Why Traditional Chinese Medicine Has Always Been About Healthy Aging—Not Just Longevity

When people think about longevity, they often focus on the number of years lived. But in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the emphasis has always been on how those years are lived.

TCM doesn’t chase anti-aging trends. Instead, it offers a steady, well-established system for maintaining energy, preventing decline, and supporting the body’s natural ability to adapt with age. The goal isn’t to live forever—it’s to live well, for as long as possible.

Aging Through the TCM Lens

In clinical practice, we often see people who want to stay mobile, clear-minded, and independent. TCM helps achieve that by addressing imbalances early—long before they become chronic illness or functional decline.

Tools like:

• Acupuncture to regulate the nervous system, support circulation, and manage pain

• Chinese herbal medicine to nourish organs and strengthen digestion, sleep, immunity, and mental clarity

• Movement practices like tai chi or qi gong to build strength, coordination, and internal balance

• Pulse diagnosis and individualised assessment to guide personalised treatment

All of these work together to help the body retain vitality and prevent the kind of wear-and-tear that accelerates aging.

What Modern Science Is Starting to Show

Interestingly, many of the foundations of TCM—strong digestion, good sleep, mental calm, routine, and moderate physical activity—are now being echoed in the field of geroscience.

This emerging area of research looks at how to slow the biological processes of aging, focusing on inflammation, mitochondrial function, hormonal balance, and immune resilience. TCM has addressed these systems for thousands of years—using a different language, but with the same aim: keeping the person strong, adaptive, and functional.

Aging With Purpose, Not Just Years

The ultimate goal in TCM is not just to extend life—it’s to improve the experience of living. That means reducing pain, improving mobility, protecting vision and cognition, and supporting people to feel like themselves again, even as their bodies change.

TCM doesn’t promise miracles. But it does offer a system for supporting resilience in the face of aging—something all of us can benefit from.

On the Pulse Clinic, South County Dublin
Supporting healthy aging through acupuncture, laser therapy, herbal medicine, and nutrition.
📞 086 811 9534 | 📍For people 50+ who want to stay well, active, and independent.

🔬 Research Spotlight

A 2021 randomized controlled trial using the classic formula Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi Tang in older adults with sarcopenia found significant reductions in IL-6 and TNF-α, key markers of chronic inflammation associated with aging. This study reinforces TCM’s role in addressing the inflammatory processes that contribute to functional decline in later life.

Citation: Effect of Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi Tang on Inflammatory Cytokines in Elderly Patients with Sarcopenia: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2021.

Chinese Herbal Medicine and Fatigue – A Clinical Perspective

Many Cients come to the clinic struggling with fatigue

— whether it's lingering after a viral illness, related to burnout, or due to disrupted sleep and digestion. While acupuncture regulates the nervous system and circulation, Chinese herbal medicine plays a critical role in helping the body restore function over time.

Why Chinese Herbal Medicine?

Chinese herbal formulas are taken daily, providing steady support to the body’s internal systems. While acupuncture acts as a signal to stimulate change, herbs contribute by continuously supporting:

• Energy production and metabolism

• Immune system regulation

• Hormonal balance

• Digestive and sleep function

Herbs are not a quick fix — they are a structured form of internal medicine, used for centuries in clinical settings to address the underlying mechanisms contributing to fatigue. I offer a 20 week program.

Individualised Prescriptions – Guided by Pulse

Each herbal formula is tailored using a diagnostic system called Medical Pulse Diagnosis (MPD), developed by my mentor, Bob Doane. This system allows me to assess how the organs are functioning in real time and modify treatment accordingly.

Prescriptions are not one-size-fits-all. They change as your condition improves — giving your body exactly what it needs, at the right time.

What to Expect

Most CLients begin to notice improvements within the first 3–10 days, including:

• Improved sleep quality

• More stable energy

• Better digestion

• Reduced physical tension or inflammation

Why Combine Herbs and Acupuncture?

Used together, herbs and acupuncture provide both regulation and repair.
As Bob Doane says:
“Acupuncture is the icing. Herbs are the cake.”

My Background

I have completed three clinical internships with Bob Doane and continue weekly training through his virtual mentorship programme. I am currently the only practitioner in Ireland with this level of direct training in his pulse-guided herbal system.

Zhang Y, Jin F, Wei X, Jin Q, Xie J, Pan Y and Shen W (2022) Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front. Pharmacol. 13:958005. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.958005

Interested in Herbal Medicine?

If you’re dealing with fatigue, stress, or recovery after illness, a personalised herbal plan may provide the support you need. Consultations include pulse diagnosis and regular review to ensure your formula matches your current presentation.

