Avian bird flu & Chinese medicine

Unknown pathogen: In 2003 Avian bird flu global spread, antibiotics were not effective at that time. The so-called “supportive treatment” of traditional Chinese medicine played an important role in enhancing body immune system, ability to fight virus, stabilizing situations and in preventing cases from deteriorating. The incredibly small percentage of 7% death rate in China showed to the world how Chinese medicine can be so useful in viral infections.

Pic: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_threats/com/Influenza/ai_human_en.htm (Data as of 04.07.2006)

SARS: The major symptoms of SARS are fever, cough and muscle pains. By taking pulse and reading the tongue TCM doctors are able to write down the prescriptions and stop the virus from spreading. This unique characteristic of Chinese medicine is most suitable for eruption of acute diseases. Western medicine has to locate the pathogen first before prescribing medicine; without known pathogens, no drugs can be used. This happened when SARS first broke out where western medicine doctors didn’t know the cause and therefore was clueless to help.

During the treatment of SARS with western medicine, there were side effects of osteonecrosis, osteoarthropathy，steroid-related diseases, DM and etc. With application of Chinese medicine in SARS, it’s recognized by WHO (Who Health Organization) as a safe way.

China has a long history of conquering acute viral epidemics, contagious epidemics for 5 thousand years. SARS definitely was not the first.

Wave of Avian bird flu

Wave of Avian bird flu: Another wave of bird flu seems to be coming soon. And this time it’s affecting Bangladesh, India and Nepal, the area where the three countries border each other.

India’s Situation: A few districts of eastern state of West Bengal, India, have been hit by the virus. More than 100,000 bird deaths have been reported and the authority is sorting to killing million chickens and ducks as a means to stop the widespread of the deadly virus. Dead birds are being illegally sold and it’s believed that locals, especially the poor, are “feasting” on cheap chicken available on the open market. Five people in West Bengal have been quarantined with clinical symptoms of avian flu – including fever, coughing, sore throat and muscle ache – after handling affected poultry.

Nepal’s reaction: Nepal, which has banned poultry imports from India since 2006, said its border posts were on high alert.

How the virus spreads? People typically catch the disease by coming into direct contact with infected poultry, but experts fear a flu pandemic if the H5N1 virus mutates into a form easily transmissible between humans. Migratory birds have been largely blamed for the global spread of the disease, which has killed more than 200 people worldwide since 2003.

My view: thinking about it, one way to reduce the magnitude of the disaster is to reduce the consumption of chickens and ducks raised for human consumption. The idea is simple: The less people eating chickens and ducks, the less demand for them, and thus less economical initiative to raise them, and thus less number of poultry in total. And if outbreak does occur, less poultry as well as human beings will be infected and therefore the situation won’t be so devastated.

Going vegetarian seems to make sense here.

To see far and away, to see clearer

The other night when I got home it was 11pm. Don't usually got home that late. Spent some time to put things away and I had the luxury of a few minutes to look out from the balcony of 14th floor above the ground of this apartment building. It was magnificent. I could see Sri Hartamas, big parts of Segambut Dalam, Duta area and even certain parts of Jalan Ipoh of Kuala Lumpur. The sky was clear and there was no haze.

There is only one slight problem: The sight was a little blurry. My eye sight.

I've always known my right eye sight is a short-sighted with roughly 180 vision. My left eye is near perfect. It seems like a few weeks' load of work without proper relaxation has added burden to my right eye sight, making the lazy eye lazier.

I intentionally blocked my left eye for a minute or so so that I was counting only on the right one to relax and see things far. And it worked! The further and more time you spend on things far away, the clearer you see the whole picture. That's the thought I had then.

Therefore we should from time to time take some time off to see things far and away. Probably 10 minutes into it you'll find yourself seeing so much more and in depth.

This is true with physical objects; and it's equally true for mind vision.

So, to see far and away, to see clearer.

PS: The picture is "borrowed" from www.spaceandmotion.com, which is a great site to ponder upon.

FDA says cough and cold medicine too risky for babies, toddlers.

I read with caution what Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of USA has issued in a public health advisory. It says parents should not give sniffling babies and toddlers over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold medicines. The medicines can be too risky for babies and toddlers.

The warning specifically warn parents of children under age two "because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects can occur." What's of alarming is that in October 2007, the FDA's own scientific advisers voted that cold medicines targeted specifically to babies and toddlers don't even work in small babies and shouldn't be used in preschoolers, either.

