The jet lag is finally disappearing and I have had a week to put in place some of the new ideas that have been shared at the International Veterinary Acupuncture Group Congress in Wroclaw, Poland. The sharing of knowledge by my many colleagues was well worth the jet lag.

Keynote Speaker

We had a range of brilliant but varied speakers. Dr Daniel Keown, author of The Spark in the Machine elaborated on the embryological parallels with acupuncture channels. As the embryo undergoes transformation from a cluster of cells to form the separate organs and tissues in the body, the folds that occur create pathways that the ancient chinese called acupuncture channels.

Transformation Medicine

Dr Are Thoresen from Norway presented his thoughts on the difference between translocation and transformation medicine. The concepts are quite foreign to western medicine. In translocation, disease does not get cured but is translocated to another part of the body or person/ being. The concept of having a sore shoulder which gets better but now its the back and then the knee… Or why are there unexplained clusters of cancer cases. More frequently when a dog comes to me with a sore back/ knee, the owner will comment that they also have a sore back/ knee. He introduced the idea of transformation medicine where resolution or neutralization of imbalance occurs. More food for thought.

Immune Mediated Disease

Dr Signe Beebe presented an intensive three hours of the intricacies of managing modern day diseases such as immune related diseases. The effectiveness of chinese herbs cannot be dismissed. I am keen to try some new formulas when I next get a chance. Diseases such as lupus, immune mediated haemolytic anaemia, inflammatory bowel disease can be challenging with western medicine alone.

I cant wait till the next congress in September 2020 in Glasgow except for the jet lag).