👉 for booking click here

Fatigue impacts women and men…

Reclaiming Your Health: It's Time to Trust Your Body Again

Too often, a serious diagnosis, a loss, or a health scare can shake us to our core. We start to feel disconnected from our own body—as though it’s working against us. Fear takes over. Motivation disappears. And we start believing the story that there’s nothing we can do.

But that’s not the truth.

You can feel better.
You can reconnect with your body.
You can take back your power.

The key lies in recognising that health isn’t just about medication or procedures. It's also about how you sleep, how you digest food, how you feel when you wake up in the morning. It’s about pain levels, energy, confidence, mood. And all of these are signals from your body—one that is still working hard to protect you.

Western medicine has its strengths, particularly in emergencies and diagnostics. But it doesn’t always offer a roadmap for recovery, or for quality of life. That’s where Chinese Medicine excels.

Rooted in thousands of years of clinical observation, Chinese Medicine sees you as a whole person—not just a list of symptoms. It works alongside conventional care to restore energy, improve circulation, reduce pain, calm anxiety, and support digestion, sleep, and immunity.

Many people are surprised to learn that Chinese Herbal Medicine is a core part of this system—and acts faster than acupuncture alone for a chronic illness. Herbs are selected with precision to match your specific patterns and needs. They can calm inflammation, rebuild strength, shift stagnation (issues with blood flow) , and nourish what has been worn down over time.

As we grow older, our body has worked through decades of stress, illness, grief, and physical wear. Chinese Herbal Medicine recognises this accumulated toll and offers significant support to the systems that have been quietly holding us together. It’s not about masking symptoms—it’s about real restoration.

When herbs and acupuncture are used together, they don't compete—they enhance each other. The result is often faster, more lasting change.

And more than that: they help you feel like yourself again.

This isn’t about false hope. It’s about real, practical support that can make a meaningful difference. And it’s about knowing there are still tools, options, and systems of care that honour your body’s wisdom.

If you’re over 50 and feeling like you’ve lost your way with your health, I want you to know:
There is help. There is healing.
And it’s never too late to feel better in your body again.

A notable clinical study on Chinese Herbal Medicine and heart health:
Qiliqiangxin improves outcomes in heart failure patients – Nature Medicine, 2024

#ChineseMedicine #HealthyAging #Over50sHealth #IntegrativeMedicine #AcupunctureAndHerbs #HerbalMedicineWorks #HeartHealthNaturally #TakeBackYourPower #MidlifeWellness #HolisticHealing #BodyWisdom #QualityOfLifeMatters #EmpoweredHealth

Acupuncture Proven Effective for Chronic Pain: What the Research Says

If you're living with chronic pain and looking for a safer, more natural treatment option, you're not alone. A groundbreaking international study has confirmed what many already experience firsthand: acupuncture works - and its benefits go well beyond placebo.

A major study published in The Journal of Pain in 2018 by Vickers et al. reviewed data from 17,922 patients across 39 clinical trials. It concluded that acupuncture is significantly more effective than both standard medical care and sham (placebo) acupuncture for chronic pain.

Conditions studied include:
- Back and neck pain
- Osteoarthritis (especially knee)
- Migraines and tension-type headaches - Shoulder pain

The improvements were sustained over time, making acupuncture a powerful long-term strategy for pain management.

Acupuncture works by stimulating specific points on the body, improving circulation, and releasing natural pain-relieving chemicals. At On the Pulse Clinic, we also offer laser acupuncture - a gentle, needle-free option ideal for sensitive patients.

The Vickers study, led by researchers at Harvard, Oxford, and Memorial Sloan Kettering, confirms what practitioners and patients have known: acupuncture is a serious tool for chronic pain relief.

Citation:

Vickers AJ et al. Acupuncture for chronic pain: Update of an individual patient data meta-analysis. J Pain. 2018;19(5):455-474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2017.11.005

Contact:
On the Pulse Clinic, South County Dublin Phone: 086 811 9534
Email: sineadd@onthepulse.clinic
Web: www.onthepulse.clinic

Always Start with Nutrition

I talk about nutrition with every person that comes to see me. I give hints and tips if as a client you don’t wish to do a consultation. For everyone else I provide a handout and explanations for why I recommend the dietary changes I recommend, in other words the science behind it. So what’s involved…

Form new habits with support

Really simple to follow plan tailored to your needs

No restrictions in choices when you socialise

No special ingredients from special shops needed

No specialist supermarket isles needed

Find out if you actually really have an intolerance!

Heal your gut

Reduce Inflammation

Increase energy levels

Balance stress hormones

Build relaxing hormones

Get rid of cravings

Heal your body

Nourish your body

There are no guarantees in life BUT…

….You will never know if you don’t give it a go.

