tony sugden

graduation !

Tony — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:53:00 +0000

After 5 years of study with my teacher Arnaud Versluys, director of Institute of Classics in East Asian Medicine, a proud moment as I get to graduate in London, November 19th 2011, along with some 15 or so fellow students some of whom have become like family to me in that time. Although I graduated in Chinese herbal medicine over a decade ago, the phrase on the certificate is ‘canonical chinese medicine’ . This means Chinese medicine based on the core precepts from the ‘canons’ or seminal works, mostly written in Eastern Han dynasty time around 1-200 AD and still regarded as the pillars of chinese medicine theory & herbal practice. Their wisdom translates through into excellence in clinical practice which is what actually matters. Arnaud teaches from a profound grasp of these texts, tempered with study with his own lineage teachers.

This the only certificate I’ve ever bothered to hang on my practice room wall! Just a few decades of work now to consolidate the pearls of wisdom. Ah me…. and I’m already so old…. keep up the yoga & meditation I guess, grow a long white beard and at least look like I might be wise.

mountain herbal lore

Tony — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:12:04 +0000

While on vacation in the Rhodope mountains (see previous post) I was introduced to a delightful gentleman who had graduated in medicine in Sofia many years ago, then devoted himself to the practice of herbal medicine on returning to his home village in the mountains. I’d noticed the abundance of wild thyme riding there, as the horses hooves crushed the fragrance into the hot still air, but Hristo assured me that there were many medicinal herbs there also. We went to a particular spot where the dry mountain side had a small area of wet ochre coloured mud apparently coming up from underground; this had been in the knowledge of his family for centuries as a healing salve for many skin conditions. I’m looking forward to trying it out but as he gave me a big tub of the stuff I had to arrange for overland transport.

Hristo also gave me a bag of plants which I did manage to bring back…. sideritis scardica is known by it’s folk name of ‘mountain tea’ and has some pretty impressive nutritional/medicinal properties described on the web when I looked it up. Tastes great (with honey).

Civilisation and the Dominant Species

Tony — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:27:16 +0000

I’ve just been staying with a dear friend who I’ve known for many years; she now lives in the Rhodope mountains in southern Bulgaria, which is gorgeous, beautiful territory (see my facebook entry for photos of the stunning scenery). Candy runs a charity called Colonel Angels Bulgarian streetdogs (the village of Polkovnik Serafimovo translates as Colonel Angel who was famous for defeating the invading Turks) and it’s an eye-opener to see how animals, especially dogs, are treated in many parts of Europe. In Bulgaria they’re often abandoned on motorways, forest roads, town centres where they become pariahs often beaten or stoned, even shot and left injured. When you see some downtrodden cur it’s easy to forget that this is a fellow creature having as much right to be on the planet as we do. We picked up one such creature just over the border in Greece & spent the next few days helping her to come back to health and happiness.

I found the Bulgarian people very charming, guileless and kind generally; perhaps they’ll remember with a little prompting that the Thracians who used to live in these mountains shared their space harmoniously with their dogs and horses.

bulgarianstreetdogs.com

more on the subject of back pain

Tony — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 08:23:59 +0000

I had a great opportunity last week; got to see some back surgery. A delightful gentleman by the name of Manoj Krishna who is a spinal surgery specialist operates up in Teesside and he very kindly allowed me and my colleague to be in theatre to observe… he uses a camera on a headset so one actually gets a surgeon’s eye view of proceedings. Plus judging by the care he bestowed on a couple of visitors (making sure we were well looked after by the theatre team and informing us of what he was doing as the op progressed) left me in in no doubt as to the care he bestows on his patients…. there’s an after care group which also helps people about to have surgery discuss any concerns with the surgeon and with people who’ve been through it.

My approach to chronic back pain has always been to deal with general muscle tightness around the spine which can exacerbate any structural problems, also localised points of contraction called ‘myofascial trigger points’ by the American physician Prof. Janet Travell who first identified them. Classical Chinese acupuncture also has an important part to play, even herbal medicine when tissue quality is a factor, also I work closely with osteopaths here, and am interested in the role of exercise, especially Yoga, in the management of chronic back pain.

But for those people where there is unrelenting pain regardless of any ‘functional’ work I do, it’s good to know there are structural surgical techniques which improve on the old type of spinal fusion. For more info see Mr Krishna’s website www.kspine.net

News for back pain sufferers ??!!

Tony — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:25:52 +0000

Recently (you may be aware) the Advertising Standards Authority has issued edicts saying Acupuncturists can only claim to treat a very narrow range of conditions – I think 3 or 4 that have been ‘scientifically proven’. I believe toothache for example is one of them (I personally would go to my dentist but there you go). Apparently 3 millennia of empirical knowledge gained by a culture which was wise when we were still living in caves doesn’t count. This mission is being policed also by a vigilante group called the ‘nightingale’ foundation/group or some such thing whose self-appointed job is to expose charlatans like me.

Now I’ve just got an email from the British Acupuncture Council telling me that they’ve negotiated with the advertising standards people and we’re now allowed to claim ‘TEMPORARY OR SHORT TERM RELIEF OF BACK PAIN’ !!!!! Fantastic, this lifts such a burden from my shoulders…… imagine the scenario….our clinic in Cambridge….

