by Angela Tian Zhu | Oct 11, 2010 | Women's Health
The time after giving birth is very special time for women. Pregnancy, giving birth and breast feeding make the women’s body deficient of energy, blood and Qi. After all the stress the women’s organs become dry. Early detection is very important. Signs for arising postnatal depression in a woman can be grumpiness, being emotionally unstable and moody. A lot of women are also very tired and yawn very often.
One of my patients tried IVF for many years. After five years she finally had a gorgeous baby girl but felt very depressed and the baby meant nothing to her. In today’s society women have babies at a later stage of their life which can be problematic. Many women work very hard and long hours when they get pregnant and are very busy and stressed. Their body becomes deficient and postnatal depression is more likely to happen. Postnatal Depression has become a very common problem. Chinese Medicine believes that women who have had Depression or suffer from it during their pregnancy are most likely going to have postnatal Depression. Stressful life and overuse of the body can also be the cause. The pregnancy experience can play a big role in this. Stressful pregnancy and birth can cause those problems too.
How to prevent Postnatal Depression
Having a good pregnancy is an obviously important factor. Experiencing those nine months being healthy makes it easier to have more energy. A difficult long labour with lots of blood loss can make a woman lose a lot of energy which can be followed by Postnatal Depression. It is very important to watch your diet. In today’s society women very often try to lose weight very quickly after birth which is not advisable. After birth the body needs more energy for breastfeeding and recovering. When on a diet the body becomes more deficient and Postnatal Depression can appear. If you have experienced Postnatal Depression after your first baby it is very important to figure out why and what caused it before having your second baby. This way you can eliminate all factors and try to avoid having Postnatal Depression again. Kidney deficiency, spleen stomach deficiency, or blood deficiency are very likely causes. Try to look after yourself before becoming pregnant, during and after birth and especially the breastfeeding time to prevent Postnatal Depression. Exercise is a great help but should not be done straight after birth. Gentle exercise like Tai Chi and Qi Gong are recommended. Chinese herbs can also be a great help. Contact your Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner or Herbalist.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2010
by Angela Tian Zhu | Oct 11, 2010 | Traditional Chinese Medicine
Cancer cells are an abnormal form of regular cells. Unfortunately normal cells don’t tell us when they are going to change to cancer. Once they have changed we might start feeling that something is wrong but in many cases it is too late. Prevention is the important part. But how do we prevent the change? Qi plays a very important part in this. When you have strong energy the energy can stop the changing of cells and the body can balance the changes. Energy deficient people cannot fight or balance out those changes.
We have been looking for reasons of cancer for many years and found many answers like preservatives, food colouring, pollution, chemicals, sugary and salty foods. These are factors that can produce cancer, but how do we avoid all this? These days it’s almost impossible, which is why you need to strengthen your energy so that you can handle all those rather than cutting them out. In Chinese Medicine cancer is caused by stagnation, stagnation from Qi, dirty Qi, dirty fluid and dirty blood. Combine those in the body cells and it becomes cancerous. There is a very famous Chinese saying: “when vital energy is strong, sickness won’t come to you.’ Just like cancer.
It’s very important to understand your body and find out it weakest part, cancer is always targeting the weakest part of your body. A big factor is stress. Stress can make your Qi “stuck” which means it can’t push the dirty fluid and blood out of your body and will eventually end up in the weak part of your body. For example if you have asthma, weak lungs, had pneumonia, or tuberculosis, stress, lethargy or Qi deficiency over a longer period of time, cells can turn cancerous in your lungs. This can happen in any of your organs.
A lot of women get breast cancer, some uterine cancer. When women are stressed or overusing the body for a long time they are more likely to experience breast cancer. This is due to the hormones going up and down for all their lives. This is the women’s weak part. In men it is very often the prostate. It is there where the hormones they have been using all their life has gone up and down. When stressed, when getting older or having been angry or depressed for a long time, cancer can occur.
Prevention of cancer generally means to strengthen the energy. You need to be sure that there is no Qi stuck in your body. But how do we know? We should eliminate all causes of Qi stagnation. The causes can be:
- Stress (biggest cause)
- Energy deficiency causing stagnation
- Period, pregnancy and birth causing stagnation. It’s very important to take extra care of yourself during those times. This can cause fluid in your body.
- Qi Gong is great help
A lot of people are overweight which also shows there is more fluid stored in the body than it should be. Lifestyle also plays a big part. An unhealthy lifestyle and an unhealthy diet can easily cause stagnation and deficiency. If fluid stays in any part of your body for a long time, the Qi becomes deficient; the cell then might turn into a cancer cell. The key to protecting cancer is strengthening the energy. When your Qi is strong, cancer cells can be turned to normal cells!
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2010
by Angela Tian Zhu | Oct 11, 2010 | Seniors & Dementia
I once had a 70 year old patient who was also my friend. He was very friendly honest and nice. One day he had a car accident. The car was terribly damaged but luckily he was ok. The only problem he had was controlling his urine. He started seeing me for acupuncture treatments. After the treatments he felt much better and was able to control his urine again. Checks in the hospital also showed he was fine. Unfortunately though he started forgetting things a little while after the accident and it got progressively worse. He has two daughters. He forgets their names and doesn’t know what they do. The problem was diagnosed as Dementia. When watching him I noticed he was making very small steps, leaning forward, using the front of the feet, head down reminding me of a rocking doll.
