Haptic Medicine Cancer Series
C. Mason
CASE REPORT
Scanned by C. Mason, typo's or errors in the scan solely the
fault of C. Mason.
Jin Shin Jyutsu is an ancient haptic medicine that has been preserved
and used for thousands of years, originating in India/China, travelling
through Japan to reach the US, thanks to Mary Burmeister and Jiro
Murai. Although haptic medicine has been documented in over 100
papers, we felt this paper was important to get on the web since it has
many details and gives hope for the quality of life and patient
recovery during difficult medical procedures in cancer treatment.
Case Reports is a regularly featured column meant to highlight the
clinical applications alternative or integrative therapies as they art
implemented with patient care. Preference will be given to
cases in which diagnosis, treatment and outcomes are clearly defined.
JIN SHIN JYUTSU OUTCOMES
IN A PATIENT WITH MULIPLE MYELOMA
Ann R. Shannon, BA
Ann R. Shannon is a Certified Jin Shin Jyutsu* practitioner and Jin
Shin Jyutsu research consultant at Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center
for Health Research in Portland, Ore.
Jin Shin Jyutsu (JSJ), a Japanese energetic healing art that shares
ancient roots with acupuncture and acupressure, was sought by a
56-vear-oid white patient for uncontrolled rib pain, subsequently
diagnosed as multiple myeloma. JSJ treatment was received, without
charge, from the author-practitioner, a relative of the patient, while
she was still in training to become a certified practitioner.
Treatment occurred (1) intermittently during the 4 months before
diagnosis. (2) each day of the patient's initial hospitalization at
diagnosis, (3) for side effects arising from the patient's first
autologous peripheral stem cell bone marrow transplant (BMT)
preconditioning regimen, and (4) throughout his 12-day BMT
hospitalization. Numerous symptoms were treated in uncontrolled field
and hospital settings with JSJ flows. Treatment primarily addressed
active, troubling symptoms and. during BMT hospitalization, included
prophylactic treatment for the most immediately anticipated side
effects. JSJ's contribution to the patient's quality of life was
readily acknowledged by his oncologist and treating BMT physician.
JIN SHIN JYUTSU THEORETICAL BASIS
Jin Shin Jyutsu approaches the body as an energetic system. It embodies
a deep knowledge of how energy nourishes, sustains, and integrates form
and function within the body. JSJ resembles acupressure in the use of
gentle, external finger pressure to stimulate the flow of energy within
the body to accomplish therapeutic goals. It relies on the Oriental
pulse, body aJignment. symptoms, medical diagnosis, and feedback of the
patient to set treatment priorities.
From a JSJ perspective, symptoms and pathology reflect imbalances in
the underlying energetic system. JSJ identifies critical energy centers
of the body called Safety Energy Locks (SELs). When the SELs and the
energetic pathways between them become blocked by stress, environmental
toxins, or physical or emotional trauma, further body stresses
accumulate. Discomfort, pain, and escalating imbalance in the overall
energetic system result. Parts of
the body become overloaded, while other parts become energetically
deprived and strain to compensate. According to JSJ theory, without
intervention, severe, persistent energy blockages ultimately result in
accelerated pathology. By restoring energetic harmony and
reinvigorating the dynamic relationship between SELs JSJ works to
address root causes of dysfunction at the energetic leveL" The body's
self-healing mechanisms can then reassert themselves
PATIENT PROFILE AT DIAGNOSIS
ST. a 56-year-old white male, was diagnosed in December
1999, with stage II B kappa light chain multiple myeloma after
being hospitalized with acute renal failure and a serum creati-
nine level of 468.5 Umol/L. A bone marrow biopsy revealed that
approximately one third of the marrow had been replaced bv
neoplasric cells. Within 24 hours of diagnosis. ST received stan-
dard-care allopathic treatment for multiple myeloma,
including
(1) intravenous infusion of pamidronace to strengthen osteo
porotic bones and (2) initiation of induction VAD (vincristine
adriamycin, and desarnethasone) chemotherapy. VAD treatment
consists of a 28-day cycle of 4 days' intravenous vincristine and
doxorubicin (Adriamycin) in combination with a 4-day-on/4
day-off regimen of 40 mg oral dexamethasone.
