Points Newsletter - August 2007

Not too long ago, a patient visited my office with lower back pain along with a tingling sensation in his left leg. He had seen several doctors and had a number of X-rays and MRIs to reveal a moderate bulging of the disk between lumbar vertebrae 4 and 5. When I first saw him he had been taking different pain medications, while undergoing physical therapy. However, he was feeling depressed and frustrated as nothing seemed to be helping. In fact, his condition had gradually worsened as he began to experience numbness and weakness in his left leg. I noticed he had a tendency to roll his eyes and was unstable on his feet, especially when walking. Upon further questioning, I discovered that he had been experiencing periodic bouts of blurry vision and I noticed that he tended to lean towards his left side while walking. These symptoms, along with a hyperactive reflex response, made me almost certain his condition was something much more serious. My hunch was that it was Multiple Sclerosis (MS) -  

Effective Chinese Herbal Asthma Treatment - Without the Side Effects

A study conducted by researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Weifang School of Medicine in China has shown that a combination of three Chinese herbs is effective in treating asthma symptoms without the side effects that can occur with the use of corticosteroid and prednisone therapy.