One of my other students has an older neighbour who used to be very active and happy. One day she was robbed on the street which was a great shock to her. Very soon after this incident she was diagnosed with Dementia. The shock had brought on the dementia. In Chinese medicine we say the kidney controls bones, marrow, brain and also fear and shock. When people get shocked the kidney Qi gets destroyed and cannot carry the energy to the brain and the marrow. We say the brain is the sea of the marrow. Therefore the brain very much depends on the kidney energy. When the body gets older, Qi deficiency is natural. Especially in the kidney, the life energy becomes deficient. This is natural to a certain extent. When we get older we are already deficient but having a shock is tragic and Dementia can easily happen.
How to protect kidney energy
Good nutrition, avoid shock and play safe. Fear and shock is normal to a certain degree and not harmful. But having fear for a long time can destroy kidney energy. One of my patient’s mother lived in fear for all her life. One member of her family was very sick and the husband was very controlling. Those many years of fear gradually destroyed her kidney Qi, very similar to a great sudden shock. It’s very important to find out the reasons for your fear and getting rid of it to strengthening the kidney energy. Exercise is also very good, so is good nutrition, avoiding being frightened and shocked. It’s also very important to see a doctor regularly. Walking, Tai Chi, Qi Gong and yoga are good exercises. For prevention of Dementia needs to be done early and you should start thinking about it after the 45th year of your life, especially if there have been cases of Dementia in the family. It is also important to remove any kind of fear.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2010
by Angela Tian Zhu | Oct 11, 2010 | Wellbeing
In Chinese medicine stomach Qi is the function of postnatal energy. Stomach and spleen act like a couple. They are together to receive and digest the food and transfer the nutrition to every part of the body. Once we are born we depend on food to survive and the nutrition we receive from the food depends on the spleen and stomach energy together. Without the stomach spleen Qi, life would be very difficult or impossible.
A few years ago I treated a young lady as a patient. She had irritable bowel syndrome which always made her feel very bloated after eating. Some days she would have diarrhoea, some days she couldn’t go to the toilet at all. She always felt tired, couldn’t concentrate and on top of that she was also depressed. After a few acupuncture treatments to strengthen her stomach and spleen, the stomach got better very soon and she stopped feeling depressed.
I had a similar experience with a young man a little while ago who came in to see me for treatments. He told me he was very depressed, tired and didn’t have appetite but felt bloated. At that time it was very hot and humid outside. When checking the tongue and pulse I noticed there was a lot of dampness in his stomach. This problem is often caused by stomach and spleen Qi deficiency. The spleen energy is the energy moving the fluid in your body. Sometimes when it’s humid and you drink cold drinks or eat too much, your body will store dampness. This dampness can make you feel very tired and depressed. The acupuncture treatment helped him remove the dampness and he started feeling much better.
Stomach Qi goes down, and so should the food, making its way into the lower stomach and finally go out of the body as waste. Spleen energy does the opposite and goes up, brings the nutrition to every part of your body. When those functions don’t work, you are deficient or have too much dampness in your body, your body is off balance and you feel depressed and tired. Your body will either store too much dampness or won’t get enough nutrition. Strengthening the stomach spleen Qi will help you have a stronger stomach and will also ease or prevent Depression.
How to treat and prevent Depression
Make sure you eat regularly and healthily. Avoid eating late and big dinners. When you eat late, food stays in your stomach over night and you store a lot of dampness in your body and you will most likely feel very heavy in the morning. Overall this can also make you feel depressed.
When you are angry and stressed don’t eat too much. The stomach is very tight when stressed or angry, which means the stomach hasn’t got enough Qi to digest the food. So when eating a lot you damage the stomach Qi. Try eating little and light. What you should also avoid is cold icy drinks and food. This also damages the stomach Qi and has to make the body work harder having to warm up the food and then on top of it digest it.
Exercise is a great way of preventing and helping depression. It’s also a great way of getting rid of body fat, fluid and dampness, helping strengthen the stomach Qi.
Stomach problems should be treated as early as possible. We recommend Tai Chi, Qi Gong or other exercise. Chinese medicine has lots of ways of helping stomach problems
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2010
by Angela Tian Zhu | Jul 19, 2010 | Women's Health
There are four important stages of womanhood:
- Puberty (around 13-14 years old)
- Monthly periods (generally about 35 years long)
- Pregnancy and giving birth (even post-miscarriage and termination)
- Menopause (around 49 years old)
The main difference between men’s and women’s health is the cycle of blood in the body. In TCM the woman’s body is described as a ‘blood body’. The movement of Qi promotes blood circulation. Deficiency of Qi can causes depletion of blood or menorrhagia (excessive flow). So it makes sense that if our blood circulation is out of balance our health will be out of balance and we can suffer from:
- PMT
- Period pain
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Post-natal depression
- Low energy
- Hot flushes
- Bleeding problems (too little or too much)
- Acne
- Breast cancer
- Help infertility
Tips:
Take care when you menstruate. Don’t be too tired, don’t drink cold drinks and don’t catch the cold temperatures. Don’t get too hot either, don’t drink too much alcohol and don’t do drugs. Avoid spicy food and don’t go to emotional extremes. Don’t have sex during your period. This will help you maintain your uterus. It also balances the hormones.
Prevention and wisdom are the two principles of Traditional Qi.
Written by Angela Zhu, Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, Qi Gong & Tai Chi instructor.
© Copyright Angela Zhu 2010
