The Traditional Chinese Medicine Approach to Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a sexual health issue that can negatively impact all areas of your wellbeing. According to recent projections from the American Cancer Society, of the 232,090 new cases to be diagnosed, about 30,350 men will die from prostate cancer. This is why it’s so important to get tested early and often, and find the right treatment.

 

According to Licensed Acupuncturist Dr. Mao Shing Ni, PhD, who has diplomas in Chinese Herbology and Anti-Ageing Wellness, ‘If you are a man over the age of 40 and prostate cancer runs in your family, it is extremely advisable to monitor your Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) levels. A PSA blood test measures the level of a protein released by prostate cells. Recent experts state that if a PSA level is 2.5 or higher, it reveals the possibility of prostate growth (hyperplasia), but it does not always mean that cancer is present. Since PSA levels may fluctuate with infection and lab errors, usually more than one test over a period of time is done to confirm your PSA level. Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) and ultrasound are other ways to evaluate the prostate. However, only biopsies can truly determine whether the growth in the prostate is benign or malignant.’

 

So what exactly is your prostate, and why does it become more likely to be damaged as you age? ‘The prostate gland lies at the base of the bladder surrounding the urethra (urinary tract from bladder to penis),’ Dr. Mao explains. ‘During ejaculation, the prostate secretes a fluid that combines with the seminal fluid in order to prevent infection in the urethra while protecting and invigorating sperm. Due to the ageing process, the prostate naturally enlarges as hormones change and weaken after the age of 40. The swelling of the prostate puts pressure against the bladder and urethra, thereby affecting the smooth flow of urine. Abnormal patterns of urination such as higher frequency at night, burning sensation, difficulty, blockage and dribbling are common symptoms and signs of prostate enlargement.’

 

But why are we asking a Traditional Chinese Medicine specialist about prostate cancer? Dr. Mao notes, ‘TCM associates hyperplasia of the prostate with damp heat and kidney deficiency. After the age of 40, one’s vital energy in the kidney system decreases, resulting in the disturbance of sex hormones. This process also decreases one’s sexual energy, which affects the function of the prostate and the circulation in this region. Throughout the ages, in order to compensate for the decline of prostate function, men in China have used regular acupuncture treatments to improve the circulation and energy in the prostate.’

 

Dr. Mao continues, ‘To enhance the effect of acupuncture, they have also used Chinese herbs such as Poly Goni He Shou Wu, in traditional, custom herbal formulas to replenish the kidney essence. In fact, at Tao of Wellness, we have had many successful cases of normalising elevated PSA levels in patients with prostate conditions. Kidney essence nurtures the prostate. As the prostate is revitalised, it is now capable of self-regulating toward normal functioning and maintaining a balance of growth and non-growth. This is the balancing property of Chinese medicine.’

 

Dr. Mao adds, ‘TCM nutrition encourages men to eat more nuts, seeds, pumpkin, mushroom and berries to help nourish their prostate. Managing stress, regular exercise and massaging the prostate are also vital to help maintain prostate health. Besides Chinese and western herbs such as saw palmetto, there are many delicious foods that you can eat to help maintain a healthy prostate. Regular consumption of foods that contain lycopene (a prostate protective antioxidant) is highly recommended.’

Categories: Chinese medicine, dr mao, kidney essence, nbsp dr, prostate, prostate cancer, psa level, psa levels, traditional chinese, traditional chinese medicine, treatment

How Can Alternative Medicine Tackle Your Sex Problems?

You may not like to talk about sexual health concerns, but this is the first step in getting your relationship back on track. After you and your partner address these issues together, alternative practices can help to bolster your sexual wellbeing. However, if you feel a little cautious about the weird and wacky things involved in alternative medicine, we have four experts in various fields who have told us how they treat sexual wellness problems.

 

1. Nutritional Therapy: According to Ken Babal, staff nutritionist, Erewhon Natural Foods, ‘When there are breeding problems with animals, usually the first question asked by the vet is how have you been feeding the animal. Unfortunately, we don’t ask that question often enough of humans. Diet has a large part to do with that. In fact, sexual performance is a little bit like an athletic event. And you’ve got to be fit, do all the things that you need to do for good health in general: moderation with alcohol, exercise, rest, sound nutrition — all of those things. And a lot of times when I see clients, many of them are smokers. They’re overweight. They’re not fit. So that’s something we have to call to their attention. And there’s no quick solutions. You have to cultivate good habits. But once patients see the connection, they know what they have to do. Certain supplements, though, can be helpful as well.’

