How AcuSetsm Came to Be

While I was studying at the School of Complementary Medicine, a classmate asked me to treat her with a new technique for sensitivities. She said that she would hold a vial of a herbal medicine a teacher had prescribed to help her sleep. The problem was that the medicine made her sick. She asked me to insert needles in specific Acupoints. After that treatment, she would need to be away from the substance for twenty-four hours, but after that she would no longer be sensitive to the medicine.

Well, of course, I thought she was crazy! But my classmate had read about Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques or NAET, a means of eliminating allergies that involved a variety of medical philosophies including Acupuncture, nutrition, allopathies and others. She always knew about the latest and greatest in health care techniques and liked to try new things. I on the other hand was very skeptical about most everything, including a lot of the information I received at school on Acupuncture and herbal medicines. Still, I did what she asked to humor her. Two days later, she said that she could take the medicine without any side effects.

That same week, my husband, Dr. John Gaffney, had a patient approach him with the same request. This patient had a book describing the treatment for sensitivities. Doc shared the experience with me and we read the book that night. We weren’t sure the technique was worth the effort; it seemed far out.

Still, I thought about my classmate and Doc’s patient all night. In a strange way, the concept made sense. The next day, I asked Doc to treat me for MSG.

I had avoided this additive at all costs. It was not easy going to an Oriental Medicine school and not eating Chinese food! When I was just fifteen, Chinese food put me into the hospital for the first time. I had become sick before we had even left the restaurant. While I was attending the Oriental Medicine school, I rarely ate out because I could never be sure if the food had MSG in it.

My reaction to anything with any derivative of MSG was horrendous. It would start about twenty minutes after I ate. My face would get numb. I would suffer with a blinding debilitating headache for twenty-four hours. I would have projectile vomiting for hours. I would have to lie in bed in a dark room, my whole body aching so much I could hardly move. At the end of twenty-four hours, I would be exhausted and usually stayed in bed another day.
In fact, the last time I had had MSG (under a different name in vegetarian sausage), I could have died if Doc had not been there to help me.

During that night after we talked about the treatment, I kept thinking how limited my life was becoming. We traveled a lot to conferences and classes. I took food with me to eat on the plane and at the hotels. Would I take this chance or forget about it? Even now, nine years later, I remember the calmness I felt the next morning. I was sure I was going to do this!
I went to the grocery store and bought pure MSG. That night, Doc treated me. Forty-eight hours later, I went to a Chinese restaurant twenty minutes from my house. I took along a girlfriend in case something went wrong. I ate everything—soup, egg rolls, dark gravy, hot spices, and the dessert.

Nothing happened at all, no numbness, dizziness, or anything.

At this same time, Doc had a blood test to identify allergies. His joint pain had grown worse; after thirty years of running three miles per day, he couldn’t run anymore. At the end of the day, his feet would be purple, painful, and hot. A blood test showed that he was allergic to twenty-five items out of fifty. He started doing the elimination and rotation diet, in which all known foods to which you are allergic are eliminated and one of those foods is reintroduced every three days. Doc had to avoid most fruits and grains.

The next week, we went to an internal disorders conference. At least five doctors came up to us and asked if we had heard of Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques or NAET. It is named for Dr. Devi Nambudripad, who had created the treatment almost fifteen years earlier.

The other doctors all said it changed their lives, their families’ lives, and their patients’ lives. At the end of the weekend, Doc convinced me to attend the classes. I was waiting for my license to practice Acupuncture and had some free time. In addition, he knew that once I found something that interested me I was like a bulldog with a meaty bone. The next available class was two months away.

During this time, I treated Doc with Acupuncture for some of the foods his blood test rated as high. One day, I treated him for wheat and, after I ate a sandwich I kissed him. We noticed that his stomach instantly started to swell. That night he said he felt like he had meningitis; every joint in his body hurt.

My first NAET class looked like a cross between a Mary Kay convention and a revival. More than a hundred people were there to see Dr. Ellen Cutler, who was teaching the course. Long lines formed to buy Dr. Cutler’s latest book and buy vials. It was hard to find a seat. We were scrunched in like sardines all three days. Some people stood; some sat on the floor till they could get more chairs. There was a great feeling of excitement in the room, and that feeling stayed all weekend. Doctors who used the technique were sharing their experiences. One doctor in Georgia had a seven-month waiting list. The classes went till ten each night, but no one seemed tired.

