Crohn's
Disease - Chinese Medicine explanation and treatment
Crohn's Disease is caused by inflammation of the ileum near the large intestine. Crohn's Disease
is recurrent, though there can be weeks, months or sometimes years between
attacks. Symptoms of Crohn's Disease include diarrhoea, and cramping pains after a meal, and
the condition reduces the absorption of food, leading to a general feeling
of debility. Surgical operations are sometimes performed in severe cases,
but are not always successful.
Chinese Medicine sees Crohn's Disease as a condition caused by weakness
of the kidneys and also sometimes of the spleen. Treatment with Chinese Medicine will be aimed
at helping the kidneys to improve the quality of the blood, so that the
antibodies will increase in the bowel, allowing it to safeguard itself.
Toning the kidneys is more important than treating the bowel alone. The
stomach and spleen must also be treated, and a strict diet followed. This
is not an easy problem to solve. A Chinese Medicine practitioner will use herbs such as aconite, poria, dried
ginger and astragalus.
Professor Song Ke
