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

11CELIAC DISEASECeliac disease, also called sprue, is an autoimmune digestivedisease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interfereswith the absorption of nutrients from food. People withthis disorder cannot tolerate the gluten found in wheat, barley,rye, and possibly oats. When people with this conditioneat foods containing gluten, their immune system respondsby attacking the villi of the small intestine. When the villi areattacked, they first become inflamed. Later they shrivel up,flatten out, and may even disappear. Without functioningvilli, the body cannot absorb food properly.Celiac is a genetic disease which is more common in those ofEuropean descent than in Asians and Africans. Its incidencemay be as high as one in 250-300 in those of Europeandescent. In Europe, more people are screened for celiac disease.For instance, celiac disease is so common in Italy thatall children are routinely screened for it. Therefore, this diagnosisis more common in Europe than in North America.However, random blood sampling suggests that its incidenceis just as high on both continents. Because this condition’ssymptoms are so diverse, its diagnosis in the U.S. is oftenmissed unless accompanied by its classic manifestations ofdiarrhea and weight loss. Although genetics predispose a personto sprue, genetics alone do not explain the incidence ofthis disease. Surveys suggest that only one out of every tenclose relatives of a person with this disease will also developit. Therefore, there must be other cofactors involved.Celiac disease may affect those of any age. However, sometimesit is triggered by surgery, pregnancy, childbirth, viralinfection, or severe emotional stress. Its symptoms includerecurring abdominal distention and pain, chronic diarrhea,weight loss, pale, foul-smelling stools, unexplained anemia,flatulence, joint and bone pain, muscle cramps, behaviorchanges, fatigue, possible seizures, tingling and numbnessdue to peripheral neuropathy, pale-colored sores inside themouth, painful skin rash (i.e., dermatitis herpetiformis),tooth discoloration, and delayed menstruation, hypomenorrhea,or amenorrhea due to excessive weight loss.The Western medical diagnosis of sprue is based on thedetection of certain gluten antibodies in the blood, such asantigliadin, anti-endomysium, and antireticulin. This diagnosisis confirmed by a tissue biopsy of the small intestine.The Western medical treatment of this condition consists ofa strict, life-time gluten-free diet. Healing typically occurs 3-6 months after initiation of such a diet. However, it may taketwo years or so in older adults. Complications of celiac diseaseinclude lymphoma and adenocarcinoma, osteoporosis,miscarriage and congenital malformation, short stature, andseizures. Patients with celiac disease tend to also suffer fromother autoimmune diseases. These include Hashimoto’s thyroiditis,SLE, RA, Sjögren’s Syndrome, liver disease, insulindependantdiabetes mellitus (IDDM), and collagen vasculardisease.CHINESE DISEASE CATEGORIZATION: This diseaseis mostly categorized as xie tong, painful diarrhea, xing ti xiaoshou, bodily emaciation and whittling, and lei ruo, emaciationand weakness. Muscle joint pain is usually categorized assome kind of bi or impediment. Flatulence is xia qi, descendingqi, fatigue is pi juan, numbness and tingling are ma mu,oral sores are kou chuang, herpes-like sores are chuang yang,sores and open sores, delayed menstruation is yu jing hou qi,menstruation behind schedule, hypomenorrhea is yue jingguo shao, excessively scanty menstruation, and amenorrhea isjing bi or bi jing, blocked menstruation.DISEASE CAUSES & MECHANISMS: The diseasecauses and mechanisms of sprue are the same as those of irritablebowel above, with liver-spleen disharmony being thecore mechanisms of this condition. However, in the case ofserious, symptomatic sprue with chronic diarrhea and weightloss, spleen vacuity and damp heat are more prominent. The