Ulcerative colitis (“UC”) is an intestinal disease with unknown cause, characterized by recurrent ulcers in the intestines. Patients usually have diarrhoea, bloody mucus and abdominal pain. Western medicine treatment of UC currently has low effective rate but significant side effects, while acupuncture & Chinese medicine may offer better and safer treatments for ulcerative colitis with less side effects.
Recently I have treated another patient of ulcerative colitis (referred to as “UC”). Here I will talk about the UC in terms of the cause, pathology and commonly-seen symptoms & signs, and give a brief introduction to the modern research in recent years on treatment of UC with Chinese medicine and acupuncture, as well as prevention & dietary advice on Ulcerative Colitis.
Ulcerative colitis is a form of colitis, a disease of the colon (the largest portion of the large intestine), that includes characteristic ulcers, or open sores. It is an inflammatory process limited in colonic mucosa and submucosa. Lesions were located in the sigmoid colon and rectum, can also be extended to the descending colon, or even the entire colon. It often has long duration, and often recurs repeatedly. UC can be seen at any age, but most common in 20-30 years.
Cause of DiseaseThe cause of ulcerative colitis is still not clear in Western medicine. It is thought that the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease is co-factored with exogenous substances, the genes and the immune response. Psychological factors play an important role in the deterioration of the disease. And some believe that ulcerative colitis is an autoimmune disease.
PathologyUlcerative colitis is a disease limited in the colonic mucosa and submucosa. There are distinct differences in the inflammatory changes of the intestinal wall between UC and Crohn’s disease, which involves all layers of the intestinal wall in the granulomatous inflammatory process. Patients with UC have congested oedematous colonic mucosa, where can form many different sized, easy bleeding ulcers. In severe cases, there can be no normal mucosa in large segment of the colon. But the pathological changes seen in ulcerative colitis is non-specific, as they can also be seen in bacterial dysentery, amoebic dysentery and gonococcal colitis.
Clinical ManifestationsBoth ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), they share the same symptoms of recurrent intestinal ulcers, frequent diarrhoea, bloody mucus and abdominal pain. The initial manifestation of ulcerative colitis can have many forms. Bloody diarrhoea is the most common symptoms in early stage. The main symptoms include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, stool with pus/mucus, and tenesmus (urgent and incomplete). Other symptoms may include fever, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, sweating, joint pain, weight loss and anaemia.
ComplicationsWestern medicine treatment of UC is mainly categorised to surgical and non-surgical therapy. For UC with cancerous tendency, UC complicated by toxic megacolon, fulminant UC, UC that difficult to control with conservative treatment, UC with many complications, and intractable UC, timely surgery should be considered. Non-surgical treatments include oral, intravenous and retention enema. Drugs used include anti-infectives, corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, and antidiarrheal medicine. However, immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agents have certain side effects, and some can cause nausea, vomiting, headache, rash, sexual function damage, neutropenia, anemia and liver function damage. Long-term use of glucocorticoids, also prone to side effects.
UC in Chinese medicine literature are categorised into “Xie Xie泄泻”(diarrhea), “Chang Pi肠癖”, “Chang Feng Xia Xue肠风下血”(intestinal wind of bloody stool), “Jiu Li久痢”, “Xiu Xi Li休息痢” and other areas. Disease location is the large intestine, staged in the Blood; internal organs involved in are spleen, kidney, lung, and liver. Its onset usually caused by spleen has impaired transform and transport function, leading to endogenous dampness, and the stagnated dampness turned into damp-heat; or external pathogenic factors invasion damage the spleen/stomach, leading to damp-heat; or emotional disturbance damages the liver and spleen, causing disharmony between liver and spleen, leading to Qi stagnation & blood stasis.
