Editor's Note: According to the author, a recent AOM graduate, this paper was originally an assignment for a class on internal medicine. She was encouraged to submit it to Acupuncture Today, and we are pleased to publish it for its perspective on racism – relevant in any age, but perhaps particularly this one.
Racism is a disease. "From 1619 to 2020 racism continues to be a pervasive issue in this country and around the world."1 The disease of racism is systemic, and that reality stirs up difficult conversations and controversy for all people. Racism is a disease among all races of people, particularly Caucasian Americans (White) and African Americans (Black), as well as all races of people of color: Native Americans, Hispanics, and Latin X are also hard hit, and those of mixed race and Asians are far from exempt.
This two-part article discusses how the root of racism is not only a disease, but also one that underlies many health conditions such as pain, anger, hypertension, fear, sadness, depression, heart disease, and the like. The pervasiveness of racism is something akin to cancer, which is a mutation of healthy cells that causes the self to eat away at itself.
The disease of racism has existed from colonialism to this present day. Those issues surrounding it have brought about other mitigating illnesses that continue to affect our overall health physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.2
However uncomfortable this condition is, as long as we pull the covers up and dim the light on this blatant reality, the disease of racism continues to sicken minds, mute hearts, kill innocent people, and maim, destroy and ravage the fiber of each person afflicted with it. This decimates the hopes of having a healthy environment in which we can all live and thrive. We have not worked hard enough to make that connection and that reality clear.3
The purpose of this writing is to do so; to ferret out the disease itself and its connections. More and more people are complaining that they are troubled by what is happening in the U.S. and around the world regarding many acts of racial injustice. "If people can see and understand there is an unbroken line from then (colonialism) until now historically," you can help get people's minds to a different place; to live in the truth and reality that racism is a disease.1
We as Western medical professionals and TCM practitioners can help to heal the wounds and sickness that manifest from this disease. We cannot eradicate this disease, yet it is imperative to know this disease is the root cause of many illnesses that torment the body and mind.
The Western Medical Perspective
In Western medicine, a patient may come to see the doctor with complaints of stress, fear, irritability, anger, palpitations, sleeplessness, and/or digestive issues. With further inquiry by the doctor, this helps determine what the actual cause may be in the person's life. Questions are generally asked on an intake and also in direct conversation with the doctor or a physician's assistant.
It is important to know if there was a significant event that made any of these changes occur; typically they look for something at work, home, in a relationship, or perhaps some new dietary choices. The patient may have trouble identifying if there is any one particular thing or perhaps an incident that triggered their chief complaint.
It could be the person is related as a family member or in friendship, or merely knows of an acquaintance who has been affected. They may or may not correlate and recognize that their pain or discomfort began with the many killings that are announced daily in the news, and more increasingly these past few months.3 They may dismiss the fact that they know of someone personally who has been racially targeted and unjustly harassed; or it may have happened personally to them – they may have been involved as a witness to something traumatic and find it difficult to process, but it may not be considered a fear-based trauma by the doctor.
Any one thing or a combination of these situations just described has a direct effect on the central nervous system (CNS), thus affecting the adrenals. The result: distress signals are sent out for the body to be in a defensive state of fight or flight, flooding the body with cortisol. This state increases blood pressure, heart rate and contractility, taxes the adrenals, and floods the body with high levels of epinephrine. As it continues, this state leads to fatigue, lowers immune response and energy, and also puts pressure on the gastrointestinal (GI) system and kidneys.4
Continued states of fear and stress affect the body's CNS and dampen its ability to maintain a healthy balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, so there is no real period of rest from the external stimuli of daily stressors. As a result, a patient may be diagnosed with multiple conditions based on an intake. The signs and symptoms occurring may fluctuate and intensify as a result. Anxiolytic-related drugs and/or antidepressants or serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drugs can be prescribed, such as Prozac, Valium or Xanax; the patient may run the risk of possible pharmaceutical dependency and become drug addicted.4
GI regulators for constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcers, or GERD may help to temporarily alleviate the discomfort; but how does the doctor address the root cause and help the patient to manage their health during this disease? Additional medication may be needed to manage blood pressure, as diabetes becomes a factor with unhealthy dietary habits of eating poor-quality foods lacking in nutritional value.
Many doctors may also send the patient for a mental health evaluation, during which they may be given even more pharmaceuticals to manage the stress; and cognitive or behavioral therapies may also be part of the treatment course.5
All of these things may address the presenting symptoms, but do not address the root cause, which is often a shortcoming in Western medicine. The bigger question here is, how do you address the root cause of systemic racism that is manifesting itself as a negative influence inside the mental and physical body, deeply affecting the emotional lives of patients?
The TCM Perspective
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) looks upon this condition a bit differently, yet the question remains the same: How do we address the root cause of this disease called racism? I've heard it said by many TCM doctors that we must address and soothe the general first; this would namely be the liver. When liver qi is overworked and disharmony of various patterns occur, the liver tends to overact on other organ systems, and disrupts their flow and harmony, decreasing optimal health.
Liver qi may also become stagnant, causing heat to develop. If this misdirected energy occurs for too long, the excess fullness can lead to deficiency. These patterns generate greater stress in one's system and continue to deeply affect the liver qi. There is continued disharmony as the mind and body struggle with stressful emotions, constant fears, overthinking, loss, anger, grief, sadness, and insomnia. The qi and organs will be affected by the spleen, stomach, gallbladder, lungs and large intestine; and there will also be a disturbance of the heart and shen.6
There are many patterns to consider, but I will primarily focus here on the liver. As I have stated, the liver is the general, and as the commander governs the smooth flow of qi throughout the body. Liver qi excess patterns may generate too much wind, leading to liver fire or liver yang rising (LYR). This pattern of wind is a yang pathogen known to create heat.
If there is too much heat (excess), the pulse may be full and rapid, with a headache behind the eyes that is often located on one side. A red tongue is present and redder on the sides, with a dry yellow coat, and one may experience constipation. This person may be moody and experience irritability and angry outbursts as the disease of racism and injustice wreak havoc.2 Stirring of the wind element is seen in the pattern LYR with migraine headache; and visual disturbance, dizziness and vertigo may often accompany due to deficiency of liver blood or yin. This is not an excess condition, although the pulse is usually wiry, but may also be thin.
Tian Ma Gou Teng San is a formula often used to extinguish wind, clear heat and calm the liver. If the liver fire is blazing, this may damage blood and yin. Shu Gan Tang is a recommended formula.7
Editor's Note: Part 2 of this article continues Antoinette's discussion of TCM manifestations of racism from a health perspective; and why the acupuncture profession can and should take the lead in eradicating this disease. References supporting the research citations for both parts accompany part 2 (June issue).
Over my almost 30 years in clinical practice, I have used Chai Hu Long Gu Mu Li Tang extensively for a wide array of clinical presentations ranging from chronic headaches to anxiety, insomnia, and prescription drug withdrawal symptoms if these situations fit the appropriate patterns – all with extremely positive clinical outcomes.
There’s no doubt that many of your patients visit your practice because they are in pain. And there’s certainly no doubt that curcumin from turmeric (Curcuma longa) can be incredibly effective in stopping that pain, whether due to chronic conditions like arthritis or acute pain from intensive workouts. But your patients may also benefit from curcumin for other reasons.
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Low back pain is defined as pain the posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS), and it can be acute or chronic, localized or radiating. It is a common ailment for adults in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence as high as 65-80%. Whether or not an MRI is available to provide definitive knowledge of a structural issue, acupuncture can be an effective treatment for low back pain.
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