We must be cautious about this serious issue. Some health groups have identified bigger risk: unintentional overdose. For example, the same decongestants, cough suppressants and antihistamines are in multiple different products, therefore using more than one product to address different symptoms can quickly add up to overdose. And in the case of having multiple caregivers with different administration of doses, overdose is a big risk.

PS: This writing comprises mainly the article from AP.

Reincarnation & Old Testaments

I was reading "Many Lives, Many Masters" by Brian L. Weiss one day and came upon the linkage of reincarnation with old testaments. I've known so before but Dr. Weiss put them so clearly and in a way that's really easy to comprehend:

"There were indeed references to reincarnation in the Old and New Testaments. In AD 325 the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, along with his mother, Helena, had deleted references to reincarnation contained in the NT. The 2nd Council of Constantinople, meeting in AD 553, confirmed this action and declared the concept of reincarnation a heresy. Apparently, they thought the concept would weaken the growing power of the Church by giving humans too much time to seek their salvation. Yet the original references had been there; the early Church fathers had accepted the concept of reincarnation. The early Gnostics - Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Saint Jerome, and many others - believed that they had lived before and would again." - Many Lives, Many Masters.

In life there are things regardless we believe or not - they exist. Believing in them in a right manner, we'll benefit from the belief. Believing in them in a wrong manner, we'll not enjoy the fruit. Not believing in them in a right manner, still there are plenty of benefits. Not believing in them in a wrong manner, the worst suffering.

So, what I'm saying is "Is your manner right?" "Are we getting the fundamentals right?"

Fur is Eco-Unfriendly

First thing in the morning I got a newsletter from Biossentials: September 2007 to December 2007. Browsed through it and something caught my eyes: Fur is Eco-Unfriendly! Well, most people are aware of it. But how unfriendly?

The small writing goes on with a few facts on the environmental impact of fur production:

1) Furs are loaded with hazardous chemicals to keep them from decomposing in the buyers' closet. The buyers unknowingly let these chemicals and known allergens crawl their ways into their bed rooms and living rooms and thus family.

2) Fur production pollutes the environment and gobbles up precious resources. Waste produced from processing pelts drains down to the lakes and seas; The carcasses, dead bodies from animals skinned end up dumped in landfills, potential incubator for contagious air-borne diseases.

3) Suffering of and slaughtering and killing millions of animals for the real fur. Fur farms - where animals spend their entire lives in cramped, filthy cages, and later on killed by being injected with poisons... These animals died with hatred and sense of revenge; those buyers who wear their skins will be affected negatively.

PS: The writing above consists of portions of the said article and my own interpretation of the issue.

Choice. Operating systems. Genes selection.

Mentioning of a few (and more to come) notebooks/laptops/desktops with FreeDOS or Linux OS serves to provide people with a choice. Sometimes what matters is that's a choice for everything. If we look around there aren't many choice given or offered when we choose to purchase a new computer system. And the lack of choice is certainly not healthy.

One way to look at it is to look at selection of human genes. A man and a woman give rise to a newborn baby that shares the parents' traits. It's by natural selection some traits are preserved and some are stored in the pool of genes. When we say 'selection' it means a mechanism of choosing something over another for the survival in this mortal physical world. Certain traits or characteristics are 'chosen' to give birth to a new generation of human beings. Only then the eco system of human gene pool can be as diverse. And as complex and complete.

Choice. This is one of the reasons some FreeDOS and Linux notebooks/laptops/desktops are highlighted here.

Dialysis vs. kidney failure

In Malaysia, the popularity of dialysis has reached a point that is worrying. The people should be left puzzled with the question how easy it is for someone to be diagnosed dialysis is the treatment needed. The government and the society as well seem to give us an impression that Malaysia is lacking of dialysis facilities and that Malaysia has to build more such facilities to help needy patients. This is an alarming signal. What should be taken note is that if this has created a misleading conclusion that dialysis is the best solution to many kidney related diseases. In fact, dialysis should only be regarded as the last resort when all have failed to help to remove waste products and excess fluids from the body. We must wonder if enough has been done to create more awareness about the suitability of dialysis for certain patients.

Is it true that dialysis should always be the last resort to treatments? The answer to this question is YES. One should always try his/her best to stay healthy to keep normal kidney functions. Dialysis should only be the last resort if all other treatments fail to get rid of waste products and excess fluids from our bodies. Kidneys work hard when the body is counting on them to remove toxins and excess water, even when their functions have gone weaker. When dialysis kicks in, however, kidneys no longer have to work so hard. They then tend to lose their natural healing power to restore the functionality. And sooner than not having dialysis, the kidneys reach their failure stage.

