s hair-thin needles into specific points on the body to prevent or treat illness. Practiced for over 2,500 years in China, where it originated, acupuncture is part of the holistic system of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which views health as a constantly changing flow of energy, or qi (pronounced "chee"). Acupuncture helps regulate imbalances in this natural flow of energy, which result in disease *9*.Anxiety plays a major role in Irritable Bowel Syndrome by exaggerating the symptoms and, in some cases, actually causing the individual to trigger a reaction simply by anticipating it. Lucinda Bassett, former IBS sufferer, wrote a book called From Panic to Power and details the role anxiety played in her life. I began avoiding situations where I couldnt come and go as I pleased, situations where I couldnt be in control . . . it was difficult for me to sit in class. I felt anxious, panicky, and trapped. I made all kinds of excuses for my lack of social activity and my inability to travel with friends . . . my world became smaller and smaller (Bassett xv). She also states that IBS is an anxiety-related problem common to many people with anxiety disorder and that by age fourteen, everything in her life revolved around her fear of diarrhea. She was constantly in a state of worry and felt uncomfortable in any situation where she couldnt run if need be (Bassett 5). A recent guest of the Montel Williams show, Bassett is now cured of both her anxiety disorder and her Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Her public appearance was one of the few times the subject of IBS has been aired on national television. However, the month of April was designated in the year 2000 as the first National IBS Awareness Month *8*. A celebrity IBS sufferer, Camille Grammerwife of Frasier star, Kelsey Grammercame forth recently to speak about the disease on NBCs Today Show. According to Kelsey Grammer, You dont hear much about IBS because some of the symptoms i...
