SENATE MEMORIAL 52

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Bill B. O'Neill

 

 

 

 

 

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO BRAIN AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INSTITUTE, THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE NEURO-ACUPUNCTURE INSTITUTE TO STUDY THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF ACUPUNCTURE AND NEURO-ACUPUNCTURE AS A MODALITY THAT MAY SOLVE MANY OF THE NEUROLOGICAL ISSUES FACING NEW MEXICANS.

 

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is known for its use and acceptance of alternative healing modalities, including acupuncture; and

     WHEREAS, New Mexico is known for its innovative spirit and use of cutting-edge technology; and

     WHEREAS, acupuncture has been a foundational part of eastern medicine for more than three thousand years; and

     WHEREAS, neurological disorders affect thousands of New Mexicans; and

     WHEREAS, cerebrovascular accidents, also known as strokes, are a major cause of neurological impairment, affecting more than seven hundred ninety-five thousand people in the United States each year; and

     WHEREAS, multiple sclerosis is a major cause of neurological impairment, currently affecting more than one million people in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, traumatic brain injury is a major cause of neurological impairment, affecting more than one million five hundred thousand people in the United States each year with two hundred thirty thousand hospitalizations, according to data from the federal centers for disease control and prevention; and

     WHEREAS, autism spectrum disorder is a major cause of neurological impairment, affecting more than two and three-tenths percent of the population in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, the Parkinson's foundation reports that Parkinson's disease is a major cause of neurological impairment, with new cases affecting more than ninety thousand people in the United States each year and an estimated one million United States residents living with this disease; and

     WHEREAS, Alzheimer's disease is a major cause of neurological impairment, with more than six million people living with this disorder in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a major cause of neurological impairment, with new cases affecting more than five thousand people in the United States each year; and

     WHEREAS, many western medicine techniques have failed to find medical solutions to the most pervasive and costly neurological diseases; and

     WHEREAS, the use of advanced acupuncture techniques developed in New Mexico, called neuro-acupuncture, merge eastern acupuncture with western neurology and can provide improvement for many neurological ailments; and

     WHEREAS, the neuro-acupuncture institute, a New Mexico-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded in Santa Fe to teach next-generation acupuncturists the advanced techniques and neurologists the opportunities and value of neuro-acupuncture in providing relief and medical improvement for multiple neurological diseases; and

     WHEREAS, the university of New Mexico has established the biomedical research and integrative neuroimaging center to study neurological disease and innovative solutions to brain function recovery; and

     WHEREAS, the study of impacts and improved techniques that use neuro-acupuncture to solve neurological ailments would be informative;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the university of New Mexico brain and behavioral health institute, the department of health and the neuro-acupuncture institute be requested to study the health effects of acupuncture and neuro-acupuncture as a modality that may solve many of the neurological issues facing New Mexicans; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department of health be requested to collaborate with neuro-acupuncture professionals and the neuro-acupuncture institute to study impacts and improved techniques that use neuro-acupuncture to solve neurological ailments; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico brain and behavioral health institute be requested to work with the neuro-acupuncture institute to study ways to provide opportunities for clinical demonstrations and techniques where functional magnetic resonance imaging technology is used to assess before and after results and impacts on patients receiving neuro-acupuncture treatment for the diseases cited; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the university of New Mexico brain and behavioral health institute, the department of health and the neuro-acupuncture institute be requested to report their findings and conclusions to the interim legislative health and human services committee by October 1, 2023; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the co-directors of the university of New Mexico brain and behavioral health institute, the secretary of health, the chair of the neuro-acupuncture institute and the chair of the legislative health and human services committee.

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