Dialysis is a two-edged sharp blade. It can help, so can it destroy. It depends on if we know when and when not to use the tool. For temporary relief of removing waste products and excess fluid, it serves its purpose fine. For long term usage, most patients on it hardly live through 5 to 10 years lifespan. Some say one doesn’t have to be on dialysis forever, once the kidney functions get back to normal, a patient can then stop the process. This saying sounds good and promising. But how many patients could have their kidney functions recovered once they are on long term dialysis? Not many. In the end, it’s an empty promise.

Having more dialysis centers helps only terminally ill patients, but they can never be the cure to kidney related diseases. Prevention is always better than cure. We individual must seek to understand, learn how our bodies function so as to eat and live in a healthy manner. What we eat and do everyday leaves our bodies full of waste products. Shouldn’t we be eating and living healthier and with proper knowledge to ease the load on kidneys and other organs? For examples, take low-protein food to reduce acidity of the body, stay low on orange, star fruit, kiwi, banana, mandarin, tomato, wheat grass to reduce potassium in blood, no salts for water retention and for those who have consistent high blood pressure and etc. Early awareness and altered lifestyle and diet are the keys. Not being aware poses the most dangerous threat to our health, and therefore our lives. We ourselves must take control and the initiative to read and understand more. Don’t just leave everything to doctors and medicines. This body is your body, not your doctor’s body. Doctors can’t live your lives for you. Medicines can’t help much either if you keep on poisoning your body with the wrong food. And what’s more, most medicines impair kidney and liver functions…

Let me quote the following saying: “When the treatments for chronic kidney failure are no longer effective, the only option is long-term dialysis or kidney transplantation. Despite the advent of dialysis, most people with advanced kidney failure die within 5 to 10 years. End-of-life care is important.” (The Merck Manual of Medical Information, 2^nd Home Edition.)

Prevention is better than cure: the ultimate truth. Early awareness is the key. Be kind to your body with what you eat and do everyday. Not having to undergo dialysis for any patients is in anyway a blessing and great help to our nation, society, family and of course, the individual.

Moon phase and menstrual cycle

Moon phase and menstrual cycle

Menstrual cycle in Chinese language is ‘moon period 月经’. As you can easily understand from the individual word, it means periodic cycle inline with the moon phase. Another name for menstruation is ‘letter from the moon 月信’. The moon periodically sends letters to ladies for them to perceive the signal (When to ovulate and menstruate). And yet another name for it is ‘moon water 月水’. Somehow it seems to connect menstruation with tides. Moon phase is about 28 days. So it’s believed that every extremely healthy woman should have their menstrual cycle that is close to 28 days. Well, nobody is perfect these days. Therefore the modern view is that as long as the cycle is from 25 to 35 days, it is normal and healthy.

Oh, by the way, “The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine《黄帝内经》” described menstrual period as ‘the story of the moon 月事’. This book dates back some more than 2,000 years old. And it’s considered the bible of TCM. Story of the moon? What story you may ask. Story of the yin (阴) fluid of moon with that of feminine side of women.

There’s a research done by German team on the effect of moon phase and menstruation that revealed the amount of menses is double when the menstruation takes place during full moon compared with that during the new moon.

Well, you may ask moon phase comes with full moon and new moon, then what’s the ‘full moon’ and ‘new moon’ for our ladies’ menstrual cycle? Well, the answer is simple. Full moon is the time when we’re ovulating; and new moon is the time menses come. It’s pretty much like those werewolves who change themselves during full moon. These werewolves’ inner hormones are in perfect tune with the yin (female side) of the nature. I’ve seen quite a number of women who have their menstrual cycle just like the moon phase. Their menses come when it hits new moon. And it’s time for ovulation when the beautiful full moon is up there nurturing the mother earth. Yes. I know. I do keep track of moon phase simply because I practice Chinese lunar calendar everyday besides the modern calendar (The 1^st and 15^th day of Chinese lunar calendar correspond exactly to new moon and full moon respectively every month).

Amazing, isn’t it? There is so much more to learn from the Mother Nature. The relationship between the moon and the health of human beings will always be the topic of investigation.

Chronic Superficial Gastritis, bloating, mild pain

Question: I’ve been experiencing bloating for many years. The bloating sensation is always there in the tummy and sometimes it will get worse when I’m hungry. And there is this dull pain occasionally. What can I do about it?