JIN SHIN JYUTSU TREATMENT Relief of
Prediagnosis Rib Pain
Four months before diagnosis. ST experienced an abrupt onset of acute,
discrete, relentlessly cumulative, and migrating rib pain. At one
point, when his wife was barely touching one affected area of rib to
apply linament, his clavicle dislocated. Having misdiagnosed the issue
as costochondritis and prescribed SOQ mg naproxen twice daily, ST's
primary physician dismissed all further complaints of unbearable pain.
ST sought relief with JSJ treatment.
Due to the intensity of the pain and the patient's vulnerability to
additional injury, JSJ treatment was limited to 1 flow, the Second
Method of Correction, which is also called the "Chiropractor." The
patient received this flow on 6 separate occasions, each time with a
significant lessening or temporary resolution of pain (eg. reducing
from 8 to 3 on a scale of 1-10). The duration of relief varied, lasting
from several hours to several days
following a treatment, before a new discrete injury would occur and
pain at sites of previous injuries would recur. Following diagnosis, a
pulmonologist read a chest radiograph and pointed out several healed
fractures in the most active areas of former rib pain.
Complete Recovery of Renal Function
At diagnosis, a nephrologist informed ST that no intervention was
available for his renal failure beyond keeping the kidneys flashed and
"waiting to see" if any function returned following chemotherapy to
reduce his tumor load According to a Barcelona study of 94 multiple
myeloma patients with renal failure at diagnosis, only 8% of patients
with serum creatinine levels at or above 353.6 Umol/L recovered full
renal function, and the mean survival of the patients with renal
failure was 9 months.4 ST received
daily JSJ kidney flows throughout his 8-day hospitaization. Despite
more than 90% odds to the contrary, ST gradually regained full renal
function with 5 cycles of VAD over the next 6 months.
Relief from Side Effects of BMT
Preconditioning Regimen
With approximately 90% reduction in tumor activity achieved after 5
regimens of VAD chemotherapy, ST elected to pursue autologous
peripheral stem cell BMT. Three days after his first BMT
preconditioning regimen of high-dose cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), ST
sought JSJ treatment for severe, unremitting acid reflux. After 5
20-minute application of JSJ's Special Thumb Function Energy Flow to
harmonize acidity, the discomfort completely resolved and did not
recur. Several days later. while neutropenic with a white blood count
of ,3xlO9/L, ST received a 1-hour JSJ Trinity Flow to
address profound exhaustion. Normal energy levels returned and
were self-sustaining, allowing him to resume his normal dailv
activities.
Jin Shin Jyutsu Regimen During BMT
Hospitalization
The treatment priority during BMT hospitalization was to address side
effects as they arose, as well as to anticipate and prevent, if
possible, those side effects that are most predictably and immediately
disquieting to BMT patients' quality of life. Primary prophylactic
targets were (1) mucositis, (2) clearing and soothing distress in the
gastrointestinal tract, and (3) nausea.
A pattern of 1-hour treatments, 1 each morning and evening, was
established. The treatments included 20 minutes each of (1) Deep Skin
Descending Function Energy Flow (the "Deep Skin Flow"), for healing and
prevention of mucositis; (2) Special Body Function Energy-1 Flow to
clear abdominal discomforts and minimize the gastrointestinal cramping
associated with diarrhea; and (3) Opposite High Ones, to increase the
descending energy of the body and thereby prevent or counteract nausea.
Additional flows were administered as needed in response to newly
arising symptoms. Occasional liver, spleen, kidney, heart, and lung
flows were administered when indicated by the Oriental pulse, if time
allowed. These additional flows could have contributed to healing and
reduced incidence of mucositis, nausea, and abdominal issues.
Rapid Healing and Possible Prevention
of Mucositis
Despite being at 83% risk for moderate to severe (Grade 2
to
4) of mucositis,5 ST was assessed at Grade 1 mucositis only once
while hospitalized. Mucositis. the painful and
debilitating inflammation of the mucosal lining of the oropharynx, is a
serious compilation of the high-dose chemotherapies involved in BMT.
Mucositis occurs in 40% to 80% of all cancer patients.4 BMT patients
are at extremely high risk (83% to 88%) for moderate to severe
mucositis,1 Mucositis ulceration leaves an open pathway for
life-threatening systemic infection and is associated with
increased morbidity in severely immunocompromised patients.7 The
medical literature consistently cites the inadequacy of existing
treatment and preventive agents for rhucosrtis 9
:
At BMT hospital admission. 2 days after outpatient infusion of
high-dose melphalan, ST complained of a mouth sore. The nurses' notes
on STs admission documents record a "pink with reddened area inside L
lower lip. Pt reports ... slightly sore." Twenty minutes of
Deep Skin Flow was administered for mucositis after ST
settled into his hospital bed. Two hours after treatment, he reported
the pain was gone; it never bothered him again. No subsequent mention
of the initial pain or sore was made by the patient or in daily oral
exams in the medical record.
