THE COMMON COLD

CAN ANYTHING BE DONE TO GET RID OF THIS QUICKLY?
 

Question:

Why does this pest of all and sundry seem to strike at any time of the year? Why do some people say that you can't catch a cold without germs?

Answer:

This disease is distinguished according to its symptoms as Wind Cold or Wind Hot, either one of which may progress into the other.

Traditional Chinese Medicine [TCM] considers this illness to be caused by Wind attacking the body from without, preventing the Lung Qi [energy] from being properly distributed. It is because the Qi of the Lungs passes through the nose, that the Wind Excess usually attacks the Lungs first.

Wind Cold [Yin] symptoms include headache, fever, absence of sweating, chills, soreness in the limbs, congested and drippy nose, thin white far on the tongue, and a floating, tight pulse.Wind Cold type colds are treated according to the principle of dispersing the Exterior condition and scattering the Wind.

Whereas Wind Hot [Yang]  symptoms include a feeling of distension in the head, sore throat, coughing yellow and thick phlegm, high fever with only slight chills (if any), dryness of the mouth, thin and yellow far on the tongue, and a floating, rapid pulse.Wind Hot colds are treated by dispersing the Exterior condition and cooling the Heat.

There is also the factor of germs, or as the ancients called them 'evils', I quite like that term! Pathogens attack on many levels and in different parts of the whole body, and the lungs example would be colds 'flu etc ... whereas the evils of the contaminated food will obviously attack the stomach.

So this is why there are many different kinds of colds and they can change again into many more kinds of symptoms, everyone is different, and the same 'evils invasion' will bring different outcomes according to how that person is situated, for example the Yang oriented [warm] person will have the additional heat to contend with and visa-versa the Yin [cold] person. Which are you? 

The other factor is the 'migration' of symptoms this is when a nose cold travels down to the throat for instance, this occurs with perhaps the neglect of the first manifestation, and/or a weakness in that area, maybe from repeated attacks over a long period of time.

The holistic human being is the sum total of its parts, and also the condition of these parts, so look after yourself and take good care to observe both the condition of your body and it’s strengths or weaknesses. 

CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE AND TONICS

In Chinese medicine care method is important. Generally, patients who need to be taking extra care have the syndromes of deficiency and stagnation of Qi [energy].

Therefore the herbal medicine should consolidate and restore of primordial [original] Qi, invigorate and enrich the blood, regulate Qi and balance Yin and Yang. The medicine should help to build up body's immune system and improve the constitution.

TWO CATEGORIES OF HERBAL MEDICINE ARE MAINLY USED IN THE INTERNAL TREATMENT:

1. Herbal medicine with tonifying and invigorating effects, including Yin-nourishing Yang- strengthening, Qi -invigorating and blood-enriching herbal medicine

2. Herbal medicine with stagnation-removing effects, including Qi-flow regulating, blood-circulation promoting and phlegm removing herbal medicine

Herbal tonics are available in drink ampules to aid recovery from illness, such as Qi tonic, well-being tonic and Lingchih in Royal Jelly. Other tonics are available in capsule format formulated for women, men and children. There are also tonics in wines, [which may not be suitable for patients with chronic illness].

Go Now to the ARTICLES ~ THE  HOLISTIC CONCEPT ....

Chronic Pain and  Acupuncture

  This section shows two important conclusions.

1.       Acupuncture Analgesic is very effective in treating chronic pain, helping from 55% to 85% of patients, which compares favorably with the effects of potent drugs (e. g., morphine helps in 70% of cases).

2.       AA is more effective than placebo, indicating a real physical effect. There have been several.

These conclusions are based on evidence collected in three classes of studies - all studies have been omitted in which fewer than two treatment sessions were given to each patient:  

Class A studies in which there was no control group for comparison with the acupuncture group, or in which there was a control group in which the subjects received no treatment whatsoever.  

Class B studies in which there was a control group receiving ‘sham’ acupuncture, which was compared with a group that received true acupuncture. 

Class C studies using a placebo control group (usually a disconnected TENS device, or acupuncture needles taped to the skin) and in which this group was compared with the group receiving true acupuncture. It is important to note that the needles were not inserted percutaneously in the control group of Class C studies, and hence this is not considered to be sham acupuncture. 

In classes B and C the experiments were usually single blind (the patient did not know about the sham or placebo but the therapist did know).

In addition to the three classes of studies outlined above, there have been several experiments in which the acupuncture group was compared with a group receiving standard treatments for chronic pain. Several of these studies did show that AA outperformed the standard medical treatment.

However, even if the analgesic effects of acupuncture and of a chemical analgesic are equivalent, this is also a victory for AA, given the many side effects of analgesic drugs (in comparison with drugs AA has very few side effects.

In two additional studies in which acupuncture was compared with TENS, acupuncture was slightly more effective, but the differences were not statistically significant, the success rate was 85% - 90% even after 4 - 8 months follow-up.

In conclusion, we say that AA works better than placebo (class C) for most pains (except neuralgias or migraines) [44, 97] and helps 55% - 85% of patients, which is a remarkable efficacy rate; morphine only helps 70% of patients with chronic pain.

If AA is better than or equal to conventional methods, and if AA is safer than drugs, then AA should become the method of choice for treating certain chronic pains.

End