Winter 2008 Newsletter

Newsletters and Articles: Winter 2008 Newsletter Living Healthfully with the Vata Dosha in Autumn Neem, the Medicine Tree of India Newsletter/Article Archive

 

In This Issue--The Straight Dope On:

 

* Pediatrics:  Ear Infections, Colds, Sinus Infections

 

* Hemorrhoids: What a Pain in the A** !

They Don’t Have to be!

 

* Diet for an Expanding Universe: Nopalitos with Tofu and Dill!

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Pediatrics

Ear Infections (otitis media, inflammation and infection of the middle ear) are a common problem in infants and children because their Eustachian tubes become clogged so easily. For each ear, a eustachian tube runs from the middle ear to the back of the throat. Its purpose is to drain fluid and bacteria that normally occurs in the middle ear. If the eustachian tube becomes blocked, fluid can build up and become infected.

The problem is that infant and childhood digestive systems are immature, leading to lots of phlegm production, this is further compounded by diets overly rich in sugars, refined flour, cold/damp energy foods like cheese and milk, and iced beverages.

At the same time childhood is a time of natural stress, children want to grow and be free, and at each stage are being given limits they may not be comfortable with. If the child reacts to this process with excessive levels of frustration, this will produce excess heat in the body.

Anything that causes the eustachian tubes and upper airways to become inflamed or irritated, (excess heat manifests as inflammation or irritation)  or cause more fluids to be produced (a damp condition creates excessive fluids; faulty diet, weak digestion, or both leads to damp accumulation)  can lead to a blocked eustachian tube. In bio-med terms risk factors include

• Colds and sinus infections
• Allergies
• Infected or overgrown adenoids
• Excess mucus and saliva produced during teething
• Drinking from a bottle or sippy cup while in a reclined position

 

 

 

How should I treat my child's ear infection?

 

Treat the Pain!

 

*First and foremost, treat the pain. If you need to, use pediatric Tylenol or Ibuprofen.

I prefer ibuprofen, as it treats both inflammation and pain, whereas Tylenol only

treats pain. If you use herbal meds, you may not need either. But don't hesitate for a

second. The biggest problem of ear infections is pain.

 

*You also can use over the counter, or prescription ear drops for pain. I prefer an herbal formula, Herb Pharm brand Propolis Echinacea Spray- one spray  per ear, 3x day. because it is antibacterial as well as pain relieving. .If you can, spray it into the throat, too. Excellent for sore throats, and colds, too.

 

*Apply a warm compress or warm water bottle over the ear. This is relaxing, increases the blood circulation locally, so may help relieve pain.

 

*Use a Therapeutic Diet to Rid Dampness, Phlegm, and Heat.  Avoid iced or cold foods or beverages, serve warm or hot or room temp beverages and foods. Avoid sugar, all dairy but yogurt, raw, chilled, or frozen food.  Avoid wheat.

Serve soups, rice, cooked meats and vegetables, barley, diluted fruit juice, warm water, ginger tea with honey, peppermint tea with honey.

 

*Give some kind of Pro-biotic containing Acidophilis and Bifidus daily. This helps the immune system and digestion which in turn helps eliminate dampness. There are many pediatric versions to choose from, including Activa by Dannon (full of sugar, though),

and many others at the health food store. Only buy ones that are refrigerated

 

Give Herbal Medicine!

 

 *I have great results treating  ear infection with  Blue Poppy brand Bupleurum and                                          Angelica, even if there is a fever, but without purulent discharge. This is a liquid formula, sweetened with glycerine, so it is easy for kids to take. This is an especially appropriate formula for kids with a tendency to food stagnation. Symptoms will include a greasy tongue coat, bad breath, diarrhea or constipation, fever, restlessness or irritability that is worse in the evening, a red face, red fingernails, warm fingers or toes.

 

*If there is purulent discharge, I add  Echinacea and Goldenseal liquid extract, or other antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal herbals from Kan herbs, depending on the case.

 

*For ear infections associated with allergies, head colds, or sinus congestion, I give Kan herbs brand Bi Yan Pian (Nose Inflammation Tablets).

