Vietnamese doctors redefine acupuncture Leading medical doctors and researchers in Hungary say a new form of acupuncture embedding introduced by a Vietnamese physician, has become the new choice for many women who seek beauty. Most patients begin losing not only weight but also body fat, about one month after beginning acupoint catgut embedding treatments, a variation of acupuncture developed by Dr Le Thuy Oanh. In Vietnam this type of method was first utilized in 1972 in army hospitals and at the Hanoi Traditional Institute for a wide variety of diseases. In 1982 medical personnel began using it to treat paralyzed children under the supervision of Dr Nguyen Tai Thu at the Vietnam Acupuncture Institute. In 1988-1989 doctors and other medical professionals began utilizing it effectively to heal asthma, numbness, lameness, allergy, epilepsy and other maladies in a central army hospital. Dr Le Thuy Oanh introduced this method in Hungary in 1990. Since then it has been taken up by medical organizations like the Traditional Association, in Budapest plus the majority of other mainstream medical facilities. “Today it has gained wide acceptance and recognition from the medical community and patients throughout Hungary,” said Dr Oanh. “People come to us not only from Hungary but from abroad, too. Additionally, since August of 1998 we have travelled to France once a month to treat children born with lameness, and those who can neither hear or speak.” Since 1998, Dr Oanh said she has used the procedure in connection with providing care for Agent Orange victims at the villages of Hoa Binh and Huong Canh to speed their recovery, said Oanh. Dr Oanh said Hungary was the first European country where catgut-embedding was introduced but its use is now spreading throughout Europe and beyond to countries in North America. Catgut is a type of cord made from the natural fibre found in the walls of sheep or goat intestines, said Dr Oanh. It is embedded on acupuncture points to keep the points stimulated for about a week. After about a week the fibre is absorbed by the body. One can choose eight to 12 acupoints for the embedding each time. After injecting, the implants function around the clock in the body, with an effective duration ranging seven to 15 days. Dr Oanh recommends that patients who are on a diet undergo acupoint embedding once every one to two weeks until their desired weight is reached. Due to individual differences in physique, one can lose about three to five kilograms in one month. This is the most appropriate weight loss speed the human heart can bear, said Dr Oanh. Basically, she said the healthy way to lose weight is through a step by step process, together with a balanced diet and moderate exercise. Holistic slimming therapy aims to develop a correct and balanced diet and good exercise habits, to adjust the constitution as well as improve the metabolic rate and endocrine secretion. With the help of specialist physicians and nutritionists, you will not regain weight even after the therapy is over. Epigastric pain, obesity, epilepsy, asthma, abdominal pain, facial paralysis and constipation of the internal medicine, low back pain and leg pain are all prime candidates for the use of catgut-embedding therapy. VOV