by Zhuoling Ren

There are many fields of study in traditional Chinese medicine, as there are in Western medicine. Chinese medical pediatrics is one of the major interests of traditional Chinese medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine understands that physically, children have characteristics that are different than adults. Normally, children's bodies are considered to be more sensitive. Their internal organs are more tender. In general, the body is looked at in terms of yin and yang, where yang is warm and active while yin is cool and relatively quiet. Children's bodies are thought of as having more yang and tend to be more hot and sweaty.

Viewed pathologically, when children get sick, they react differently. Their symptoms and condition will change much faster than adults, altering very rapidly towards recovery or severity.

Immune systems

In looking at the child internally, traditional Chinese medicine wants to know how strong the body is in fighting disease. Children with a stronger immune system are less likely to become ill. But sometimes our bodies have deficiency. Some children are born with a weaker body type or with some genetic deficiency. This weaker condition might also be from diet or how the child was raised. The mother's body condition while pregnant can also contribute to a weaker immune system. The family history of genetic and parent body condition will also be considered.

Particularly in the United States, what type of drugs have been used for the child and how many antibiotics they have taken are examined, as these directly affect the body's immune system.

The third area to consider is how the emotions affect health. We generally don't think that children have emotional problems that can affect health. But like adults, children can have emotional problems that cause a weakening of the immune system.

A major role

Nature also plays a major role. Wind, cold, dampness and dryness -- factors related to the different seasons -- along with abnormal changes can cause a child to become sick.

Pulse reading, tongue examination, inquiry about a patient's general health condition, health history and even emotions are general methods of adult diagnosis. However with children, diagnosis is more difficult. Children's pulses are different. Also, children don't talk very much, making examination and diagnosis very difficult.

One way to gather information is to ask the parent. Another method is to look at the child's finger. Along the index finger is a line, a blood vessel. For children under 3, with fever and an acute condition, this line can become enlarged and change to a darker color. As the fever rises, the length of the line grows, indicating severity. The traditional Chinese medical doctor can also look at the color and coating of the tongue, as well as making a general observation.

Acupuncture's benefits

Children can benefit from treatment with acupuncture. Traditional Chinese medicine can effectively treat a very wide range of children's problems, from colds, coughs and viral infection to brain damage. Clinical research in China reports great success in treating pneumonia with traditional Chinese medicine. In a number of pediatric studies, children treated with traditional Chinese medicine recovered faster than those treated with antibiotics.

Neurological conditions are the areas in which children are most frequently treated with acupuncture. It is being used to treat many cases of brain damage caused by injury from delivery at birth. Acupuncture has been demonstrated to successfully improve paralysis in some of these cases.

In treating infection, traditional Chinese medicine avoids the use of antibiotics. For many parents in China, the first choice is to use an herbal tea prescribed by the traditional Chinese medical doctor.

However, when treating children their condition must be looked at with special care. For example, if herbs are used, the dosage and strength need special attention, because children are more sensitive to treatment. And when using acupuncture, how much stimulation the children can stand and how long the needles are supposed to stay in must be carefully considered.

Improve general health

How can we improve children's immune systems? First, we must improve the child's general health condition, because the immune system is only a part of the overall body system, which involves all the organs. Sometimes the child may not show any symptoms. It's a good idea to have a general check-up by a traditional Chinese medical doctor in the same manner as you would with Western medicine. The doctor may find an imbalance in the system and offer advice about what kinds of food the child should eat or what to avoid.

Secondly, care should be taken with respect to the overuse and abuse of antibiotics. Children also should have plenty of exercise -- out of doors. If they can become adjusted to nature when they are young, it will benefit them in the future.

Dr. Zhuoling Ren, a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine and professor of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, was the recipient of numerous awards for her research work in China. She currently is practicing in Minnesota. For more information, contact her at the China Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 3125 Hennepin Ave., (612) 827 7908. In St. Paul, 1033 Grand Ave., (651) 222 1200.
Copyright 2002 Zhuoling Ren