NAJOM

In general, I think the effectsof moxibustion can be ex-

PracticalMoxibustionTherapy(7) plained in three ways as follows:
1. Changesin the blood chemistry after direct moxibustion
Whole body treatment 2. Physical effectsof the heat
The first thing that comesto mind when you say whole 3. The effects of acupuncture points
body treatrnentfor moxibustion is the Taikyoku Therapy of Be that as it may, Dr. Hara only highlights the changesin
the Sawadastyle.r This is the method using a combination the blood chemistry after direct moxibustion. The reason
of L1to 15 standard points and special effect points based he reduced his treatment points to 5T36and eight points on
on the unique Sawada approach. In this approach moxa is the back was quite simple. He confirmed through personal
applied on the abdomen and lumbar areaand then on the experiencethat the traditional practice of moxibustion on
upper back and the upper limbs and finally on the lower 5T36actually was effective for longevity. In fact, as a result,
limbs.2This approachtreats all the major joints and major Dr, Hara lived to the age of 108. As for his choice of back
points adjacentto the spine,and coversthe whole body in a points, Dr. Hara gave the following simple reasons:
balancedway. (Fig.1) 1. They are excellentpoints in terms of anatomy,and are in
a suitable location for long term application of moxibus-
GV2O tion.
2.UgLy moxa scarsare hidden by underutear,so that people
won't notice (the appearanceissue).
3. Moxibustion on the low back leavesone with a pleasur-
GV12 able sensation.
8.117 Even though his approachmay havebeensomewhatlim-
Bl18
Bl20 CV12 ited and his researchwas done in the L920s,Dr Hara's re-
Bt23
a
searchon changesin the blood chemistrywith direct moxi-
I
Bt52 a
bustion was a valuable contribution still applicable today.
CV6 His conclusive findings are part of the explanation of the
therapeutic effectsof moxibustion, and they are as follows:
1. There is an increasein white blood cells. The white blood
cell count begins to increaseimmediately after moxibus-
tion, and reachesa peak eight hours later. This peak is
maintained for 24 hours. The number declines some-
what after three days, but it remainselevated for four to
five days after moxibustion. The white blood cell count
almost doubles with moibustion, but when applied con-
tinuously for six weeks, the increaseis sustained for up
Fig.1 to 13 weeks after moxibustion is discontinued.
2. The phagocytic activity of the white blood cells increases.
When moxibustion is applied to points located over the For example, with typhoid bacilli the phagorytic activ-
whole body in this way, blood circulation over the whole ity increasesjust 15 minutes after moxibustion. This ac-
body is rapidly improved, the blood becomesmore alka- tivity reachesa peak in two to threedays, and gradually
line, and the innatehealing power of the body is increased. declines after that. Phagocyiic activity is greater than
Thus, even chronic and intractable conditions that medical normal for about a week after moxibustion but, when
doctors have given up on, gradually improve and health is moxibustion is applied continuously, the increase in this
restored amazingly quickly. activity continues for a longer period.
This kind of treahnent,just as the term whole body treat- 3. There is an increasein red blood cells and hemoglobin.
ment implies, usespoints all over the body. There is very For subjects who had an averagehemoglobin ratio of
Iittle hit or miss, and good results are almost certain, no 78%just before moxibustion, the ratio increasedsteadily
matter who performs the treatment. This is why, in my prac- to reach a peak of 90"/"in eight weeks. Applying moxi-
tice, I often use the Sawada style treatment as a last ditch bustion continuously for 15weeks,it takes 22 weeks for
strategy for acupuncture and shiatsu patients who show no the red blood cell count to return to what it was before
improvement after many treatments,or patients whose in- moxibustion.
nate healing power is very weak due to extremedepletion. 4. The sedimentation rate of red blood cells increases.
5. Platelet count increases.
Hara Moxibustion System 6. The speed of blood coagulation increases.
In contrast to the Sawadastyle point selection and treat- 7. Blood glucose count increases.
ment over the whole body, Shimetaro Hara M.D.3 main- 8. Blood calcium increases.
tained that it is possibleto treat the whole body with a total 9. Serum complements increase.
of just ten points. He assertedthat all diseasescould be L0.The capacity to produce antibodiesincreases.
treated with his regimen of 5T36 and eight points on the Dr. Hara claimed that theseexperimental results were
back.{ produced by minute amounts of "histotoxin" (denatured

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proteins), which stimulated an increasein blood constitu-
nts and their activity. Furthermore, he enlisted the con-
cept of homeopathyto explain that, while large amounts of
"histotoxin" frombigburns are harmfuI to thebody, minute
amounts of this substancefrom the continuous application
of moxibustion was actually beneficialand useful for main-
taining health.
Moxibustion of 5T36
Moxibustion on 5T36 has been famous in Japan since
the olden days as a regimen for health and longevity. In the
Edo period (1596-i868)a farmerby the name of Manpei in
the district of Mikawa is said to hve lived to the age of 300
by applying moxibustion on 5T36religiously. Manpei was
summonedat the ageo196 to be questionedby officials on
his secretto longevity. When he was 242he was invited to
the opening of the Eitai Bridge in Edo. In addition to
Manpei's extraordinary longevity, many members of his
famiiy lived to an extremely old age. In Japan there is an
old saying,"Don't go on a trip with anyone who doesn't
moxa 5T36." (This came from a time when most kavel was
by foot.) Dr. Hara is reputed to have said that regular moxi-
bustion on 5T36 would "destroy doctors." His approach
involvesbuming sevenrice grain sizedcones(about 2-5mm
at the baseand 5 mm high) on adults and one to three on
little children. If done everyday, this would mean buming
more than 5110coneson both legs in a year- The generation
of small amounts of "histotoxin" in this way enhanceshe-
matological functions to its highest possible level, and is
thus effective in promoting health. The reason Dr. Hara
suggestsrice grain sized conesis becausethe combustion
temperature of these cones is between 70 and 80 degrees
Centigrade,which he considers to be the most effective tem-
perature for the production of "histotoxin-" Furthernore,
Dr. Hara stated that this practice of moxibustion on 5T36
could be continued even after a Person had a stroke,
hematemesis,or hemorrhaging in the intestinal tract.
Moxibustion on Eight Points o the Back
Once a person has become used to direct moxibustion
with regular application on 5T36and mastersthe technique,
Dr. Hara recommended starting moxibustion on the eight
points of the back. He described the Iocation of the eight
points of the back as follows: "four points (horizontally) in
line with the fifth lumbar vertebra and four points on two
parallel lines roughly corresponding to the second and
ourth sacralforamina." (Fig. 2) In practice,he drew an
inverted triangle with the Jacobyline (connectingboth iliac
crests)and tw lines from the tip of the coccyx going to the
lateral ends of the Jacobyline. The first four points are on
the two ends and the trisected points of the Jacobyline (4,
a, b, B). Another two points are points of intersection (c, d)
on the lines AC and BC when two vertical lines are drawn
down from points a and b. The last two points (e, f) are the
midpoints on the veical lines ac and bd.
Dr. Hara's approach to using theseeight points for people
new to moxibustion was to start out with fewer cones to
prevent over treatment. He recommendedthree methods-
The first method was to do only one to three conesper point
20
on the very first treat-
ment. On the second
day sevenconesareaP-
plied on just the uPPer
points(A,a,b,B). On
the third day seven
cones are applied on
iust the four lower
points (c, d, e, f). So
seven cones are aP-
plied on eachpoint for
one week, alternating
each day between the
upper and lower
points. On the second
week sevenconesare applied to the upper points every day
while the sameis applied to the lower points on every other
day. On the third week all eight points are treated with
seven conesevery day. Dr. Hara stated that the above one
week period could be increasedto ten days or shortened
according to the patient's condition. The duration of treat-
ment is a minimum of one month and up to severalyears
for chronic diseaseslike tuberculosis.
His second method is especially for children, depleted
patients, or those in a weakenedstate due to prolonged ill-
ness. In this method, sevenconeseach are applied on the
points, alternating every week between the four uPPer
points and the four lower points. The duration of treat-
ment is from severalweeks to one year. h:rthe third method,
the eight points on the back aretreated six to eight weeks in
the Spring and Fall, and they are not treated in Summer
and Winter. Moxibustion on 5T36,however, is continued
throughout the year. This way the effect of moxibustion is
maintained all through the year.
For children Dr. Hara stated that moxibustion on 5T36
was sufficient, and if points on the back were to be added, it
should be limited to the a and b points or the a, b, e, and f
points at the very most. The number of conesfor children
is one to two conesfor those one to two years old, three to
four cones for those three to four years old, five to six cones
for those five to six years old, and seven cones for those
seven years and older.
Dr. Hara stated that, for adults, heatnnentof the ten points
(5T36and eight points on the back) was harmlessand ben-
eficial regardlessof how many years it was continued. Dr-
Hara maintained that just the above ten points were suffi-
cient to deal with almost all diseasesincluding pulmonary
tuberculosis, diabetes, high blood Pressure,neurological
disorders, heart disease,gynecological disease,arthritis,
neuralgia, goiteq,venereal disease,and even typhoid fever-
The only disease he considered untreatable was cancer-
Features o the Hara moxibustion system
The features that distinguish the Hara moxibustion sys-
tem from other approaches are as follows:
1. The amount of treaknent (number of points) is lessthan
that in the Sawadastyle.
2. The intention from the beginning is long term applica-
tion of moxibustion.
 NAJOM

