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Important
Note: Although
the information in this section was written by Healthphone.com's Healing
Centre Panel of professional Chinese doctors, licensed acupuncturists,
herbalists and other experts, Healthphone.com accepts no legal responsibility
nor liability for any errors or 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.
Click
here to learn more about our Healing Centre Panel.
Aplastic Anemia
 1.
Overview and Causes
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Aplastic
Anemia is a condition concerning the blood in which the bone
marrow can no longer produce blood cells. It may be congenital (present
at birth) or could be caused by a number of things, including cancer
of the bone marrow, or by contact with poisonous chemicals, radiation,
or antibiotics. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), they are
under the category “deficiency of blood” and “consumptive disease”
or “Blood Syndrome”. It is usually caused by the weakness of the
spleen and kidney, which may be a result of poor nourishment after
birth, improper lifestyle, or contact with poisonous substances
such as chemicals and radioactive, rays, etc.
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 2. Symptoms
(a) Progressive
anemia
(b) Bleeding
(c) Recurrent infection
(d) Erythropenia (decreased number of Red Blood Cells) of the
whole blood.
As a result, the patient is fatigued, has pallor, shortness of
breath, persistent minor infections like sore throat and fungal
infections of the mouth, and eccymosis (purple mottling of skin).
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 3. TCM Effectiveness
and Evaluation
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The pathology
of aplastic anemia is complicated. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal
medicine is effective in promoting the production of Red Blood Cells
(“RBC”) and inhibits broken RBC’s and thereby improves the patient’s
condition.
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 4.
Common Syndromes and Treatments in TCM
This ailment, according to TCM,
has different syndromes. The treatment for these syndromes using herbal
medicine and acupuncture is shown below.
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Syndrome
(a)
Deficieny
of both Spleen and Kidney Yang
A
person with a deficiency in the Spleen or the Kidney Yang may have
a very pale comlexion, with a sallow tongue. Often, they will feel
listless and untalkative. Sometimes, they will have loose stools
or diarrhea as well. Sexual function will also be affected, causing
impotence (when a man is unable to have sexual intercourse due to
lack of penile erection) or premature ejaculation.
To treat by Herbal medicine
Therapeutic principle: The obvious solution to a deficiency
of Yang in the kidney or the spleen is to strengthen the existing
Yang present.
Prescription/Formula: Right-Restoring (Life Gate) Pill (modified
you gui wan ) Prepared Aconite (zhi fu zi) 9g, codonopsis (dang
shen) 15g, white atractylodes (bai zhe) 12g, cuscuta (tu si zi)
15g, cooked rehmannia (shu di huang) 15g, tangkuei (dang gui) 12gm
dried ginger (gan jiang 6g, Chinese Yam (shan yao) 15g, eucommia
(du zhong) 12g, cornus (shan zhu yu) 12gg, lycium (gou qi zi) 15g,
cinnamon bark (rou gui) 3g, etc.
To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
(Please
see the end of this page.)
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Syndrome
(b)
Deficiency
of Both Liver and Kidney Yin
Usually a sickly
feeling will be a common sympton of a deficiency of liver and kidney
yin. This may take the form of a soreness in the loins and the legs,
a dry and sore throat or a feverish sensation in the chest. The
person affected by this would have a sallow complexion with flushed
cheeks and a red tongue with little coating. They may also have
blurred vision with insomnia and night sweating.
To treat by Herbal
medicine
Therapeutic principle: In order to cure a deficiency in the
liver and kidney, one would take steps to nourish and tone these
organs.
Prescription/Formula: Left-Restoring (Kidney Yin) Pill (modified
zuo gui wan) Cooked rehmannia (shu di huang) 15g, Chinese Yam (shan
yao) 15g, cornus (shan zhu yu) 12g, eucommia (du zhong) 15g, lycium
(gu qi zi) 15gm cuscuta (tu si zi) 15g, achyranthes (niu xi) 15gm
ginseng (ren shen) 12g, tortoise plastron glue (gui ban jiao) 12g
(dissolved in hot herbal liquid), etc.
To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
(Please
see the end of this page.)
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Syndrome
(c)
Deficiency
of both Qi and Blood
A person shows
signs of dizziness, blurred vision and low energy if they are lacking
qi. They would have a pale complexion and a pale tongue with a white,
thin coating.
To treat by Herbal
medicine
Therapeutic principle: By stimulating the qi and nourishing
the blood, the deficiency should be cured.
Prescription/Formula: Decoction of Ten Powerful Tonics (modified
shi quan da bu tang) Astraglus (huang qi) 30g, ginseng (ren shen)
9g, poria (fu ling) 12g, white atractylodes (bai zhu) 12g, tangkui
(dang gui) 12g, white peony (bai shao) 12g, prepared licorice (zhi
gan cao) 6g, cooked rehmannia (shu di huang) 15g, cinnamon bark
(rou gui) 3g, ligustricum (chuan xiong) 9g, etc. If patient has
severe insomnia, wild jujube seed (zao ren ) 30g may be added; If
patient has bleeding, cephalanoplos (xiao ji) 15g, typha pollen
(pu huang) 12g may be added.
To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Therapeutic
principle: The qi and blood should be invigorated through using
acupuncture points mainly from the three yin meridians.
Prescription: Sp.6 (sam yin jiao), Sp. 10 (xue hai), BL 20,
(pi shu), Liv. 8 (qu quan), BL 17, (ge shu), CV.6 (qi hai), CV 4
(guan yuan), ST. 36 (zu san li) etc. For Yang deficiency, moxibustion
should be used.
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 5. Healing by
Other Therapies
(a) Qigong and other therapies
For
effect of Qigong on the blood circulation system, click here.
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.
The following
types of Qigong may help:
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) Put Fleeceflower Root (Heshouwu) 30g into water and decoct it
to get some tea, remove the dregs, then
add Barbary Wolfberry Fruit (Gouqizi) 30g, Longan (Longyanrou) 30g,
polished
round-grained rice(Geng Mi) 60g, 5 dried
dates (Hongzao), and a little bit of red sugar, boil them to have
gruel, which is suitable for Deficiency
of Both Liver and Kidney Yin.
(c) Life style
1) As the course of treatment for this ailment is long, frequent
recurrences may occur. The patient should persist in taking Chinese
medicine. Combining Western medicine with Chinese medicine will
have better result than the treatment with only Western medicine.
2) Take precautions against any infections.
3) Pay attention to personal hygiene.
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6.
Psychological Adaptation to a Chronic and Severe Illness
One
encounters different health problems in the course of one's life.
Some problems are acute yet minor and often improve by themselves
or yield to simple self-management. Severe and acute conditions
often necessitate the help of health professionals who may provide
fast relief with specific interventions. However, when the condition
is chronic, the management required is quite different.
Please
click the following button to learn "Psychological Adaptation
to a Chronic and Severe Illness".
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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.
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