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Treating Autoimmune Disease with Chinese Medicine

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Treating Autoimmune Disease with Chinese Medicine TREATING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE WITH CHINESE MEDICINE For Elsevier: Commissioning Editor: Mary Law/Karen Morley Development Editor: Catherine Jackson Project Manager: Kerrie-Anne McKinlay Designer: Kirsteen Wright Illustration Manager: Bruce Hogarth TREATING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE WITH CHINESE MEDICINE Wanzhu Hou CMD LAc DiplAC DiplCH (NCCAOM) Director and Chief Attending Physician and Associate Professor, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and its affiliated hospital, Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Liver Illness, China Licensed Acupuncturist and Diplomate of Acupuncture and Herbology, USA CEO, All Natural Medicine Clinic, USA Guangpi Xu CMD DiplAc DiplCH (NCCAOM) Associate Professor and Attending Physician, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and its affiliated hospital, Department of Chinese Herbal Medicine, China Diplomate of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology, USA Director, All Natural Medicine Clinic, USA Hanjie Wang MD Medical Doctor, Shandong University of Medicine, China Consultant, All Natural Medicine Clinic, USA Consulting Editor Jeffrey M. Gould MAcOM LAc DiplAc DiplCH (NCCAOM) Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese Herbalist, Johns Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center, Johns Hopkins University, USA Edinburgh London New York Oxford Philadelphia St Louis Sydney Toronto 2011 First published 2011, # Wanzhu Hou, Guangpi Xu and Hanlie Wang. Published by Elsevier Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Rights Department: phone: ( 1) 215 239 3804 (US) þ or ( 44) 1865 843830 (UK); fax: ( 44) 1865 853333; e-mail: [email protected]. You may also complete þ þ your request online via the Elsevier website at http://www.elsevier.com/permissions. ISBN 978-0-443-06974-1 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress Notice Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our knowledge, changes in practice, treatment and drug therapy may become necessary or appropriate. Readers are advised to check the most current information provided (i) on procedures featured or (ii) by the manufacturer of each product to be adminis- tered, to verify the recommended dose or formula, the method and duration of administration, and contraindications. It is the responsibility of the practitioner, relying on their own experience and knowledge of the patient, to make diagnoses, to determine dosages and the best treatment for each individual patient, and to take all appropriate safety precautions. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the Authors assumes any liability for any injury and/or damage to per- sons or property arising out of or related to any use of the material contained in this book. The Publisher Printed in China The Publisher's policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests Preface All medical research arms clinical practitioners in their battle to serve patients’ health needs. This includes research based on Chinese medicine, which has one of the most ancient histories of all medical theory bases, with clinical techniques that have been used, adapted and modified over a 5000-year period. Fortunately, the discoveries made by classical Chinese medicine and from its modern research have led to greater wisdom and the best techniques to be used by practitioners to protect and save lives. The daily work of the Chinese medicine practitioner is just like that of a life- guard who watches over, protects and saves swimmers in a sea full of perils by returning them safely to shore. Or it is like that of a general who directs soldiers on the battlefield – in treating patients, every single herb, acupuncture point and other Chinese medical technique, such as moxabustion, cupping, tuina and guasha, are our weapons. To win the conflict against illness and disease requires that the healing soldiers have every possible weapon. We must be able to tap into the vast pool of medical wisdom to battle step by step. In China there is an adage that says, ‘Just like the leader of a country who must deal with multiple, severe conditions, a doctor must deal with multiple, severe diseases’. We must cautiously consider every situation that may arise with a patient. It is easy to be a leader in one’s own ‘small country’ of the private clinic, working day by day to promote the health of our patients. However, interactions with several people may have occurred and changed our thoughts and our tranquil lives. One friend had a heart transplant due to an autoimmune attack, but after the transplant she still lacked any quality of life. A second person, had a lung transplant, but only lived for 4 years, leaving behind a small child. She had