You will definitely never give it a go if you don’t know something exists that carries possibility. I’m in Denmark right now, trying something, I did not know existed until June 2023. I am in a quaint rural town, on my own, without a single word of Danish. I’m here with the full knowledge that it may not work, for me. ‘Work’ being such a two dimensional perspective. I am also here in the full knowledge, that it may be life changing.

I’m telling you this, because I think people with health challenges, should never limit themselves. I think there is a lot of emotive terminology used when people try things outside of what is comfortable for some healthcare professionals. I often meet people who fully believe that Western Medicine is the only solution and that it always works. How shocking it is, when as inevitably happens as people age, or they become unwell earlier in life, to discover how limited Western Medicine can be. For acute health issues Western Medicine can be phenomenal and literally life saving.

Labelling of people with a chronic disease as vulnerable really irritates me. It is incredibly disempowering and displays such a level of arrogance by the labellers! Everybody is vulnerable at times, it doesn’t make you weak, it doesn’t make you stupid, it simply makes you human.

Get curious. Don’t limit yourself. You might not find the solution you are looking for but you will open up your world. Life is amazing and as long as you are breathing you get to have a lived human experience.

You will never give it a go if you live in fear and respond to life in fight, flight or freeze mode.

The world is not out to get you unless you believe it is. In that headspace you will fight with your own shadow! Skepticism reigns here. Educate yourself, ask questions of yourself and your reactions. We all make stupid decisions at times. This does not mean you are stupid. Ask more questions. Don’t judge the expert in front of you, even the Godsperts! Occasionally they do not realise they themselves are human and therefore they are not perfect. Find another expert.

Running away, avoiding discomfort, getting real busy being busy. Looking after everyone else first is a classic and women are particularly expert at this. What if it makes me worse or what if it doesn’t work. Most scary of all what if it does! RUN, RUN, RUN…

If I just stay here in my fear, and I’m polite and smiley and accepting. Nobody around me gets upset or uneasy. Sur isn’t life grand (eye-roll here please). Or I joke about my issues before anybody else does then I am fine with this, right . Eh no no no no nooo! I fully accept this quality, well 30% 60% 75% quality of life. I’ve just about reached a comfort level in this level of discomfort. If I choose to make changes I might fall apart. In case that is you, take it from someone who knows, you won’t. I’m fitting right in socially and culturally so WHY would I move from this headspace? It’s not that bad really, is it? If you are questioning it then you already know your answer.

You get to choose your direction. If it doesn’t work you can choose another.

To Be or Not to Be... Gifted with a Label!!

How comfortable are you when your body goes belly up! and you’re gifted with a label. Think about a time somebody referred to you as a non person, a time you were objectified. Choose something simple like …move him/her over there and I‘ll deal with them later. Ugh right?

Instead of (t takes 2 seconds) asking you your name and referring to you by your name in a respectful way. What happens after that interaction will be the same, but a totally different experience for you.. I used to be really brilliant at remembering peoples names, and for many years now, I am not. It frustrates me and I have tried lots of different techniques but so far nothing has worked. If i was to use an excuse, I could say I remember the important information which is obviously important. It simply isn’t any more or less important that the person in front of me. Depending on the setting I write that persons name down. People matter to me.

Thankfully, I always remember the persons story, something that person told me about themselves and I always refer to an aspect of that story. It’s important, particularly in the type of work I do, that people feel they matter, they are heard and not simply a label. I have the advantage or training, many years of professional experience working in healthcare and the uncomfortable muscle memory in my body of what it feels like to be objectified as a chronic disease. I don’t ever want somebody I interact with, to feel that tightening of their neck and shoulders or uncomfortable in the pit of their stomach because I effectively looked through them as opposed to engaging with them.

I’d love to know what you think about labelling or being labelled?

The Song Went Like This

Photographer William White Photo

I don’t have have a note in my head, and sadly my piano teacher told my Mum I was tone deaf! so there ended my future musical ambitions. And yet recently I joined a great music group, a community of people that comes together sharing sounds and encouraging one another. Still not quite sure how I got in! Plus it’s great craic. Friday nights get better and better.

It’s interesting how encouragement or otherwise influences the choices we make on a daily basis. Also how encouraging others enables them to try. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do, because everybody is gifted. They might just not realise it yet. I always thought growing up I wasn’t that good at anything in particular. Thankfully it didn’t stop me trying new and different things. Maybe part of me was looking for an area I could excel in.

Quite quickly I realised, not having my own lane enabled me to explore and be open to trying new things, to see what worked for me. To get to know myself by taking action and filling my life with people from an eclectic mix of backgrounds.

Of course I had found what I’m good at. I know where my strengths lie. With the added plus of doing activities I am utterly useless at! But sur, I’ll give it a really good go! Being in unfamiliar environments I am comfortable not excelling and just experiencing. I’m also happy to shine for moments because everyone should.