3- The use of acupuncturepoints is viewed assomething to

be studied late1,when moxibustion on 5T36and the eight
points on the back are not effective.
I believe that these features of the Hara system, which
make it a very simple approach, are the reasonsit has en-
dured so long among the commonpeople of Japan. From
time to time I have a patient who tells me "I did moxibus-
tion for one or two years and cured such and such." I am
often surprised when I inspect the moxibustion scars on
these people because the scars are often in places that
couldn't possibly be an acupuncture point. Yet it still
worked, so it is an undeniable fact that direct moxibustion
has an effect no matter where you apply it. This can be
explainedby the samelogic asthe generalizedeffectof foods
and medications. It is a result of the effect of direct moxi-
bustion (the influence of denatured proteins) extending to
the whole body. This effectprompted Dr. Hara to state,"In
direct moxibustion there areno acupointswhich exist with-
o-utthe specialeffect of proteins."s This, of course,refers to
the chemical effect of moxibustion on the body, and does
not take into account the localized physical change at the
sight of stimulation or the acupuncture point. Neverthe-
less,the systemic effect of moxibustion, which "works no
matter where you !Y*," is quite impressive and not to be
overlooked. This effect makesmoxibustion ideal for home
therapy and this global effect accountsfor its popularity
amonq the common people. And I myself make a practice
of applying moxibustion on 5T36everyday along with my
wife in the hopes that maybe I can be like Manpei the farmer.
Notes
1. Edward Obaidey, "Taikyoku Therapy: SazaadaStyte
TreatmentStrategy", NAIOM, March 1996,p. 12.
2. Shirota, Bunshi, Shinkyu Shinzui (The TrueEssenceof
Acupuncture and Moxibustion),Ido.no-Nippon Sha,
1976,p.18.
3. ShimetaroHara, M.D. was bom in 1883. He enteredthe
Kyoto PrefectureMedical Specialty School in 1901and
becamea doctor. He begandoing researcharound 1924
at the Public Health Sectionof the Kyushu University
Medical School. Starting with his study of hematologi-
cal effects after the injection of oxygen, he went on to
conduct moxibustion researchincluding, "the hemato-
logical effectsof moxibustion." After that, he becamea
lifelong advocate of moxibustion on 5T36 as a method
of health promotion and freedom from disease.He prac-
ticed this method himself and proved its remarkableef-
fectsby living to the age of 108. IIhenhe passedaway
on June 18,199'1,,he had been the oldest living Japanese
man for two months. (The Japanesehave the lbngest
-
life expectancyin the world.)
4. Hara, Shimetaro,Manbyo-ni-Kiku OkyuRyoho (Moxi-
bustion TherapyEffectiztefor AII Diseases),listugyo-no-
Nippon Sha, 1933,p. 133.
5. Ibid, p.1M.
(luly L996,kanslated by StephenBrown)

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