 

2. Ayurveda: ‘A lot of times, particularly in couples who have been together for a while and not feeling sexual, there’s a lot of internalised anger and rage and disappointment with the other person, which gets expressed as withholding of sexuality, or the feelings of passion don’t even arise,’ says Dr. David Simon, Neurologist and co-founder of the Chopra Centre. ‘One technique which we draw upon is from the Native American culture, where we encourage couples to use a talking object. Like a talking stick that the Navajo tribe used to use. When they have a discussion or there’s something that they want to talk about, they take turns while literally holding the object…It’s amazing how giving people the opportunity to be heard starts to help to process emotional hurts that they’ve been carrying around and also opens up the possibility for intimacy, which then leads to sexual passion.’

 

3. Homeopathy: Dr. Lauren Feder, physician and homeopath in private practice, notes, ‘I see a lot of women that have had babies, and a lot of women who are nursing, or have a lot of children and don’t have a strong sex drive…What I find is that if sepia is given, people start to feel better about themselves. They stop yelling as much, they’re more patient, they have more energy, and low and behold, the libido comes up and their sex drive increases.’

 

4. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): ‘There are actually many things that we can offer,’ Dr. John Chen, practitioner of TCM and lecturer at USC, asserts. ‘There are a lot of herbs that are commonly used to either facilitate the growth or maturity of the reproductive system. There are ones that will increase the secretion of sex hormones. And there are ones that will enhance sexual desire. And all these in a way do go hand in hand…When the patient comes in, we try to find out exactly what the problem is. Because let’s say if a patient has impotence, there are many reasons why this could be. It could be psychological. It could be physical. It could be a complication of a disease, or it could be a side effect of a drug. So we try to identify exactly what is the cause. Then, we will address both the cause and the symptom simultaneously.’

Categories: Alternative, alternative medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy, nbsp, patient, problems, Sex Drive, sexual, traditional chinese medicine

How Can Alternative Medicine Tackle Your Sex Problems?

You may not like to talk about sexual health concerns, but this is the first step in getting your relationship back on track. After you and your partner address these issues together, alternative practices can help to bolster your sexual wellbeing. However, if you feel a little cautious about the weird and wacky things involved in alternative medicine, we have four experts in various fields who have told us how they treat sexual wellness problems.

 

1. Nutritional Therapy: According to Ken Babal, staff nutritionist, Erewhon Natural Foods, ‘When there are breeding problems with animals, usually the first question asked by the vet is how have you been feeding the animal. Unfortunately, we don’t ask that question often enough of humans. Diet has a large part to do with that. In fact, sexual performance is a little bit like an athletic event. And you’ve got to be fit, do all the things that you need to do for good health in general: moderation with alcohol, exercise, rest, sound nutrition — all of those things. And a lot of times when I see clients, many of them are smokers. They’re overweight. They’re not fit. So that’s something we have to call to their attention. And there’s no quick solutions. You have to cultivate good habits. But once patients see the connection, they know what they have to do. Certain supplements, though, can be helpful as well.’

 

2. Ayurveda: ‘A lot of times, particularly in couples who have been together for a while and not feeling sexual, there’s a lot of internalised anger and rage and disappointment with the other person, which gets expressed as withholding of sexuality, or the feelings of passion don’t even arise,’ says Dr. David Simon, Neurologist and co-founder of the Chopra Centre. ‘One technique which we draw upon is from the Native American culture, where we encourage couples to use a talking object. Like a talking stick that the Navajo tribe used to use. When they have a discussion or there’s something that they want to talk about, they take turns while literally holding the object…It’s amazing how giving people the opportunity to be heard starts to help to process emotional hurts that they’ve been carrying around and also opens up the possibility for intimacy, which then leads to sexual passion.’

 

3. Homeopathy: Dr. Lauren Feder, physician and homeopath in private practice, notes, ‘I see a lot of women that have had babies, and a lot of women who are nursing, or have a lot of children and don’t have a strong sex drive…What I find is that if sepia is given, people start to feel better about themselves. They stop yelling as much, they’re more patient, they have more energy, and low and behold, the libido comes up and their sex drive increases.’

 

4. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): ‘There are actually many things that we can offer,’ Dr. John Chen, practitioner of TCM and lecturer at USC, asserts. ‘There are a lot of herbs that are commonly used to either facilitate the growth or maturity of the reproductive system. There are ones that will increase the secretion of sex hormones. And there are ones that will enhance sexual desire. And all these in a way do go hand in hand…When the patient comes in, we try to find out exactly what the problem is. Because let’s say if a patient has impotence, there are many reasons why this could be. It could be psychological. It could be physical. It could be a complication of a disease, or it could be a side effect of a drug. So we try to identify exactly what is the cause. Then, we will address both the cause and the symptom simultaneously.’