Dr. Cutler, who once was a patient of Dr. Nambudripad’s, had developed BioEnergetic Sensitivity and Enzyme Therapy, or BioSET, which includes computerized electrodermal screening (EDS). Dr. Cutler was using muscle testing, which involves exposing muscles to possible allergens to check people for sensitivities. I have a problem with muscle testing because it can be subjective, you can only test for a few items, and it is hard on both parties. Dr. Cutler then showed us the computerized equipment and software program.

Dr. Cutler tested me and said I was very sensitive to eggs. I told her eggs never bothered me, but she suggested I go home and get treated for eggs and call her. Doc treated me, and the next morning I woke up without a stiff neck for the first time since I was a teenager. I had always joked I had married a chiropractor for that reason! I have not had that stiff neck in the nine years since the treatment.

I bought the program and started treating Doc and other family and friends, and Doc treated me.

We treated Doc for twenty-five of the fifty items his blood work had identified. After the treatment, those items were fine, but the items for which he was not treated remained positive. His blood work showed reactions to fruits such as bananas and cantaloupe as well as grains and beef. I had those reactions and many more, including wool. I was surprised; I had thought I was sensitive only to MSG.

After using Dr. Cutler’s technique, I developed AcuSETSM. Here’s the background on how AcuSETSM came to be.
I wanted to reduce the number of patient visits; other practitioners were treating patients for forty to sixty visits, at great expense to them. Also, the strategy of requiring patients to avoid for twenty-five hours the items Dr. Cutler used was difficult at best. I had undergone the procedures and found that it could be impossible to avoid some of the items I was allergic to for even one hour.

Occasionally, there were side effects, such as headaches, nausea, and tiredness if the patient was exposed to the items in that twenty-five-hour time period. I also hesitated to encourage my patients to fast because Oriental Medicine does not recommend it. And, if someone had low blood sugar, fasting would be out of the question.
Some of my patients came to Florida from out of state and had to stay in hotels for one to two weeks. For some, this was great as they were away from their pets, their dust and mold, and their gardens. However, they also could be exposed to things that could trigger a reaction such as old smoke, cleaners, dust, and mold that were different from the items at home.

Most patients could tolerate two treatments in sixteen hours; some could handle three. We had to be careful not to combine in a single day certain treatments such as meat and grains. I was not inclined to treat some of my weakest patients with certain items due to the stress it could create for them and because of possible failure of the treatment. It was very complicated to choose the items to treat in that time frame without putting a patient on a fast.

Most of my patients were in an extremely weakened state and needed to eat every few hours. But, for example, if we treated a patient for B vitamin complex and later on for hormones, all he or she could eat for thirty-six hours were peaches. I tried it myself and could do no more than sit in a chair for most of the day.

There were so many treatment items that were difficult to avoid. For instance, how can anyone avoid cotton for a whole day? One of my patients did. She wore only silk and sat on leather or plastic for twenty-five hours, which was not an easy feat! She had to stay out of rooms with drapes and could not use a towel to dry off. This woman was desperate and was very pleased with the results, but was not looking forward to another day like that one.

Occasionally, unpleasant side effects such as headaches, coughing, sneezing, tiredness, depression, or itching occurred. These symptoms would usually last no more than four hours. Still, if it happened to you, it wasn’t pleasant.
I knew there had to be a simpler way. The patients’ side effects sent me back to the Oriental Medicine books.

The body has twelve Meridians or pathways, each of which is most active for two hours of the day. I wondered if reactions were due to an item upsetting a particular Meridian. My patients were a determined bunch and viewed these reactions as proof that something was happening and were eager to go on. I knew I was dealing with an incredible modality, but it needed to be easier and more affordable.

After one year of research; trials and errors; taking classes; researching books on Acupuncture, physiology, nutrition, allergies, homeopathy, and psychology; and working with my husband, I developed AcuSETSM.

Symptoms of Sensitivities

AcuSETSM Testing

When a patient is tested by the computerized electrodermal screening equipment, he or she holds a moistened brass rod in one hand while the technician touches an Acupuncture point with a probe connected to the machine. This creates a circuit with a very small undetectable current running through the patient. The amount of resistance experienced at that point or the amount of current flowing (conductance) can be measured. The patient feels nothing but a little pressure. The test can be stopped at any time if it’s uncomfortable, but this rarely happens.

