Steve Woodley Acupuncture and Traditional Medicine

06/10/2025

Exercise has been one of the main methods of maintaining health (yangsheng 養生, "nourishing life") in Chinese medicine since records began. Acupuncture, massage and herbs can also help to reduce pain and stiffness to facilitate exercise that then produces more lasting changes.

Study looks at how workouts can help those with hip, knee and back pain – and benefit UK economy to tune of £34bn

01/10/2025

The study of biophoton emission by living beings was being conducted at the Quantum Biology lab where I did my PhD, and the effects of traditional medicines on reactive oxygen species that lie behind this phenomenon were a major component of my studies.

Temperature rises and injuries in plants linked to enhanced glow

30/09/2025

20/09/2025

I don't often get to play with raw herbs these days but today I did and remembered why its so fun.

It is for someone recently out of hospital with pneumonia.

Photo by Light photography.

13/09/2025

Japan has set the record for longest life expectancy for 55 years in a row and it is not due to new drugs or surgical techniques but successful campaigns on diet and exercise, both fundamental pillars of traditional east Asian medicine.

The number of Japanese centenarians rose to 99,763 in September, with women making up 88% of the total.

20/08/2025

My latest monograph on Pinellia ternata for Herbal Reality has gone live.

Pinellia is a versatile Chinese herb used for treating phlegm and regulating fluids. Pinellia is a herbalist-only herb as it can be toxic if not prepared well.

16/07/2025

As Paracelsus said: "The poison is in the dose." If 3 mg/kg is WHO's maximum recommended dose, then she was taking enough for a 3/4 tonne buffalo!

Many common foods and spices have maximum doses that we are very unlikely to achieve in everyday use but are possible in highly concentrated extracts.

Green tea and turmeric are some of the worst culprits because people think they are 'just foods.'

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/new-jersey-katie-mohan-turmeric-liver-damage-b2789817.html

New Jersey resident Katie Mohan says her daily turmeric supplements gave her ‘impending liver failure’

16/07/2025

This Saturday, 19th July, I will be giving a talk at Chesham's Health on the High Street, entitled Chinese Medicine's Secret to Longevity.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1039009701515160/

12/07/2025

The Chinese have been refining techniques to modify their metabolism for thousands of years, resulting in a system that uses our natural resources to enhance health. It may be harder work than a pill, but it has a long, proven track record of safety and a solid basis in modern physiological sciences, as this article suggests.

In an era when training can be overcomplicated, sometimes the tried-and-tested methods are best

08/07/2025

This finding of a complete acupuncture set in a Western Han Dynasty tomb pushes back the earliest date for the invention of acupuncture, linking it to the development of steel manufacture. Notably, the needles were 0.3 - 0.5 mm thick, which is comparable to modern needles.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202506/1337002.shtml

Needle-like artifacts unearthed from the famed tomb of the Marquis of Haihun in East China's Jiangxi Province have been confirmed to be the world's earliest known steel acupuncture needles, marking a pivotal moment in the history of traditional Chinese medicine, according to a document from the prov...

02/07/2025

The results of new study suggest that chronic inflammation as we get older is not inevitable but a result of industrial lifestyles. People from the Bolivian Amazon and Peninsular Malaysia did not have increased markers of inflammation as they got older, while those from Italy and Singapore did.

The takeaway seems to be that inflammation is not inevitable as we age but is really ingrained into our society's culture of diet, activity and environment that lead us to an increasingly inflammatory physiology as time passes. The solution is not a fad diet or exercise program, but a return to a way of life that is more natural and connected to the way our bodies were designed to age.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/inflammaging-aging-national-institutes-health-b2780662.html

‘It’s a warning – don’t follow the latest trends of eating foods specifically to reduce inflammation, or whatever else the trend of the week may be,’ said professor Alan Cohen