Tourette’s Syndrome (TS) is a neurological condition in which signals from the brain cause a person to involuntarily twitch, tic, sniff, utter vocal noises, and in rare cases, call out random words. Both the specific cause and a definitive cure for the symptoms of Tourette’s Syndrome have proven illusive, but where Western medicine has offered drugs to target poorly understood abnormal brain activity, traditional Chinese medicine has focused on the body’s energy meridians to provide relief with no risk of side effects.
“Chinese Medicine Really Works” Say Some Tourette’s Sufferers
Nancy Kohler twitched and shook without an explanation for almost two decades until finally a neurologist recognized that she had TS. An acupuncturist who was seeing her husband for back pain said she could help. Dr. Jungyun Gao, of the Comprehensive Health Clinic in Washington, D.C. inserted tiny needles at specific points on Kohler’s body. The needles stimulate certain lines of energy, or meridians as they are called, to bring her body back into balance. “Eventually, the tics completely subsided,” Kohler said.
Not far away in Annapolis, MD, Dr. Daohe Fang, has been treating an eleven-year old girl for tics that had grown progressively worse in the seven years since she was diagnosed with TS. Fang, an acupuncturist and surgeon from China who now practices Chinese medicine in the US, was confident he could help her severe case. He treated Sienna three times a week for three weeks until the tics subsided. “I barely notice my tics at all now” Sienna said. She maintains treatment once every two to three weeks and takes herbs to keep her tics in check.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Balances Energy
“From the Western side, it’s about endorphins,” said Fang in his thick Chinese accent. “Acupuncture needles send information to the brain to release endorphins to the pituitary gland. But from the Chinese side, it’s about cleaning or clearing pathogenic wind from liver meridian, because any abnormal body movements we blame liver meridian heat or wind.” To clear this wind, needles are inserted into the skin at points on the body--such as the neck, back, wrists and ankles--that help balance and realign those energy meridians.
Herbs are also used to support the body’s natural ability to achieve chemical balance and align energy. “Acupuncture provides 50 percent of cure, herbs the other 50 percent,” said Fang. One herb used for Tourette’s, gastrodia, was traditionally used to treat convulsions and tics in children and is associated with the liver meridian. Its active ingredients have structural similarities to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is blocked by some of the drug therapies for Tourette's.
Western Medicine’s Drug Therapy for Tourette’s
Because there is no clear understanding of the exact cause of the disorder, medical treatments focus on controlling the symptoms. According to the Tourette’s Syndrome Association doctors prescribe “off-label” uses of medicines such as Clonidine, Haldol, Prozac, Zoloft and Ritalin--all medicines developed and tested for other conditions such as hypertension, depression, and ADHD. While some people find relief, medications never completely eliminate symptoms and their side effects can discourage many people from taking medications.
Acupuncture Treatment Backed by Research
There have been a handful of scientific studies investigating the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating Tourettes. Most of them have been conducted in China. One study by Wu Lianzhong from the Tianjin College of Traditional Chinese Medicine claims a 73 percent cure rate in 156 patients. Even among the 27 percent of patients whose symptoms did not completely disappear, all but 12 reported significant improvements.
Comparing Western vs. Eastern Medicine
Two studies that directly compared acupuncture to the drug Halperidol showed dramatic differences in success rates between the eastern and western treatments.
DU Ge-shu from Changsha Hospital in Hunan China treated 23 children, with acupuncture and 22 children with the drug Haloperidol. Symptoms subsided in 65.2 percent of children in the acupuncture group and 31.8 percent of children in the Haloperidol group. Doctors from Heilongjiang University conducted a similar studied with 60 Tourette’s cases from a variety of ages randomly divided into two treatment groups. Their results were similar with a dramatic increase in success of the acupuncture treatment over drug therapy.
Relief for Those Who Try It
Many people with Tourette’s don’t receive treatment because living with tics is preferable to the side effects of the strong drugs Western medicine has to offer. Acupuncture may offer relief or even a cure for some with out the risk of side effects. For many, that’s worth trying even for a mild case of TS.
Kimbra Cutlip - Kimbra Cutlip is a feature writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications including the Washington Post, Environment magazine, ...
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