Variations from normal can tell the acupuncture physician helpful things about that Acupoint and its associated organ system. Not only that, but a substance, even something in a glass jar, introduced into this electrical circuit may change the point reading in a helpful or harmful way.

Imagine the benefit of knowing if an anesthetic might be harmful to a patient about to undergo surgery, or if a particular implant or dental material might react badly if used by a particular patient, or if a patient who has a reaction to a needed drug could tell if another medication might be more compatible.

In addition to measuring the resistance in a point, simply touching a particular point on a given Meridian can make a previously strong muscle temporarily weak. This would indicate a problem in the Meridian’s energy component and possibly in its corresponding organ system. If touching a point caused the testing muscle to remain strong and a substance to which the body reacts, (allergy or sensitivity reaction) is brought into close proximity to the patient and the previously strong muscle becomes weak that would indicate that the body does not do as well when close to that substance. Many clinicians use this muscle testing procedure to determine compatibility to a given substance. I prefer to use the computerized electrodermal screening equipment.

Effective muscle testing, or applied kinesiology, requires good technique and lots of experience. I choose to use the computerized electrodermal screening equipment from BioMeridian, the country’s leading manufacturer of bioelectrical impedance measurement devices. Over three thousand medical doctors, chiropractors, physicians, Acupuncture physicians, and other health care practitioners use BioMeridian’s equipment, which is registered with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. I find the devices’ color-coded reports to be reliable and easy to understand by my patients.

Food Sensitivities

Some reports state that sixty percent of adults suffer from food sensitivities. Some experts say food sensitivities have increased over thirty-five percent in the last twenty years. Food allergies are less common and are identified by a blood test or a scratch test on the skin. You do not need a blood or skin scratch test to tell you that you reacted in a negative way to something you ate recently or used in preparing a meal.

Food sensitivities can manifest in many different ways with many different ailments. They are reactions to a food eaten, smelled, or touched. People with food sensitivities feel like they are classic hypochondriacs. Some react if they get within inches of a particular item. Some complain of feeling bloated or of puffiness around the eyes and nose. This could be the body’s confused overactive immune system surrounding the cells with a watery substance to flush away the invaders (normally harmless items). Cells get waterlogged and tissues swell. Hands, ankles, and feet can swell. Another common reaction is sneezing and a runny nose. I have had patients who have a constant runny nose when they eat. Others experience rapid heartbeats or drowsiness. It’s not unusual to experience symptoms and not link them to sensitivities.

What causes food sensitivities? Well, people eat more wheat, corn, milk, and eggs than ever before. If we look at the typical diet, we see an increase in fast foods, restaurant foods, and commercially prepared foods. These foods usually have extra fat, fillers, additives, and chemicals in them. Studies prove that these food items show most of the reactions and symptoms.

How are we going to digest and assimilate genetically altered food? Not too well, I’m sure. When human bodies “showed up” over two million years or so ago, they expected to eat naturally occurring foods. We ate fruit, vegetables, nuts, fish and nonbeef meats. Milk and wheat were not introduced into the human diet until ten thousand years ago. Sugar wasn’t eaten much till the 1900s.

We have evolved and adapted, but not quickly enough to handle the food changes in the last thirty years.

In the last thirty years, medicine has changed very dramatically in our country. When I was in grade school, only one child in class was overweight. One had asthma and one had allergies. We never heard the phrases “learning disabled” or “ADD.” We ate lunch brought from home and we played outside. We rarely went to a doctor. We went to bed at night and slept all night. We never ate in a fast-food restaurant. We were healthy and happy.

Now, I talk to teachers who tell me children are always out sick or attending school sick, which spreads the “sickness.” The school nurse hands out medicine prescribed by doctors. I see children in my office who have been sick since they were born. Their moms always say the same thing: “When you get him/her better I’ll come to see you for the allergies I’ve had since childhood. Do you think it’s heredity?”

If you’re not sure if we can help you, I BEG you to ask us. There are no guarantees in life or medicine, but this technique cannot hurt you in any way. The only side effects are wonderful—more energy; a general sense of better well-being; and an end to sneezing, runny noses, joint pains, rashes, headaches, and bowel problems.

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	Debra Pardee Gaffney C.C.P.A., A.P. Volusia Center for Complementary Medicine 339 E. New York Ave., DeLand, FL 32724 (386) 734-4126 or (800) 734-4580