Complementary and Alternative Medicine – A profile on Dr. Richard C. Niemtzow（補完代替医療：リチャード・C・ニムゾウ医師のプロフィール）
記事タイトル
補完代替医療：リチャード・C・ニムゾウ医師のプロフィール
著：Melanie Moore（79th 医療部隊広報）
掲載：Joint Base Andrews（アメリカ空軍公式サイト）
原文リンク：https://www.jba.af.mil/News/Features/Display/Article/460993/complementary-and-alternative-medicine-a-profile-on-dr-richard-c-niemtzow/
要約
リチャード・C・ニムゾウ医師（M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.）は、アメリカ空軍の元大佐であり、軍における初の常勤医師鍼灸師です。彼は戦場鍼灸（Battlefield Acupuncture, BFA）の開発者として最も知られています。
BFAは、耳介に金属鍼を刺すことで迅速かつ効果的に疼痛を緩和する目的で開発された独自技術であり、現在では軍および民間の医療現場でも世界的に普及が進んでいます。BFAは、伝統的な中国・フランス・ドイツ医学における「耳と全身のつながり」の概念に基づき、中枢神経系の疼痛処理に影響を与える耳のツボを使用する点が特徴です。
ニムゾウ医師は、金色のASPニードルを使用し、鍼は数日間耳に留置可能です。施術後、患者は約2分間歩行し、効果を確認します。
効果は80～90％の確率で現れ、即効性があり、効果持続は数分～数か月と幅広く、線維筋痛症、CRPS、頭痛、関節炎などにも効果があるとされています。
ニムゾウ医師自身、「なぜこの技術が効くのか完全にはわかっていない」としつつも、視床、視床下部、帯状回といった脳の疼痛経路に干渉している可能性を指摘しています。
また、彼はレーザーや電気刺激装置、従来の鍼も併用し、がん治療後の口腔乾燥症や視力障害への鍼灸応用にも関心を持っています。
彼は、薬物を用いない治療法への軍内需要は増加しているとしつつ、「感情や印象ではなく、科学的根拠に基づいた治療選択が重要」と強調しています。
将来的には、静脈内レーザー鍼治療（現在は欧州で実施可能）や、ナノ技術による電気刺激内蔵の微小鍼といった先進的技術にも注目しています。
ニムゾウ医師は、フランスのモンペリエ大学で医学博士号を取得し、Pacific Western Universityで生物学博士号を、ウィスコンシン医科大学で公衆衛生学修士号を取得しています。専門は放射線腫瘍学です。鍼灸の訓練はUCLA医学部で受けました。
結論
本記事は、リチャード・C・ニムゾウ医師が開発した「戦場鍼灸」が、即効性・高い効果・非薬物性という利点を持ち、軍および民間で実用化されていることを紹介するものであり、彼の経歴、技術的特徴、研究対象、そして将来展望までを幅広く伝えています。
以下、原文
Complementary and Alternative Medicine – A profile on Dr. Richard C. Niemtzow
NEWS | Nov. 16, 2010
By Melanie Moore 79th MDW PA
Joint Base Andrews – Who is the Father of Battlefield Acupunture?
Richard C. Niemtzow, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., is a retired Air Force colonel and was the first full-time physician acupuncturist in the Armed Forces.
He established the medical acupuncture clinic at Andrews Air Force Base; delivers medical acupuncture to service members at Andrews, the Pentagon, White House, National Naval Medical Center, and Walter Reed Army Medical Center; and is the consultant on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) to the Air Force Surgeon General.
Dr. Niemtzow may be best known as the developer of “battlefield acupuncture.” He originally conceived this technique as a way to deliver pain relief through acupuncture as quickly and efficiently as possible in combat and other military situations. It is growing in popularity in both military and civilian medical settings internationally. Dr. Niemtzow has taught it to many clinicians, including in Europe and Asia.
Battlefield acupuncture is a type of ear (auricular) acupuncture–needling is done to the external part of the ear. The concept that the ear has a connection to all parts of the body dates back to the origins of traditional French, German, and Chinese medicine, according to Dr. Niemtzow. His technique is unique, he says, in that it employs acupoints known to influence the processing of pain in the central nervous system.
The needles that Dr. Niemtzow uses most look like tiny gold earrings and can stay in the ear for up to several days or longer. After each application, the patient walks around for about 2 minutes to determine whether effects on pain are occurring and whether further applications are needed.
Relief occurs, Dr. Niemtzow says, in 80 to 90 percent of cases; typically is immediate; and may last from minutes to months, depending on the length of stimulation and the patient’s pathology. He reports that he has seen his technique work for all types of pain–including that of fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, headaches, and arthritis–and in many patients who did not respond to Western pain medicines.
Asked how and why his technique has these effects, he responded, “We really don’t know yet…. It could be that the needles interfere with pain pathways in the central nervous system, including the brain, in areas such as the thalamus, hypothalamus, and cingulate gyrus. While battlefield acupuncture doesn’t work for everyone,” he added, “it has brought many wonderful results, including in people who have suffered for many years. This gratifies me every day.”
Dr. Niemtzow also uses other techniques to stimulate acupoints, including laser and electrical devices and the traditional longer acupuncture needles. In addition to battlefield acupuncture, he is also known for developing an acupuncture technique for oncology patients who suffer from dry mouth post chemotherapy or radiation therapy. His other research interests include acupuncture for low-vision conditions.
“People in the military, like the general public, are attracted to Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Some believe in it, some don’t,” he responded. “I think there’s a growing demand [in the military] for therapies that do not involve chronic use of medication, but we also have to be very careful what we offer our patients. Decisions about treatment should be based on evidence from the customary research we are able to do to determine whether it is of value, not on emotion or because something sounds or appears good.”
Among future directions in Complementary and Alternative Medicine pain relief that interest him are intravenous laser acupuncture–irradiating the blood with a laser, an approach currently available in Europe but not in the United States–and use of nanotechnology approaches, such as inserting small needles with built-in electrical stimulators. In his work on NCCAM’s National Advisory Council, Dr. Niemtzow is particularly interested in issues related to the use of CAM in pediatrics and in pregnant women, and in making education on CAM more widely available in medical schools.
Dr. Niemtzow received his medical degree from the University of Montpellier in France, his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Pacific Western University, and his M.P.H. from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He studied acupuncture at the University of California at Los Angeles Medical School. His medical specialty is radiation oncology.
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