Answer: Your symptom of bloating with mild discomfort around the stomach area signifies lack of function of stomach system. If left unattended, the digestive system (spleen system) will be affected and eventually it may also jeopardize the functionality of lungs system (lung-qi). There is a simple way for people with lack of stomach function to boost up its functionality: drink approximately 100cc of warm to hot water a minute or two before each meal. The reason is that stomach needs energy for its functionality to work. People with weak stomach are usually colder in the tummy region. By taking in warm water before each meal helps warm up the stomach for food absorption. Doing so consistently will gradually raise the temperature of the stomach system to normal and thus reduce bloating symptom.

Mild and dull pain especially when you’re hungry means there’s possibility you may have chronic superficial gastritis. And it’s usually manifested as having mild pain in the upper abdomen especially when one is hungry, with bloating worsened when empty-stomached. Their right pulse (of the hand) is usually weaker than the left one. The tongue manifestation is typically a little obese tongue with light white coating on top. If these symptoms are what you’re having, you belong to the syndrome (type) of deficiency of spleen-qi (Lack of function of digestive system). A basal prescription consisting these herbs is recommended: DangShen 18g, FuLing 9g, BaiZhu 9g, GanCao 6g, ChenPi 3g, ShaRen 3g, ShanYao 12g YiRen 12g BianDou 9g, JieGeng 6g.

Tumor, cancerous cells, and an oncology specialist.

Dr. Mustafa was the only classmate of mine in high school that took up western medicine. He was a specialist of oncology. We were very good friends but then all of us always joked that it’d be better not to go see him for his professional help. He was always around for school reunion and his income was too high to imagine. He’d always help those who were in financial straits and sometimes he paid when we got together for dinners. He was always giving and generous; however, he lived a simple life. Whenever he came for gathering, he took buses. And then there came the subway, of course he picked up the subway. And he never ate sumptuous meals and too much either. My perception was that he disliked over comfortable lifestyle.

We were about 62 years old. We all talked about retirement but none of us really did so. Four months ago I was told by a common friend that he had retired and the hospital held a party for his contribution. The atmosphere of the party was filled rather with sadness. I had no idea what went wrong and was about to call when I bumped into him at a bookstore. He was reading some detective stories when he saw me. He was pleasantly surprised to see me and ushered me to a nice café and told me some detective stories he had recently read. I enjoyed the stories and I couldn’t help but noticed he’d lost weight.

Dr. Mustafa was a smart person. Of course he knew I’d noticed his skinny appearance. He told me without me prompting: He’d got cancer. He said he had a few more months to go. I was like struck by lightning. I didn’t ask him if he’d gotten any treatments for he was the specialist in this field. For sure he knew how to treat cancers. It was raining when we left the café. I got him a cab. That was the first time in my life I saw him in a cab, not buses.

A month later, he came to see me at my hometown. His son, a cancer specialist too, came with him by car. We went to the nearby farmland to see plane trees. All the plane trees were planted on the sides of roads and they made such a soothing silhouette. The white flowers were everywhere; it was such a miraculous view. He kept saying the trip was so worth it even though he seemed tired. He would never see this beautiful and magnificent view anymore, he said. Besides admiring the nature, he was also interested in the multimedia presentation. My research assistant showed him many interesting systems. Dr. Mustafa viewed them with great interest and asked many intelligent questions.

That was the last time I saw Dr. Mustafa. Later, he passed away. I was very puzzled; why did he go away so fast? With his expertise, he must have known his cancer at early stages. And that the treatments he’d get must also be the highest standard. Why did he go so soon?

We all got his obituary. The obituary politely rejected any flowers or contributions. There was a special request: Friends and family members were asked to get together at a designated point to go to his funeral. The obituary asked that no one drove to his funeral. At his funeral, I saw a large number of medical specialists. They all had serious and solemn faces. We all had one question in mind: With all these medical specialists in the same hospital he worked in, why he went so fast?

[Pic: Dividing cancer cells] At last the puzzle was revealed. Dr. Mustafa’s son told us a story none of us was aware of: Dr. Mustafa never received any treatments for his cancer. Why? His son showed us a video of Dr. Mustafa. In the video, Dr. Mustafa explained what cancerous cells are. We all believe that cancerous cells are the unhealthy cells. In fact, cancerous cells are the healthiest cells. They are the most active cells. The normal cells will mutate but there’s a limit to the mutation. Mutation of cancerous cells never ends. Endless mutation needs nutrition. However, there’s a limit to a person’s nutrition. The abundant number of cancerous cells will eventually suck all the nutrition from other normal cells.

