Submitted By: oepaga
Does anyone have any information about how to treat Latent Tuberculosis with TCM or Koryo hand acupuncture? I was diagnosed with Latent TB in July 2007 and I have been taking INH(Isoniazid) for about 7 months now. I had a Korean Acupuncture doctor in the states say that I didn't need to take INH, but that LTB could be cured with TCM alone. But he said that decision was up to me. Well, I started the INH treatment, and then I moved to Ecuador with my wife in August of 2007. I haven't seen a western Doctor or an acupuncturist since I've been in Ecuador, and I haven't had any major side effects from the INH, except initial signs of peripheral neuropathy, which I've read are normal, especially considering the fact that those signs only appeared when I had forgotten to take the vitamin B-6(50mg) supplements the western doctor told me to take in addition to the INH. I have been taking 300mg daily of INH since August 2007, and was prescribed by a western doctor to take that same dosage for 1 year. I am halfway through.
I haven't had any oficial schoooling in oriental medicine, but have taught myself almost everything(which isn't much). I have all the basics down no problem, but since I have no clinical practice, I generally only stick to Koryo therapy since there are supposedly fewer side effects if I make mistakes in treating myself. My questions are
WHAT POINTS ARE GOOD TO TREAT FOR LATENT TUBERCULOSIS(I have no outward symptoms, I have no cough, and my chest x-ray came back without any signs of lung tissue damage). My blood tests also show no signs of hepotoxicity.
HOW DO I KNOW WHETHER TO TONIFY OR SEDATE A POINT? I have been using hand acupuncture needles to treat points on my hands, and sometimes the traditional local and distal points on my body, are those needles appropriate even though they are smaller?
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO PULSE DIAGNOSIS? I cannot seem to figure out the condition of any of my organs when I feel my pulse at the points on both wrists. All I can notice is when my pulse is weak or forceful. But to know if its hollow, slippery, choppy, tight, leather, I have no clue, any help?
My resources that I am using to teach myself down here in Ecuador are as follows
Prescription for Nutritional healing(3rd ed)
Acupoint location guide: ISBN-965-222-735-8
Acupuncture, the ancient chinese art of healing and how it works scientifically(Felix Mann, MB)
Healing with Whole Foods(Paul Pitchford, 3rd Ed)
Lecture on Koryo Hand Therapy(Tae Woo Yoo, OMD, PhD)
Pocket Manual of Chinese Medicine(Richard Lee, Lucky Dog Publishing)
The Foundations of Chinese Medicine(Giovanni Maciocia)