Are crabby people sick more often?

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http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/1728.70333

 

Are crabby people sick more often? This was the title of an

attention-grabbing headline on MSN this moring. The link goes to an article

on how people who are anxious, tense, etc. have poorer immune response than

those who are not anxious, tense, etc.

 

Unfortunately the article strongly implies the usual conclusion that

emotions make people sick and crabby people are causing themselves to be

sick. This is a highly simplified viewpoint and one that does not lead to

real understanding and real solutions.

 

Why it's true that emotions can make one sick (if they're blocked or

inappropriately channeled - this is recognized in TCM as well as in Western

medicine), it's also true that physical imbalances can make people crabby.

In other words, both the poor immune system response and the crabbiness are

coming from the same underlying physical imbalance. The crabbiness isn't

necessarily causing the poor immune response (though it can in some cases);

sometimes both the crabbiness and the poor immune response are coming from

the same thing.

 

I'm a very good case in point. (Sorry to often get so personal on here, but

I know that many people remember something when a personal example is

given.) When I overdo physically I get extremely crabby. (That's a mild

term for it.) In fact, if there were a crabbiness olympics, sometimes,

depending on how much I have overdone, I could be a contender for at least

the bronze or silver medals if not the gold. But as long as I don't overdo

physically, I tend to be laid back. In fact, many people have remarked on

how I'm good to talk with when they're upset because I have a calming

influence on them.

 

You also see this response in children who have missed their afternoon nap

or stayed up past their bedtimes. They can get extremely irritable, and

they don't mellow out until they get they get the rest they need.

 

In cases where the crabbiness (anxiety, tenseness, depression, etc.) are

coming from overdoing physically and/or an underlying physical imbalance or

tendency to an imbalance, anti-depressant drugs, anti-anxiety drugs, talk

therapy, etc., are not what are needed. What is needed is to quit

overdoing, get more rest, and/or correct the underlying physical imbalance.

In cases where the crabbiness is coming from overdoing and lack of rest, the

person often will mellow out when the person quits overdoing and gets a good

night's sleep. (I say " often " because in some of these cases, herbs will be

needed to correct an underlying imbalance in addition to getting enough

rest. In some extreme cases acupuncture/ acupressure will not be enough.

Neither will meditation or massage therapy or a hot bath.)

 

Let's look at some of the more common TCM syndromes that can underlie

crabbiness. Yin Deficiency is one of the biggies when it comes to anxiety,

agitation, nervous energy, etc. One of the roles of Yin is to calm the

body.

 

There are some interesting overlaps between TCM and Western medicine when

one starts to look at agitation and nervousness with an underlying Root of

Yin Deficiency. The Kidneys are responsible for supplying Yin (and Yang) to

the rest of the body. If the Kidneys are weak and don't have enough Yin,

this often translates to an overall, general Yin Deficiency. In TCM, the

Kidney Organ system not only includes the physical kidneys, it includes the

adrenal glands which sit on the top of the kidneys. The adrenals and many

of the hormones they produce are critical in maintaining life. In fact,

when an organism is under stress - be it emotional or physical stress - the

body will start to tear down muscles and slow and even shut down some

functions in order for the adrenals to have the things they need to continue

producing the hormones which are critical to life. If this " alarm stage "

goes on long enough, the adrenals become exhausted and the organism will

die.

 

Prolonged emtional stress can weaken the adreanals, and this is a case where

emotions can make one sick. (I'm simplifying things here a bit, but the

general idea is right.) Treatment in these cases can involve things like

talk therapy and teaching the person to face and deal with emotions better.

In some cases, treatment may involve the person leaving an upsetting and

destructive setting and relationship. (Denial is a form of the inapproriate

channeling of emotions.)

 

In other cases, the adreanals are becoming exhausted because of physical

stress. This can include underlying physical problems like an ongoing viral

infection or overdoing physically. In some cases adrenal problems can arise

because of unknown factors. Chronic adrenocortical insufficiency is called

Addison's disease. (There's also acute adrenal insufficiency called

adreanal crisis.) There are other things which can go wrong with the

adrenal glands. If you're studying Western anatomy and physiology, the

important thing to keep in mind about the adrenals is that there's a medulla

and a cortex part of the adrenals. One can live without the hormones from

the medulla part of the adrenals. It's some of the ones produced by the

cortex that one dies within days or even in hours without. There are three

categories of these adrenal cortex hormones. They are mineralocorticoids

(which regulate electrolyte balance), glucocorticoids (which influence the

metabolism of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates), and sex hormones (which

influence sexual characteristics). All the adrenal cortex hormones are

steroids (corticosteroids. What very often will kill a person with

Addison's disease (or acute adrenal crisis) is the absence of the hormones

regulating electrolyte balance.

 

The hormones from both the adrenal medulla and the adrenal cortex can have

some very powerful effects on mood. The absence of hormones from the

adreanal medulla won't kill a person (according to my old anatomy and

physiology book) but an excess of those hormones such as occurs when there's

a tumor in the medulla can kill. What the medulla hormones do is to

increase sympathetic nervous system response. Blood pressure, heart rate,

and blood sugar go up. The person may feel nervous and very agitated.

