| Article
ASTHMA - An Interview with
Dr. Marc Halpern, D.C., C.A.S., P.K.S.
From the Ayurvedic medical viewpoint, asthma does not begin in the
lungs but in the digestive system according to Marc Halpern, D.C.,
C.A.S., P.K.S. Dr. Halpern, a licensed chiropractor and now an expert
in Ayurvedic medicine, directs the California College of Ayurveda
(instruction) and Ayurveda Healthcare Center (treatment), both in
California. Dr. Halpern relates the case of Isabel, 44, who came
to him with symptoms of severe asthma.
Isabel complained of wheezing, shortness of breath, weight loss,
dry cough, sleeping difficulties, dry skin, scanty appetite, and
frequent constipation. In consultation with Isabel, Dr. Halpern
learned that her asthma was sufficiently serious to require the
daily use of an inhaler and the frequent use of cortisone during
an asthma attack.
Her recent weight loss from 120 to 108 pounds had left her gaunt
and even "emaciated," observed Dr. Halpern. She drank
a great deal of coffee and had a rapid, thin pulse. Isabel said
food settled in her stomach "like a rock." Coffee, as
a stimulant, "makes everything more faster," and is not
helpful to a person with a predominating vata condition in which,
in effect, there is already too much movement, says Dr. Halpern.
Isabel's "emotional landscape" was dominated with fear,
worry, anxiety, and a deep-set concern about suffocating; her mind
was flighty, "like a bee, moving very fast" unable to
focus and settle for long on one topic and constantly waffling and
changing direction. These factors, and Isabel's light thin skeletal
structure, were classic indicators of a basic constitutional type
called vata, one of three types described by Ayurvedic medicine,
says Dr. Halpern.
In Ayurvedic medical thinking, the internal "fire" or
basic life force is Isabel's system was suppressed, leading to digestive
difficulties, and mal-absorption of nutrients. "It's like putting
a big log on a campfire with a tiny flame; most likely, the log
will not catch fire but only smolder," says Dr. Halpern. From
Isabel's digestive system, the imbalance then spread upward to her
lungs, he adds.
"Dry' asthma, as in Isabel's dry cough without mucus, begins
in the intestines while 'wet' asthma, with mucus on coughing, starts
in the stomach." This is why Dr. Halpern began his treatment
program by addressing what foods Isabel put in her stomach.
The goal was to use foods to introduce warmth into Isabel's digestive
system and to stimulate the digestive fire. Dr. Halpern put her
on a limited diet for five days consisting of 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
mixed with ½ cup of buttermilk (diluted 50% with water),
to be taken three times daily. Buttermilk, because it is fermented,
provides warmth to the stomach (compared to regular milk, which
is a "cold" food and thereby harder to digest), while
nutmeg increases nutrient absorption.
Dr. Halpern also recommended Basmati rice mixed with cumin, fennel,
and ginger; these hot spices would "increase the fire"
in Isabel's digestive system and enhance absorption. She ate these
foods with a traditional Indian product called ghee, made from clarified
butter, to help regulate the digestive forces, or "fire."
After the five days, Isabel's digestion was noticeably better, so
Dr. Halpern began to gradually increase her food intake by adding
selected cooked vegetables, not raw, as well as warm milk mixed
with ginger. His approach was to increase Isabel's food consumption
in proportion to the improvements in her digestion. "That's
the key because if you increase the foods too rapidly, the digestion
will be upset." Dr. Halpern also sought to reduce the overbearing
influence of vata in Isabel's system by prescribing foods to "pacify"
its effects.
Dr. Halpern introduced a series of tonic herbs to increase Isabel's
internal strength, including Shatavari, Bala, licorice, and Ashwaghanda.
She took these in capsule form three times daily, then gradually
increased the dosage to nine capsules daily.
