| PSORIASIS
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CONVENTIONAL
MEDICAL PERSPECTIVE AND THE TRADITIONAL EASTERN MEDICINE REGARDING PSORIASIS?
Psoriasis in the conventional medical perspective is an auto-immune disease
caused by the malfunction of the T-cells which are activated abnormally.
These abnormally activated T-cells accelerates the normal skin cell cycle
of the body and proliferates them, thus the accumulating skin cells create
scaly surface patches which are the main symptom of psoriasis.
Conventional
medicine still has not been able to discern why these abnormally activated
T-cells become abnormal in the first place. There are speculations about
it and some known factors that increase the risk of psoriasis, but the
actual origin of the disease is still not known.
The
treatments that are available today are focused mainly on suppressing
of the symptoms. Since the ‘why’ of the T-cell abnormal functions
are not known, conventional medicine tries to treat just the symptoms
by blocking the mechanism that causes the proliferation of the skin cells.
While these treatments do work, they are only a temporary treatment at
best. Like most auto-immune disease treatments, conventional medicine
focuses on relieving the symptoms, not the elimination of the actual origin
of the disease.
In
Traditional Eastern medicine, we attempt to discover why the disease started
in the first place and try to eliminate the source factor. We do this
by comparing the body to nature. Psoriasis in the Traditional Eastern
medicine perspective has the characteristics of dryness and heat. Since
the skin patches are actually very dry and has a scaly feature to it,
we could use the analogy of a dried out river bed. By analyzing why a
dried out riverbed is caused and devising a plan on how to fix it, we
can also speculate on the why and how of treating psoriasis.
WHAT IS THE TRADITIONAL EASTERN MEDICINE THEORY
OF PSORIASIS? ^top
As with the above comparison to a dried out riverbed, if there is no water
supplied to the surface earth, the soil will certainly become very dry
dusty and become cracked. One way to make the dry and cracked riverbed
into a moist and the nourishing soil is to supply plenty of water and
nutrients to it. This phenomenon can also be correlated to symptom of
psoriasis.
Traditional Eastern medicine speculates that psoriasis is caused by a
failing in the function of the nutrient supplying energy, the ‘Ying-Qi’.
Since there are no nutrients and moisture coming from the body, the skin
tends to turn into a scaly and dry state which manifests itself as scale
patches and skin flakes. The defending qi which is called ‘Wei-Qi’
that normally defends the body from external infiltration is also weakened.
This results in allowing extrinsic factors like germs and viruses to intrude
through the skin thus causing inflammations and immune responses.
HOW DOES TRADITIONAL EASTERN MEDICINE TREAT PSORIASIS?
^top
As with the origin of the disease, we can also speculate how to treat
the disease by looking into how nature deals with the same problem.
So how can we make a dried out riverbed into a moist and nourishing soil?
We fuel in more water and nutrients than are going out. We could also
try to make the underground water streams supply more water and nutrients
up onto the surface. In extreme dried out situations, we could also dig
into the dried out soil and make a well so deep underground water could
come out to the surface more easily.
This
is exactly how our clinic treats psoriasis. We use herbal medication and
acupuncture treatments to strengthen the flow of the qi and blood thus
enabling the body fluids and nutrients to be supplied more readily to
the skin. Also we prescribe specially devised hyperthermal therapies and diet programs
that help the patient body to rapidly return to a healthy moist and smooth
normal skin.
WHAT IS HYPERTHERMAL THERAPY? ^top
Hyperthermal therapy is a specially devised therapy that Dr. Suh has developed
to improve blood and qi circulation of the skin. This therapy, along with the help of
herbal medication and acupuncture treatment, helps strengthen the immune energy
of the body in fighting off the antigen that is causing psoriasis in the first place.
Our clinic uses hot baths, steam rooms and other methods to increase the body temperature
into strengthening the general blood circulation and the qi flow of the body.
|
What
is the difference between the conventional medical perspective and the
Traditional Eastern medicine regarding psoriasis?
What is the Traditional Eastern medicine theory of psoriasis?
How does Traditional Eastern medicine treat psoriasis?
What is Hyperthermal therapy?
Case Studies |