Guest guest Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Thank you. Great questions, Jonathan. 1) Demographics -- are the patients mostly geriatric, young people, or from a certain racial strain -- like Swedish or German for example? The patients with the fungus range from 43 - 90 years old. Most are of Eastern European descent and some Irish. 2) Dietary habits -- is there any common foods that these people consume? Like a heavy diet of dairy and sugar? Diet is heavy on sweets, dairy (cheese), eating out at supper clubs - meat 3) Diagnosis -- do the 50% fall into any particular diagnosis category -- like mostly SP Qi deficiency? Dx - say 50% of the patients primarily seek treatment for a pain (bi) syndrome. That is often the result of an extreme work ethic, i.e. a culture of over-doing it. Sometimes there is depression and anxiety, with no physical pain. The general population has good health insurance coverage and is conditioned to see their physicians/dentists/chiropracters at regular intervals and take the medications prescribed (range from blood pressure meds, cholesterol meds, thyroid meds, bone density meds, migraine meds, antidepressants, aspirin). Quite frequently I see a separation of spirit and body, with heat in the upper jiao.Yes, there is SP Qi deficiency in many cases, often precipitated by LV Qi deficiency and stagnation. However, I also see extraordinary vessel disharmony when integrating the whole picture. It varies with patient and I can't say that any one dx is more common than another. They all have several layers of complexity. 4) Climate -- lastly what is the climate there -- mostly curious about avg. rain fall/ snow fall, how many sunny days during the year, etc. (whether the climate in your opinion would be yin or yang/ excess or deficient, etc. To me this location is more yang, more excess with contrasting high humidity (moisture) and cold. Interesting to look at the location in these terms. The info below is from a study that compared this city to those considered " the best US small cities to live in " . Weather City stats Best places avg. Annual rainfall(inches) 30.80 36.31 % clear days in the area 23 30 High temp in July ° F 79.3° 87.8° Low temp in Jan ° F 10.1° 22.9° Health* City stats Best places avg. Has health plan(% of residents) 92.4% 88.2% Body mass index (avg. for residents) 28 27 Diabetes rates (% of residents diagnosed) 11.0% 9.6% Hypertension rates (% of residents diagnosed) 35.6% 27.3% Meet the neighbors City stats Best places avg. Median age 42.6 36.0 Completed at least some college (% of residents) 49.9% 73.6% Married 52.8% 57.5% Divorced 9.7% 8.3% Racial diversity index (100 is national average; higher numbers indicate greater diversity) 25.5 104.0 Amount spent on vacations (domestic and foreign, household avg. per year) $6,358 $8,012 Climate Average yearly temperature: 45 degrees Average daytime winter temperature: 29 degrees Average daytime summer temperature: 77 degrees Average rainfall: 29 inches Average snowfall: 54 inches Growing season: 136 days 1990 Federal Clean Air Act status: moderate non-attainment " A facility wishing to move to Manitowoc County may be subject to additional requirements because this area is designated as a non-attainment air quality area by the federal government. Businesses needing assistance can call the Department of Commerce's Small Business Clean Air Assistance Program at (608) 264-6153 or (608) 267-9214. " Geography Average altitude is 631 feet above sea level. Highest point is 742.37 feet. (West Drive and S. 57th Street) Lowest point is 582.8 feet (Claypit Road and 21st Street) Latitude is:44 degrees 5 minutes 20 seconds. Longitude is: 87 degrees 39 minutes 32 seconds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 Ray - your information makes great sense to me, and I appreciate your input. Thank you very much. An addtional comment on releasing this tenacious fungus, is to treat it externally (the internal meds are too damaging to the liver) at least twice a day - never skip, with a topical treatment (tea tree oil, urea solution, vinegar). It may take many months, the toe nail may fall off, but keep going. Intention and attention, twice a day. Thanks again for your input. Janis --- On Sun, 2/15/09, Ray Ford <ray wrote: Ray Ford <ray RE: Prevalence of Toe Fungus (not to digress from the bully fight....) Chinese Medicine Sunday, February 15, 2009, 7:17 AM Daniel I have already given a reasonably reliable text source which I followed up with over one year of treatment and observation in practice in more than 30 cases. As a routine I often look at the hands and feet during palpation and have noticed fungal infections often strike the big Toe and often ONLY that toe. This happened to interest me even though it may not be a deep topic as the recent controversial thread. On page 495 of Giovanni's " Channels of Acupuncture " he mentions that fungal infections may be due to Chong Mai pathology. I won't go into his explanation(I'm sure you can find it) other than to say that Chong Mai descending branch has the important function of bringing QI and in particular yin qi DOWN the legs to the feet, all the other Yin Channels send yin qi the other way ie-up the legs. This has obvious implications when treating conditions such as restless leg syndrome, fungal infections poor circulation... as examples. As this question is about fungal infections I will share what works well (incredibly well) for me.(NOT FROM GIOVANNI'S BOOK) I use Chong Mai/(borrowed) KD or SP points according to other general and specific signs/symptoms. Points such as K12/13 or ST30 (often) SP6 SP4 LIV3. The direction of qi should spread downwards. For example ST30 the person may feel a warmth or sensation in the thighs/lower abdomen or lower into the leg. Or LIV3 along the web or to the toe is best. As fungus thrives on sugar it is good to balance the gut with powerful probiotics (of human strain-not bovine) if the person is eating too much sugar or carbs although most don't think they are!!Some people may well have had their gut flora killed off by excessive use of antibiotics (cold) . If anyone wants a web site which claims to have the " worlds most powerful " human strain probiotic let me know OFF LIST to avoid advertising on this list. I Palpate needle and moxa Pancreas ST and SP shu points on the back. As so many fungal conditions are kept alive by eating too much sugar and sweets I often find these points(roughly) are more sensitive. IF they are not then I also check hua tuo at the same level close to the spine-carefully. I may also check the Thyroid shu on the neck. As it is hot here and people sweat a lot then hydration is important. Anti Fungal creams pushed under the nail to kill off the colony under the toe seems to help as does spraying all shoes with anti fungal and washing socks in the same solution. Regular treatment has resolved so many treatments it is now a protocol for me.As I have said not deep or enlightening BUT if you have ever lost a toenail then you will how painful and awkward this can be for those who have it as well as pointing to possible deeper pathologies which will need to addressed with diet, herbs etc. Ray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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