A Traditional Chinese Medicine, Biblical and Western perspective
By: Gazania McCoy -Washington



Many people are familiar with the saying, "you are what you eat", but what
about "you are what you think". What goes on in our mind has a great effect
on the body. Thoughts and emotions affect all organs and systems of the
human body: nervous, immune, hormonal, circulatory, and reproductive. In
my report I want to explore briefly TCM perspective, western view and
knowledge from the bible that mentions the connection between emotions
and organ health.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
"The seven basic emotional related to organ function anger, joy, worry,
pensiveness, sadness, fear, and shock (fright)". Imbalance of these emotions
can affect organ function. Example: prolonged anger lead to imbalance liver
and liver imbalance symptoms of anger. Anger causes imbalance to the liver.
Joy to Heart, Worry to Spleen, Pensiveness to Spleen, Sadness to Lungs,
Fear to Kidneys, Shock to Heart & Kidneys.
Emotional well being is vital part of health. Having these emotions are part of
the normal human experience, but the Problem is when our emotions
become excessive or repressed. Sometimes our organ may be out of
balance and produce emotional imbalance, which gives us the emotions
mentioned above.

Our happiness is important for our health. Uncontrolled emotions can disrupt
vital energy qi and weaken the immune system. Zhang zi he (1156 -1228)
discovered that when emotions come suddenly, or you hang on to them too
long, it upsets the energy flow threw your meridians, make you sick.
The chart below shows what each emotion can do to the body internally.
“Total Chinese Health” page 45
Emotion Internal climate
Joy Heat
Anger Wind, fire, heat
Fear Cold
Worry Dampness
Sadness. Dryness
Biblical
The HeartThe important organ of the body whose chief function is to pump the blood to
nourish the body cells.
Leviticus 17:14 “For the life* of every sort of flesh is its blood, because the life* is in it. “
The Heart is prominent in the scriptures, its mentioned 1,000 times.
Safeguard your heart the whole inner person for out of it are the sources of
life. In the bible when the heart is mentioned with mind it refers to the
emotions, desires, feelings of the inner person.
Proverbs 14:30- “A calm heart is the life of the fleshly organism.”
Proverbs 17:22-"A heart that is joyful does as a curer" (king Solomon 3000 years ago).
Journal of the American college of cardiology stated "current findings suggest
harmful association between anger and hostility and coronary heart disease."
The Journal notes "successful prevention and treatments of CHD might
involve not only conventional, physical and pharmaceutical therapies, but
also psychological management focusing on anger and hostility". Simply put,
a calm heart fosters good health just like the bible and TCM say. Dr. Derek
Cox a health official in Scotland said in a BBC report "If you are happy you
are likely in the future to have less in the way of physical illness than those
who are unhappy.

Worry
Anxiety can be damaging to one’s well-being. It can lead to depression,
robbing one of strength and the initiative to act. Says the inspired proverb:
“Anxious care in the heart of a man is what will cause it to bow down.”
Proverbs 12:25- “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,
But a good word cheers it up.”
There can be serious physical manifestations from worry. Observes the book
How to Master Your Nerves: “Doctors know how anxiety can affect the body’s
functions. It can raise (or lower) blood pressure; it can elevate the white blood
cell count; it can suddenly affect the blood sugar by the action of adrenalin on
the liver. It can even change your electrocardiogram. Dr. Charles Mayo said:
‘Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the whole nervous
system.’”
Western
Traditional western medicine believe that emotions affect our health. Doctors
have pondered the connection between our mental and physical health for
centuries. In early Western medicine they believed that emotions were linked
to disease and prescribe that people relax and visit a spa when they were
sick. Eventually emotions were no longer the causes of illness, but bacteria
or toxins. So new treatments like antibiotics cured illness.
They have been revisiting the links between stress and health. Today,
Western medicine accepts that there is a powerful mind-body connection
through which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can
directly affect our health.

Fear
Living with fear is highly stressful. It often leads to depression and can ruin a
person’s health. “Stress suppresses the immune system and is a contributing
factor in most diseases,” explains a Western health magazine. “The body will
develop symptoms of wear and tear, especially on the organs involved.
Hypertension, heart disease, kidney disease, gastrointestinal disorders,
ulcers, headaches, insomnia, depression, and anxiety can develop.”
Conclusion
Traditional Chinese Medicine is spot on with the emotion and organ
connection. My mom has kidney failure and prior to getting the official
diagnosis she would seem to have extreme panic attacks and fear of almost
everything. TCM is ahead of time regarding diagnosing the body and
identifying issues to help prevent or improving the body.
Western Medicine also has identified an important factor when it comes to
illness. They have discovered how to treat bacteria and toxins. Its good that
recently they are revisiting the idea of Mind-body connection. Personally I
have noticed a change in visiting my primary care doctor. My doctor asks me
what’s going on in my life and how I am feeling. Also they are encouraging
me to exercise and purchase food from the farmers market they have on
location.
Biblical is fact. I believe that the bible was written by our Creator. Our creator
knows us best. When we experience problems or have questions we can
always find facts, truths or principles to live by. I have noticed that TCM and
Western medicine advocates many things that the bible mentions.
We all want to be happy and have a balanced emotional health. I love these
scriptures that tell us how we can achieve TRUE happiness in our life, which
in turn can help us have a healthier mind, body and soul.
Matthew 5:3 - "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual needs,"
Matthew 5:7- "Happy are the merciful,"
Matthew 5:8-" Happy are the pure in heart,"
Matthew 5:9- "Happy are the peacemakers."
Psalms 144:15 - “Happy are the people whose God is Jehovah”

References/Pictures:
preapism.com
tcm.chinese.cn
http://altmedicine.about.com/cs/anxietydepression/a/EmotionsTCM.htm
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/natural-medicine/chinese/traditional-chinese-medicine-causes-of-illness6.htm
http://Jw.org
http://www.livestrong.com/article/193234-what-emotions-affect-different-organs-in-the-human-body/
How to Master Your Nerves (Book)
Total Chinese Health (Book)
This makes me so excited to learn more and more about how emotions impact our health thru TCM. I have always been a very emotional person. My emotions feel like my truth, when in fact there is much more to it. After reading this it makes me ponder how much my emotions have effected my health and vise versa. I think excess of any of these, just like you mentioned, can have a very negative effect on us, but understanding them more, through the medium of TCM, can probably really help. I like that you included your faith in this report, as well, because healing and spirituality can go hand in hand. For a lot of people, a higher power can be a big part in what it takes to get better. Also, I've appreciated this semester how you have shared personal things about either your own health or your mother's and applied it to the program and in teaching your fellow classmates. Thank you for that!
ReplyDelete