written in her diary about her difficult suffering, her feelings and her treatment after surgery1 until she could not write any more. She had been told that if she did not have the lung transplant, she would live for only 5–6 years. Yesterday, a special patient came to our clinic. She had a liver transplant 12 years ago because of autoimmune hepatitis. One year ago, her doctor found that she had lung cancer that had metastasized to the brain; the function of her donated liver had failed completely. She had jaundice, nausea, anxiety, depression, insomnia, fatigue and suffering, suffering ... and suffering. Essentially, she was waiting for the ending of her days. Does ancient Chinese medicine or integrative medicine have the wherewithal to do something for such patients before the development of such suffering, or after such suffering has arisen? There is another Chinese adage that says, ‘If you are a leader but you do not help your citizens, then you should return to your farm to plant sweet potatoes’. This 1. Yang Guan. Walk out from dark. China: Publisher of Public Arts, 2005. vii means that you are not fit to fill that position. In order to become better leaders, we as practitioners need to study more vigorously, research more actively, and combine the most ancient knowledge with modern scientific understanding so that we may plumb the greatest Chinese medical secrets. Chinese medicine is our occupation. It is based on theory that has been prac- tised and developed for thousands of years. The language is difficult to understand and there is no single standard for practising it, which makes it easy to result in clinical misunderstanding. For this reason, we have tried here to explain the pro- cess of Chinese medical treatment in conjunction with Western medical theory and hypotheses in order to understand more fully why ancient Chinese medical practitioners described the pathologies, differentiations and treatments that they did. By following the hypotheses of ancient Chinese medicine and modern West- ern medical thought, we have personally attained successful results. However, we caution the reader. Herein we discuss specific pathologies and illustrate them with particular case studies. Although we have striven to express the natural process of patient treatment and have provided specific clinical sugges- tions, we realize that no two patients’ conditions and pathological changes are exactly the same. All differentiations, treatment principles and treatment proto- cols must be individualized to the individual patient. The writers of this text – Wanzhu Hou, Guangpi Xu and Hanjie Wang – all have both a Chinese and a Western medical background, and currently work in the USA at the All Natural Medicine Clinic. We would like to express our deep appreciation to: Jeffrey M. Gould, an educa- tor and Chinese medicine practitioner, who contributed to the editing of the whole book; Jie Chen, who assisted us in the writing of the book; Dr Shouren Hou, a medical professor in China, who provided us with expert advice and sup- port, as well as strong medical technique; and the many others who aided us in our work, including our patients, whom we thank for the lessons they taught us. Chinese medicine is a profound theoretical system that cannot always be explained by Western medical theory. Yet sometimes its clinical results are obvi- ous to all. Our combined clinical experience, just a little testimonial on paper here, is but a drop in the ocean that is Chinese medicine. It is our wish that through this book we will arouse the reader’s great interest in Chinese medicine and encourage them to discover more of its amazing secrets. Wanzhu Hou TREATING AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE WITH CHINESE MEDICINE Guangpi Xu Hanjie Wang All Natural Medicine Clinic 20 December 2006 viii Introduction The clinical practice of Chinese medicine is more than 5000 years old. The ideal way to learn Chinese medicine in its modern form would first be to learn ancient Chinese medical language and classical medical theory. In this way, the classical medical language would become both a tool and a key to open the intellectual door of this ancient science in service to humans living in the contemporary world. As not all students of Chinese medicine are able to study the classics in such detail, at a minimum one must learn basic Chinese medical theories, including Bian Zheng , the differentiation of symptoms. However, to be truly effective in the treatment of diseases such as immune system disorders, one must also learn basic Western medical science, including the differential diagnosis of diseases. By understanding both paradigms, one guarantees the accuracy of the Chinese medical differentiation and proper treatment. And serendipitously, Western med- ical theory’s explanation for some of the pathological changes occurring in disease may help to explain the manner in which Chinese medicine works.
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