Dr. Mustafa believed many of us are cancerous cells. We are too healthy and we eat too much. We are rich and we consume a lot of energy. But there is only so much resource on the earth. The more we use, the more unfortunate other people become. Dr. Mustafa reminded us that if everyone on earth ate fishes from far seas just like we do, in one day we could finish all the fishes on earth. He asked this question again and again: If all the people on earth enjoyed life like we do, how long could the resources on earth last? To give an example, all the fossil fuels would be gone in 40 years.

[Pic: Dying of Aids; Port Moresby's, Oct 28, 2005] His video also revealed the fact that there were 25 million people in Africa who are infected with AIDS. It was such a tragedy. His son didn’t tell us why Dr. Mustafa refused treatment. The video itself has told us all: He’d been feeling guilty for his good life for so long. That was why he tried to live a simple life as much as possible. There is a big increase of AIDS cases in Africa but so few are treated. Potential medicines are available but many of the AIDS patients are too poor to afford the expensive medicine. All these were making Dr. Mustafa sadder.

Dr. Mustafa loved life. He loved his life. But he was not willing to see his life built upon the expenses of other people. He didn’t want to be too healthy, for being too healthy is like cancerous cells. At the end of the video, he mentioned his own illness. He said his illness was not possible to cure. Spending all the money on treatment and medicine he might live for another 3 to 4 years. But then in these 3 to 4 years he would have done very little. He didn’t want to spend so much medical resources just for another 3 to 4 years of his. He had very little ‘interest’ to receive treatments when there are so many Africans dying of AIDS. His son has also told us that Dr. Mustafa had donated ‘some’ money to a charity organization for the treatment of AIDS in Africa.

If he had lived for another few years, he might have helped a few people. His refusal for treatment serves as an important life education for us all. The other day some classmates of ours got together for a reunion. No one complained about the simple vegetarian food. Everyone was happy about their existence of life. These days I only turn on the fan at home. The air conditional is on only when there are guests. My family and I live simpler and simpler life. It’s good enough to have eaten today.

I live in an apartment. Sometimes I’d miss the big house I used to live. Those big compound and big front yard. And this idea has changed as well. If all the people in the world lived like that, there wouldn’t be any greens on earth. And all that we see would only be houses but no forest or trees. He was right: We can’t live too well; we shouldn’t be cancerous cells. We should leave the green mountains and fresh waters to our next generations, for others.

Dr. Mustafa has gone with grace, allowing others to live in grace.

SARS 2003 in China

In 2003 SARS spread widely; there were 5,200 cases of SARS in China, whereas the death toll was only 7%, the lowest in the world. Principal of China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Beijing, Prof. Cao Hong-Xin (HongXin) said during an interview that: “The low death toll of 7% is related to application of traditional Chinese medicine in China in treatment of SARS. The later patients at Beijing Xiao Tang Shan SARS hospital all got well mostly because of the use of Chinese medicine.”

He said everyone realized that antibiotics were not effective at that time. The so-called “supportive treatment” of Chinese medicine played an important role in enhancing body immune system, ability to fight virus, stabilizing situations and in preventing cases from deteriorating. According to Prof. Cao, China has a long history of conquering acute viral epidemics, contagious epidemics for 5 thousand years. SARS definitely was not the first.

In the history of human beings there have been thousands cases of contagious epidemics. Death tolls of Europe Black Plaque went up to tens of millions. But in China, none of those epidemics caused more than 5 million lives. One of the reasons was due to the fact that Chinese medicine was able to come in with “supportive treatment” even before the cause of the disease was known.

The major symptoms of SARS are fever, cough and muscle pains. By taking pulse and reading the tongue TCM doctors are able to write down the prescriptions and stop the virus from spreading. This unique characteristic of Chinese medicine is most suitable for eruption of acute diseases. Western medicine has to locate the pathogen first before prescribing medicine; without known pathogens, no drugs can be used. This happened when SARS first broke out where western medicine doctors didn’t know the cause and therefore was clueless to help.

During the treatment of SARS with western medicine, there were side effects of osteonecrosis，osteoarthropathy，steroid-related diseases, DM and etc. With application of Chinese medicine in SARS, it’s recognized by WHO (Who Health Organization) as a safe way.

Prof. Cao has been attracted to “miraculous” TCM since young and decided to pursue the studies when he grew up. Since the age of 14 years old, he’s taken the initiative to read TCM books. After graduation from high school at 18, he went to Heilongjiang College of TCM. He was a gifted child as he got his Ph. D. as a relatively young age. At the age of 37, in 1995, he became the vice principal of Heilongjiang College of TCM, the youngest ever. In 1999, at the age of 41, he became the headmaster of Heilongjiang University of TCM, the youngest ever. When he was transferred to Beijing to be the principal of China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Beijing, he was the youngest principal in 50 years. He specialized in liver diseases in his Master program and kidney diseases in his Ph. D. program. After Ph. D., he worked on stomach diseases.

According to Prof. Cao, there are 4 major categories of diseases affecting human beings, and TCM is effective in all these diseases. They are: 1) Cardiac diseases (Stroke, heart diseases), 2) Tumors (Various cancers), 3) Viral diseases (SARS, AIDS, and Hepatitis), 4) Metabolistic Immune diseases (DM) and etc. These diseases are related closely to stress, diet, working environment and so on. Besides these diseases that can cause pain, there are other diseases such as insomnia, depression, aggregation which can also be treated effectively with Chinese medicine.

Prof. Cao said: “70% of the people are not healthy these days. They’re just sub-healthy. In order for people to be really healthy, in TCM, we call it “treating diseases before they happen”. Prevention is better than cure. There are many methods such as Qigong, TaiJi, dietary plan, Tuina, Emotional therapy and many others (like yoga).

Glossary: SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, Beijing Xiao Tang Shan SARS hospital, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine,Beijing, Prof. Cao Hong-Xin (HongXin).

What is acupuncture? What can it do?

Q: What’s acupuncture & how does it work to treat diseases?
A: Acupuncture is a natural holistic approach of healing. With insertion of sterilized disposable needles into the acupuncture points to balance the qi (energy). If qi is too much, stagnant or too little, it will cause diseases. The right manipulation techniques adjust the qi to its appropriate conditions and enhance our body‘s immune system.

Q: What diseases can be treated with acupuncture?
A: Acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be effective for(*1): •Adverse reactions to radio and/or chemotherapy•Dysmenorrhoea•Headache•Hypertension(HBP)•
Hypotension(LBP)•Stroke•Luekopenia •Sciatica•Rheumatoid Arthritis(RA)•Low back pain•Allergic rhinitis•Depression•Biliary colic•Periarthritis of shoulder•Neck pain•Nausea & Vomiting•Knee pain•Neck pain•Tennis elbow•Renal colic•Facial pain and etc.

Diseases for which therapeutic effect has been shown(*1): •Abdominal pain•Bronchial asthma•Cancer pain•Diabetes mellitus(NID)•Cholelithiasis•Facial spasm•Insomnia•Female infertility•Obesity•Herpes zoster•Hyperlipaemia•Chronic cholecystitis•Male sexual dysfunction•Meniere disease•Osteoarthritis•Polycystic ovary syndrome•Premenstrual syndrome•Neurodermatitis•Chronic ulcerative colitis•Alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine & heroine dependence•Sore throat•Tonsillitis•Raynaud syndrome•Female urethral syndrome•Schizophrenia•Gouty arthritis•Chronic prostatitis and etc.

Q: Is acupuncture safe?
A: Acupuncture has no side effects. There is minimal risk of organ penetration. The locations, angles as well as depth of insertions are closely observed to avoid injuries. Proper sterilization and disposable needles are used.

(*1): “Acupuncture: review and analysis of reports on controlled clinical trials”, WHO (World Health Organization) research paper. Geneva 2002. ISBN 92 4 154543 7 (NLM classification: WB 369)

Intro to Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Chinese have been seeking and utilizing solutions to treat illnesses and have discovered ways to live longer and healthier lives. The many works of ancient practitioners of their discoveries and findings eventually developed into Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The many disciplines of TCM (Herbal medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, Chinese massage (Tuina), dietary therapy, Qigong, and living lifestyle) have been serving people with solutions to their health problems for more than 3,000 years. TCM is a highly sophisticated, well documented, researched and evidence-based medicine. One quarter of the world’s population use this Asian medicine. This professional medicine has been tested through time and time again – it’s the oldest and second largest medical system in the world. TCM treats and assesses each person as an individual; as opposed to modern medicine that treats on specific diseases or symptoms. TCM is non-invasive and provides suitable environment for the body’s natural ability to heal itself to its harmony and balance of the whole body. There are many theories of studies in TCM. Therefore, TCM has the ability to treat a wide spectrum of diseases.