Need information on Chinese herb, acupuncture

[jenz]

My 7 years old daughter was recently diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome. I am seeking for alternative treatments. I found some Chinese websites that claimed very high success rate, but I am kind of skeptical. I like to know if anybody have tried Chinese medicine (herb), or acupuncture. I will really appreciate if you can share your experience.

[Chemar]

Hi Jenz and welcome

 

yes, accupuncture works wonders for my son's tics and OCD......it is not a cure, but helps to calm the tics for long stretches.

 

We did use the Chinese herbal remedies for a while, but, although we had no adverse reactions to them, we found that a change of diet with correct supplements was more beneficial to my son. The herbal practitioner said that sometimes one has to try a different range of mixes to get the right blend, but we were so satisfied with the results from our other natural treatments, that we didnt want to experiment more.

 

However, the accupuncture is a firm part of my son's treatment. He also benefits from reflexology and aromatherapy

[Guest jc]

Hi All

 

My husband was searching thru the web and found this. I found the info on accupunture and chinese herbs to treat TS quite useful, so thought i will share with everyone here:

 

 

C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\ATT00010.html

 

 

jc

[Guest Guest]

Oops! think something's wrong with this link. I've copied the entire article here again:

 

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ACUPUNCTURE THERAPY

 

There is one widely circulated report on acupuncture therapy for Tourette's syndrome involving 156 patients, which was published several years ago in the English language Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine (4). The children treated were ages 6-15, and were seen relatively soon after the diagnosis was made (within one year). The doctors divided the patients into two subtypes using Chinese medical principles:

 

Yangming stagnant heat (heat in the stomach channel), characterized by robust, plump physical form, ruddy complexion, high levels of tic activity (with more vigorous expression), and often accompanied by constipation.

 

Typical yangming heat indicators were suggested to be present in the pulse (strong, rapid, slippery) and tongue appearance (red tongue, yellow coating). For treatment, the points neiting (ST-44), quchi (LI-11), pianli (LI-6), and sibai (ST-2) were needled. The first three points were needled by using thrusting and lifting technique and sibai was treated by the bird-pecking reduction method, with the needle sensation propagating downward.

 

Insufficient essence (essence that nourishes brain development and also affects overall physical well-being), characterized by having a weak constitution and thin physical form, pallor, milder and slower expression of tics, and frequent urination. Typical indictors of deficiency were noted for the pulse (weak and thready) and tongue appearance (swollen and pale). For treatment, the points yamen (GV-15), lianquan (CV-23), shenmen (HT-7), and fuliu (KI-7) were needled. yamen was needled deeply (1.5-2.0 cun), and the needle was withdrawn immediately when an electric shock like sensation was felt in the upper limbs. lianquan was needled by the bird pecking method until a local sensation of distention was felt. The other two points were treated with the reinforcement method of twisting and rotation of the needle.

 

In the group of patients evaluated and treated, 66 were of the yangming stagnant heat type and 90 of the essence deficiency type. Acupuncture was administered daily with needling time of 30 minutes, using the specified maneuvers at the beginning, and after 10, 20, and 30 minutes. A course of treatment was two weeks. These courses of therapy were continued until the person displayed a cure of the disease or ceased showing improvement. If a patient did not show improvement within three courses, it was considered a failure of treatment.

 

The doctors claimed a "cure" rate of 73%, meaning that the symptoms went away with the therapy and did not come back for some time (unspecified), even with drug therapy discontinued. Further, only 12 of the 156 children treated failed to show some significant improvement. The authors noted that in 84 patients who had shown EEG abnormalities at the outset, 72 of those cases became normal after the treatment course. They did not attempt to explain how a congenital condition such as this might be improved so dramatically without reverting soon after therapy had ceased, and they did not specify how many courses of therapy were needed for the successful cases. However, one course of treatment is usually defined as a period that demonstrates clear effects in some patients and three courses of treatment were considered necessary to determine if acupuncture was not working, so some effects would be expected in the range of 2-6 weeks of daily therapy, with longer duration potentially needed to get optimal results.

