A Response to a Response to a Response
Dear Editor:
This letter is being written as a reply to Simon Becker's response to "How Do You Treat Heartburn and GERD?" in the April 2001 issue. My article was meant to be a general and highly practical article based on my 16 years experience as a practicing herbalist. It was not intended as the end all and be all of treating heartburn and GERD in terms of TCM, and therefore I feel much of Mr. Becker's criticism was not valid.
I have not found all 10 TCM patterns useful in the treatment of American patients, and therefore I have listed only the most common TCM patterns involving treatment of American patients with heartburn and GERD. Many of the formulas Mr. Becker mentioned in his critique do not work for American patients. In addition, there is a great deal of attention on "professional standard methodology for TCM." First, such a standard does not in English. Besides, the title of the article was not "TCM Treatments for Heartburn and GERD," but rather was intended to reflect how I treat these conditions.
Andrew Gaeddert, BA, AHG
Oakland, California
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