IC and Leaky Gut

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This article came accross my desk today http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/27/new-research-shows-poor... it is quite interesting in that it really underscores the point that when people are trying so hard to find one answer to the problem of chronic issues such as IC by isolating that one microorganism, or one nerve issue, or one protein factor, or one genetic deficiency, or group of tense muscles, or presence of mast cells and so on, they are missing the BIG picture. And as Hippocrates is famous for saying, "it is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to what sort of disease a person has"-meaning one must look at the WHOLE picture-the macro, not the micro. This is also why I came to fall in love with Chinese medicine, as it allows for a paradigm that is so much broader giving more fluidity to the practitioner/doctor treating the person who so desperately needs it. Yes, there are times that having more information in the way of tests are important. And, we do tap into those resources consistently. However, even with the details of certain information, often using the paradigm of Chinese medicine-this gives the ability to think outside the box and do so much more than sometimes treating within the micro allows for. When I published my dissertation in 2006, I spoke about SIBO and Leaky Gut, correlating it with IC and chronic illness-but, I coined the term lowgrade microbial translocation as a way of allowing people to more deeply understand the complexities of how illness travels from the small intestine via the lymph eventually reaching many far away places in the body and creating severe illness. This is the reason that so many other chronic inflammatory conditions exists with those having IC. The bladder is not the only organ involved. It is often accompanies by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, vulvadynia, migraines, fibromyalgia, arthritis, asthma and other chronic disorders. Looking at the problems that lead up to the dam breaking inside the body (the barrier between the lymphatic tissue in the small intestine and the lymphatic system that typically ebbs and flows in a healthy homeodynamic state), is what is so critical. And, then superimposing a model which allows for a different way in which to see the body and its energy systems and working with its ebbs and flows until it stops swinging back and forth in desperation to find its own balance is the key to finding the balance of health. I think this is critical to understand, as it also speaks to why certain people can handle certain types of things invading their bodies, while other cannot. It is all about your immune system, and 70% of that is housed in this precise area I am speaking of in the small intestine. This is the critical center of the body which effects not only your digestive system, but also, your hormonal system, your immune system, and your nervous system. It is via that route that our bodies find health or unwellness. And it is via that route that one may be lead back from unwellness to health by guiding the body along WITH it's normal physiology, not against it. The body cannot maintain and manage to balance its pH, nor it's thyroid function, nor it's microorganism balance when it is pushed so far off it's center. In Chinese medicine, it is said that every Extreme will eventually be driven into it's opposite extreme. And, I have seen this to be true many times over in the last almost 19 years of practice. The Earth school, in Classical Chinese medicine is a system of thought that draws etiologies back to the Gut, which, profoundly influenced the development of the methods that I use. An exerpt from my dissertation: "The entire premise of Chinese medicine itself is the concept of resuming a homeostatic environment. The Yellow Emperor, one of the oldest known documents of Chinese medicine devotes much attention to the idea of homeostasis. Both traditional Chinese medicine and classical Chinese medicine were developed based upon this theory. There were innumerable great master physicians of the time responsible for developing the theories and treatment protocols as far back as the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. – 220 A.D.). The “Four Great Masters” are known as: Liu Yuan Su, Cooling School; Li Dong Yuan, Earth School; Zhong Cong Zheng, Purging School; and Zhu Zhen aka Zhu Dan Xi, Nourishing Yin School. These four are the forefathers of Chinese medicine and their developments have created and profoundly impacted Chinese medicine, as we know it. We will be reminded of their concepts throughout this work (Yuen, 2003)." Li Dong Yuan knew all of those years ago the power and impact that the Earth-the middle-the Gut-had on the body in it's entirety. Another exerpt: "

The human body operates on a system of homeostasis, but its balance is continually challenged by its dynamic state. This author shares the opinion of many other practitioners that chronic illness is due to factors that prohibit the body’s ability to maintain a homeostatic environment. Identifying those factors and correcting them allows the body to return itself to the continuous state of maintaining homeostasis and therefore, health.

Many scientists and physicians in history advocate the theory of homeostasis as the ultimate cure to all chronic diseases (Appleton, 2002). One might consider the application of the word “cure” is somewhat inappropriate, and that perhaps a better way to describe our understanding of the word is to say that the body has been returned to a balanced condition of health; homeostasis. Once achieved, this balanced condition may return to an imbalanced disease state should the homeostatic environment not be preserved. The reason for this is because our cells are in a state of continuous change, we are never the same, and we must therefore uphold this balance to maintain a homeostatic environment – health, (Hill, Feigl, Baum, 1993)." And another-and this one is very interesting which underscores the ides of the body and it being the Terrain that allows for illness to thrive, " Antoine Béchamp (1816-1908) was a contemporary of Pasteur. He, however, did not agree with Pasteur on his ideas of monomorphism. He believed that microorganisms in the body were “pleomorphic” (a term used to describe the ability of an organism to change form) and that the terrain (the human body) in which they lived was responsible for triggering them to become unhealthy (part of the pleomorphic dynamic)."

These are just a few of the ideas behind the work that I do and the reasons that I have not focused on all of the things that over the years have been believed to be the single cause of IC-pelvic floor dysfunction, primary neurogenic inflammation, various bacteria sticking to the bladder surface, antiproliferative factor, hormonal imbalances, lymes disease, mast cell proliferation, etc... I focus on the body in it's ENTIRETY because while each of these things may be problematic, it is because the body is allowing for that condition to be occuring due to the imbalanced nature of it's Terrain.  In my opinion, the Gut is the center and fundamentally major influence on the Terrain, and all else flows to and from it. If all of these passage ways are clear and working in the energetic manner they are meant to, the body will be in a homeodynamic place called health. 

Dr.M

 

 

 

 

Comments

Jeannie Burden's picture
Jeannie Burden

Thanks . I know I am beginning to understand when I find myself not thinking about my condition as often as everyone else I meet , with certain medical problems & I think oh they have leaky gut & likely could be helped by Chinese medicine ! However most people do not want to work very hard & want "a pill" to fix all . So sad 

deir's picture
deir

Thank you for this long, detailed post!