Press releases covering the treatment of gout
<Oriental Medicine in everyday life> aching joints might signal
that you have 'gout'
Gout is a painful disease that causes swelling in the joints and toes.
Korean name for gout is 'Tongpoong', which means that patients experience
pain from vibration caused by even the slightest of breezes. The cause
of this disease can be traced to the factor of excessive urin-acids in
the blood due to an abnormal metabolism of purine, a form of protein.
Gout strikes most often in the winter, when peripheral blood circulation
is difficult.
Gout is 20 times more likely to strike men than females. It is also known
as ' the disease of Kings' and especially strikes middle-aged men who
indulge in greasy foods and alcohol. The main symptom of gout is gouty
arthritis, which causes severe pain and infections when urin-acid deposits
around the joints. At first, gout occurs in a single joint, the majority
of cases being the toes. Pain usually starts late at night, and when you
wake up in the morning, you experience severe pain accompanied by skin
rashes and a change in skin color. As time passes, this pain spreads to
other joints in the body. For patients with light symptoms, gout spasms
usually occur 1-2 times a year, but more serious patients may experience
more than 1-2 spasms a month.
Western medicine tries to treat gout by prescribing drugs that accelerate
secretion of urin-acid, or reduce the production of urin-acid within the
body. However, because reappears quite frequently, it is difficult to
rely on these drugs all the time. Therefore, a more fundamental treatment
method is needed.
In Oriental medicine, gout is thought to be caused by an imbalance in the relationship between the spleen, which handles digesting functions, and the kidneys, which handle secretion. It is thought that the main origins of the disease lied in the imbalanced interaction between these upper and lower organs. Likewise, stress, excessive drinking, consuming greasy foods and a promiscous sex life are thought to be the main culprits behind the occurrence of gout. Therefore, this illness often strikes Sohyang persons, who have a physical constitution of a strong spleen and weak kidneys, and Sohyin persons, who have a physical constitution of strong kidneys and a weak spleen. Hence, the most important aspect when treating this disease is to enhance the digestive power to suppress production of urin-acid while enhancing the urin-acid discharge ability of the kidneys.
According to this, Kim, sunkyu chief doctor of Hyunduk Oriental medicine
clinic states "To assist the functions of spleen for effective digestion
for so Sohyin person, are helpful, for Sohyang person To assist the functions
of kidney
If treatment is conducted using this method, symptoms usually disappear
in 6 months - 1 year. And to prevent the disease from reoccurring, patients
are advised to refrain from alcohol and greasy foods such as beef and
chicken.
2001/02/06 The Munhwa Daily
Cured! Gout, which is viewed as an incurable disease in modern medical
science, can be treated through Oriental medicine
Sudden and severe pain in the toes and ankles. In the past, gout was rare
disease that was unknown to not only regular people but also doctors.
However, in recent times, the number of gout patients has exploded with
the present number estimated at around 500,000. Gout is a disease that
is caused when urin-acid accumulates within the body and deposits around
joints leading to severe pain and infections. The reasons for why urin-acid
accumulates are 1)urin-acid is produced as a result of a failure in the
spleen to digest purine, which is a form of protein, 2) the failure of
the kidneys to effectively discharge urin-acid from the body,
While the immediate pain affecting gout patients is certainly a problem,
if left untreated, gout can cause renal failure and in serious cases,
patients may die of uremia. As of preset, in modern medical practices,
gout spasms are being treated with anti-inflammatory agent and painkillers
while drugs that lower urin-acid levels in the blood are used regularly.
However, this temporary approach in dealing with gout cannot be considered
as a fundamental cure.
For the majority of gout patients experiencing spasms, if treatment was
conducted based on both medical theory and analysis of individual physical
constitution, the illness can be cured quite easily.
Adopting a fundamental method of treatment, we must first enhance the
function of the spleen and kidneys so that normal production and discharge
of urin-acid takes place. And also, by flushing out the urin-acid deposited
in the joints through urination, we can expect a full recovery.
The treatment period usually lasts 3-6 months and even serious cases of
the illness can be cured with at least 6 months treatment. Throughout
the years, our clinic has been successful in relieving the pain of gout
patients.
(Hyunduk Oriental Clinic 536-8698)
2001/6/ 7 Maeil Economic Daily
2001/6/14 Korea Economic Daily