The 2 daily applications of prophylactic Deep Skin Flow treatment (a
total of 40 min/d) continued for 1 week for mucositis. For 4 days
during that period, the nurses' notes refer to erythema and buccal
rigidity with "0 pain, 0 lesions." Tenderness was noted once. Unaware
of the incipient mucositis symptoms, and thinking the danger of
mucositis had passed, the practitioner stopped administering the Deep
Skin Flow.
The next day, the patient complained of a "very sore throat." • The
practitioner treated for a sore throat (cold) for 3 days. No lessening
of the pain occurred until ST named the issue as a mouth sore and the
Deep Skin How was resumed. Two hours after treatment, ST reported the
pain was gone. Again, no pain returned. The physician's discharge
summary, dictated the following day. corroborated that the"...
oropharynx is without erythema or exudate.... The patient did not
develop any significant mucositis.... He is eating 75% to 100 percent
of his meals."
Erythema and buccal rigidity, which persisted with no pain or ukeration
for 4 days with daily Deep Skin Flow, appeared to have escalated to
throat ukeration without it. Healing occurred without additional
antibiotics or analgesia when Deep Skin Flow was reinstituted. This
would suggest both the specificity of the treatment and that some
measure of mucositis prophylaxis occurred with ongoing Deep Skin Flow.
Minimal Nausea and Intestinal Cramping
after BMT
In contrast to most BMT patients, ST experienced little to no
significant nausea throughout hospitalization. He was nauseated on 1
day and vomited once. That occurred on the only day the JSJ
practitioner did hot come to the hospital. Abdominal cramping
associated with diarrhea occurred on some mornings before JSJ
treatment. These symptoms consistendy resolved during treatment. With
20 minutes of prophylactic evening treatment of Special Body Function
Energy-1 Flow, no further cramping recurred before the next morning.
Despite the physician's discharge summary stating that no significant
diarrhea occurred, diarrhea was present throughout hospitalization; the
patient simply did not suffer notable discomfort from it.
Incipient Fevers Broken
On 4 separate occasions during BMT hospitalization, incipient fevers
developed over several hours. As they approached the threshold at which
additional antibiotic regimens would be necessary, ST received JSJ
treatment, which included the Opposite High Ones Flow to reestablish
die descending (releasing) energy of the body and a 3-Flow to stimulate
the primary energy of the immune system. On each occasion, the steady
ctimb in temperature broke and returned to normal within a few minutes
to 1 hour of treatment No additional antibiotics beyond those of the
established transplant protocol were required for 4 months post-BMT.
The physician's discharge summary states, The patient was... afebrile „
throughout hospitalization.... Early recovery of white blood cells was
noted on October 23__ [N)o blood products... were required during...
hospitalization."
Relief from Abnormal Blood Pressure and Migraine Headache
The patient's blood pressure plummeted during stem cell infusion and
was immediately normalized with application of JSI Blood Pressure Flow,
which harmonizes both high and low blood pressure. High blood pressure
resolved once on another occasion following JSJ treatment. On 2 other
occasions, high blood pressure was only partially and very briefly
lowered using the same flow. Additionally, 1 migraine was eliminated
and another reduced in intensity using the Special Headache Flow. The
same flow had no discernible result on 2 other occasions of migraine.
Post-BMT Status
The patient did not receive JSJ treatment after hospital discharge
following BMT. JSJ self-help was taught and suggested for a number of
issues. For a variety of reasons, however, STdid not use the self-help
with any consistency.
As time progressed following BMT, ST became chronically, deeply
fatigued. He also began experiencing deep depression that has been
resistant to medication. Today, he is unsettled by what he experiences
as cognitive impairment. A year and 8 months post-BMT, his immune
system has not fully recovered, and he fears it never will. He has had
frequent, stubborn respiratory infections, including pneumonia, and a
lingering cough that lasted the entire winter of 2002. He is concerned
that long-term damage to his lungs may have occurred.
