Very sick woman.

[Guest guest]

Good morning, friends!

 

Ahem...maybe when TCM was developed over the years, (but, still, very

long ago) there were no people as degenerate and decrepit as the

person we are talking about.(As was pointed out in the matter of

intestinal bacterial health.) Maybe these sorts of syndromes didn't

exist in the Chinese population. So, maybe, for her, TCM's main

value would be as a method of organizing the symptoms, which is being

done here, but that's all.

 

As to convincing her to be helped, maybe suggestions of a western-

based, scientific-sounding approach might produce a change in her

attitude. You know, something like, " this alfalfa juice contains 450

mcgs of Mg & Si which have been 'shown in studies done in Europe' to

have a positive effect on .......... " [fill in the symptom].) Maybe

TCM can't do a great deal for folks whose illnesses lie outside its

frame of reference. Remember what T. Kaptchuk said in his discussion

of western vs trad. Chinese medicine?

 

Are we wanting to help her friend help her in any kind of way, or

only through let me know. If the latter, then indeed I have

spoken out of turn.

 

Lu B.

[Guest guest]

Chinese Traditional Medicine , " Mrs. Barley "

<chosenbarley> wrote:

> Good morning, friends!

>

> Ahem...maybe when TCM was developed over the years, (but, still,

very

> long ago) there were no people as degenerate and decrepit as the

> person we are talking about.(As was pointed out in the matter of

> intestinal bacterial health.)

 

That's exactly what is happening in some cases. The conditions

giving rise to certain problems simply did not exist. The reverse

is also true. In countries with modern sanitation practices one

doesn't see the amount of parasitic infection that the ancient

Chinese saw.

 

Predominate patterns are going to vary according to the culture,

ethnic group of the person, etc. The predominate patterns seen in

the US are weak Spleen and Liver Qi Stagnation. It's different in

different cultures.

 

> Maybe these sorts of syndromes didn't

> exist in the Chinese population. So, maybe, for her, TCM's main

> value would be as a method of organizing the symptoms, which is

being

> done here, but that's all.

 

One of the reasons why TCM survived as an intact system in China is

that it grew to meet the changing times and conditions. The most

famous example being the development of the 4 Levels of Virulent

Heat Evils. For centuries the older 6 Stages of Cold-Induced Evils

was fine for treating what are called infectious illnessnes today

(but not limited to those). As China began to have more contact with

the outside world, the Chinese began to experience new types of

infections. These didn't fit the 6-Stages model. So they developed

the Virulent Heat Evils model. They kept the 6-Stages because it

still works best with some infections. But they added the 4 Levels

for these other diseases.

 

BTW, some of the same concepts found in TCM are found scattered

around the world in various folk traditions.

 

> As to convincing her to be helped, maybe suggestions of a western-

> based, scientific-sounding approach might produce a change in her

> attitude. You know, something like, " this alfalfa juice contains

450

> mcgs of Mg & Si which have been 'shown in studies done in Europe'

to

> have a positive effect on .......... " [fill in the symptom].)

 

I did something like this some years ago. I too suffer from CFIDS

(Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome). Magnesium is

something that has helped a lot (not all) PWCs (People With CFIDS).

I emailed her all kinds of info from various MDs as to the role of

Mg in the human body in general and in PWCs in particular. As far as

I know, she's never tried it.

 

> Are we wanting to help her friend help her in any kind of way, or

> only through let me know. If the latter, then indeed I have

> spoken out of turn.

 

Anyway we can. She may or may not take the help. Jim is learning a

lot. Knowledge he will use to help himself and help others with.

 

Thanks for helping.