Henoch-Schonlein Purpura

[Guest guest]

Hi Thierry,

 

This is very difficult to comment on without knowing more or seeing

the patient. Similar skin conditions are found in the IBDs, and HS

purpura sometimes arises in concert with these as well, although HS

pupura is self-limiting and the prognosis is good. The typical

symptom picture of the disease is the rash as well as abdominal pain,

bloody stools, and joint pain. The condition is an IgA-mediated type

III hypersensitivity response, and so the focus should be on

resolving the dysfunctional hypersensitivity response, modulating the

immune response and the underlying triggers. Intestinal permeability

is a common thread in most hypersensitivity responses, and restoring

proper digestion/gut function (i.e. agni) is key (see: http://

www.toddcaldecott.com/leaky_gut.html). Topically, cooling

antiinflammatory herbs like Oatmeal baths may be helpful (see:

message # 10283). Diet should be warm and easy to digest, including

lots of steamed vegetables and properly prepared soupy grains/legumes

prepared with digestive-enhancing herbs. I hesitate to recommend

anything more online with knowing more.

Caldecott

todd

www.toddcaldecott.com

_______________________

the son of a friend, aged 23, is suffering from HS purpura that

started six months ago.

[Guest guest]

Hi

 

I have read your article with great interest. I appreciate the way you connect

ayurvedic principles to modern biomedicine researches.

 

So the purpura could be related to an excessive intestinal permeability, or a

digestive inflammation. Well it is true that during the worst bout of the

disease, he suffered from digestive pain so hard to bear it was impossible for

him to eat or drink anything. When he was a child he suffered from GERD, and he

is very selective in the things he eat; to be honest his diet is a catastrophic

fast-food only one.

 

But the most evident trigger of the disease seems to have been the sore-throat,

or angina, that let suppose the disease started from an infection in the

breathing system. In TCM, there is a link between breathing problems and immune

system diseases, and this link is manifested through the " Metal " agent

associated to the lung and colon. Is there any evidence of such a link between

immune, intestinal and pulmonary problems in ayurveda ?

 

You kindly gave a treatment to ease the itching with the oatmeal bath, but is

there any efficient treatment to ease abdominal and joint pain ? He is under

cortisone but this is causing overweight, and right now the main risk consists

in possible severe kidney troubles.

 

many thanks again for your help

best regards

Thierry

____________________

Intestinal permeability

is a common thread in most hypersensitivity responses, and restoring

proper digestion/gut function (i.e. agni) is key (see: http://

www.toddcaldecott.com/leaky_gut.html).

[Guest guest]

Hi Thierry,

 

Diet here would be an obvious place to start. I would suggest a

regimen of fresh vegetable juices in the morning, such as carrot,

celery, beet, apple, ginger and cilantro. This can be followed with

steamed vegetables, well-cooked soupy grain dishes such as barley or

rice, with mung or similar, prepared with vegetable or chicken stock,

using digestive enhancing herbs such as ginger, hing, cumin,

coriander, black mustard, turmeric; or European flavors such as

oregano, basil, thyme, dill etc. Natural sea salt is also a good

additive. These should be the only foods for a week or so, and as

digestion improves, other more complex foods can gradually be added,

although in AI-mediated disorders I recommend a paleolithic-style

diet (http://www.toddcaldecott.com/paleolithic_forms.html), with no

flour, sugar or dairy (butter/ghee is OK).

 

It is difficult to responsibly suggest a line of therapy without

seeing the patient. Herbs that restore liver function such as

barberry and turmeric will correct the directional flow of the GI

system and promote detoxification, and aromatic herbs such as

caraway, dill, ajwain, and ginger can help to ease colic and

griping. I also like to use wild yam as a GI antispasmodic,

particularly in liver/gb pain. Relatively high doses of digestive

enzymes such as bromelain (3-5 g) are often very useful to restore

digestion and alleviate joint pain. Kidneys also need attention as

they drain the joints of toxins, and to help with the acute joint

pain there are many safe herbal teas that help remove wastes from the

joints such as dandelion leaf , cleavers, nettle and horsetail. The

Ayurvedic formula kaisarsa guggulu is also used in acute joint

problems, combined with yogaraja guggulu for pain. If these aren't

available, Western herbal alternatives for pain include black cohosh,

devil's claw, willow and Jamaican dogwood.

 

As far as the trigger, yes, viral infections can often be seen to

precipitate a crisis, but are definitely more virulent when the

underlying health is poor. As is the case with this fellow, the URI

was last straw in a chronic situation. The link between the lungs

and bowel is very clear, as both are hollow, air-filled organs.

While both relate to vata or wind: vata specifically relates to the

colon and kapha controls the lungs. It is vata's job to direct the

energetic flow downwards and outwards (as feces, flatus), and when it

becomes aggravated it accumulates in the abdomen, creating gas,

disrupting GI flow, and creating an upward-moving force (e.g. GERD).

In contrast, kapha is the impetus for the generation of the IgA-rich

immunodefensive mucus that lubricates the body. In leaky gut the

mucus membranes are fragile and damaged, and so is the flow of this

mucus. When the diaphragm is properly stimulated through correct

breathing, the flow of kapha and the restoration of the mucus system

is enhanced, promoting membrane healing. Thus attention to proper

breathing and additional practices such as pranayama can help restore

and rejuvenate the mucus system, and correct dysfunctional vata.

See: http://www.toddcaldecott.com/breathing.html

 

Hope this is helpful.

Caldecott, Dip. Cl.H, RH(AHG)

Ayurvedic practitioner, Medical Herbalist

web: http//:www.toddcaldecott.com

______

> You kindly gave a treatment to ease the itching with the oatmeal

> bath, but is there any efficient treatment to ease abdominal and

> joint pain ? He is under cortisone but this is causing overweight,

> and right now the main risk consists in possible severe kidney

> troubles.

