Inflammatory Bowel Disease
IBD includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis with symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever, weight loss, and anemia.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
While medical science does not know the cause of IBS, symptoms include abdominal pain that is relieved with defecation and is associated with a change in the frequency and appearance of the stool.

Heartburn/GERD
Heartburn causes an uncomfortable burning sensation in the chest, throat, and stomach when irritating foods are eaten. If it occurs regularly, heartburn can indicate that there is a more serious condition called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD is caused by stomach acid that has entered the esophagus, throat, or even into the mouth.

Treatment
Dietary factors are obviously important to consider in the treatment of digestive disorders. TCM food cures can be discussed and designed specifically to suit the individual's constitution and needs. Chinese herbs can also be prescribed and acupuncture can be used to treat the pain and improve digestion.

As reported in "The Journal of American Medical Association" (JAMA), a group of 116 patients with IBS were randomly allocated to receive either a standard Chinese herbal formula, a customized Chinese herbal formula, or a placebo. After 16 weeks, patients who received the herbal formulas fared better than those who took the placebo, as determined by both the patients themselves and gastroenterologists.¹

A pilot study of acupuncture by Chan and colleagues from the U.K. on 7 IBS patients found significant improvement in both general well-being and in symptoms of bloating.²

Nerve pain

Neuralgia/neuropathy
Neuralgia is pain of a nerve or several nerves. Neuropathy is a disease or disorder, especially a degenerative one, that affects the nervous system. Symptoms are related to the type of affected nerve and can include muscle weakness, painful cramps, uncontrolled muscle twitching, and changes in the skin, hair, and nails.

Shingles
Shingles is a type of neuralgia caused by the same virus as chickenpox. If it becomes active again, it causes pain and a band of rash that spreads on one side of the body.

Treatment
As with other painful diseases, acupuncture can decrease and/or eliminate pain while herbs and foods can be used to rebalance the body.

Reported in Diabetic Research and Clinical Practice, 46 diabetic patients suffering from painful peripheral neuropathy who were already receiving standard treatment were given acupuncture over a period of 10 weeks. At the end of the study, 34 of them (77%) showed significant improvement with 21% able to stop their medication completely.³

Other Diseases

Fibromyalgia
Sometimes called fibrositis, fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder that causes widespread pain and tenderness in the muscles and soft tissues. It is also associated with sleep problems and fatigue.

"Acupuncture clearly can help lots of chronic pain issues, including fibromyalgia."
--Don L. Goldenberg, MD,
chief of rheumatology at Newton-Wellesley Hospital and professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston

Multiple Sclerosis
MS is a serious chronic progressive disease of the central nervous system. The nerves of the brain and spinal cord are injured by the body's own immune system. Symptoms include muscle weakness or spasticity, decreased coordination, vision problems, eye pain, pain, and difficulty controlling urination.

Treatment
Both fibromyalgia and MS are diseases whose symptoms vary widely from person to person. Because TCM relies on its own diagnostic system, it is well suited to treat these ailments as it will treat each person according to their constitution, symptoms, and medical history.


¹Bensoussan, A., MSc; Talley, N.J., MD; Hing, M., MBBS, FRACP; Menzies, R., PhD; Guo, A., PhD; Ngu, M., PhD. Treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Chinese Herbal Medicine. JAMA. 1998;280:1585-1589.
² http://www.aboutibs.org/Publications/research.html
³ Diabetes Res Clin Pract 39(2): 115-21 Feb 1998