# A Question and Challenge for the Forum



## Jesse Hoover (Feb 8, 2011)

Hello Everyone,I am posting this comment in multiple forums because it applies to many digestive issues.Reading people's difficulties (and successes) on this forum has always moved me deeply. I also suffer from a history of severe digestive and bowel issues that once dominated my life. Now, they are manageable, one might even say cured. I've spent the last 10 years studying medicine to accomplish this. The most valuable medicine, by far for me personally, has been Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM). When I look at the forums, however, there is little mention of the medicine that has helped me so much. It's such good medicine. My question is, Why is no one using CHM? Don't get me wrong, I'm not so foolish as to say that one type of medicine has all of the answers; but, shouldn't it at least be in the mix?I can already hear some people replying that they have tried herbs, Chinese and otherwise. True, people on these forums are sometimes using individual Chinese Herbs. I have to reply, though, that trying a Chinese Herb isn't CHM anymore than tossing a football around makes one a professional quarterback. We're talking about professional medicine here, but again, very few people using it or even asking questions about it.It can be shocking, even devastating, to people that the answers to their health problems are not found with their regular doctors. I've read from many people on these forums struggling with this fact: This and that and the other drug (or even surgery) don't work for them well enough, and they're left asking themselves, What Gives?The most challenging perspective to grasp, however, is that the answers to one's health problems may not even come from one's own culture! I've mentioned that simply taking a Chinese herb is not CHM. This is because people lack the cultural perspective that would tell them how to take it, and even which one's to take!Here's an analogy I've picked up somewhere: Imagine that a tribal member from an isolated rain forest tribe somehow acquires a large box of antibiotics (maybe it fell from an airplane?). He knows nothing about antibiotics, but he's heard that these pills are medicine, so being entrepreneurial, he opens a medical practice. Other tribal members come by when they are sick and, no matter what health problem they have, he gives them the antibiotic. Some people get well and some don't, but he stays in business with the successes he gets. My view is that we are in a similar predicament. Good medicine is made of not just technique, but wisdom. Techniques are drugs, herbs, surgery, or whatever tools a doctor uses. Wisdom is how to apply them with understanding. As people growing up in this society, the wisdom of our modern medicine is so built into our thinking process that most people don't even notice what they know (and what they assume). As a relevant example, when addressing their IBS, most people don't even realize that IBS is only one way of describing (diagnosing) their symptoms. It is our western way but not the only way. Have you ever noticed the sheer diversity of symptoms and signs present across the spectrum of IBS sufferers? These days, we distinguish Diarrhea and Constipation types. Yet, it still isn't enough to account for this incredible diversity of symptoms among sufferers. The most rational answer to this uncomfortable realization is that IBS is neither the best nor the final diagnosis of this group. Like the tribe that has acquired antibiotics, some people get well, but many do not, at least not in a timely manner. What we lack is not more pills but wisdom.I would argue similarly for GERD, IBD, Diverticulitis, and others. My perspective is that our method of diagnosing these conditions is a cultural perspective that actually PREVENTS THEM FROM BEING TREATED SUCCESSFULLY, at least in many (or most) cases. Keep in mind, we are all participating in a massively huge on-line forum, here, testifying to the fact that many people are suffering with digestive problems that our western perspective just is not adequately answering. Still we resist: Almost everyone I've discussed this with resists changing their perspective. Is it our pride? Our ignorance? Do we cling to our diagnosis because it gives us comfort? Do we need to believe in our doctor? Our drugs? What?Please be assured that I bring these points to the forum with the best of intentions. I have been reading the forum (but never registering or writing in it) since '02. I've done my own work and learning in that time, so now it is time to write. What strikes me is that many posts today are nearly identical to posts from almost 10 years ago. I have great empathy for people who are suffering, but I wish this stasis and stagnation would go somewhere productive.The general feeling I get from the forums is that no one has authority over health issues which are both idiosyncratic and very personal. Of course, this is the respectful approach to our individual struggles. However, I am arguing that many of these idiosyncratic issues are understandable with the correct lenses. I humbly contend that CHM has some of this necessary perspective and modern diagnoses leaves less to be desired.Let me mention that CHM is called traditional medicine. Many people take issue with this. I don't believe there is reason to be, but even so, these days this title of "traditional" is somewhat inaccurate: Nations like China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and others have conducted abundant medical research to both understand and enhance CHM. Of course, don't miss the point that several thousand years of recorded traditional use and development doesn't hurt either! Please keep in mind that, although our modern awareness and labeling of digestive issues is entirely new, the world's people have had most of these medical issues time immemorial. Contrary to our modern view, they didn't just sit around suffering or only use the dubious practices of the local witch doctor. CHM is medicine that has lasted and been transmitted through cultural boundaries between nations. Quite simply, this is because it works. If you look carefully through the forums, some members have posted very positive results from taking herbs given by a qualified doctor of Chinese Medicine. As with all medicine, the crucial word here is "qualified". Again, however, I ask most forum members, WHY NOT Chinese Herbal Medicine? Best of health to everyone, Dr. Jesse Hoover, MS, DOM


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