Male Sexual Dysfunction
by Hong Curley
in Health, Sexual, TCM
Acupuncture Treatment
Middle-aged men are most susceptible to sexual dysfunction. Many, however, live with it or self-treat it for fear of ridicule. Ignoring sexual dysfunction may harm your personal relationship and eventually cause unhappiness to you and your partner. On the other hand, providing your own treatment without professional advice may be harmful to your health. Your best option is to seek help for your condition at the earliest possible time.
Signs and Symptoms
Aside from the inability to sustain an erection, you may also experience irritability, ill temper, weight gain, depression, bloated stomach, pain under the ribs, shortness of breath, insomnia, premature ejaculation, palpitations, weak back and constant tiredness.
Causes
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) relates sexual dysfunction with either a decline in kidney energy or kidney deficiency. The kidney, along with the heart, spleen and liver, is the primary source of sexual energy. Low kidney energy is usually the result of stress or psychological causes. Middle-aged men are usually confronted with problems at work, at home, in relationships or in finances. Some men cope with mounting pressures by eating less nutritious food like fast food, drinking coffee and alcohol, smoking and turning to drugs for escape. These unhealthy choices deplete liver and digestive function that ultimately deplete kidney and heart function as well.
For others, sexual dysfunction may be due to kidney deficiency. This is often the result of some physical or emotional trauma arising from an accident or untoward incident. There are also pathological causes for sexual dysfunction arising from neurological damage, alcoholism, drug abuse, lumbar disk degeneration, pituitary tumor, thyroid disease, prostate condition, hypertension, cancer, diabetes and tuberculosis.
Crohns Disease
by Hong Curley
in Bowel, Diet, Health, TCM
Don’t take a diarrhea attack lightly. Aside from causing dehydration, chronic loose bowel movement and watery stools may be an indication of the serious inflammatory disorder known as Crohns disease. Crohn’s disease can affect any part of your gastrointestinal system, starting from the mouth and all the way down to the rectum, but it is most often seen in the lower portion of the small intestine. This disease seems to run in families and its symptoms may be experienced by both men and women between the ages of 18 and 30.
Signs and symptoms
Crohn's Disease - Human Digestive System
Aside from abdominal pain and diarrhea, the following are the usual symptoms of Crohns disease:
- Rectal bleeding
- Fever
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Arthritis
- Skin problems
- Inflammation of the eyes
Causes of Crohn’s Disease
While studies have yet to confirm its real causes, a combination of any of the following may lead to Crohn’s disease:
- Heredity
- Environmental factors
- Infections caused by parasites, bacteria, viruses and fungi
- Dysfunctional immune system
- Stress
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) believes that poor liver function or chronic liver qi (energy) stagnation causes gastrointestinal problems. The liver is in charge of producing bile, a digestive enzyme that aids the small intestines during digestion. When your liver is not functioning well, it may produce more bile than is needed by your intestine causing diarrhea.
You Can Beat Your Yeast Infection (Candida)
by Hong Curley
in Bowel, Health, Liver, TCM
Studies show that intestinal yeast infections (also know as candida) affect a significant number of the population, with one out of 2 females and one out of 3 males said to be displaying varying degrees of infection. A good understanding of the causes, signs and symptoms of the disease may help you avoid or beat yeast infection.
Causes
Your body maintains a healthy balance of good and bad bacteria in your digestive system. Sometimes, when harmful bacteria infects your lungs, ear, throat or other parts of your body, your health professional may have recommended that you undergo a round of antibiotic treatment to fight the infection.
Avoid Fruit During the First Few Weeks
Unfortunately, antibiotics kill both bad and healthy bacteria that thrive in your intestine. Without good bacteria, the fungus that causes yeast infection may reproduce rapidly and overpopulate your intestine. Certain foods also promote yeast overgrowth, such as dairy products, sweets, preserved meats, beer, bread and other foods containing yeast.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a name given to a condition that is characterized by low energy levels without any clear causes. Constant tiredness is only considered chronic when it continues for more than 6 months and does not seem to improve even with sleep. Chronic fatigue appears to strike more women than men and often leads to depression. Because the underlying causes of chronic fatigue are often misunderstood or unclear to a medical practitioner, you may be told that this disease will disappear in time even without treatment.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms
Symptoms
You may have chronic fatigue syndrome if you experience the following signs:
- Constant tiredness or low energy levels for more than 6 months
- Lack of appetite
- Constipation
- Inability to focus your attention on anything
- Headaches, muscle aches and sore throat
- Depression
Causes
While science may not consider chronic fatigue as a disease, traditional Chinese medicine views chronic fatigue as a condition that is caused by viral or bacterial infection, poor liver function, poor immune system and nutritional deficiencies.
If you suffer from chronic fatigue, a natural therapist may be able to help by first checking your overall health and taking a microscopic view of your blood sample. An analysis of the blood sample will show the current state of your bowel, especially if there is an overgrowth of bad bacteria in it. Bad bacteria can affect your immune system and make it difficult for your body to absorb nutrients from food and supplements. Malabsorption, or the inability to absorb nutrients found in blood, may also put a lot of stress on your liver as it works very hard to filter blood that flows all over your body.
Sinusitis Causes, Treatment and Relief
Most people consider respiratory problems like the common cold and sinusitis as normal because people usually encounter any of these diseases at some point in their lives. While symptoms of the common cold may subside on their own without taking any medication, sinusitis may require treatment either to obtain relief from its symptoms and to prevent it from developing into serious conditions like cysts and cancer.
Sinusitis is characterized by a clogged nose, sneezing, runny nose, nasal discharge, pain in the nasal passages and frontal headache. Hay fever, certain types of allergy, viral infection, dental abscess and a poor immune system may aggravate your sinusitis by causing the mucous membranes to swell. Blocked sinuses make it easy for bacteria to grow and cause sinus infection.
- Sinusitis Pain
Traditional Chinese Medicine (or TCM) maintains that sinusitis is caused by wind heat. Wind interferes with normal lung function and prevents mucous discharge from flowing freely and out of the sinuses. When mucous is trapped, body heat may cause it to thicken into a yellowish or greenish discharge, a clear sign that bacterial infection has already set in.