All of these can lead to heat accumulation in colon, Qi & blood stagnation, obstruction can cause pus formation, manifesting as abdominal pain, diarrhoea, stool with mucus/pus/blood and other symptoms. As the disease progresses its course, the spleen and kidney are damaged, causing spleen Qi collapse, kidney yang deficiency, anti-pathogenic Qi weakness, eventually yin and yang damaged. Its pathogenesis has characteristics of mixed deficiency and excess, cold and heat. Deficiency refers to yin and yang, Qi and blood, liver and kidney yin deficiency, spleen and kidney yang deficiency, lung and spleen Qi deficiency. Excess refers to damp-heat, heat toxicity, liver qi stagnation, blood stasis. Excess dominates at acute stage and deficiency dominates at remission stage, but damp-heat and blood stasis exist throughout the course.
According to the “Jing Yue Quan Shu – Xie Xie 景岳全书·泄泻”, “the root cause of diarrhoea, is all because of the spleen & stomach”. The beginning of the disease usually caused by intrinsic damp-heat toxin in large intestine, and delayed healing leads to spleen and stomach damage, or further damaging the liver and kidney. Chinese medicine doctors may have different view on aetiology of the disease, but it can be summed up with spleen/stomach weakness, Qi and blood stagnation. Therefore, most of the treatments in Chinese medicine are mainly focused on tonifying Spleen Qi and moving the blood to remove stagnation.
After examined 11 papers of randomized controlled trials (RCT) of acupuncture treatment for UC in 10 years during 1997-2007, researchers in their systems analysis concluded that the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on ulcerative colitis is superior to that of western medicine with safety and less adverse reactions.
Another study found that acupuncture has therapeutic effect targeting the pathogenesis of UC that currently widely believed, and the effect is quick and long-lasting. With the holistic concept of Chinese medicine acupuncture treats gastrointestinal disease by regulating the immune, endocrine and other systems. Therefore, acupuncture for the treatment of ulcerative colitis is an effective, quick option with broad prospects.
Depending on the understanding of the pathogenesis of UC, the pattern identification varies. Generally speaking, Chinese herbal medicine treatment for UC is based on modification of ancient renowned formulas. For instance, damp-heat in the large intestine is treated with modified Bai Tou Weng Tang白头翁汤 or Shao Yao Tang芍药汤; spleen and stomach deficiency treated with modified Shen Ling Bai Zhu San参苓白术散; spleen and kidney yang deficiency treated with Si Shen Wan四神丸 or Li Zhong Tang理中汤 modification; liver Qi stagnation overacting spleen deficiency treated with Tong Xie Yao Fang痛泻要方 modification.
In recent years, researchers have performed RCT with 90 chronic ulcerative colitis patients that were randomly divided into two groups: 40 patients in the control group using Western medicine (WM) antibiotics, hormones and immunosuppressive therapy; 50 patients in CM group treated with Chinese medicine treatment methods like decoction, enema, points sticking, CM suppository and acupuncture. Compared two groups after treatment, the total effective rate (TER) of CM group was 94.0%, significantly higher than 67.5% of WM group. Thus, the CM treatment of ulcerative colitis has good clinical efficacy.
The researchers also found that herbs can improve the immune function in patients with UC, enhance cell immunity and restore the increased IgA/IgM to normal. By comparing the infiltration of intestinal eosinophils and degranulation of mast cells of UC patients before and after treatment, it was confirmed that Chinese herbal medicine can significantly reduce infiltration of eosinophils, reduce the degranulation of mast cells, and suppress allergy. For example, the researchers used electron spin resonance (ESR) revealed that Chinese herb Qing Dai青黛 possesses strong hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and it has significant clinical and endoscopic efficacy in patients who failed to respond to conventional medications.
The latest animal studies also found that traditional Chinese medicine formulas for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, Huang Qin Tang黄芩汤 and Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang半夏泻心汤 have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant effects.
In short, patients with ulcerative colitis should choose soft, light, low residue, easily digestible, nutritious, calorie enough food; Eat small meals; In the acute phase of the outbreak of the severe cases, patients should take the first few days of fasting with intravenous nutrition therapy, let the intestines rest, and after symptoms improved a gradual transition to liquid, semi-liquid diet with less or no residue.
Acupuncturist & Chinese Herbalist
Dr. Rayman Wu is a fully qualified acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner. He is registered with the AHPRA, and he is an accredited member of the Australian Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA) as well as accredited member of the Federation of Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Societies of Australia (FCMA).
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