Fight Hypertension

Traditional Chinese Medicine has a plenty of methods to treat hypertension; acupuncture is one of them.The practice of hypertension treatment by acupuncture can be generally divided into two types: one is to treat the symptom of high blood pressure; and the other, to treat the patient as a whole.

To treat the symptom of high blood pressure is more simple: some acupuncturists know that when certain acupoints are stimulated with needles, the elevated blood pressure will descend, so they always puncture on these points as soon as a diagnosis of hypertension is made; To treat the patienta s a whole is much more complicated, it must be based on differentiation of syndromes. An acupuncturist, by analysing the clinical phenomena of the cases, such as the symptoms and signs, including the pulse conditions and the tongue appearances, determine the type and nature of the case, and then choose an appropriate method to treat it.Chinese doctors have found that hypertension has four main types of syndromes:

1.Syndrome characterised by clinical phenomena such as dizziness, headache, flushed face and eyes, bitter taste in the mouth, restlessness, red tongue with yellow coating, taut and vigorous pulse.

2.Syndrome characterised by clinical phenomena such as headache, dizziness, dry mouth, restlessness, hot feeling in the palms and soles, palpitation, tinnitus, amnesia, sleeplessness, taut, thin and rapid pulse.

3.Syndrome characterised by dry and uncomfortable feeling of the eyes, dizziness, weakness of waist and legs, tinninus, hot feeling in the palms and soles, sleeplessness, red and dry tongue with little coating, thin and taut pulse.

4.Syndrome characterised by dizziness, headache, tinnitus, palpitation, tiredness, weakness of the waiste and legs, pale tongue with white coating, taut and thin pulse.

In China, the acupoints chosen most commonly to treat hypertension are divided into two groups according to their functions:The first group: those used to reduce the excessive yang.The second group: those used to supplement the insufficiency of the vital energy of the body (yin and yang).

In clinical practice, if the case is an excessive liver-yang syndrome, the first group of acupoints is chosen. If the case is a Yin -insufficient yang -excessive syndrome, both groups of acupoints are chosen to supplement the insufficiency. If the case is a Yin insufficiency syndrome of the liver and kidney, then the second group of acupoints are chosen, and reinforcing manipulation is used.

All these mentioned above is based on syndrome differentiation. This is an important principle for the treatment of hypertension by acupuncture.if hypertension is treated under the guidance of this principle, the effects is much better.

The treatment of hypertension by acupuncture has some advantages: for example, its effect is mild, the patients will not feel discomfortable when the elevated blood pressure is lowered. Furthermore, no side effects will appear when a patient is treated for a long time.However, it should be seen that the anti -hypertensive effects of acupuncture are limited. Generally speaking, its effects are better when the case is in the first stage. For those in the second stage or in the third stage, the effects are sometimes not satisfactory. Furthermore, for some complications of hypertension, its effects are not very good yet.

David Deng

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