The Treatment of Modern Western - Biblio.nhat-nam.ru

2ALLERGIC RHINITISAllergic rhinitis refers to a complex of symptoms characterizedby seasonal or perennial sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion,itching, and often conjunctivitis and pharyngitis inresponse to airborne allergens. Seasonal allergic rhinitis,more often called hayfever, is divided into three types: 1)spring type, 2) summer type, and 3) fall type. In spring allergicrhinitis, the allergens are usually tree pollens. In summerallergic rhinitis, the allergens are usually grass pollens, and infall allergic rhinitis, the allergens are usually weed pollens, ofwhich the most common is ragweed. Allergic rhinitis mayalso occur in some patients without regard to season. This isreferred to as perennial allergic rhinitis. The most commonallergens in this type of rhinitis are fungus spores, dust containinginsect feces and proteins, and animal dander.The symptoms of allergic rhinitis include itching of the nose,roof of the mouth, pharynx, and eyes. This is accompaniedby lacrimation, sneezing, and a clear, watery nasal discharge.In addition, there may be frontal headache, irritability,anorexia, depression, and insomnia. Coughing and asthmaticwheezing may develop if the condition is more severe. ItsWestern medical diagnosis is based on the clinical symptomsand history, allergen skin patch tests, and many eosinophilsin the nasal secretions. Western treatment mainly relies onantihistamines and sympathomimetic type drugs, such asephedrine and pseudoephedrine. However, both of thesetypes of drugs have side effects which many people findunacceptable. Glucocorticoids and corticosteroids may beresorted to if antihistamines are inadequate. Desensitizationtreatment is possible if antihistamines are poorly tolerated orif steroids are necessary.As many as one in 10 Americans are affected by hayfever orallergic rhinitis. Both males and females may suffer fromallergic rhinitis. Children may grow out of allergic rhinitisafter puberty. However, as the patient ages, this conditionmay recur. Most patients with allergic rhinitis have a historyof being treated with repeated antibiotics as children as wellas eating a diet high in sugars and sweets, dairy products,fruit juices, and yeasted grain products. Stress may also playa part in this condition. Allergic asthma and sinusitis aredealt with separately in their own chapters.CHINESE DISEASE CATEGORIZATION: Allergicrhinitis is mainly categorized as liu bi ti, runny nose, bi sai,nasal congestion, and pen ti or ti pen, sneezing. Frontalheadache is tou tong, headache, irritability is yi nu, easy anger,anorexia is na dai, torpid intake, or na shao, reduced (food)intake, depression is yu zheng, depressive condition, andinsomnia is shi mian, loss or lack of sleep.DISEASE CAUSES: Former heaven natural endowmentinsufficiency, habitual bodily vacuity due to faulty diet, iatrogenesis,taxation fatigue, and internal damage by the sevenaffects, and external invasion of wind evils.DISEASE MECHANISMS: Unseen airborne pathogensare categorized as external wind evils in Chinese medicine.Therefore, during the acute attack of allergic rhinitis, allpatients are classified as displaying a wind cold exterior pattern.This accounts for the itching, nasal congestion, sneezing,and clear, watery nasal discharge. The lungs are the delicateviscus. This means that they are typically the first viscusaffected by externally invading evils and especially thoseentering through the nose, the orifice of the lungs. Thesewind evils hinder and obstruct the lungs’ diffusing anddownbearing. If the lung qi does not downbear but ratherstagnates and accumulates, it will eventually counterflowupward. This results in sneezing. Because the lungs are theupper source of water in the body, if the lungs fail to diffuseand downbear fluids, these may collect and accumulate,transforming into dampness and phlegm. When these spillover or are drafted upward by counterflowing lung qi, theyresult in nasal discharge and nasal congestion. Wind evils