This opens up the nasal passages and eusthacian tubes, relieves swelling and head ache, and disperses wind-heat.

 

*For ear infections with a cold, but without sinus congestion, or ear infection without either, I use Kan herbs Windbreaker.

 

*For children who catch frequent colds I give medicinal mushrooms like Reishii, or Mycoforte, with Astragalus and Isatis. Often if the child is a strong type, or stressed, I use Xiao Chai Hu Tang Minor Bupleurum Decotion, which clears heat and damp, and strengthens the digestive mechanism.

 

Use Chinese Physical Medicine:

 

Chinese pediatric physical medicine involves the non-needle stimulation of the acupuncture channels involved with ear infection (lung, large intestine, stomach, gall bladder, etc) as well as locations on the upper back, that directly relieve heat, lower fever, calm anxiety and stress, and improve digestion.

 

Between infections we use physical medicine, similar to acupuncture, to boost the immune system and reduce allergic response. Kids love it.

 

This is done by the practitioner, who will then instruct the parents how to do at home.

This is very valuable during the acute phase, or for prevention.

 

 

The M.D. Wants Me to Give My Kid Antibiotics for her Ear Infection, Should I Listen?

 

According to the New York Times  (see below link) the vast majority of ear infections will safely clear up on their own without antibiotics, moreover studies show that there is definitely no benefit to use of antibiotics for ear infections involving only one ear.

And as many of us already know, repeated use of antibiotics can weaken your child's immune system by destroying the healthy bacteria in the digestive tract.

So, the goals for treating ear infections include relieving pain, curing the infection, preventing complications, and preventing recurrent ear infections. Often, treating the pain and allowing the body time to heal itself is all that is needed: And if you follow the above advice, you will be doing just that.

Moreover for many years there was a tendency to over-prescribe antibiotics, leading to the increasing numbers of bacteria that are resistant to these drugs. Joint guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Family Physicians are aimed at using antibiotics for ear infections when they are most needed. This is more likely if the child is under age 2, has a fever, is acting sick (beyond just the ear), or is not improving over 24 to 48 hours.

For more detailed info on the current standard of care in western biomedicine, see http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/ear-infection-acute/overview.html  Please take ownership of your and your child's health by being well informed. However, for legal reasons, nothing in this newsletter should be considered a substitute for your doctor's advice.

 

How Can I Prevent Ear Infections?

 

Prevention of ear infections involves preventing colds, allergies, and sinus infections with diet, lifestyle, and herbal medicine. Herbs are our plant allies.

They are no more foreign than food and air. They are not synthetic, and should be used as part of one's natural life. Especially if your child is frequently sick, you will want to include herbs as part of daily living.

 

Diet: The first act of prevention is to give your kid a healthy diet that does not produce excess amounts of phlegm, damp, and heat. This is especially important for those kids who get frequent colds, sinus, and ear infections. If this does not apply to your kid, then you can be more relaxed. Still, the below guidelines are good for 90% of kids, with adjustments for the individual body-mind type (dosha).

 

*Cold, Chilled, Foods and Beverages.

 

Cold, Chilled Foods and Beverages inhibit good digestion. This includes "smoothies."

Drink beverages at room temp or warm.

Goat's milk is less allergenic than cow's. If giving cow's milk, (or goat's) simmer

 it with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, black pepper, either singly or in combination                                          

 These warming, drying herbs balance the naturally cold damp energy of milk, and                                               

 stimulate your child's digestion. One can even dilute the milk a bit with water.

 I am by no means against milk, but I am against it cold out of the fridge, and it is less damp producing if prepared with digestive herbs.

 

*Dairy

 

Kids with recurrent ear infections should be taken off of cheese which is very damp and phlegm producing. Better to give them lean meat for protein.

Plain yogurt sweetened with fresh or cooked fruit, or a mild sweetener is good.

If you must use cheese, try a lean goat cheese, like feta.

If you give milk, which is an excellent food, follow the heating and spicing instructions given above.

I am not for switching to soy milk. It is just as damp producing, and contains estrogens.