Categories: Alternative, alternative medicine, Ayurveda, homeopathy, nbsp, patient, problems, Sex Drive, sexual, traditional chinese medicine

Multiple Sclerosis and Chinese Medicine: Mind or Matter?

Whether you believe it to be a super science or a pseudo one, Chinese Medicine has paved its way through Western medicine to offer an alternative means of overcoming illness.

Of varying severity, Multiple Sclerosis (or MS, for short) is arguably a disease that is a series of different disorders across the human body. These can range from a constant tingling or numbness to speech and sight problems. As a result, the social and emotional stress caused by MS commonly draws out depression and anxiety. No matter the disease’s potency, Multiple Sclerosis is a terrifically hard time for those that suffer from it.

So where does Chinese Medicine fit in this untidy puzzle?

In typical Western medicine, doctors and GPs tend to prescribe doses of steroids, with undesired and sometimes unsettling side-effects. Whether you are a sufferer or not, it is a tell-tale sign of a long line of drugs that are merely there to combat the problems resulting from the previous one. Worse still, the original drug may not be effectual.

When Chinese Medicine is mentioned, we often imagine the adverts showing a varying array of needles peeking out of the back of its strangely cheerful patient. Acupuncture is commonly-recognised as the go-to in holistic healing, followed by herbal medicine.

Considered an art form than merely a job, the practitioners of Chinese Medicine often hold to the notion that there is a root cause towards an illness. Through this practice, the various symptoms can, in theory, be reduced all in one shot.

But how, you may wonder, can something like Multiple Sclerosis be handled when there are so many symptoms?

The nature of Chinese Medicine is that it assists the individual by focusing on their specific issue. By looking for patterns in the sufferer’s illness, the treatment for MS is thoroughly sought for and attempted.

Another advantage of Chinese Medicine is the reduction of side-effects. Should we push aside The Mummy’s myth that newt’s heads and rat toes are the Orient’s idea of holistic healing; then we shall find that natural herbs are the healthier (and perhaps safer) alternative to the chain-steroids prescribed by a Western doctor. In a recent survey of British acupuncturists, there were only 671 minor adverse events in 10,000 sessions none of which were life-threatening and in acupuncture, there were very few complications. Across the pond, the United States registered only 9 medical incidents within the last 20 years.

The strange benefits to Chinese Medicine is debatable within the West’s medical community, but for sufferers of Multiple Sclerosis, the pain relief matters.

Why risk your body when you can give it so much more?

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Multiple Sclerosis and Chinese Medicine: Mind or Matter?

Categories: acupuncture, multiple sclerosis, traditional chinese medicine

Winter diet advice from the Traditional Chinese Medicine

Changes in the season require a change in diet; a feature that can be found in every world culture. The Chinese speak very clearly of the need to take care of one’s diet when facing the onset of winter. They refer to the practice jinbu, meaning to conserve one’s health and energy by eating nourishing food. Proper practice of jinbu aims to make one strong enough to fight a tiger in the coming year! Very probably, we all need to take instruction from the Chinese in planning our long-term diet according to our overall nutritional needs

Chinese complementary medicine and diet is based on the well-known system of Yin and Yang. All of life alternates between these two extremes, so helping to achieve a balance is the only sensible course for wellbeing. The practice of jinbu aims to reinforce Yin energy, which is cold, dark and wet. The purpose of this is to create an abundance of Yin fluid, which is required in order to store Yang energy. The hot, bright Yang energy is like ignition fuel to be used the following year, but it is only its counterpart Yin that allows it to be stored in the body.

So, what kinds of foods help you to emphasise Yin? Li Yanling, director of the Nutrition Department at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, recommends bao (stewed food) for the cold season. Stew provides hot, soft food, perfect for the needs of the system, and the method of slow-cooking retains all the nutritional value of the original ingredients. This general advice is a useful approach to ensuring the body has the correct winter nutrients. Furthermore, Traditional Chinese Medicine has further advice for the various body types.

