longan seeds Li zhi he

[Dorian Kramer]

thought this was of interest
http://www.pubfacts.com/detail/22928829/Longan-seed-extract-reduces-hyperuricemia-via-modulating-urate-transporters-and-suppressing-xanthine

[Keith Taylor]

http://www.goutpal.com/5405/unusual-side-effects-of-allopurinol/ is even more interesting. I’m struggling to post from my phone. What does this kind of research mean to you?

[Dorian Kramer]

I am going to step away from the research part for a minute and get to the idea that is really brewing around in my head. It actually comes from something you consistently say(in your own way) and from a basic rule of Asian medicine, treat the individual and not the condition. There is a book called the PI Wei Lun written by Li Dong Yuan in the jin dynasty and translated by Bob Flaws. In this book one of the central ideas is a condition called yin fire which most directly is a version of metabolic syndrome. It is a multi-system breakdown leading to a host of conditions, characterized by what we call a spleen and liver disharmony pattern, which I believe is the central root for gout(and many other health issues). In this book the central herbal formula is something called bu zhong yi qi tang, which is the base formula for addressing this yin fire. However that formual has about 50 variations in the book and according to the translator ahs innumerable variations and he considers(and he is no slouch in this field)it to be the most common base formula he uses. So what I mean by base is it is a starting point and then herbs are added or subtracted as individual needs and changes occur. Since these variations should be based on both classical indications, such as the patient has damp heat and yin deficiency so we will include huang bai, and modern research, such as the formula often calls for herbs which act as mild diuretics so let’s include liu yue xue which has that function but also specifically increases the elimination of uric acid ( this second area is where these studies impact the most). As a side note the main herb in bu zhong yi qi tang is huang qi or astragalus, which was pretty high in the arena of XO inhibitors. I think the main advantage that these treatments have over allopurinol is that (from my understanding) once you are on it you are on it for life, while the TCM(traditional Chinese medicine) approach may(key word) offer a restoration of balance, this means that someone may be able to quit the herbs and maintain their gout free life with mostly lifestyle and dietary changes. This is not definitive, and would have to be monitored, but I am going to do my best to be that person. As a side note in the formula one of the herbs that should be usually removed when dealing with gout is Gan cao or licorice root which can cause kidney’s to hold on to sodium, which as I understand it causes them to retain uric acid as well

[Keith Taylor]

This is absolutely fascinating, Dorian, though I’m not sure how much I can help.

I’m accepting of other medical philosophies, and whenever TCM is raised here, the discussions are always interesting. For myself, I’m happy with my Western Medicine approach, but I would never say it is the only way for everybody.

When I first set out to learn about gout, I was astonished and appalled at the amount of misinformation I was faced with. Some through ignorance, and much through greed. I started GoutPal with the hope that I could document my learning process. I started to make sense of gout facts, and recognize gout myths. So, all I can really offer is a chance for you to do something similar. Options I can think of off the top of my head are:

• A TCM for gout forum here, but maybe it should be all traditional medicines or alternatives to Western Medicine?
• Your own website. A project I’ve had in mind is yourgoutsite.goutpal.net, where yourgoutsite can be anything you like.
• Guest Author on GoutPal.com

I’d love to see opinions from other GoutPal members too. Also, non-members can comment via the orange gout support button, or the Gout Helpdesk.

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