Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD), which include Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Crohn’s Disease, Colitis, Diverticulitis, Gastro-Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), Celiac, etc. are on the increase. These sometimes debilitating diseases become a significant mental, physical and financial drain. They become mentally consumptive – awareness of where the next bathroom is, sensitivity to what they put in their mouths, never knowing where the next “attack” may hit – it can be exhaustive.
Life for these individuals can be quite tough. There are a few stand-by medications that work to allay an attack or even keep somewhat dormant, however, not enough is said about healing the conditions. Many believe this is not possible. I have personally seen many severe cases helped through acupuncture and nutrition. Like all symptoms, finding the causative factor is critical in resolving the condition.
Some of the factors that pre-dispose a person to IBD include infections, medications such as antibiotics, hormonal changes, poor dietary habits, stressful lifestyles, drinking and smoking. Simply omitting these things are helpful, but once there is damage done, more aggressive treatment is necessary to resolve the condition. As mentioned above, acupuncture, especially combined with nutritional supplementation is an effective means of remedying the condition.
In July 2007 a systematic review was done by German authors who searched Medline-cited literature for controlled clinical trials of acupuncture in the treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBS, Colitis and Crohn’s disease). The results reported that the quality of life was found to improve significantly with acupuncture. The authors postulated that there were psychoneuroimmunologic mechanisms at play that lead to the clinical improvement of these patients, but also suggested that the efficacy of acupuncture in respect to quality of life may also be explained by nonspecific treatment effects operating on a psychological as well as on a physiological level.
The lesser dramatic conditions of constipation and diarrhea or loose stools can also play an important role in the health of an individual. Although laxatives and fiber drinks are generally helpful in resolving constipation, it is of greater benefit to discover what is going on digestively that sets the stage for it. In other words, constipation and diarrhea is an “upstream problem”. It is a problem that starts higher in the gut. Laxatives or fiber is a down-stream solution for an upstream problem. The digestive incompetence needs to be handled if you don’t want to be on laxatives for the rest of your life.
To be well, it is necessary that changes be made. You must take care of the root cause. Acupuncture and nutritional supplementation are very effective means of resolving digestive issues and the first step to positive changes.
©2010 Holly A. Carling, O.M.D., L.Ac., Ph.D.