 

The lead author of the study, Wu Lianzhong, works at the acupuncture department of the No.1 Hospital affiliated with the Tianjin College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He specializes in neurological disorders and has reported also on treatment of hysteria and stroke with acupuncture.

 

Although a specific set of acupuncture points was given in this article, one cannot conclude that these points are necessarily better than others than might be chosen. In a review of therapies for epilepsy (5), both herb therapies and acupuncture therapies varied considerably from one clinic to the next. Therefore, the points listed above can be used as a guide to therapy, but each patient would be treated according to their specific constitution and presentation of symptoms.

 

POTENTIAL HERB THERAPIES

 

From the herbal perspective, gastrodia (tianma) is an interesting potential therapeutic agent. It is used traditionally to treat convulsions and tics in children and its active ingredients have structural similarities to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is blocked by some of the drug therapies for Tourette's, and which might be regulated by molecules that mimic it. Gastrodia and its active constituents, including vanillin and gastrodin, have been reported helpful in treating epilepsy in China. In the historical records of use of gastrodia, it is noted that for both acute and chronic convulsive disorders (6):

 

Gastrodia is associated with the liver meridian, frequently used to treat the syndromes of excess heat generating wind, with the liver wind stirring up. It has been praised as "the miraculous wind-relieving drug." For instance, Gouteng Yin, a decoction first listed in the Xiaoer Yaozhen Zhijue (Key to therapeutics of Children's Diseases by Qianyi, 1119 A.D.), is a prescription of gastrodia with some wind-extinguishing and convulsion-relieving materials (uncaria, antelope horn, scorpion). For the treatment of chronic infant convulsion, it can be used with ginseng, atractylodes, and scorpion together, which will have the function on tonifying the spleen and relieving convulsion.

 

These herbs are in Xingpi San (spleen-activating powder), used for those of weak constitution having convulsions.

 

Xingpi San is derived from Gouteng Yin by the addition of spleen tonifying herbs. Below is a presentation of key ingredients for five formulas mentioned in the Chinese medicine texts as suited to treating children with convulsions (7).

 

The consistently used item is scorpion. This animal drug, used as a single ingredient or with only one or two other herbs by some doctors, is frequently mentioned as a useful therapy for epilepsy (5). In a recent review of clinical applications of insect drugs (8), it was said that:

 

Scorpion is pungent, neutral, and toxic in nature, and has the same action as centipede (i.e., tranquilizing the internal wind for arresting convulsion, removing toxic substances and hard masses so as to stop pain by clearing away obstruction from the channels and collaterals). Being good at entering the liver channel to expel wind and induce diaphoresis, scorpion has a strong power in tranquilizing the endogenous wind for arresting convulsion.

 

According to the famous 20th Century physician Jiao Shude (9): "Scorpion extinguishes wind and settles tetany, effectively treating frequent jerking, tremors of the arms and legs, and shaking of the head." Researchers examining the effects of scorpion toxin (which causes severe reactions when injected into the bloodstream via a bite) showed that it stimulates dopamine levels.

 

The use of ginseng and licorice in the formulas is common practice in pediatric medicine when children are thought to suffer from a deficiency syndrome (epilepsy, as many other brain-centered disorders, is thought to involve superficial excess that arises from internal deficiency). A condition called "chronic spleen wind" is an example of something to be treated with such spleen tonics and with wind-inhibiting agents, like scorpion (spleen wind, is a type of "fright wind," a severe disease involving tightening of muscles; in the spleen wind type, the child shows symptoms of gastric disturbance, such as vomiting or diarrhea).