Men are advised to protect their kidneys, as harsh cold is known to affect their kidney energy. Beef and mutton stews are recommended in order to fortify these organs. For women, the effects of the cold on skin is likely to be of concern. In winter, many women experience a Yin deficiency, which has a direct effect on the bloodstream, giving a pale and often blemished complexion. Jujube is thought to be an excellent dietary supplement to reinforce Yin and correct blood deficiencies. A Chinese stew containing sweet carrot, jujube, sugarcane and pork makes a kind of sweet stew fully appropriate to women’s winter needs. Finally, children have their own particular needs, especially as they have not yet stored much body fat to rely on. They need to eat high-energy and easily digestible foods. As such, the Chinese recommend chicken for the infant practice of jinbu. They favour a chicken and chestnut stew to provide a delicious source of wellness throughout the winter months.

Categories: complementary, diet, traditional chinese medicine

Winter diet advice from the Traditional Chinese Medicine

Changes in the season require a change in diet; a feature that can be found in every world culture. The Chinese speak very clearly of the need to take care of one’s diet when facing the onset of winter. They refer to the practice jinbu, meaning to conserve one’s health and energy by eating nourishing food. Proper practice of jinbu aims to make one strong enough to fight a tiger in the coming year! Very probably, we all need to take instruction from the Chinese in planning our long-term diet according to our overall nutritional needs

Chinese complementary medicine and diet is based on the well-known system of Yin and Yang. All of life alternates between these two extremes, so helping to achieve a balance is the only sensible course for wellbeing. The practice of jinbu aims to reinforce Yin energy, which is cold, dark and wet. The purpose of this is to create an abundance of Yin fluid, which is required in order to store Yang energy. The hot, bright Yang energy is like ignition fuel to be used the following year, but it is only its counterpart Yin that allows it to be stored in the body.

So, what kinds of foods help you to emphasise Yin? Li Yanling, director of the Nutrition Department at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, recommends bao (stewed food) for the cold season. Stew provides hot, soft food, perfect for the needs of the system, and the method of slow-cooking retains all the nutritional value of the original ingredients. This general advice is a useful approach to ensuring the body has the correct winter nutrients. Furthermore, Traditional Chinese Medicine has further advice for the various body types.

Men are advised to protect their kidneys, as harsh cold is known to affect their kidney energy. Beef and mutton stews are recommended in order to fortify these organs. For women, the effects of the cold on skin is likely to be of concern. In winter, many women experience a Yin deficiency, which has a direct effect on the bloodstream, giving a pale and often blemished complexion. Jujube is thought to be an excellent dietary supplement to reinforce Yin and correct blood deficiencies. A Chinese stew containing sweet carrot, jujube, sugarcane and pork makes a kind of sweet stew fully appropriate to women’s winter needs. Finally, children have their own particular needs, especially as they have not yet stored much body fat to rely on. They need to eat high-energy and easily digestible foods. As such, the Chinese recommend chicken for the infant practice of jinbu. They favour a chicken and chestnut stew to provide a delicious source of wellness throughout the winter months.

Categories: complementary, diet, traditional chinese medicine

The Amazing benefits of Mushrooms

As well as being very tasty, mushrooms are rightly classified as a ‘super food’ these days. They contain a whole host of supplementary minerals; including zinc, iron, amino acids, riboflavin and vitamins B, C, and K. Their contribution to a healthy diet is acknowledged by all, but this is actually just the first of their amazing complementary properties.

Mushrooms of all varieties are useful for detoxing. This is because they contain a substance called Germanium, which is active in boosting oxygen flow through the body. Germanium is a strong tool to help the body counteract the effect of toxins, as well as strengthening the immune system. The compound polysaccharides can also be found in mushrooms. This nutrient that is said to help fight tumours, and also has an immune-boosting effect.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has used mushrooms for wellbeing since ancient times. Over 200 species of mushrooms have been identified as having a healing effect on various conditions, and have become vital to TCM herbal prescriptions. In fact, 25% of these species are also credited with the ability to fight tumours.

 

The following types of mushroom are popular in TCM, and can be most helpful to your wellness programme:

Shiitake Mushrooms –have been used for centuries to strengthen overall health and improve circulation. They also contain a substance called Lentinan, which has been shown to be useful in supporting cancer treatments. In fact, a purified form of this chemical has been embraced in Japan as a tonic for patients undergoing cancer treatment.

Reishi Mushrooms – a favourite in TCM for treating heart and prostate problems. They are also said to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. These mushrooms are now receiving a lot of attention in the West, for their numerous benefits, including their purported tumour-fighting capability.

Maitake Mushrooms – have been shown to benefit AIDS patients by improving their blood sugar levels. They are also thought to have an immune-building and tumour-fighting effect.

The Amazing benefits of Mushrooms

Categories: mushrooms, super food, traditional chinese medicine