One thing practitioners of Chinese Medicine continually take notice of is how contemporary research discovers what we have taken for granted as part of our age-old tradition--a teaching that has wisdom, philosophy, and thousands of years of experience holding it together. The most recent example of this is how people with insomnia are more likely to have heart disease. (You can read about it here in the New York Times.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Heart rules the sleep. This means that things that affect the Heart's ability to function properly can affect the sleep. The opposite is also true; that insufficient or poor quality sleep will affect the Heart. And in TCM, this organ can be damaged by many other factors, including emotional upset and stress, over-thinking, poor diet and digestive function, weak Kidney function, menopause, and fiery medicinals like sugar, cigarettes, pot, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, and other recreational drugs).
Other symptoms of Heart dysfunction are: excessive/disturbing dreams, poor memory and concentration, heart racing or skipped beats, chest tightness and pain, anxiety, mania, excessive or inappropriate laughter, agitation, a lack of spirit in the eyes, menstrual irregularities, sexual dysfunction, and an inability to speak clearly.
It's always exciting to me when Western medicine finally "catches up" with traditional medicine, because then we come one step closer to developing a confluent language and understanding of how we can best support a person's health care needs. The good news is that acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help with these difficulties, and a thorough evaluation will help determine which underlying disharmony may be affecting the Heart.
As always, if you have symptoms that are especially of concern to you, a consultation with your Medical Doctor may be important to rule out any more serious causes of illness.
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1 comment:
Pretty cool!
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