Immune System Disorders

[Guest guest]

Hi

 

I am a medical doctor in western medicine and I am studying chinese medicine in

Southern California University now.

I wanted to know if any of you have any useful information about what chinese

medicine can do in Immune System Disorders. If any of you had a good experience

with acupuncture points or herbs for improving the immune system function and

specially in HSV type II patients I ll be glad if you share it with me.

 

I know a patient who suffers from this disease and he has the outbreaks time to

time. Actually western medicine cant help well but I think there should be some

helpful herbs and also acupuncture points which help a lot and they are not

harmful.

 

Wish you all best luck

 

Dr. Marjaneh Shirazi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

> I am a medical doctor in western medicine and I am studying

chinese medicine in Southern California University now.

> I wanted to know if any of you have any useful information about

what chinese medicine can do in Immune System Disorders. If any of

you had a good experience with acupuncture points or herbs for

improving the immune system function and specially in HSV type II

patients I ll be glad if you share it with me.

 

Welcome to Chinese Traditional Medicine.

 

I don't know how extensive your background is in TCM, but the TCM

concept of the Kidneys contains not only the functions of the

kidneys but also the adreanal glands. Some writers consider the

Kidneys to include the functions of all endocrine glands in the

body, but I'm not prepared to go that far yet. Many functions of

the adrenal glands are functions assigned to the Kidneys in TCM.

 

In TCM, what gets diagnosed and treated are TCM imbalances, not

Western-defined medical conditions. For this reason, I strongly

recommend being able to diagnose and treat from a TCM perspective.

The same Western-defined medical condition can have one or more of

several TCM Roots underlying it. Asthma is a good example. Because

the underlying TCM imbalances are different, what helps one

asthmatic may do nothing for a second and may even hurt a third.

There is a saying: Same disease, different treatments; different

diseases, same treatment. In the case of the former, even though the

disease is the same, the underlying imbalances are different. In

the case of the latter, even though the diseases are different, the

underlying imbalance is the same for all the sufferers.

 

However, there most definitely is a place for understanding the

intersections between TCM and Western medicine. A lot of this study

is being carried out in China. You might contact Bob Flaws at Blue

Poppy Press as Flaws reads medical Chinese and is up on much of the

current research out of China.

 

I also recommend an article by Michael Tierra, OMD, on how the TCM

concept of the Kidneys relates to the adrenal glands. I'll forward

the article in. It's lengthy and a little technical in spots, but

it should be fairly easy reading for you since you also have the

background in Western medicine. (It's a bit harder reading for

folks who aren't familiar with some of the terms and diagnostic

tests in Western medicine.)

 

One of the first things to suspect in cases of Immune System

disorders is possible Kidney involvement (because the concept of the

Kidneys contains many of the functions of the adrenal glands). If

there is Kidney imbalance, some of the other signs and symptoms of

Kidney imbalance also will be present. These include but are not

limited to: Sore and aching back (especially the lower back), sore

and weak knees, changes in urination, changes in sex drive, bone

disorders, problems with the teeth, and problems with the ears

and/or hearing. You'll be surprised how often people with Kidney

imbalance also will have current problems with or a history of

problems with the ears and hearing. In TCM, the Kidneys are said

to " open into the ears " . These are the general symptoms of some

kind of Kidney imbalance. Further information will zero in on what

the particular Kidney imbalance is. For example, excessive sex

drive points to possible Kidney Yin Deficiency. Loss of libido

points to possible Kidney Yang Deficiency. Infrequent urination with

concentrated, dark urine, possible Kidney Yin Deficiency. Excessive

urination of large amounts of pale urine, possible Kidney Yang

Deficiency. Incontinence, possible Kidney (and Bladder) Qi

Deficiency. Developmental problems, possible Kidney Jing Deficiency.

Etc.

 

It's a good idea to learn the general signs and symptoms of the

particular Organs. For example, if the digestion is affected,

suspect and rule in or rule out Spleen imbalance. Problems with the

eyes and/or vision, excessive anger, and feelings of " blockage " ?

Possible Liver imbalance. Problems with breathing, the skin, the

sense of smell, and with " letting go " ? Suspect possible Lung

imbalance. (Though some Spleen problems also can interfere with the

sense of smell because the sense of taste can be affected in Spleen

Deficiency.)

 

Something that surprises most people seeing a TCM healer for the

first time is that the TCM healer won't accept a Western diagnosis.

The healer will ask the client to describe what that means (even if

the healer also is trained and licensed in Western medicine). The

intensity of certain symptoms can vary from person to person with

the same disease. Not only that but symptoms can vary. People don't

always manifest all the possible symptoms of a particular

condition. In addition, the individual may have symptoms that have

nothing to do with the particular Western-defined medical condition

and which are irrelevant to it but are very relevant to the

particular TCM imbalance(s).