 

*Grains, Veggies, Sugars

 

Kids with recurrent ear infections or with allergies and or chronic colds, may benefit from a gluten free diet. If that is not possible, I would at least dramatically reduce dependence on wheat as the staple grain. There are now tons of delicious non-wheat breads. Explain to your child why you are making the switch. Enlist her as an ally in her own health. No kid likes ear infections. You would be surprised how the child will respond if you don’t make too big a deal out of switching foods, and are kind of matter of fact about it. Of course you know your kid best.

 

Other grains are rice, barley, quinoa, buckwheat, oats, teff,  cornmeal, and rye. You can make great non-wheat pancakes by grinding whole grains in a coffee grinder. I like oats, teff, buckwheat, and basmati rice. Substitute corn tortillas for wheat bread is one way to go.

 

Trick your child into eating green veggies like collards, kale, and broccoli by steaming and pureeing in the blender with a little tahini, or almond butter. If your child likes it spicy, sauté onions and ginger with some cumin or curry powder and blend in. Delicious!

 

In general veggies, especially green ones, are "decongesting." Also good are all of the mushrooms, and hard squashes.

 

Try to reduce refined sugars. Kids who are not overweight certainly need natural sugars.

Try to rely on fresh and unsweetened cooked fruits (remember applesauce?), rather than candy and white sugar. 

 

Here is a lovely recipe I did recently when I had more persimmons than I could eat.

I steamed the persimmons on a low flame with some coconut flakes. When all was soft,

I pureed the whole thing. Voila! Coconut persimmon pudding. You can do the same thing with many kinds of fruit.

 

Herbal and Physical Medicines

 

Use herbal and physical medicines as described above to eliminate phlegm, damp, and heat, and to strengthen the immune system and reduce allergic response.

 

 

Other Preventative Measures

 

*  Wash hands and toys frequently. Also, day care with 6 or fewer children can lessen your child's chances of getting a cold or similar infection. This leads to fewer ear infections.

*  Avoid pacifiers, especially at daycare.

*  Breastfeed -- this makes a child much less prone to ear infections. But, if bottle feeding, hold your infant in an upright, seated position.

*  If your child suffers from chronic constipation, this must be remedied for good health.

    Here the Probiotic is very useful, and I also use Triphala aka Trifal, 2 caps before bed.

 

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Hemorrhoids: What a Pain in the A**!!

They Don't Have To Be!

 

Hemorrhoids are easily, safely, and successfully treated with Chinese Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture, and Diet. (and no, Gladys, we don't needle the lesions directly!).

 

There are several causative factors in Chinese Medical theory of Hemorrhoids.

 

One is  failure of the "Upright" or Zhong Qi. This is the function of the body that keeps things in their place. This is the function that fails in prolapses, such as hernia, uterine or rectal prolapse which is not uncommon after childbirth, and which deteriorates with ageing,  leading to sagging skin, chins, and other appendages.

 

In an otherwise healthy person, who is not pregnant (the burdens of pregnancy often cause hemorroids), the failure of the Zhong Qi is often associated with overwork, stress, and fatigue. This patient may present with painful hemorrhoids, often with blood in the stool or toilet paper

 

A second factor is constipation. Constipation, from any cause, whether a side affect of opiate pain killers like Vicodin, stress, or faulty diet, causes strain in the bathroom, which then forces the veins to herniate. In fact this can even be a factor causing bulging vertebral disks. This person may notice a hemorrhoid appearing suddenly, after a diffcult bowel movement.

 

A third factor is the accumulation of Damp Heat in the Lower Burner. Dampness is a natural necessary factor in the body. We need our mucus membranes, skin, eyes, and hair to be appropriately moist. If not we suffer from dryness. But if our diets are too rich, or we just eat too much and overwhelm the body's assimilative capacities, then we produce excessive dampness. Now you will see a swollen tongue, perhaps with a thick tongue coat. This person will typically have rectal itching after or between bowel movements, and may have other disorders of damp heat, like yeast infections, acne ,athlete's feet,

or benign prostate issues.

 

A fourth factor is excessive use of spicy hot food causing the "blood to race wild."

