05/13/2022
This case reminds me of how little people know about the effective uses of Acupuncture and East Asian Medicine. I'm going to start posting reviews of cases like these to highlight your choices when getting medical attention.
The patient in this NYTimes case, a 63-year old woman might have saved herself a great deal of money, time and lost sleep if only she had known about the capabilities of East Asian medicine.
If I’m reading the article correctly, the patient endured 8 months (gasp!) of maddening itching and sleepless nights before she found relief during this 'adventure' in Western Medicine. Forgetting the time to resolution, she was prescribed a dizzying load of steroids, antacids, antihistamines, asthma and immunosuppression drugs, each with all manner of long- and short-term side effects (and none of them addressed the actual cause!)—some of the side effects are mentioned at the bottom of this post.
This patient was being treated to hives (i.e. ‘Uticaria’), an ailment humans have been dealing with for thousands of years. In East Asian Medical theory, Hives are a sign of heat or toxin process in the body rising to the surface of the skin. To treat such an outbreak, Acupuncture points can be used to lessen the symptoms, and an herbal formula can be taken internally to help the body stop the process of generating hives. Traditional herbal formulas consist of several types of plants whose combinations have been refined and studied over centuries for their ability to help the body recover from myriad patterns of illness, without inducing harmful side effects.
With East Asian Medicine, it's not necessary to know what’s causing the hives to provide relief. All that is required is to recognize the pattern of symptoms, and treat with the appropriate herbal formula to assist the body to resolve that pattern. At the same time, it would be common practice to put the patient on an elimination diet, starting with a very simple vegetarian diet, and gradually adding back one type of food at a time, until symptoms resurfaced.
In the current Western model, treatment looks like a war where you’re using multi-million dollar technology to locate a problem and then destroy it with some kind of multi-million dollar smart munition (drug, surgery, machine). In the Eastern model, it’s more like going up in a hot air balloon, and spreading leaves, roots and flowers that notifies everyone about the problem and they figure out what to do, together, to stop it.
In acute cases, the Western approach of finding a pathogen and halting it's progression makes a great deal of sense. However in a chronic case like this one, the application of so many powerful prescriptions puts the patient at risk for severe reaction, and significantly disrupts the body's homeostasis (prolonging recovery or causing new problems). For this type of case, the East Asian Medicine approach offers a better starting point. This patient could have seen an Acupuncturist/Herbalist several times in the 6 weeks she waited to see a Specialist. She'd have been on an elimination diet and found her meat allergy just before her appointment at Vanderbilt. And not have taken a single prescription. In chronic cases, it makes sense to start with the least invasive treatment and work toward to most invasive (and most risky).
I'll guess that this patient (or her insurer) spent upwards of $10,000 on this case when taking into account the office visits, prescriptions costs, intravenous infusions, and testing. Three to Four visits to an East Asian practitioner would have taken about 3 weeks and cost less than $500, including herbs.
What would you choose?
Have questions about whether acupuncture, herbs and East Asian Medicine can treat a condition you're dealing with? --you can message me.
Here are some of the drugs prescribed in this case along with their notable side-effects.
PREDNISONE: reduces absorption of calcium, suppresses the immune system, Fluid retention, causing swelling in your lower legs, High blood pressure, Problems with mood swings, memory, behavior, and other psychological effects, such as confusion or delirium, Upset stomach, Weight gain, with fat deposits in your abdomen, your face and the back of your neck
OMALIZUMAB (Xolair™) [anti-inflamatory]: increased risk of certain types of cancers of the breast, skin, prostate, or salivary gland. Joint pain, bone fractures; severe, life-threatening allergic reaction right after the injection or hours later.
Montelukast (Singulair™) [anti-inflamatory]: Upper respiratory infection like the common cold, Fever, Headache, Sore throat, Cough, Stomach pain, Diarrhea, Ear infection
- The FDA now requires a ‘Black box’ warning (22 years after introduction) about the risk of mental health side effects — specifically, behavior and mood-related changes.
CYCLOSPORINE [immunosuppressant]
FDA ‘Black box' warning: increased your risk of serious infections. It may also increase your risk of developing a tumor or skin cancer. May cause high blood pressure and kidney disease.
Nights were a particular torment, and nothing but steroids seemed to help. What could be causing this?