There may be feelings close to panic or even panic attacks. (This is not

the only thing which can cause panic attacks. Antihistamines can do it,

respiratory alkalosis can do it, and a number of other things can trigger

panic attacks.)

 

In some of these cases of adrenal problems (not all), there is an underlying

Root of Kidney Yin Deficiency. In other cases, it's Kidney Yang Deficiency.

In other cases it's Qi Deficiency. Licorice root is classified as a Qi

tonic. In the old days before cortisone was identified, the only treatment

for Addison's disease was licorice. Licorice root still is being used in

some parts of the world to treat Addison's disease when Western medicines

are unavailable or not affordable. Licorice root is sometimes used in the

U.S. by people with Neurally Mediated Hypotension when they react to the

prescription drugs. Sometimes they will react to the licorice root. When

this happens, a visit to a trained and qualified TCM healer who can anaylze

and correct other imbalances is in order.

 

I want to caution readers that TCM syndromes very seldom correspond to

Western-defined medical conditions. What one analyzes in TCM is TCM

syndromes and imbalances. Sometimes Western-defined medical conditions will

clear up when a TCM imbalance is identified and corrected. Sometimes

there is just improvement. In some cases there is no change for the better.

 

I also want to remind readers that when Kidney Yin Deficiency is present,

there almost always is some degree of Kidney Yang Deficiency and vice versa.

Even though I was very Kidney Yang Deficient, a milder degree of Kidney

Yin Deficiency also is present. It's just that back before I started

treatment and for a long time after starting treatment (until it took ahold

enough), the Kidney Yang Deficiency was so severe that it masked the Kidney

Yin Deficiency.

 

The main thing to remember from this post is that when agitation and nervous

energy are present, suspect and rule in or rule out Yin Deficiency. Some of

the other symptoms of Yin Deficiency can include night sweats and afternoon

and evening heat. The person often will report feeling hotter in the

afternoon and evening than at other times of the day. The face often will

be blotchy red ( " malar flush " ). (In cases of Excess Heat (as opposed to Yin

Deficiency, aka Deficiency Heat), the entire face will be uniformly red. In

cases where there is a blush that looks like powder on a pale complexion,

suspect and rule in or rule out False Heat - True Cold. There may be

" 5-palm " Heat - the palms of the hand, soles of the feet, and the chest will

feel hot to the touch. If fever is present, it will tend to be worse in the

afternoon and evening. Also remember that when a person complains of

urinary system problems, back pain (especially lower back pain), knee

problems, ear and/or hearing problems, poor teeth, and/or skeletal problems,

suspect and rule in or rule out Kidney involvment. If the agitation and the

emotional problems are especially severe (like mania or tending toward mania

or extreme depression), if there is pain in the chest, suspect and rule in

or rule out Heart involvement - as in Heart Yin Deficiency, Heart Blood

Deficiency, Heart Fire Blazing, Phlegm Fire Harassing the Heart, and Phlegm

Obstructing the Heart Orifices (aka Phlegm Misting the Mind). Extreme

emotional and behavioral effects usually point to Heart involvement. Start

thinking about what differentiates each of these Heart Imbalances that

include an accent on emotional response and behavior from each other. If

the symptoms of Yin Deficiency are present and the emotional effects are

particularly severe, it's probably Heart Yin Deficiency. BTW, if Heart Yin

Deficiency is present, the person also will be Heart Blood Deficient because

" Yin embodies Blood " (Maciocia, Foundations, p. 206) There is a great

overlap between the two syndromes. The way you tell if just Heart Blood

Deficiency is present or if both Heart Blood and Heart Yin Deficiency are

present is 1). the defining characteristics of Yin Deficiency will be

present and 2). the sleep problems will be different. In cases of just

Heart Blood Deficiency, the person will have trouble falling asleep but once

asleep will tend to sleep well and through the night. If Heart Yin

Deficiency also is present, the person will tend to wake up many times

through the night. Both can cause dream disturbed sleep.

 

Another important thing to remember about Yin is that overdoing physically

can harm Yin. This often can be the reason why people who overdo physically

will get crabby. They've depleted the Yin which calms them down. This is

not the only thing from a TCM standpoint that can make a person crabby.

And, even when Yin Deficiency is present and making a person crabby, there

may also be other TCM imbalances adding to that crabbiness. Chief among

these can be Liver problems - in particular Liver Qi Stagnation, Liver Yang

Rising, and Liver Fire Blazing problems. We're talking the gold standard

for crabbiness and irritability and frustration when it comes to Liver

imbalances. Crabbiness and Liver imbalances will be covered in another

post.

 

For those interested in learning more about the Kidneys (and the kidneys),

there is a very good article over on acupuncture.com called " Integrating the

Traditional Chinese Understanding of the Kidneys into Western Herbalism " by

Michael Tierra, L.ac., O.M.D. (At least it was on there, I hope it still

is.)

 

Victoria

 

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