[Guest guest]

Hi

 

On behalf of this young man and his mother, I have to thank you for all these

useful recommendations. I know that nothing could replace direct consultation

but as I live in France I cannot easily advise them to go and consult you. :-)

 

If you don't mind I would like to discuss more in details about the link between

the lungs and the bowels. The lungs are not considered as hollow (Yang) in the

traditional chinese medicine, in spite of being air-filled as you underlined,

but they are classified as solid (Yin). The Yin organs are more emphasized

having a closer affinity to the five substances than their Yang counterpart

organs do. Hence, the lungs are more closely related to the life-force Qi

(associated to the Metal element) than the large intestine. The Qi substance

being quite similar to Prana, I think we can compare this theory to the one that

in Ayurveda links these two organs to the absorption of prana: the lungs perform

immediate absorption of Prana from ingested air, while the large intestine

performs delayed absorption by extracting prana from ingested food. The relation

between Prana and lungs is more evident, and I think we can conclude that the

lungs are more closely related to Prana, as the chinese did ... I try my best to

integrate the two traditions but I often feel that something is missing,

probably modern biomedical findings that would confirm the traditional ones. So

I find your researches in this domain very interesting (for instance the role of

kapha in the generation of the IgA immunodefensive mucus). Where could I find

information about this modern/traditional links ?

 

In your article about the " 3 Ns " , you recommend these techniques to restore a

balanced state in the breathing and nervous systems, and so in the gross body.

Pranayama relates as well, and mainly, to the subtle body. In astrology, a

static analysis based on rashi lords can be termed " gross " . This analysis leads

to promises that can only be activated at certain times, via " subtle " channels

corresponding to the nakshtra lords. That is the reason why we talk about nadi

jyotish, in relation with the nadis as described in ayurveda and yoga.

 

Best regards

Thierry

 

___________________________-

As is the case with this fellow, the URI

was last straw in a chronic situation. The link between the lungs

and bowel is very clear, as both are hollow, air-filled organs.

While both relate to vata or wind: vata specifically relates to the

colon and kapha controls the lungs...

 

In contrast, kapha is the impetus for the generation of the IgA-rich

immunodefensive mucus that lubricates the body.

[Guest guest]

Hi Thierry,

 

You are quite right about lungs being " solid " in I guess I

didn't really reference TCM concepts at all in answering your

question. However, if you consider the san jiao (triple burner)

model, the lungs are formed as the vapor from the middle burner, as

the refined qi. Certainly the lungs have an " effervescent " quality,

and for practical purposes as well, are certainly hollow and air-

filled. The quality that balances this is mucus, which lends

structure and stability to the lungs. The concept of the lungs being

" solid " or " hollow " is derived from their association with yin and

yang, and so identifying them as solid or hollow per se is more an

English interpretation of the original Chinese concepts. Really,

what is meant is that as a yin organ, the lungs create, store and

preserve the vital essence - not that they are actually solid.

 

Of course the problem here lies in trying to reconcile concepts that

aren't inherently reconcilable. In the zhang-fu theory of TCM, the

organs don't actually match up all that well with the actual

viscera. In contrast, Ayurveda has a very lucid model of the body,

probably because there wasn't the taboo against surgery or observing

dead and decaying bodies (which is an ascetic practice in India, and

was no doubt a source of much experimental knowledge). In terms of

Ayurveda and physiology, the colon is primarily an organ of

elimination, not digestion. Only a few nutrients are absorbed in the

gut, and these arise as the result of bacterial fermentation, not

because there is any agni in the colon. The seat of digestion in

Ayurveda is the amashaya, which corresponds with the organs within

the pitta sthana, i.e. the lower fundus of the stomach, small

intestine, and the organs that secrete into the small intestine, i.e.

liver/gall bladder and pancreas. In the san jiao model, which

actually corresponds very well with the concept of tridosha sthana,

the colon is the that which collects the waste that spills over from

cooking for elimination - the " drainage ditch " .

 

As for the links between Ayurveda and medical physiology, as yogi

Nithyananda mentioned, they are only tenuous, temporal links. The

principles of Ayurveda do not change, but the concept of physiology

does. I only try to interpret Ayurvedic concepts to reach out to

Western-minded thinkers for whom comparatively simple concepts like

tridosha are hard to grasp. Sometimes these links just make

themselves known, from study and practice. But a knowledge of either

doesn't necessarily inform the other - both must be studied

separately and I am always cautious of trying to tie them together

too closely.

 

best.... Todd Caldecott

www.toddcaldecott.com

________

> If you don't mind I would like to discuss more in details about the link

between the lungs and the bowels. The lungs are not considered as hollow (Yang)

in the traditional chinese medicine,............. could I find information about

this modern/traditional links ?

[Guest guest]

Henoch-Schonlein Purpura can be categorised under 'Raktapitta', to be more

specific 'Tiryak Raktapitta'.

All pungent and spicy food ingredients like mustard, tulsi (basil), garlic,

chillies should be avoided according to Ayurvedic references, in such disorders.

 

Dr.D.B.Muzumdar

M.D.Ayurvedic Medicine (Mumbai-India)

___________

Diet here would be an obvious place to start. I would suggest a

regimen of fresh vegetable juices in the morning, such as carrot,

celery, beet, apple, ginger and cilantro. This can be followed with

steamed vegetables, well-cooked soupy grain dishes such as barley or

rice, with mung or similar, prepared with vegetable or chicken stock,

using digestive enhancing herbs such as ginger, hing, cumin,

coriander, black mustard, turmeric; or European flavors such as

oregano, basil, thyme, dill etc. Natural sea salt is also a good

additive.