Acupuncture and other forms of Chinese medicine have been known to be
more effective in treating certain diseases than Western medicine. Now, through
the work at her clinic in Rockville, Maryland, Dr. Wanzhu Hou offers new
evidence that Chinese medicine is effective in treating asthma, allergies and
immune-related illness.
Her book, Treating Autoimmune Disease
with Chinese Medicine (Elsevier), cites 30 years of clinical research and
treatment experience. The book compares traditional Chinese and Western medical
theories and proves treatment results based on Western biomedical standards.
The cure for these diseases has largely eluded Western medicine even though a
vast portion of the U.S. population suffers from such ills. Some 50 million
Americans, or 20% of the population, "suffer from autoimmune diseases,"
according to a report by the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association.
"Women are more likely than men to be affected."
Completely different than the Western approach to health issues, traditional
Chinese medicine refers to acupuncture and herbal medicine that naturally treat
autoimmune diseases in multiple ways. Traditional Chinese medicine looks at the
body as a whole rather than focusing on treating a specific symptom. Dr. Hou
explains how it treats autoimmune disease primarily by seeking to suppress the
immunity to reduce the reaction and rebuild or reverse the tissues that were damaged by
dysfunctional immunity.
Disordered immunity usually destroys more than one tissue and organ and causes
the overlap of diseases. In Chinese medical theory the treatment is based on
pathologic differentiation, not according to the name of a disease. That
approach leads to clinical treatment that gets success, according to Dr. Hou.
There are three causes of all diseases: infection, noninfectious and injury. No
matter which of these reasons cause a disease the result is a breakdown of the
defense system where damaged cells do not function well, creating other
negative health issues. The immune system is like an army in our body--its
function is to protect the body from infection and protects and hunts "bad"
unhealthy cells, like cancer cells, in order to maintain a healthy condition.
If the immune system makes a mistake it will cause autoimmune and degenerative
diseases, which make the body sick and accelerates aging. The immune system
also plays an important role in noninfectious diseases when infection or injury
triggers an immune system reaction.
Cells and tissues damaged from disordered immunity are called different names
of diseases in clinic. Mediating a disordered immunity is the key point in
determining the prognosis of autoimmune diseases and anti-aging process.
Generally speaking, treatment should include finding the causes of the diseases
and the environment of lysis' cells damaged by disordered immunity. Autoimmune
diseases have different clinical symptoms depending on the kind of tissue that
was damaged. The purpose of Chinese medical treatment is to rebuild the
stricken cells and help them to function properly.
For example, Hashimoto disease is caused by an antibody that destroys thyroid
tissue, restricting the thyroid gland from producing enough thyroxine. A
deficiency of the hormone causes lower metabolism symptoms including feeling
cold, fatigue, weight gain, edema, hair loss or heavy period.
Western medicine treats the problem by giving the patient thyroxine to replace
the insufficiency of thyroid hormone, but never cures the problem as more thyroxine
is needed when the disordered immunity destroys more thyroid tissues.
No matter whether the thyroxine from outside sources is made from natural products or chemically by a p harmaceutical
factory the purpose is the same: to
replenish the hormone insufficiency. But with other autoimmune diseases such as
hepatitis, glomerulonephritism, there is nothing that could replace the liver and kidneys'
biochemical and function, and following the Western medical concept, would
require a liver or kidney transplant .
In Treating
Autoimmune Disease with Chinese Medicine , Dr. Hou cites case studies to show how such treatment can
greatly benefit patients.
Case
Study No. 1
This patient was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (high blood pressure in the lungs), overlaps
Lupus, scleroderma, Raynaud's phenomenon . She was a genius student
at an Ivy League college.
Some 14 years ago, doctors at a famous hospital told her she would face death
in three-to-six months and suggested
that she have a lung transplant that could extend her life for a few years
until the immune system again attacked and destroyed the new organ. Her life
seemed to collapse as she was rejected for lung transplant surgery, her
boyfriend left her and all her parents could do was cry, washing themselves in
tears. Her only wish was that she could graduate from college before the
disease stopped her.
After a three-month clinical trial at that famous hospital, she started her
specific individual treatment with Chinese medicine. Her skin and pressure in
her lungs gradually began getting better. She was able to breathe freely and
started exercising. Soon, she successfully graduated from college and found a
good job in computer science. While working, she continued the treatment of
Chinese medicine, and her health continued to improve, allowing her to go from
a part-time job to full-time work. The biggest the benefit for her is the
improvement in her biomedical data--all the numbers went to normal. Not only
didn't she get the lung transplant but all the organs are now in the normal
range!
Case
Study No. 2
Chinese medicine treats autoimmune diseases beyond pain relief. This woman went
to China with her husband and visited a clinic, seeking treatment for her
long-suffering constipation. She took herbal medicine which worked and gave her
relief.
Back in her hometown, she came to our clinic and with various symptoms and
after having been diagnosed a host of afflictions including breast cancer (post surgery),
hyperthyroidism, GERD (stomach reflux), constipation, osteoarthritis and
asthma. While she didn't need to get an organ transplant, an immune system
function disorder caused her Grave's disease and cancer.
Being a nurse, she was able to explain her Chinese medical treatment's protocol
to her doctor and got support from her specialist so that she could receive the
benefit of integrative therapy to treat her diseases. She began taking
acupuncture and herbal medicine treatment. As her thyroid function began
getting better, her specialist gradually began reducing her medication -- high
doses of methimazole (Tapazole).
Finally her medication was cut to zero as her thyroid function returned to
normal and a gradual reduction of her anti-thyroid antibody gradually. At the
same time, her constipation and GERD healed.
Case Study No. 3
The treatment for
autoimmune disease with Chinese medicine is repeatable. This person was
diagnosed with scleroderma and pulmonary hypertension and received steroid
treatment to suppress the disordered immunity in the traditional Western
method. At the same time, she received Chinese medical treatment and her shin
recovered and her lung pressure went down to normal. She stopped all her
treatment and was able to return to her normal life! Her specialist told her,
"We are not going to treat you. You are already back to normal."
No matter what the name of an autoimmune disease, the cause is the
disordered immunity that destroys tissues that leads to clinical symptoms.
Chinese medical treatment is not trying to suppress the immunity and replace
the organ's chemical, but mediates the immunity and protects the antigen
(damaged organ), reversing damaged tissues.
The most important thing in the treatment is replacing the deficiencies
of the organ function. For example, hypothyroid is given thyroxine; type one,
diabetes is treated with insulin. Second, is to suppress the activity of
immunity. Normally Western medicine gives steroidal treatment, but not Chinese
medicine. Third, is to work on the antigen that is the suffered organ--an important
step for leading a patient to successfully overcome autoimmune diseases.
Fourth, is to resolve the problem that remained in the environment or tissues
and organ. Chinese medicine does not mimic the insufficiency organs' chemical
but recovers the tissues and organs' function.
Dr. Hou said it is her hope that by publishing this book she can help people
can learn about this natural way to health and "lead patients to walk out of
the mire and into the light." You can find more information at www.anmedicine.com
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