week 8

Can TCM strengthen our immune system?

I think everyone knows the answer to that: yes, in many different ways. Acupuncture reduces stress and regulates qi and blood. Since stress suppresses our immune function, this is one way the system can be brought back up to do its job. Also, we can strengthen the Wei Qi/Protective Qi, with acupuncture and formulas such as Jade Windscreen/Yu Ping Feng San. I have helped several people with hay fever reduce their symptoms by more than half with this formula. Also by focusing on a person's constitutional weakness, or the root of their ailments, we can strengthen the overall system. One general way that is good for most people is direct moxa on either ST36 or LI4.

The Western Approach to HIV/AIDS

My feelings about the Western approach to HIV/AIDS is similar to my feelings about Western Medicine, generally. I think that there are people who are trying to figure this thing out, diagnostically and pharmaceutically, and there are people who want to make money from it. There are always going to be those doctors who don't recommend TCM or other alternative modalities, but more and more, we are seeing patients come to us for help. Sometimes, it's because of a doctor recommendation and sometimes they are seeking help through their own volition. I have a friend, as I said in class, who lived in a village in Botswana for two years doing outreach, prevention, and education about HIV/AIDS at a clinic, with the focus on women's health. She was trying to educate, but it sounds like mostly it was about handing out meds. I also have another friend who is finishing her training to be a (volunteer) test counselor for HIV/AIDS patients at a local clinic. The links she suggested:
http://www.thebody.com/
http://www.berkeleyfreeclinic.org/hivPrevention.html

Saving the Whales

This story reminds me of one I just read about in my Lonely Planet Laos book. In the village of Ban Na (600 people), the farmers switched from rice and vegetables to sugar cane (a more profitable crop). A herd of wild elephants came down from the mountains and started eating their tasty crops, along with the bananas and pineapples they found around Ban Na. The farmers went back to rice and vegetables, but the 30 or so elephants didn't leave. And their presence was negatively affecting the environment and finances of the village. Rather than shoot the elephants, the villagers decided to make them pay their way. Ecotourism. Tourists can take a guided trek to an observation tower near a favorite salt lick of the elephants and stay overnight in hopes of spotting the herd. Making animals pay their way, an interesting concept...

week 7: genes shaped by natural selection

Again, I think it is kind of silly and arrogant of humans to assume we've stopped evolving. We are far from perfect. Of course we are still being shaped by natural selection! I just wish I was wise enough to see the differences. I was thinking earlier about my family's general health issues: anxiety, addiction, seafood allergies. I was thinking, hey what if our line isn't going to make it? what if we are too anxious to deal with modern life? what if natural selection is slowly weeding us out? That's actually ok, i guess. As long as it's natural selection. The result of environment. Although, at the same time, I'd like something to live on. Our contemplative nature? Our love of butter? Perhaps one of the reasons it happens so slowly is so we don't know it's happening and get defensive.

week7: cancer

I don't think our understanding of cancer is very sophisticated. It is another disease where western medicine looks at pieces of the picture without really grasping the whole. We have an understanding of what goes wrong on the cellular level, but not why it goes wrong. Without understanding why cancer happens, we can't really prevent it effectively.

The TCM view of cancer is more complete within TCM theory, although still complicated. I think it is generally viewed as a type of qi and blood stagnation, possibly phlegm stagnation, often accompanied by deficiency. Therefore, prevention would probably be to keep qi and blood moving (excercise, healthy diet, emotional balance, rest). A life of balance and moderation. In Dr. Robinson's Biomedicine book, the personality type that is cancer prone is Type I: controlled, rational, non-emotional, stuffing feelings inside yet remaining calm on the outside. In a town of 14,000 people, 45 % of the residents with this personality died of cancer. The total cancer deaths of the other 3 personality types was 12.5%. In TCM, this person would likely have some serious Liver Qi Stagnation.

week 6: TCM gets respect in the West

TCM is getting more and more respect in the West, though the patients are bringing about this change in attitude more than the Western medical system. I do hear more and more people saying their physical therapist or MD suggested acupuncture for chronic pain or for help with getting pregnant. I think many people in the West have trouble buying into traditional Asian medicine because the terms (qi, energetic organs, the five elements, etc.) aren't part of our culture, many of our religions, or our philosophies. I think if we just keep helping people and educating them, it won't matter so much whether or not MD's believe in what we do.

week 6: the significance of the use of language and tools in chimps

I think that what is significant is that they didn't really want us to know about it. In the article, it made it seem as if the researchers were only able to observe the chimps using tools, because they weren't aware of the humans' presence. The language thing actually reminded me of a segment of The Baby Whisperer. This super nanny's book has a chart in it that explains the meaning of different baby sounds/cries. She describes hunger cries, uncomfortable cries, and pain cries, to name a few. Generally, we can't even understand our babies, so it's no surprise we have difficulty believing animals can communicate.

I think the use of language and tools by chimps is significant because it shows us where we started.

week 6: living vs. non-living systems

I'm one of those people who bump into a chair and apologize. Not to say that I would call a chair living, but sometimes I think of inanimate objects as things with feelings. Although those feelings may just be energetic stuff absorbed from their environment. The discussion about living "systems" has been very interesting to me. I like the idea that something that we don't think of as cognizant is cognizant because it interacts with its environment in order to sustain its "self." I enjoy having my horizons broadened and being able to fit a few more things into the living category.