Dr. Halpern gave her Triphala, a common Ayurvedic herbal flaxative
formula for the colon to normalize bowel movements; she took ¼
teaspoon of Triphala powder three times daily, Hingwastika, another
traditional Ayurvedic formula, was also given (1 capsule, 3 times
daily) to stimulate digestive function. Here is the goal was to
"work more systematically on Isabel's internal energy as it
encompasses the function of all her organs and systems," says
Dr. Halpern.
Only one month after starting Dr. Halpern's program, Isabel reported
that her asthma was gone, her breathing capacity had returned to
normal, and that she had discontinued the cortisone. Bear in mind
that Isabel had suffered from asthma for a full year before Dr.
Halpern and that for the final three months she had endured the
severest symptoms and used the inhaler every night. Even so, Dr.
Halpern wanted to fine-tune Isabel's recovery from asthma, so he
drew upon other facets of Ayurvedic practice.
He prescribed special breathing exercises, called pranayama, to
help free up her lungs, giver her more control over her breathing,
and again, to stimulate her digestion. Dr. Halpern suggested that
Isabel apply a small amount of sesame oil into her nasal passages
to help normalize the breathing. Isabel started using more of the
hot spices (mentioned above) in her foods to reduce the formation
of mucus throughout her body and she started having broths made
from stewing meat and bones, then draining off the stock. The intention
here was to help Isabel regain her lost weight; in about two weeks,
she had put on three pounds.
Next, Dr. Halpern added "heavier" foods to her diet,,
meaning ones harder to digest, such as almonds and sunflower seeds,
and he suggested she eat five small meals every day. During a holiday
dinner, Isabel binged on foods outside the strict Ayurvedic prescription,
and had a three-day flare-up of her asthma symptoms.
Specifically, she ate some vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower,
kale, and cabbage, which for her system at that point, were to taxing
to easily digest. Even so, her system was strong enough to require
the use of an inhaler only once; after the three days, the asthma
symptoms disappeared again.
Dr. Halpern introduced another Ayurvedic specialty preparation called
kitcheree to help normalize digestion. Kitcheree, which consists
of split mung beans and Basmati rice cooked with spices and ghee,
became a mealtime regular for Isabel in the third month of her program.
"We also started paying attention to all the habits that surrounded
her eating," comments Dr. Halpern.
He suggested that she eat slowly in a quiet environment, that she
chew her food thoroughly, and generally create a positive atmosphere
for eating, adding prayer, grace, or brief meditation, if she wished.
"In Ayurveda, we say it's more important how you eat rather
than what you eat, that even good food eaten the wrong way will
create digestive problems."
Isabel broke her diet again, this time with yams, butter, and turkey,
and quickly saw how it led to a transient return of the milder of
her previous asthmatic symptoms. To regulate her system again, Dr.
Halpern re-instituted the earlier stages in her diet, of, first,
nutmeg, buttermilk, kitcheree, and Basmati rice for three days,
followed by the nuts as well as the various herbs already prescribed.
To strengthen her lungs, Dr. Halpern added an herbal formula in
jelly form called chavanprash, made from the amla fruit, mixed with
spices and herbs.
Four months after starting treatment with Dr. Halpern, Isabel's
asthma "had totally subsided, as though it never existed,"
he reports. After one more month, her weight had climbed from 113
to 117 and she had experienced no further episodes of asthma. Dr.
Halpern emphasizes that while the program produced excellent results
for Isabel, it was precisely tailored to her temperament and physiology.
Not every case of asthma is treated this way. There are many other
asthma treatments for different types of people."
Ayurveda is the traditional medicine of India, based on many centuries
of empirical use. Its name means " Ayu = (Life) + Veda (Knowledge)",
implying that a holistic medicine may be founded on spiritual principals.
Ayurveda describes three metabolic, constitutional, and body types
(doshas), in association with the basic elements of Nature in combination.
These are vata (air and ether, rooted in the large intestine), pitta
(fire and water/small intestine), and kapha (water and carth/stomach).
Ayurvedic physicians use these categories (which also have psychological
aspects) as the basis for prescribing individualized formulas of
herbs, diet, massage, breathing, meditation, exercise and yoga postures,
and detoxification techniques.
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