 

Typhonium, acorus, arisaema, and pinellia, which appear in three of the four formulas, are all botanically related and used for alleviating phlegm obstruction associated with convulsions, tics, and mental disorders (bamboo sap is an unrelated medicinal material with similar use). Gastrodia, silkworm, antelope horn, zaocys, and uncaria are classified as wind-inhibiting agents.

 

Some of the items listed in the formulas are not available for use. Scorpion is not suitable for routine use in Western practice because of its classification as toxic. Antelope horn is not used due to concerns about the endangered status of the antelope; and ox gallstone is extremely expensive (often substituted by an imitation product of ox bile salts).

 

However, all the other ingredients listed are readily obtained and considered safe.

 

 

Silkworm refers to the larvae of the silkworm that have become infiltrated by the fungus Beauveria bassiana. When collected, the entire bodies of the larvae are full of this fungus, so that it provides the active ingredients sought for medicinal use. This Chinese medicine material is similar in nature to cordyceps, which is a different larvae infiltrated by another fungus, Cordyceps sinensis; the active constituents also differ. Further, gastrodia, a commonly used herb in the anticonvulsive formulas, is a plant that grows in the presence of another fungus that turns out to be the source of its medicinal ingredients.

 

Beauveri is a soil fungus that affects insects. The silkworms get the fungal disease and die, becoming stiffened from the growth of the fungus. Traditionally, these are collected for use as medicine in China, but the fungus is to be avoided as much as possible in silk production. However, it is now the practice to purposefully raise silkworms where this fungus is present to get a large supply of the medicine. Little is known about the active constituents of silkworm fungus; an ingredient of the fungus, beauvericin, is known to be toxic to the insects, and it is possible that it affects their nervous system. This ingredient may have a calming effect on the human nervous system. As to its traditional use, according to the review of insect drugs:

 

Silkworm, salty, pungent and mild in nature, is indicated for disorders of the liver and lung channels, has the effects of tranquilizing endogenous wind and arresting convulsion, dispelling wind to remove heat, and relieve itching and pain, reducing phlegm, and resolving masses.

 

In the English-Chinese Encyclopedia of Practical Traditional Chinese Medicine volume on pediatrics (11), there is a section on epilepsy. One type includes restlessness, sudden crying, and screaming with wagging tongue-a form more similar to the manifestation of some cases of Tourette's. The recommended formula is comprised of codonopsis (a replacement for ginseng in modern TCM practice), licorice, hoelen, acorus, polygala, gastrodia, zizyphus, scorpion, amber, asparagus, and cinnabar. Acorus and polygala are a common pair used for resolving phlegm mist and opening the orifices, gastrodia, silkworm, and scorpion are used to settle wind, codonopsis, licorice and hoelen tonify the spleen, while zizyphus and asparagus nourish the blood and yin to calm the heart; cinnabar and amber are counted as "heavy" natured sedatives. These herbs are of the type that might be used to treat Tourette's syndrome based on theoretical principles. Cinnabar can not be used in Western practice (due to its content of mercury), and scorpion is usually avoided (as previously mentioned), but all the other ingredients are available.

 

 

SUMMARY

 

As a neurological disease, Tourette's syndrome, would seem a reasonable target for therapy by acupuncture, a treatment method that appears to have a significant influence on the brain and nervous system. In addition, certain Chinese herbs are often employed in China with claimed success in treating disorders of the brain and, in particular, those that manifest as convulsions or repeated movements. The therapies aim to calm the nervous system, but do not induce drowsiness, and may reduce the frequency and severity of the tics.

 

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jc

[Claire]

jc

 

WOW!

 

Thanks for posting that. Very impressive. We have individual accupuncture success stories (e.g. Chemar), but never a study.

 

Claire

 

ps re LCD TV's on the other thread, COSTCO is just a big discount store. Sam Club is the same kind of store. The cheapest I had seen was $450 for the duo monitor/TV, so the $200 price if true was pretty exciting.

[jenz]

Hi Chemar and jc,

 

Thank you for sharing your information. It's wonderful.