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Healthphone.com's Healing Centre Panel of professional Chinese doctors,
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omissions. The information in this section is presented as is, for
educational purposes only. As with any medical matter, always
consult your healthcare professional before acting on any health-related
information.
Anorexia is an eating disorder that strikes mostly
young women who suppress the urge to eat and continue to
lose weight to the point of malnutrition and starvation.
It can be fatal, because an anorexic can literally
starve herself to death while she continues to think of
herself as fat and in need of no food. The result is not
only an unattractively skinny body, but also an end to
menstrual periods, and most importantly, the destruction
of healthy muscle and organ tissue, which, when starved,
the body uses as energy sources. Bulimia is
abnormal and is an excess in eating, usually caused by
emotional factors. Once a bulimic person finishes
eating, he will self-induce vomiting. Victims of the
disorder overeat far beyond the needs of their bodies.
Anorexia:
(a) The main symptom of anorexia is drastic weight
loss to the point of extreme underweight. Positive
diagnosis of anorexia will require the doctor first
to rule out that the extreme weight loss has been
caused by a serious illness such as cancer,
infectious disease, disorder of the digestive
organs, etc.
(b) Menstrual periods may stop completely, and a
growth of fine, downy hair appears all over the
body.
(c) Anorexia can usually be diagnosed when the
patient displays the classic symptoms before the age
of 25 and has lost 25% of his/her original body
weight.
Bulimia:
(a) Excessive eating, and the food provides them a
way to relieve stress.
(b) Sometimes they may feel guilty after overeating
and induce themselves to vomit.
(c) Bulimia is sometimes found among mental
patients, especially those who have regressed to
babyish behavior. Excessive eating may also result
from hyperthyroidism. In a very small percentage of
cases, bulimia may be caused by damage to the
appetite control center of the brain.
This ailment,
according to TCM, has different syndromes. The treatment for
these syndromes using herbal medicine and acupuncture is shown
below.
Syndrome (a)
Deficiency of Heart and
Spleen
Anorexia may cause a deficiency of the heart and the
spleen, which in turn may cause a fast heartbeat, poor
memory, general lazziness, a pale comlexion and loose
stools. The tongue is usually pale, with a thin white
coating, while the pulse is feeble and thready.
To treat byHerbal
medicine Therapeutic principle: Herbal medicine helps
reinforce the heart and spleen, nourish blood and calm
the mind.
To treat by Acupuncture and
Moxibustion Therapeutic principle: Acupuncture or moxibustion
may help reinforce the heart and spleen, nourish blood
and calm the mind by using points mainly from the heart
meridian of hand Shaoyin and spleen meridian of Foot
Taiyin.
Syndrome (b)
Flaring up of Liver Fire
Anorexia or bulimia is accompanied by dizziness,
restlessness, shortness of temper, difficulty to fall
into sleep, probable congested eyes, bitter taste in the
mouth and hypochondriac pain, thin yellow tongue coating
and wiry rapid pulse.
To treat by Herbal
medicine Therapeutic principle: Herbal medicine can
eliminate liver fire, moisten yin and sedate hyperactive
yang.
To treat by Acupuncture and
Moxibustion Therapeutic principle: Acupuncture or
moxibustion can eliminate liver fire, moisten yin and
sedate hyperactive yang by using points mainly from
gallbladder meridian of Foot Shaoyang and Liver meridian
of Foot Jueyin.
Syndrome (c)
Qi Stagnation
and Heat in the Stomach
Anorexia or bulimia is accompanied by palpitation
(noticeable or irregular heart beat), easily frightened
patient, restlessness, dream-disturbed sleep that often
wakens the patient, thin white tongue coating, rapid
thready pulse.
To treat by Herbal
medicine Therapeutic principle: Calm the Heart and mind
and sedate the patient.
To treat by Acupuncture and
Moxibustion Therapeutic principle: Calm the Heart and
mind and sedate paient by using points mainly from
Pericardium meridian of Hand Jueyin and Heart meridian
of Hand Shaoyin.
Syndrome (d)
Liver Qi
stagnation
Anorexia or bulimia is accompanied by irritability, less
sleep and excessive mental activity. There is also an
increase in physical energy with violent behavior and
rage which may lead to shouting, harming surrounding
objects and people for no reason at all. Physical
symptoms include a yellow greasy tongue coating and a
rapid, thready and slippery pulse.
To treat by Herbal
medicine Therapeutic principle: Herbal medicine can help
soothe the stagnant liver qi.
To treat by Acupuncture and
Moxibustion Therapeutic principle: Acupuncture or
moxibustion can soothe the stagnant liver qi by using
points mainly from Liver meridian of Foot Jueyin and
Heart meridian of Hand Shaoyin.
Generally speaking, Qigong is good for healing
effect of this specific ailment, however
individual results may vary. It improves the
flow of the qi and the circulation of the blood,
so you'll experience more energy, but, you won't
see/ feel any immediate effects, as with many
exercises and therapies, it takes a few weeks or
even months of practice before you'll see any
significant improvements.
For the information of different types of Qigong
,just click a link above.
This information is for education purpose only.
We strongly advise you seek a licensed Qigong
master to learn the correct ways to conduct
these exercises before attempting them.
(b) Medicated diet
1) Lotus seed (lianzirou) 20g, Coix seed
(yiyiren) 15g, make soup to eat once a day.
2) For anorexia, Hawthorn fruit (shanzha) 12g,
Jujube (dazao) 10g, make soup to drink once a
day.
(c) Life style 1. Treatment can save the life of someone
with an eating disorder. Friends, relatives,
teachers, and physicians all play an important
role in helping the ill person start and stay
with a treatment program. Encouragement, caring,
and persistence, as well as information about
eating disorders and their dangers, may be
needed to convince the ill person to get help
and to stick with treatment. 2. Eating disorders often have an
emotional basis. Keeping a good mental health
balance will help prevent eating disorders as
well as many other problems. Depression, in
particular, has been linked to eating disorders.
If you often feel depressed, consider
professional help.
Acknowledgments:
Healthphone.com greatly acknowledges the support
and dedication of our
Healing Centre Panel, without whom this
section would not be possible.
We also greatly acknowedge Ms. Najaf Munir,
MBBS, for her editorial support. Ms. Munir
simplified the highly technical medical
documents into easy-to-read documents, for the
enjoyment and education of our numerous
visitors.