Traditional Chinese Medicine looks at the patient as
a whole in determining treatment for MS or any other condition. All lifestyle and physical aspects of the
patient are evaluated. Tongue and pulse
diagnoses offer much information about the patient's condition. There are 18 pulse positions that are felt
and evaluated; the condition of the tongue can determine heat, cold, organ
dysfunction, build up of toxins and a plethora of other indicators pertinent to
the individual case. In evaluating the
MS patient, the demyelization of the neural sheath is considered to be a heat
condition; heat dries bodily fluids and builds toxins; this in turn, leads to
organ and connective tissue malfunction. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal formulas
address these symptoms effectively and can help reduce or eliminate various
symptoms of this autoimmune disease.
Case
Study: A 62 year
old post menopausal female presented with burning pain in both legs, travelling
to lower legs and the soles of her feet.
The patient was unable to walk 2 city blocks without pain. The patient
experienced nocturnal body heat and woke up every other hour in the evening in
'pools of sweat'. The patient had been diagnosed with MS 4 years prior to her
visit to my office and had recently gone on disability because of her inability
to walk and work. Her quality of life had suffered and had been suffering mild
depression. The patient's tongue was
overall red with a very dry, thin coat (this denotes a heat condition and
drying of internal bodily fluids. Her
pulses overall were thin, rapid, wiry and small. I determined a diagnosis of Yin Deficiency as
root cause and a secondary condition of Qi Stagnation. In plain English, this means that the MS was
caused by a heat condition (Yin Deficiency); the night sweats and neuropathies
were being caused by the secondary condition (Qi Stagnation). Because of the heat, the internal bodily
fluids were drying, causing the normal flow of blood, lymph, fluids, red and
white blood cells to reach the extremities and provide the necessary cellular
nutrition for proper physical function.
The treatment strategy: clear the
heat, tonify the immune system, clear the stagnation and calm the mind (to
address the depression). Acupuncture treatment
twice weekly for 4 weeks, with nutritional modifications ( no spicy foods,
acidic foods, alcohol, sugar or dairy) and water therapy were additive to the
protocol. An herbal pill formula to
address the nocturnal sweat and fluids was prescribed to be taken on a daily
basis.
After 4 weeks of this treatment protocol, the
patient reported she could walk more than half a mile, could swim for 20
minutes in the pool, and the burning pain had dissipated from a 9 of 10 on the
pain scale to a 3 of 10. The nocturnal sweats had disappeared and she
was beginning to feel more like herself.
The protocol was modified to one treatment weekly for 8 weeks; yoga was
suggested in addition to water therapy and the continued diet modifications. After 8 weeks, the patient reported that she
was pain free and had spoken with her employer - she was going back to work and
felt wonderful. This patient continues
with treatment once monthly and continues to do yoga and swim; she can now
dance and is living a productive and happy life once again.
Traditional Chinese Medicine cannot offer a cure for
MS, but a good practitioner can help reduce or eliminate certain afflictions of
the disease. While results vary from
case to case, this is one of the many pathologies that I treat on a daily
basis. Traditional Chinese Medicine is over 2,000 years old for
a reason.
