Relevant News Summary:
Recently on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, there was a short news report that one-third of Americans are obese and another one-third are overweight, making two-thirds of Americans “fat”. Being fat put you at risk for a “laundry list” of risk factors -- with the top four being heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis.
Above: Slide from NBC Nightly News showing the number of Americans who are obese or overweight.
Below: Slide from NBC Nightly News showing the top four risk factors for being obese.
CMG Take:
In Chinese Medicine, fat is often related with the term phlegm. Phlegm is stuff that you cough up, but it also is a wider concept in Chinese Medicine. Phlegm can accumulate anywhere in the body, although it’s most frequently located in the lungs. Phlegm is basically a kind of junk that accumulates in the body obstructing the body’s natural healthy functions.
To illustrate how phlegm can create so many problems, I want to use another person associated with NBC News: Tim Russert, moderator of Meet the Press, who died in 2008. Russert died of a heart attack. He was significantly overweight, although how overweight is unclear. Before dying, Tim was diagnosed as having coronary artery disease and diabetes. Tim was overweight and had two of the four risk factors for being overweight, as mentioned in the NBC Nightly News report. Following is the CMG’s take on Russert’s medical condition.
Getting back to Chinese Medicine . . . phlegm can accumulate anywhere in the body. Phlegm is the equivalent of fat in Western Medicine. The fatter one has, the more phlegm one has. The more phlegm one has, the more it will disrupt the natural functions of the body.
In Chinese Medicine, if phlegm accumulates around the heart, the heart’s natural functions will be disrupted. If the phlegm seeps into the blood vessels feeding the heart, blood flow can be completely obstructed by the phlegm. What’s the result? Heart Attack. In Tim’s case, he had a Western Medicine diagnosis of coronary artery disease reflecting the partial blockage to the hearts’ blood vessels.
Above: The phlegm accumulates in the heart’s blood vessels, resulting in the blood supply to the heart being cut off. The result: Heart Attack.
In Chinese Medicine, the phlegm is often excessive digestive waste material, and it often has the look of high-fructose corn syrup. In Western Medicine, diabetes is diagnosed when the person has excessive blood sugar. Excessive blood sugar in Western Medicine is the counterpart to phlegm throughout the body in Chinese Medicine. The phlegm, sugary-like substance, seeps in the blood vessels resulting in excessive phlegm blood content.
Above: The phlegm accumulates systemically in Tim’s body. This phlegm is related, in Western Medicine, to excessive blood sugar levels, making one diabetic.
Excessive phlegm can lead to other health issues, and while the NBC report named the top four risk factors related to being obese and overweight, there are others. And while, we don’t know if Russert had any issues related to his prostate, he does represent a typical guy in his 50’s with extra weight and some health issues related to that weight.
In Chinese Medicine, if the phlegm accumulates around the prostate gland, it can lead to prostate cancer in Western Medicine. The phlegm surrounding and permeating the prostrate obstructs the natural blood flow there. The phlegm and the stuck blood can accumulate, which screws up the prostate’s natural cellular functions, and that leads to cancerous growths in the prostate.
Above: Tim reportedly didn’t have prostate cancer. But if he lived longer, he was at risk for developing prostate cancer because he was overweight. The bladder, prostate and urethra are shown, not to scale.
Below: If Tim’s excessive phlegm started to accumulate over the prostate, it could lead to prostate cancer.
And prostate cancer wasn’t the only other health issue Russert was at risk for. His weight also put him at risk for arthritis. In Chinese Medicine, if the phlegm accumulates in the joints of the hands, this can lead to the equivalent, in Western Medicine, of arthritis.
The phlegm gets stuck in the hand joints preventing them from moving freely. The phlegm trapped in the joints leads to joints pain. The disfigured joints reflect the accumulation of phlegm in the joints, in which the natural placement of the bones are displaced. [1]
Above: Tim reportedly didn’t have arthritis, but if he lived longer he was at risk for developing arthritis because he was overweight. If Tim’s excessive phlegm started to accumulate in his hands joints, it could lead to arthritis. As the phlegm hardens overtime, the fingers become painful and disfigured.
Footnotes:
[1] I just finished the first draft of this piece. What is written is a concise and simplified interpretation of Russert’s condition based on a Chinese Medicine interpretation. What I said feels true, but Chinese Medicine isn’t so simple. This is meant to be an introduction and not a comprehensive assessment with all the many nuances of Chinese Medicine.
One of the things I love about Chinese Medicine is how deep it is. I’ve been blessed with great teachers, many of them with more than 20 years of experience. Most of them have said that they still felt like beginners. I thought it was fake humility, as part of the Chinese Medicine culture. I’ve been studying Chinese Medicine intensely and consistently for 15 years, and I still feel like a beginner. It’s not humility. It’s just incredibly deep.
I’m taking out the rest of this footnote, where I explain four different examples of greater Chinese Medicine depth, as it relates to this blog entry. I’ll spare you the details. I could have written 40 examples, easily. But now is not the time for this depth. It would only add confusion not clarity. We’ll get there one day to that depth, Grasshoppers.
Sources:
I gathered the information from the following news sources -- NBC News with Brian Williams and a Newsweek article stating that Tim Russert had coronary artery disease and diabetes.
Western Medicine References:
I gathered the Western Medicine information from the following reference books -- AMA’s Family Medical Guide & DK’s Human Body Book.
Other:
CMG Stuff -- Grasshoppers learn the basics of Chinese Medicine via these CMG books purchased via Amazon link.
Terms -- The first occurrence of Chinese Medicine terms are linked to the Glossary. Then scroll down in the alphabetized glossary to find the term.
Comments -- Currently this section is closed for now. The purpose of this blog is to provide beginners with a simple and clear view of Chinese Medicine from talented Chinese Medicine-related voices. I have significantly scaled back the detail in each blog entry with the intent of making each entry more interesting and less confusing. At this point, I don’t want to add other commentators because I don’t want those who are new to Chinese Medicine to get overwhelmed with information – which is easy to do. Grasshoppers, don’t take it all in at once.
