje en una botella – navegar restos y delfines. Tal vez he renunciado a ser rescatados y espero dejar una huella … una traza procesable, por favor.

Todavía estoy tan lleno de opiniones y consejos entrometidos que si yo no escribí Sin duda bullir en mi senectud.

Yo vivo en un lugar donde tuve que aprender un nuevo idioma o dos y me asombro cuando puedo transmitir un pensamiento. Mis amigos artísticas son tan divertido y de moda como siempre, pero … que se encuentren indígenas mayas – no los neoyorquinos.

Intercambiar el Hudson para el Lago de Atitlán fue impactante y necesaria. Por razones suficientes, no podía permitirse el lujo de vivir en los EE.UU. en la economía post 9/11. En las semanas antes de irme, obsesionado con el derrame de petróleo de Deep Water Horizon. No puedo decir cuántos días / noches me senté cambiar aunque las múltiples cámaras en el sitio web de BP y viendo los robots bailan incluso como los ingenieros fallaron. En ese verano caliente me obligarme a caminar 10.000 pasos que debo y luego, lanzas de nuevo a la danza macabra en progreso. Fue matricidio en vivo y en tiempo real. Así, cuando un amigo respondió a mi solicitud con un gancho a una oportunidad de voluntariado en Guatemala que estaba en el avión en menos de 24 horas. Eso fue hace cinco años.

Resultó que todo el lugar estaba floreciendo con oportunidades. Pero, el partido no comenzó hasta Rosa descubrió cómo me use. Ella comenzó modestamente. Me encontraría con 15 niños de la localidad los sábados. En el menor tiempo, que creció hasta convertirse en adolescentes pero Rosa tiene más … se parece a más de 500 en tres pueblos. Sí, ella me mantendrá ocupado hasta que pusieron la tapa hacia abajo y es por esta causa que escribo, humos y rumiar. Vaya por delante, abrir la botella.

Donors Provide Parties for 357 Indigenous Mayans

‘Twas the month before Christmas…
And all through three pueblos parents were concerned that the childrens’ parties would not happen because of issues with the NGO that ordinarily provides them. Rosa & Luisa were very sad. They told me that the women missed cooking together and had begun to ask if there was going to be a party at all. Rosa had not gotten used to this condition and she knew she could not face the kids…

But, then, a MIRACLE HAPPENED.

These Donors made the parties happen!!!!

• Pamela Kirlin
• Dean Savas
• Meike Ziegler
• Ecki Idler
• Sheila Emery
• Dagmar Bohn
• Jana Bailey
• Jackie Garrido
• Suzanne Snider
• Linda & Jack Smith
• Jean Smith
• Jim Britt
• Monica Jordan Linville

Rosa Garcia is a woman with a vision.. She is the glue for the three pueblos..Thank you, Rosa

Thanks to you, artisan’s, domestic worker’s and tenant farmer’s children got the message that someone cared about them. Over 600 of your youngest friends celebrated the holiday in style..The clowns challenged the kids…They got dizzyand won prizes, Pinatas exploded with sweets, and the Mamas got a day off to eat someone else’s tamales and sweets.
Please, take great pleasure from your gift to these commuities. This year, you made a big difference.

Gracias and Thanks to you all.

International Day of Pueblos Indigenous

Celebrating in the Pueblo con Oxlajuj B’atz’
photo of Magdalena d’ Sacapulus

Preparing for Medical Outreach in Solola, Guatemala 19-23AUG14

invitation to the pueblo

Dr. Joan Boccino The Integrative Health Project is leading a team of Traditional Chinese Medical practitioners and their students to the Mayan Highlands. These 23 generous people will be treating with TCM and training community health providers and first responders in the NADA Protocol. Joan has been donating her talents, here, for almost four years and , now, is developing an auricular protocol for Diabetes. Global Clinic will serve the communities of Panajachel, Panimache, Patanatic and San Antonio Palpolo with the support of several other NGOs and local businesses.

Prior Posts on Global Clinic  - Santa Cruz del Quiche
Brave Team Treats Quiche Maya
Mayan Women are Empowered to Defend Themselves by a Black Belt 
Acupuncturists Launch Sustainable Treat and Train Mission in Guatemala 
Mayans Rediscover Acupuncture at Centro de Paz Barbara Ford
Acupuncturists Treat 1,000 Patients in Santa Cruz del Quiche, Zacualpa and San Filipe
Meetings with Remarkable Mayans

Talleres comunitarios .. Community Workshops

visiting the community with Oxlajuj B’atz’
Please follow link to video.

Oxlajuj B'atz'

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Photo Journal Oxlajuj B’atz’ 2014

Photos diane dreyfus

Oxlajuj B'atz'

Photo journal 2014 from Oxlajuj

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A Room of My Own

Yes.
I am one scary Virginia Woolf in my room
&Although it is reckoned in Quetzals and not British Pounds it is luver-ly.

From my hard little chair I pound away on the iPad. It is rainy season and the waterfall applauds the last batch of clouds and words. Green on top of luscious, milpas rows are intent on wiggling straight up the volcano.

More than any other time, I have found the sanctity of my walls soothing. I am living in this body almost a score more than half a century. Now, in my half round studio, I am pounding on the flat keys.

Sometimes I crave the brick horizons of New York tenements, sometimes I remember the feel of upright typewriters.  What I am here is as different and as familiar as morning.

In this room, I have learned to listen for stillness and wait for answers. More than any other time or place in my life I flow and wave inspiration in. In the morning my brush is shakey but the colors are surprising enough to keep me watching …Sure I can put on my high white waders and go out in the rain…but sometimes I just close the door and listen in solitude.

Easter in the Mayan Highlands

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” title=”Easter in the Mayan Highlands”>Easter in the Mayan Highlands

Last week was Easter.  Up here there were glorious displays of carpets all over the streets.. Rather than go to Antigua and be carried hand-over-hand..We took in the local celebrations 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Infinite

When you educate a child, you are providing infinite possibilities for her future. Please contribute to the (35) Exceptional Scholars