It's Sunday May 27th, 1:35PM and I'm up in Green Wood Lake, New York. I'm siting on the porch of a beautiful home, listening to Bach Violin Concertos, feeling the beautiful slight breeze against my neck and looking forward to having my first glass of South African Excellsior Shiraz in about a half hour. For the better part of yesterday and today I have been studying the reproductive effects of endometriosis and I am amazed at the beauty of how the body works and am in awe of what devastating effects on reproduction are manifest when it does not work properly.
I am always trying to look at traditional Chinese medicine with new eyes to see how it can best be used to treat reproductive disorders. Looking with new eyes means respecting the classical writings of the Masters but taking into consideration new data derived from studying Western medicine and understanding pathology from a biological perspective as opposed to strictly from a TCM perspective. Many practitioners of TCM would think this is sacrilege but I think that lack of recognition of new data which can lead to better treatment outcomes is sacrilege. Integration of all data including Classical information pertaining to disease-states obtained thousands of years ago from Masters of Chinese medicine in combination with Western medical advances in diagnostics and treatments of diseases will undoubetdly yield the best outcomes. This is a case where one plus one equals three!
For example, the typical practitioner of TCM views endometriosis as a pattern of disharmony called stagnation of qi and stasis of blood. This diagnosis is from the Classics. It is only partially correct which means in essence that it is incorrect. Based upon my research and studies I have concluded that the true differential diagnosis of endometriosis from a TCM perspective can only be qi stagnation and blood stasis with heat-toxin brewing internally. How can this be, the TCM practitoner might ask? The endometriosis patient presents with pain pre-menstrually ( blood stasis) and pain with the period which is either dull and aching ( qi stagnation and blood vacuity) or sharp and stabbing (blood vacuity engendering blood stasis). So, there it is: stagnation of qi and blood with possible blood vacuity. But, if one were to study the Western medicine literature on endometriosis one would find that the pain associated with endometriosis is derived from three etiologies: 1) The actions of inflammatory cytokines in the peritoneal cavity; 2) bleeding from endometrial implants; and 3)direct infiltration of nerves in the pelvic floor (neural inflammation). Therefore, it becomes obvious that heat-toxin brewing is very much part of the etiology of pain related to endometriosis as well as infertility which is not anatomically related. This information is gleaned from the integration of the Classic TCM knowledge (qi stagnation and blood stasis) and modern Western analysis (inflammatory cytokines). Therefore, this proves that the Classics though of immense value, are only of partial value. The power of TCM is exponentially potentiated when integrated with Western medical findings. This is congruence of old and new and East meets West in medical information, analytics and treatment protocols.
When using acupuncture to treat endometriosis (which is essentially worthless without the inclusion of herbal medicine), one must not only invigorate the qi and blood with points such as Large Intestine 4 and Liver 3, but also, clear heat with the utilization of points such as liver 2, kidney 2, spleen 10, and liver 8. Herbal medicine must include herbs that move qi and invigorate blood, clear heat and resolve toxins. This new method of treatment will surely yield improved pregnancy outcomes when endometriosis is causative of infertility for reasons other than anatomical obstruction.
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