COMMENT
As a relative neophyte to the art of Jin Shin Jyutsu, the practitioner
limited treatment approaches to the patient's specific, pressing
symptoms. The deeper holistic applications of the discipline were not
brought to bear then as the practitioner would apply them now.
Nevertheless, significant benefits were evident to the patient. Despite
being at a 92% risk of continued renal impairment,4 the patient
regained full kidney function. Although it is not possible to attribute
that outcome directly to JSJ, the odds are at least in favor
of it having been a contributing factor. The patient, also received
obvious relief from pain and symptoms. Similar relief was not available
through allopathic-medicine, both before diagnosis, after high-dose
chemotherapy, notably with mucositis, and throughout the early months
post-BMT. The patient's energy levels and quality of life during BMT
and for the first months following BMT were higher than he or his
physicians had anticipated before treatment. ST and his family felt
that BMT "was just not that big a deal" during those early months,
though that opinion changed as more long-term side effects of
transplant became evident
In retrospect and with more experience, the author-practitioner would
today include the more holistic approaches to treatment, regardless of
time limitations. Since treating ST. the practitioner has learned of
another autologous BMT patient who received 2 JSJ treatments each day
while undergoing treatment for lymphoma at Stanford University Medical
Center in 1996. Interviews with that patient and her JSJ practitioner
revealed similar short-term outcomes to those obtained with ST. The
Stanford patient, however, has had no long-term side effects from BMT
to date (6 years posttransplant). Her practitioner employed JSJ's
Lumbar Circle Methodology to specifically address long-term organ
damage typically associated with mat patient's particular transplant
conditioning regimen. Given both the similar and contrasting benefits
obtained by JSJ for these 2 BMT patients, a more comprehensive,
well-documented, and controlled study of JSJ in BMT patients would seem
to be indicated.
In fact, ST's experience as reported here precipitated a larger case
series of JSJ treatment in 29 patients undergoing chemotherapy,
radiation, and BMT. Twelve of those patients were treated for
mucositis. The consistent and reproducible outcomes regarding mucositis
in the case series, in turn, provided the basis for a small clinical
trial study that is now beginning at Kaiser Permanente Northwest Center
for Health Research. JSJ's effect on mucositis will be studied in
patients diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia who are hospitalized
while undergoing induction chemotherapy. Applications for larger
clinical trials are planned for fall 2002.
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Cheryl Ritenbaugh, PhD. senior researcher at Kaiser
Permanente Northwest Cenier for Health Research (Portland, Ore) for her
support in documenting this case report and mucositis case series that
it precipitated.
References
1. Burmeister M. Text I: Jin ShinJyutsu* Physio Philosophy.
Scottsdale, Ariz: Jin Shin Jyutsu*. Inc. 1994.
2. Burmeister M. Text II: Jin Shin Jyutsu* Physio
Philosophy. Scottsdale. Ariz: Jin Shin Jyutsu*. Inc. 1997.
3. Burmeister A. Monte T. Tin Touch of Healing
Eanyanf Body. Mind and Spirit ivith the Art of Jin Sknfrasa*. New York.
NY: Bantam Books 1997.
4. Blade J. Renal Failure in Multiple Myeloma. Myeloma
Todaf. 2000 4(1):3.
5. Sonis ST. Oster G. Fuchs H. et al. Oral mucositis and
the clinical and economic outcome of hemalopoietic stem-cell
traraplantation.7 CE» Oncol. 2001;19(8).2201-2205.
6. Sonis ST, Eilers JP. Epstein JB. et aL Validation of a
new scoring system for the assessment of clinical trial research of
oral mucositis induced by radiation or chemotherapy. Mucositis Study
Group. Cancer. 1999:85UO):2103-2113
7. Rogers SB. Mucositis in the oncology patient.
.Nurs. Clinical, North Am. 2OOl;36(4):745-760.
8. Mead GM. Management of oral mucositis associated with
cancer chemotherapy.
Lancet. 2002:359:815-816.
9. Worthington HV. Clarkson JE. Eden OB. Interventions for
treating oral mucositis for
patients with cancer receiving treatment. Cochrane Database Syit Rev.
2002:U):CD001973.
ALTERNATIVE THFRAPlES SEPT/OCT 2O02. VOL. 8. NO. 5
Jin Shin Jyutsu in a Patient with Mediate Myeloma
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alternative.therapies@innerfootway.com
From the office of Cindy Mason, CMT, Ph.D. 510-967-9005