Alternative Agenda

9. Chinese Herbal Medicine and Colitis

What is it? the imbalance. The five elements - fire, earth, metal, wood and water - are also used to describe the body, each controlling particular organs and body functions. The 12 organs referred to in Chinese medicine diagnoses are not the same as those in Western medicine yet each has a set of functions, areas of the body it controls and a meridian along which acupuncture points are located.

What does it treat? Chinese herbal medicine treats all physical conditions which don't require surgery or manipulation. Psychological problems such as depression can also be treated with Chinese herbal medicine. Most practitioners would draw from up to 500 different herbs. Prescriptions are dispensed in the form of raw herbs, treated herbs, patent herbs, tablets, powders, tinctures, teas and ointments. Most Chinese herbal medicine practitioners use acupuncture and give nutritional advice as well as prescribing herbs for the treatment of specific conditions.

A first-timer's experience: I brought my seven-month-old daughter to a Chinese medicine practitioner on the recommendation of a friend. She had eczema which was mainly on the top part of her body and particularly on her face and tummy. It was very itchy and she was very uncomfortable at night. I had used two tubes of hydrocortisone cream (prescribed by my GP) which relieved it but didn't cure it. I had also tried emulsifier creams and soaps. But I really hadn't found any of them to work. The Chinese medicine practitioner looked at my daughter's eczema and then gave me a remedy, five drops of which had to be taken in water once a day. He also gave me a cream to put on her skin twice a day. Although he told me that the cream and the drops were the same remedy in different forms, I felt I had no idea what they consisted of, so it did feel like a leap of faith giving them to her. But they worked. Within a week, there was a huge improvement. I continued putting the cream on my baby's skin for about three months and used the drops for about four months although it had been suggested to give her the drops for about a year. Her eczema never returned.

An advocate's view (35-year-old male, office-based professional): I had been taking steroids as part of my treatment for ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease - my consultant couldn't decide which I had - when I decided to try Chinese medicine. I was suffering from blood and mucus in my stools and various drug combinations had been tried to no effect. I felt I was putting on weight with the steroids and had less energy. I needed to try something else as well as changing to an immuno-suppressant drug (which was prescribed when I stopped taking the steroids).

When I went to the Chinese medicine practitioner, she advised me on changes in my diet (such as cutting out yeast products, cutting back on dairy foods, eating my main meal in the middle of the day and taking a particular food supplement). She defined my problem as a spleen and kidney yang deficiency. She made me up a herbal treatment with 12 different herbs and told me to boil the herbs and drink the infusion three times a day after my meals. I started to feel better within three days of taking the herbs. Within three weeks, my symptoms had cleared up completely. I've been taking the herbs for six weeks now as well as making changes to my diet and lifestyle and having regular acupuncture. I feel all of these have brought about a significant difference in a short time.

The medical view: Dr Muiris Houston, Irish Times Medical Correspondent says: "There are no random controlled trials demonstrating the efficacy of Chinese Herbal medicine. Last year, one such treatment was implicated in the development of liver toxicity in an number of patients in the UK. The risks of herbal ,medicine lie in the responsibility of contamination and in the variable nature of dosages. There is also a risk of a drug interaction with conventional medicines.

The Irish Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine is the main register of Chinese Medicine Practitioners and is affiliated to the European Herbal Practitioners Association. Tel: 01-2835566 (Deirdre Courtney). The Professional Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine attached to the Irish College of Traditional Chinese Medicine has five trained practitioners to date. Tel: 01-4963857. A treatment costs from £20-£30 and herbal remedies cost from £5 per prescription, depending on the herbs required.