Holistic Healing: The Chinese Medicine Approach to Inflammation

The Chinese medical strategy for treating inflammation is a perfect example of the “holistic” approach which attract so many to this healing art. As opposed to western medicine, which directly suppresses inflammation, Chinese medicine aims to treat the underlying constitutional factors that potentiate the body for inflammatory reactions.

Already in the Han dynasty, Chinese medicine had an extremely nuanced and precise understanding of the mechanism that produces “heat”, a concept that is largely equivalent to inflammation:

“When a cold pathogen lodges in the channels, the blood stagnates, when the blood stagnates there is blockage. When this blockage occurs, weiqi is attracted to the site of blockage and cannot pass through, this leads to ulceration. This is a process of cold qi transforming into heat.” (Lingshu 81)

A core principle of the understanding of inflammation in Chinese medicine is that it derives from blockage in the various microcirculatory systems of the body. The body’s regulatory system is attracted to this blockage to try to restore circulation, in essence recruiting more blood flow to that site. However, if it is unable to undo the blockage, all that excess blood flow creates “heat”, which is an equivalent concept in Chinese medicine to inflammation. Of course, the etymology of “inflammation” means to “set on fire”, so the relation to heat is not lost on western medicine. Indeed, inflamed regions feel hot to the touch precisely because bradykinins and histamine cause blood vessels to dilate, allowing more blood to reach the affected area.

In western medicine, inflammation is treated using drugs like nsaids and corticosteroids which directly suppress the immune response. This is often helpful, but especially in the case of corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, the suppressed immune system then leaves the body vulnerable to exterior pathogens like bacteria and viruses. Furthermore, when finishing a regimen of corticosteroids at a larger dose, the dosage has to be slowly and carefully tapered, otherwise there can be extremely severe withdrawal symptoms.

Chinese medicine, by contrast, takes a multi-pronged approach:

1. Restoring circulatory and lymphatic flow: The most important aspect of treatment is to remove the blockage and the pathogen, which are jointly responsible for the chain of events that occur after. (pathogen lodges in the channels, the blood stagnates, when the blood stagnates there is blockage.)
2. Addressing gut health: just as western medicine has in recent years discovered a connection between chronic inflammation and gut health with the identification of leaky-gut syndrome, Chinese medicine also often focuses on the health of the digestive system when treating inflammatory diseases. A classic example is Jin Dynasty physician Li Dongyuan’s gut-health based formulas for “yin fire”, which is an inflammatory like syndrome.
3. Regulating hormonal imbalances: Chinese medical autoimmune specialist Wu Xiongzhi notes that inflammation can occur from autoimmune reactions that result from hormonal imbalances. Herbs like shudi and fuzi help to regulate these hormonal imbalances and make the body less likely to overreact to external stimuli, which would precipitate immune reactions and ensuing inflammation.
4. Treating inflammation: Like western medicine, Chinese medicine also has an impressive toolkit of anti-inflammatory medicinals that can suppress inflammation directly. Herbs like danggui suppress vascular inflammation, while herbs like zhizi and skullcap can suppress epithelial tissue inflammation.

This multi-pronged approach, which focuses on the causes of inflammation, rather than the inflammation itself, helps Chinese medicine avoid the harsh side effects of western medical drugs which focus solely on suppression of inflammation.

Let’s look at this approach in the context of two specific inflammatory diseases: Lupus and Hashimotos. Western medicine treats Lupus through direct suppression of inflammation, specific strategies and their potential risks are outlined below:

Hydroxychloroquine

• Can cause irreversible eye damage and must have regular eye exams while on drug
• Can cause debilitating headaches and fatigue
• Nausea, diarrhea

Corticosteroids

• Can trigger high blood pressure, diabetes
• Increased risk of infection
• Increased risk of bone fracture
• Anxiety and other adverse psychological effects

Immunosuppressants

• Kidney damage
• Hepatotoxicity
• Severe risk of infection

As for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, western medicine more or less ignores the inflammation, which is the result of an autoimmune attack on thyroid tissue that eventually renders the thyroid completely devoid of function, and instead just supplements thyroid hormone. The obvious issue with this treatment is that it requires lifelong supplementation and doesn’t address the original issue at all.

Now let’s look at the Chinese medical treatment, which is quite similar for these two diseases:

Chinese medicine employs the holistic approach mentioned above to treat the problem.

1. Herbs like ginger, jujube, licorice and cinnamon are deployed to regulate gut health
2. Angelica, peony, poria, atractylodes help restore circulatory and lymphatic flow alleviating blockages that lead to inflammation
3. Skullcap root, gardenia, and anemarrhena directly decrease inflammation
4. Rehmannaie and aconite balance hormones, which can cause inflammation to surge if imbalanced.

The advantage of this methodology is quite clear. In the case of Hashimoto’s, this Chinese medical approach can actually alleviate the autoimmune inflammatory response, meaning the patient can more or less be cured of the problem and avoid taking thyroid hormone. In the case of lupus, the autoimmune inflammatory response can be mitigated or alleviated, while avoiding the very harsh and sometimes dangerous side effects (particularly the permanent damage sometimes rendered to vital organs by immunosuppressants) of the western drugs deployed for this disease.

The Chinese medical approach to inflammatory diseases is truly one of its greatest strengths, with salient results in dermatological diseases, autoimmune diseases and other inflammation based ailments and none of the very harsh side effects that come with taking the corticosteroids, antibiotics, and immunosuppressants that mark the basis of the western medical approach.