Traditional Chinese medicine may be effective in relieving the symptoms of a neurological illness that first becomes apparent during a person's teenage years, a physician said yesterday at a conference on Chinese medicine.
Tourette's Syndrome, is a neuropsychiatric disease. Patients suffer from various uncontrollable physical activities or abnormal vocalizations such as nonstop blinking, shaking of the head and cursing.
Some patients with serious symptoms are prone to hurting themselves, and may bang their heads against walls. In extreme cases, they can commit suicide.
According to the president of the Taiwan Tourette's Family Association Wang Hui-hsiung (王輝雄), the illness occurs in about one out of every 200 people.
Wang, who is also a children's neurologist at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, added at the conference that the illness was more prevalent among boys than girls.
It is considered incurable with Western medicine as the syndrome can easily recur after disappearing for several months, the association said. Moreover, Western science is at a loss to explain the origins of the disease, it said.
However, Chinese medical practitioner Lin Pao-hua (林寶華) told attendees that traditional Chinese medicine can be effective in treating patients.
Lin said Western medicine usually tries to "besiege, tranquilize and obstruct" the symptoms, but this can lead to more complications such as depression.
Lin, who has treated 335 Tourette's patients in his clinic, said the illness is similar to jingfeng (
The syndrome manifests dry (
He added that Chinese medicine prescriptions used to smooth the blood circulation may be given to patients. Restoratives such as ginseng, on the other hand, may worsen patients' symptoms, he said while showing video clips of his patients.
"Traditional Chinese medicine is made of plants, minerals and animals and thus is more natural. The medicine can be better absorbed by patients with neurological illnesses," Lin said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS