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Banish bronchial asthma
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Dying with every breath? If this is the plight of those with bronchial asthma, says Dr. M. MUTHUKUMAR, hope lies in acupuncture therapy.
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REUTERS
Breathe easy after acupuncture therapy.
"THE patient dies at every breath," says William Boyd in his famous book on pathology. When he talks about the disease bronchial asthma, no words can explain better the traumatic experience a patient undergoes during an asthmic attack. All medical systems — this includes allopathy — state that this disease is caused by an allergic problem that occurs in the wind pipe, which in turn gets constricted and blocks the free flow of air during respiration. Moreover, no system has prescribed the cure for this disease. The medication — tablets, inhalers, herbs, syrups — available in the market can only control or relieve the problem temporarily, and never help to cure it.
Certain unexplained questions are often raised by patients which are seldom answered. While most asthmatics believe that they may have an attack at any time of the day, the frequent bouts of breathlessness they experience occurs mainly between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Second, during the attack, patients usually exert themselves the most during inhalation rather than expiration. No faculty of science has given us the reason for these two occurrences. But in acupuncture therapy, there are 14 main meridians that carry the vital force chl to all parts of the body. The lung meridian is the one most affected in asthmatic patients. Further, according to acupuncture therapy, the vital force enters the lung meridian by 3 a.m. and is retained there for two hours, leaving the lung meridian by 5 a.m. So during these times, the energy flooding the lung tissues will be at its peak. As the asthmatic patient's lungs are already in a poor condition and as they are exerted the most between these two hours, due to hyper activity, patients become fatigued, which in turn aggravates their experiencing breathlessness. This is the reason for the early morning attack.
In acupuncture, they say the lung meridian controls the inhalation and the dilatation of the ala nasi of the nose. Normally, while inhalation is an active process, expiration is a passive one. Therefore, inhalation is more powerful than expiration as the ala nazi of nostrils dilate and assist in powerful inhalation. In an asthmatic patient, the lung meridian that takes care of these two processes becomes weak leading to difficulties in breathing. This is how the problems experienced by asthmatic patients can be explained in acupuncture therapy.
In acupuncture, bronchial asthma is generally divided into four types:
Cold phlegm
Heat phlegm
Deficiency of the lungs and the spleen and
Deficiency of the lungs and the kidneys.
Acupuncture doesn't deal with asthma as an allergic manifestation. Rather, it deals with it as a disease. Thus, asthma is curable under acupuncture. It is said allergens also aggravate the problem. So asthma is caused by exogenous factors, an improper diet, emotional injury or overstrain which strain the interior phlegm, causing it to rise and obstruct the bronchi.
Wind cold phlegm
The lung is associated with respiration, the skin and the hair, which are in turn affected by cold wind. If cold wind enters the lungs, the stagnation of the vital force results in the accumulation of thin sputum. This leads to the development of the person coughing and breathing rapidly. As the skin is involved, closure of the pores occurs, which leads to chills, fever, anhidrosis.
Heat phlegm
Long standing phlegm fire gathered in the lungs or in the dampness of the lungs, in due course, turns into phlegm heat. This blocks the air passages causing impairment of the flow of vital force to the lungs. The result is cough with thick yellow sputum, a gruff voice and rapid and short breathing. When there is phlegm in the lungs, the patient experiences chest congestion. Because of the heat, a patient feels feverish, thirsty, dryness of the mouth and restlessness.
Deficiency of the lungs and the spleen
In this type, there is a deficiency in the lung meridian itself and the patient will experience breathlessness, shortness of breath, which is aggravated on exertion, cough with profuse dilute sputum. Due to deficiency of spleen meridian, he sweats, is averse to cold, has a poor appetite and has loose stools.
Deficiency of the lungs and the kidney
Due to the deficiency of lung meridian, the patient will have asthma, shortness of breath, which gets aggravated on exertion. Due to deficiency of the kidney meridian, scanty urine, edema, soreness, coldness and weakness of the lower back and knee, cold limbs, aversion to cold occurs.
Diagnosis in acupuncture
By examining the patient and the iris of his eyes, we can immediately diagnose the specific cases indicated earlier. As in any other science, once the diagnosis is made, treatment becomes more simple. The acu points are selected corresponding to the type of asthma and needling done for 30 minutes per sitting. Within a span of 60 days the patient will feel better and is completely cured in 90 days.
Conclusion
Acupuncture therapy has provided some key insights and along with it interesting permanent remedies. And all of this is available without recourse to expensive diagnostic methods and tests.
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