New Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine

December 1996, Volume 28, #12

Translated by Jennifer Lynn Brown

Clinical Data

18 cases in all, 10 male, 8 female, average age 69.4 years; disease course varied from 7 months to five years.  This group of patients had all been diagnosed with dementia and since then the signs and symptoms gradually worsened.  Within this group 6 cases manifested as apathetic, not oriented to time and space and willful, alternating between silent and soft spoken then loud laughing or crying, CT scans in these cases show the brain has withered; 5 cases where the memory was reduced and thinking was not clear, in these cases the CT scan showed a cerebral infarction; 7 cases balance was compromised, the limbs were without strength, there was urinary incontinence and poor decision making, the CT scan in these cases also showed the brain had withered.

Treatment Method

First a small amount of oil was applied onto the skin surface and mouth of cup, then one cup was applied to Da Zhui(GV 14), strong pressure was used to pump the air out of the cup so that the inside of the cup absorbed the skin surface, then the body of the cup was moved along the Du Mai  back and forth slowly 3 times, retaining the cup on Da Zhui; then another cup was used following the same method, running this cup between the left kidney shu point(UB 23) and Da Zhu(UB 11) slowly 3 times, this cup was retained on the left kidney shu point; then after treating the right side of the body with this method a third cup was retained on the right kidney shu point.  A tidal reddening appeared along the du channel and on either side of the spine due to the running cupping.  The cups were retained on the above points for 30 minutes, each day, 15 days completed one treatment course.

Effect Criteria and Treatment Data

            The criteria for effectiveness was based on whether or not the following signs and symptoms improved.  1.  Short term memory  2.  Oriented to time and space  3.  Cognitive abilities  4.  Judgement  5.  Personality  6.  Temperament  7.  Balance  8.  Bladder control

Clear effect: 5 of the above signs and symptoms improve; Some Effect: 1-4 of the signs and symptoms improve; No Effect: no change in signs and symptoms.

After 9-12 treatment courses 6 cases had a clear effect, 10 cases had some effect and 2 cases showed no improvement.

Discussion

A modern medical study of Senile Dementia showed that this condition can be caused by the hardening of arteries in the brain, lack of blood or lack of oxygen to the brain which causes brain cells to die and the brain to wither, clinically as this condition gradually worsens the person begins to change as functioning is lost, CT scans show that the primary pathological change in this disease is the withering of the brain.  The patients age is a significant factor.  Chinese Medicine calls this “Dull Witted” or “Dull Disease”.  It says the Kidney essence is not sufficient, the sea of marrow is empty and the brain is not nourished.  Kidney governs the storage of jing and generate marrow, the “brain is the sea of marrow”, if the kidney jing qi is full then the marrow gets nourished and only then it is possible for the brain to be the house of light.  When the kidney jing qi is insufficient then the marrow is not nourished and if the marrow is not nourished then there is pathological changes and disease.  The Su Wen says “Kidney is the origin of strength and skill is found here.”  The kidney jing qi governs bone and engenders marrow.  If the kidney jing is full a person will have a long life before they become senile and die.  Kidney deficiency causes senility thus it is the primary cause of Senile Dementia.  Kidney jing is the source of the 5 zang and 6 fu functioning.  The Su Wen says “the kidney governs water and of the 5 zang and the 6 fu it stores the jing.”  With age comes a gradual decrease in the functioning of the organs, as function decreases kidney deficiency increases.  Treatment of Senile Dementia must focus on regulating the kidney’s function so that it does not decrease while simultaneously increasing the functioning of the all the other zang fu organs. 

This is a disease of the brain whose root is in the kidney but the 5 zang and 6 fu functions can also be exhausted.  Using the running cupping method from the 7^th cervical vertebra down to the coccyx along the Du Mai, as well as both sides of the foot tai yang Urinary Bladder channel, and afterwards retaining the cups on Da Zhui and both Kidney Shu points treats Senile Dementia.  The Urinary Bladder channel contains the 5 zang and 6 fu shu points, these points can regulate the 5 zang and 6 fu physiological functions, harmonize qi and blood and enable the qi mechanism to be free reaching.  Water and pure jing engender source qi, jing and marrow are full and flow into the kidney tonifying deficiency engendering marrow.  The Du Mai moves up inside the spine and enters the cranium, the back corresponds to the kidney, the kidney engenders marrow and the Du Mai is also related to the brain and marrow, it is for this reason that the two are closely related.  Running cupping along the Du Mai therefore nourishes the brain, opens the orifices, calms the spirit and calms worry.

The data from this clinical survey is clear, using this treatment brings improvement, creating change and recovers brain function, increases the body’s strength as well as thought, memory, feelings and movement.  Five of the cases had high blood pressure and took similar medications to treat this condition, over the course of the treatment their blood pressure decreased and remained stable.  This treatment is simple and economic and easy to perform.  It is important to grasp good running cupping method to harmonize the points and then any family member can treat the condition.