‘So my friend says you may be able to sort my back pain out’

‘well I can offer temporary or short term relief…. maybe’

‘That’s what it says on the pack of ibuprofen I just bought at the chemist’

‘Yes but that only cost you £1.80, whereas I’m reassuringly expensive’.

OK forgive my cynicism…. all I can say is you’d have to talk to the people I’ve treated over the years…. Maybe if enough people kick up about this new era of nanny state people assuming you don’t have the intelligence to think and judge for yourself we may change things…. personally I think the future for the beautiful system of Chinese Medicine in this country is dark. And blinkered so-called science rules the day.

As an afterthought, there’s a text which is my musculo-skeletal ‘bible’ at work called ‘Myofascial Pain & Dysfunction – the Trigger Point Manual’ By Travell and Simons. Janet Travell was a professor of clinical medicine in Washington at the time of John F. Kennedy (she was one of his physicians) and she presents her clinical findings in that text showing how small contracted tender points in muscle cause severe pain – in the back we would be looking at muscles like multifidus, iliocostalis lumborum, quadratus lumborum, piriformis to name a few. The treatment of choice to release those contracted bands of muscle PERMANENTLY was found to be putting a needle in them. All meticulously explained how & why……

‘

The future of Chinese Medicine in the UK

Tony — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:12:04 +0000

If you’ve heard that Chinese medicine (also Ayurvedic & other) products are to be banned in the UK, here’s the story as far as I understand it.

From 30th April 2011, all pre-prepared medicines that are unlicensed will be illegal. This means all chinese herbal ‘patent’ pills and external ointments that many practitioners currently use. I’m pretty sure this also includes many herbal remedies sold in health food stores unless they’ve been licensed (a process costing serious amounts of money and only really available to the pharmaceutical companies and big ‘health products’ companies). Not only that but every single herb in Chinese medicine bar 2 or 3.

Can I still supply you with herbal formulae ?

Yes. Because I use so-called ‘start-up materials’ i.e. the single ingredients which are still legal for the wholesalers to import and supply to me, and legal for me to combine into formulae in my dispensary and supply to you. Also in April 2012, the Department of Health has agreed to statutorily regulate appropriately trained herbalists. I come into this category as far as we currently know as a member of RCHM.

Why is this happening ?

Well theoretically to protect you. Licensed medicines have been tested by pharma companies to the standards that are currently deemed safe. Herbal medicines on the other hand have only been tested through centuries, even millenia, of people taking them and not immediately dying. Even getting better. Chinese herbal medicine in particular uses ‘polypharmacy’ i.e. multiple active ingredients creating a biochemical mix which is to my mind impossible to predict except through serious historical precedent. Pharma drugs on the other hand have very well defined single product testing procedures which ensure that the results are well understood so that no-one gets ill as a consequence of taking them (ok maybe just a few, well ok it’s in the tens of thousands but hey… accidents happen).

What is the future of Chinese herbal medicine in the UK ?

Depends on what the lobby groups decide to do next. We have no real money or political clout. But there was a fantastic public response to the appeals to lobby on behalf of statutory recognition and it plainly made an impression. So thanks!

electrosensitivity

Tony — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:49:05 +0000

I recently had someone come with sensitivity to electrical switches and devices. It was the first time I’d ever tried to treat such a condition, and told the person I could only try if I could make sense of the pulse diagnosis (see tab on pulse diagnosis, at top of home page, for more info). The pulse diagnosis pointed to a very specific area of herbal medicine prescribing which matched the symptoms; heating up after exposure leading on to palpitations and weakness. More importantly the herbal formula which matched this pulse diagnosis started to improve the symptoms almost from day one. The formula was one from the ‘Shang Han Lun’, a text written around 200 AD when they didn’t have electricity.

Qi sandwich

Tony — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:38:02 +0000

Someone the other week intimated that the classical Chinese concept of Qi, being some kind of energy which motivated physiological change in the body, is actually a bit weird in this day & age when we understand so much about the human body. I mean we know all about molecular level interactions …. you know … we’re all chemicals innit ?

I readily agreed. ‘Look at the wonders of oxydative phosphorylation’ I sagely replied. Krebs cycle, the production of chemical energy from the raw materials of glucose and oxygen happening in every cell in the body, actually in cell organelles called mitichondria. A production line with 3d protein molecule enzymes in an unfathomable dance during which the raw materials get processed into carbon dioxide, water …. why? there’s plenty of that stuff around…. because the process produces chemical energy.

What’s that ?

Actually it’s the creation of a high energy phosphate bond onto the molecule adenosine diphosphate to create adenosine triphosphate. Effectively this is the body’s battery cell providing energy wherever it’s needed by releasing the energy in that phosphate bond and reverting back to adenosine diphosphate.

But what is ‘that energy’ ?

Well it’s … er … just energy …. just something nebulous & unfathomable in a chemical bond… but by ‘eck nothing happens without it despite it’s nebulousness…..maybe we should give it a name ?

But anyway, back to Qi….. how absurd eh? Those primitives and their weird ideas.

(One day being a smartarse will get me into trouble…… oh wait a minute, it already has, many times)