Treating Complex Liver disease with Acupuncture
Master Tung’s Acupuncture points used to lower Liver enzymes
Three Yellows,(88.12, 88.13, 88.14, 三黃, Sān huáng)
An 83-year-old gentleman came into my office and after diagnosis I suggested to him that his immune system appeared very compromised as well as his hepatic function was severely impaired as well. He then revealed to me that he had a complexity of liver disease and previous necrosis. The patient had survived cirrhosis and had chronic hepatitis ( I will not go into great detail of these conditions here). He revealed that his liver enzymes were off the charts (40x normal values). His M.D had eliminated all his medications at that time in hope of not furthering the agitation to his liver function and the likely increase of enzyme values. In the best case scenario his M.D had hoped that the enzyme values would drop 1/3 to 1/2 ( fingers crossed). I recommended Chinese herbal medicine as I have treated dozens of cases of elevated liver enzymes and other liver disease with Dr. Chang in L.A. Even though the patient acknowledged the more direct use of medicinals, he asked if we could proceed with acupuncture only. This presented a challenge as his condition was so both chronic and elevated. I suggested a course of treatment every 4-5 days for a total of 10-12 treatments (apx. 6 weeks), at which time he was to have labs retaken. As the patient was generally comfortable day-to-day, we were fighting numbers. Our success/failure would be reflected in lab values. I chose the above for treatment, Three Yellows, or (88.12, 88.13, 88.14, 三黃, Sān huáng). Three Yellows is a combination of 6 points, 3 points bilaterally needled. (Every other treatment received an additional point to be shown in teaching video)
After the first course of treatment the new lab results revealed a 2/3, or 75% drop in enzyme values. The patient and M.D were very optimistic and opted for another course of the same treatment. After the next course of acupuncture treatment the patients liver enzyme lab values were in the normal range. This case points to the efficacy of acupuncture as a singular therapy for internal medicine issues.
Jeffrey C. Russell L.Ac.
