Chinese Medicine Guys

CMG Responds: NFL Brain Damage

Relevant News Summary:

On January 29, 2009, the NY Times ran an article about brain damage among retired NFL players. The particular type of brain damage is called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).  Commonly associated with boxers, CTE is a progressive condition that results from repetitive head trauma and can lead to dementia. CTE is incredibly rare in the general population.

The most recent occurrence was in Tom McHale, who played for nine years in the NFL. Last year, he died at only 45 years of age. After his death, his brain was autopsied finding CTE, a condition that can only be determined after death.  Six out of six deceased  NFL veterans, between the ages 36 to 50, were found to have CTE.

CMG Take:

In Chinese Medicine, when a person gets a severe traumatic injury, it can lead to blood vessels in the brain being injured. As a result, blood leaks out. This leaked blood is called blood stasis.

The blood stasis stays in the injured area impairing its natural functions. The blood stasis also prevents fresh blood from flowing into the area to naturally nourish it. The blood stasis also gets larger as circulating fresh blood backs up behind the blood stasis. The concept is similar to a beaver’s dam preventing the flow of water in a stream. 

Above: An example of blood stasis causing a problem in the brain. The stasis is like the beaver dam itself. The dam then obstructs the nature flow of the stream. Behind the dam upstream the water piles up, like fresh blood would pile up when stasis occurs. Downstream there is a lack of water flowing through – just as there would be a lack of fresh blood flowing and nourishing the affected area in the brain.

CMG Responds: Obesity's Risk Factors

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 Responds: New uses for Statins to reduce Heart Attacks...

BACK STORY
Introducing a new feature to the CMG blog. It's called CMG Responds which was again a name my sister Carol developed. I seem to have a talent for reading an excellent news article and coming up with the Chinese Medicine viewpoint. It's actually been a curse for ten years or so. I'll read the Nytimes about some Western Medicine development and become angry, frustrated, sad and increasingly hopeless that no matter how well written the article is, and I love the Nytimes, there is never included a Chinese Medicine viewpoint. It happens almost daily, as I desperately want the Chinese Medicine take to be heard that was clear in my mind.

I wasn't able to do this unless I was reading or watching a excellent journalistic take on the Western Medicine development. I just couldn't grok the Western Medicine view unless it was great journalism at work like the Nytimes or NBC News with Brian Williams or the like.

In particular about 6 years ago, I was at a coffee house in Chicago teaching at a Chinese Medince school. I was reading the Nytimes articles about Hormone Replacement therapy and the negative side affects for treating Menopausal woman. I didn't have an opinion about the Hormone Replacement drugs, except that if I was menopausal, I sure wouldn't want to take these drugs if I didn't have too.

I was heart broken and started sobbing in public because so many people... so many woman didn't know a lot of them could be helped by Chinese Medicine. Not all of them. But a lot of them, if they went to a talented Chinese Medicine practitioner. I never forgot that event. It is my motivation for this series of blog entries which my sister Carol says is what news organizations do after some event to get different takes...responses on a story.

RELEVANT NEWS SUMMARY
A blockbuster new Western Medicine study came out recently states that statins reduce high levels of CRP that reduces heart attacks, stroke and death. CRP is a marker found in a blood test that reflects the level of inflammation in the body. This study adds to the existing Western Medicine knowledge that statins reduce cholesterol to reduce heart attacks, stroke and death.