Whooping cough

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TCM recognizes 3 main stages in whooping cough. The following

infomation on whooping cough is taken from Keeping Your Child

Healthy with by Bob Flaws, pp. 102-105.

 

The initial or beginning stage usually is characterized by Cold and

Phlegm. The middle stage is characterized by Phlegm Heat in the

Lungs. The third stage is the recovery stage, and is characterized

by Qi damage. The 3rd. phase manifestations will vary according to

if the child tends to be too Hot or too Cold and according to other

factors like diet, how high the fever went and how long it lasted,

etc. The two main patterns seen in the 3rd phase are Dual Spleen

and Lung Deficiency and Yin Deficieny. When there is Dual Spleen and

Lung Deficieny, recovery can take a very long time.

 

The important thing for beginning TCM students to remember at this

point is that the TCM signs (including the pulse) and symptoms of

whooping cough will vary according to what phase it's in, AND

treatment for each of the phases will be very different. TCM pays

far more attention to phases of diseases and to the appropriate

treatment for each stage than Western allopathic medicine does.

 

In Chinese medicine whooping cough is called Bai Ri Ke which

translates as " hundred day cough " . That's because that's how long it

lasts if untreated.

 

Flaws points out that whooping cough develops in children who

already have Phlegm problems. It's one of those snowballing

situations. The Phlegm that already exists and the invading pathogen

aggravate each other. Diet is always important in treating illnesses

in TCM, but it's especially important in something like whooping

cough which further damages an already weak Spleen. Diet no-no's

include sugar, other sweets, raw food, chilled foods and drinks. The

prohibition against sweets is because too many sweets are bad for

the Spleen. The prohibition against raw and chilled foods is because

of the extra work they put on the Spleen and Stomach. Ice cream is

particularly hard on the Spleen and Stomach. It's sweet, cold, and

fatty. In addition, it's dairy. Dairy and wheat are notorious for

engendering Damp which further weakens the Spleen and which can

congel into Phlegm.

 

Flaws also mentions that modern Chinese doctors have started adding

antispasmodic herbs to fomulas for whooping cough.