Eastern Medicine, CoVid Anxiety, and Immune Health
/by Nancy Allen, LAc.
Every person I have treated since the pandemic, whether a teenager or an octogenarian, has significant levels of daily anxiety. It manifests through restless sleep or lack thereof, agitation, palpitations, headaches, chest tightness, etc. Along with this anxiety comes a sense of helplessness. Understandable, as there has been an ongoing storm of uncertainties. Official guidelines have consistently been unclear and changing week to week. The most clear message has been just to wash hands often and to stay home. As hospitals were overwhelmed, people were told to only seek treatment for Covid infection if there was shortness of breath. By the time patients were admitted to hospitals, their infection had progressed to critical levels. In New York City, nearly 90% of patients put on ventilators died. The public watched in horror and with crippling anxiety with no guidance from epidemiologists nor MD’s about how to strengthen our immune systems for prevention.
In the spirit of helpfulness, early in the pandemic, I posted some herbal tips to boost immune strength on social media and someone commented that I was recklessly sharing dangerous ideas unless I could prove myself with links to studies. I had not anticipated that people would doubt our bodies’ ability to prevent sickness though nutrition and herbs. Well, here is one study showing the immunomodulating effects of twelve herbs. Here is another that showed Eastern Medicine is effective in reducing the progression of mild and moderate COVID-19 to severe disease. There are many more, and even biomedicine is now suggesting that Vitamin D plays a role in preventing severe viral infection.
At the beginning of March, as Italy was experiencing its first wave of the CoVid pandemic, I remember wishing that Eastern medicine would finally become more available and more respected. After all, it has thousands of years of history in treating viral pandemics. Certain herbs have been proven to have immunomodulating effects. For example, Jin Yin Hua, or Flos Lonicerae Japonicae and Lian Xiao or Fructus Forsythiae have been shown to block the binding of Ace 2 receptors. There are herbs for prevention that strengthen the lung, anti-viral herbs that speed up healing and prevent viral replication and disease progression, herbs that prevent cytokine storms, and there are herbs that speed up and boost recovery. Biomedicine has not yet embraced herbal treatment, media portrayal of Eastern herbal medicine is often negative, and the public remains largely unaware of its benefits.
My aim is not to try to claim one lineage of medicine is superior to another. My wish is that Western and Eastern Medicine would join forces. However, it is difficult for Eastern medicine (which tailors and modifies treatment to each individual) to fit into a double blind model to prove efficacy. Five people with the same Western disease diagnosis would get five different treatments of acupuncture and herbs by an Eastern medical practitioner because each person presents with their own individual pattern which influences the way that a disease manifests. How do we fit such tailored treatment strategy into an evidence-based model with a control group? This is an ongoing challenge for Eastern medicine, but in the meantime, its practitioners are aware of its efficacy and have been helping patients prevent, treat, and recover.
The antidote to CoVid anxiety is to get empowered about our own well-being. If our immune systems are strong, disease will likely not progress to critical stages. We have more choices besides only keeping our hands sanitized and wearing masks (which of course we should do when the evidence undeniably points to aerosol transmission). Prevention of Covid or any viral infection should also include ways to strengthen immune function, and there are practical ways to do so through the food we choose (less sugar and more nutrients), the lifestyle we live (regular sleep, rest, and exercise), and the supplements/ vitamins/ herbs we can take. Vitamins A, C, and D are important for healthy immune function. Talk to an Eastern medicine practitioner about herbs for prevention, treatment, and recovery.