In this case the person will have frequent blood in the stool and between bowel movements, too. While the person with dampness needs to adopt a clean diet that restricts sugar, carbs and fats, and prioritizes green and other heat clearing vegetables, the person with this condition must eliminate all use of chillis, cayenne, and dramatically reduce

shellfish, wine and liquor, and coffee.

 

Often we see patients with various combinations of the above, so dietary recommendations will combine the above principals.

 

How Do Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine Cure Hemorrhoids?

 

Diet-----Herbal Medicine---Acupuncture

 

Each person being treated for hermorrhoids is given a specific diet to clear heat, dampness, and raise the central qi.

 

At the same time  I do acupuncture and moxabustion to raise the central qi, balance the stress response,  drain dampness, and clear heat. . It is amazing just how well the acupuncture works to "raise the central qi." Early in my career I treated a menopausal woman with uterine hemorrhaging with acupuncture and moxa. By the end of her treatment her bleeding had stopped. After one week it stopped for good. I have been able to reproduce those results many times. And this kind of acupuncture moxabustion treatment is very energizing, and strongly relieves fatigue.

 

Finally I use herbal medicine according to pattern.

 

With fatigue, pain, a pale, puffy or swollen tongue, I use Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang, aptly named, "Raise the Central Qi Decotion." This formula gives a lot of energy, relieves fatigue and alleviates prolapses

 

With itching, strong body odors, and other signs and symptoms of dampness, I use Si Miao Wan, or "Four Marvels Decoction" also called Damp Heat Cleanser. This formula is amazing. It also can treat bladder and vaginal infections or both yeast or bacteria. It strongly clears damp heat from the lower body without damaging the digestive tract.

 

If bleeding is excessive, I might add a single herb called Tienchi, which staunches bleeding.

 

Often I will use the aptly named Hemorrhease (Sophora Fruit Pill) for either internal or external Hemorrhoids with bleeding and pain. This formula works so well because it strongly stops bleeding, relieves the Heat and Dampness that cause the itching, and regulates the Qi so that the hemorrhoid will shrink.

 

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Diet For An Expanding Universe!

 

 

Nopalitos, with Tofu, Shitake, and Dill

 

Ingredients:

One large brown onion, sliced or diced

One cup or so cubed extra firm organic gmo-free tofu

One cup chopped nopales (nopalitos)

(available at any Mexican market, or North Park Produce--there is one in North County and one in North Park)

1/2 cup or more shitake mushrooms, sliced

Fresh Dill to taste, say about 1/4 cup, diced, the finer the better

Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste

Olive Oil to sauté brown onion. I use about one tbsp.

 

Directions:

Saute  brown onion in olive oil

When brown enough for your taste, add Tofu Cubes and sauté till brown.

Add  Nopalitos, Shitake, Salt and Pepper and stir.

Cover and cook on low flame for five minutes till Nopalitos are cooked.

Turn off flame.

Add dill, stir, cover, leave a minute or two, and serve.

 

Serving suggestions:

Excellent as a taco or burrito in a sprouted multigrain or corn tortilla

Good in Pitta too.

Also great with rice.

Mild tasting; kids love it.

 

Additions/Subtractions

One might substitute fresh oregano for dill.

As a leftover, I reheated this with an egg soft cooked in the center

Wanna get crazy? Add some Oaxacan white cheese, or a favorite Feta.

Note Bene: Nopales is excellent cooked in with eggs as an omelette

 

Comment on Nopales, or What the Heaven Are They?

Nopales are the leaves of a particular kind of cactus that grows in the southwest of North America. It is a great health promoting vegetable. It stabilizes blood sugar, and is an excellent laxative, being full of fiber, and "slippery". When really fresh it is crunchy, and has a pleasant salty and sour taste. Its delicious in salad, and is fine juiced with celery, carrot and parsley. Some people add a little pineapple when juicing. I use pear.

 

All above material copyrighted January 2008 by  eyton shalom, san diego, ca  all rights reserved. Use with permission.

 

Eyton J. Shalom, M.S., L.Ac

Ayurvedic and Chinese Medicine

eytonshalom@cox.net  619/296-7591