Being in a room full of strangers and having the opportunity to talk to people I simply have never met, takes confidence and if I’m totally honest deep breaths at times. The ability to smile is quite helpful and its contagious. People feel great when they smile so help them out. The easiest way in a room full of strangers is to forget about yourself and find out about other peoples lives. Be interested. People with ordinary lives can have an extraordinary impact on yours.

I want to enable people who have had to change lanes lots because of a chronic health issue. Perhaps a significant diagnosis with a frightening future or life interrupting anxiety that holds you back from progressing in your life. Sometimes they go hand in hand. With illness often comes a dent to confidence. I do not do talk therapy, although my skillset and training provided a lot of experiential learning. Doing my job requires communication skills that are very different to doing an IT job. Doing my job requires the ability to communicate effectively with people from any background.

It’s my life experience outside of the professional, that gives me an extra level of understanding. I’ve been there, done that and happily glide in and out of lanes, because life is short and I’m never going to stick in the slow lane. I recommend you don’t do that. Nothing will change unless you make changes.

A chronic disease can often feel like a series of rapid lane changes on a somewhat regular basis. It is not something you cannot excel at, although you might try your hardest to be the ‘best’ patient. We can only always do our best and that is enough. Just keep doing that consistently.

And so, the song went like this ’You’re never too tall and you’re never too small, you’re never too fat and your never to thin……. you’re never to anything because that’s where you’re at…’ It was a really amusing delivery that packed a punch, accompanied by a banjo, best happy sound ever. It completely resonated with me, and probably most people in the room. Hello freedom, the healing power of music and community, I love you.

Simple Acupuncture Demo

The Wonders and Downsides of Wearable Technology

We are human and by default we have a different modus operandi!

I love technology, at least the logical side of my brain does.

I’ve been to conferences where the magical attributes of new technologies are beautifully demonstrated, with lots of smiling people, which will save lives… potentially. If the promotional hype won’t save your life, it most certainly will promise to significantly improve your ability to prevent poor health, in chronic disease management, in your future. Great I hear you say, the machine will do it for me I don’t have to change a thing!!

I’ve listened to very excited healthcare professionals about the wonders of this new gadget and how transformational it will be for me or the person in front of them. The irony is, it is hard not to get excited by the potentials and the possibilities, and anything that provides practical advantages and hope is a good thing, right?! I think yes and I also think no.

As a healthcare professional and on a personal level, I’ve seen and used technology on blood sugar testing, go from dipstick for glucose to glucometers the size of a brick! to a neater futuristic at the time glucometer, lots of different designs & colours, to a pen size to a 25mm continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to a €euro size CGM. Fantastic right? Well yes but also no.

As a holistic healthcare provider, I see clients arriving and wearing not only one wearable device but two, for all that extra up to the minute information about how your body is performing! ECGs, oxygen levels, steps, pulse rates, blood pressure. I’m just waiting for a wearable that tells me the length of my telomeres any day soon! Is this a good thing? Well yes and also no.

We are human, and behind all the hype and all the results, managing fear around all this information is key. Give a perfectionist a wearable, there is anguish or frustration ahead. Managing fear that your pace maker might give you a unexpected thump from the inside. Managing fear that your results aren’t as in range, as all those smiling promotional people obviously are! Managing fear around oxygen saturation levels in the middle of the night. Managing fear when life throws you curveballs and all your devices are reassuringly scaring the bejaysus out of you because stress impacts our physiology. Nothings in range.

A constant reminder that you are not ‘normal’, a constant questioning are you good enough? Are you doing enough? Enough? Enough? Enough? Who needs coffee when you have so many devices to speed up your heart rate.

We used to get news every few hours, then on the hour, then on the half hour and now there are channels 24/7 with news. At least you can switch that off. You cannot ignore your health, you cannot switch off a chronic health issue. It is important to get to a happy place, not the smiling people happy place, but the place where a wearable does not create anxiety, does not rule your quality of life and where you can trust yourself and listen to your own body cues. I’ve had a lifetime of training and I still have ‘flip out; moments. I’m just a lot faster at tuning back into my body.

The beauty of your body is that is that it is totally subjective. It is not a machine. It works in a very personal way. It is on your side even when it feels like it isn’t. It is consistently doing it’s best to rebalance your physiology. All you need to do, are the simple things, socialise, laugh lots, exercise (preferably with a dog although optional), healthy eating, keep your brain busy.

One of the reasons I love acupuncture is that it works on the body. Calm the body you calm the mind. Stress and inflammation are reduced and if done regularly, you will not only get an extension on your life but a guarantee of a better quality of life. In fact I’d hazard a guess those smiley happy people had a session before their photo shoot!