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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Only Book of its Kind, April 1, 2003
This review is from: Curing Hay Fever Naturally with Chinese Medicine (Paperback)
This is the only book in print I know of that attempts to discuss allergies from the point of view of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and for that reason alone it is a valuable contribution. This book makes a valiant attempt to explain the theories of TCM as they relate to hayfever, in a way that laypeople can understand. I believe it succeeds. TCM can only be understood on its own terms, not in relation to Western allopathic or any other medical system. This book makes that point beautifully clear. All of the TCM theory in the book is solid and well-worded, including a very helpful glossary of TCM terms. Bob Flaws has written and translated numerous texts on TCM in his many years as a doctor of TCM. If you suffer from hayfever, I can generally recommend implementing the advice in this book, much of which can be done by yourself. However, I take issue with the fact that little mention is made of adverse reactions to Chinese herbs, especially allergic reactions to the herbs, their constituents, toxins present such as fungicides sprayed on herbs when they are exported from China, pesticide residues, possible non-herbal additives, and even toxic packaging. Reactions to these things is on the rise, especially in the population of people with other allergies, such as food allergies. Chinese herbs are, of course, safer than Western pharmaceuticals, but they have their drawbacks and I have seen many patients with problems from "natural" and "herbal" remedies because of allergies to those remedies, or as is more often the case, to the fumigants and pesticides on the herbs and the plastic bottles some natural medicines are packaged in. I also am not sure that laypeople can safely learn to use such techniques as moxa, cupping, and plum blossom from a book alone. It is far better to get a hands-on lesson from a professional if you want to do these techniques yourself. Despite his years of experience, and his own personal experience with allergies, Dr. Flaws does not really mention any way of actually "curing" hayfever, as the book title suggests. This book is all about harm reduction, about symptom management. To this end, the book is thorough and I'm sure the advice he gives is very effective. But it won't make you stop being allergic, which he claims is impossible. (It's not impossible!) As Bob Flaws makes clear, it is up to you to manage your own lifestyle in healthy ways and not to rely on doctors or experts to fix you. However, many people who do lead healthy lives and have tried a great deal of natural medicine still have allergies, and may still have symptoms that trouble them a little or a lot. Following the advice in this book may help a great deal, but may be only a starting point. There are TCM methods beyond the scope of this book that can help when the advice in this book is not enough, and when seeing an acupuncturist or herbalist is not enough, or actually makes the problem worse. The cure is possible within the system of TCM, but not through the methods mentioned here. The methods I'm referring are more esoteric. Though Dr. Flaws emphasizes that TCM is holistic (it is), there is little mention of spiritual causative factors or spiritual solutions to allergies. He advises the use of guided relaxation tapes, and that is as close as he gets to spiritual. There is more to spiritual healing than relaxing your body. Spiritual esoterica is really beyond the scope of this book, but spiritual esoterica of TCM is exactly where the real cure lies. Without the spiritual element, TCM is no longer "holistic." This book also neglects the modern toxic world, beyond the mention of the hazards of diet soda. There are reasons why allergies have become so common, and for some, so severe. Many of the causes, be they spiritual and/or modern problems, are not addressed in this book. "Faulty diet, lack of adequate exercise, and too much stress," are causes of health imbalances in general, to be sure, but often really just aggravate a situation that already exists. Many of the limits of this book are simply limits in scope. The concepts lacking may or may not be suitable for lay people, or may be beyond the understanding of Bob Flaws, who may be an expert on TCM but not necessarily an expert on allergies. On the other hand, the detailed herbal formulas, the acupoint-specific massage section, and the chapter on research are all fairly technical even to the point of being tedious, and may not be very helpful to laypeople either. All in all, the book is a good starting place, but not really about a "cure."
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Only Book of its Kind, April 1, 2003
This review is from: Curing Hay Fever Naturally with Chinese Medicine (Paperback)
This is the only book in print that I know of that attempts to discuss allergies from the point of view of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and for that reason alone it is a valuable contribution. This book makes a valiant attempt to explain the theories of TCM as they relate to hayfever, in a way that laypeople can understand. I believe it succeeds. TCM can only be understood on its own terms, not in relation to Western allopathic or any other medical system. This book makes that point beautifully clear. All of the TCM theory in the book is solid and well-worded, including a very helpful glossary of TCM terms. Bob Flaws has written and translated numerous texts on TCM in his many years as a doctor of TCM. If you suffer from hayfever, I can generally recommend implementing the advice in this book, much of which can be done by yourself. However, I take issue with the fact that little mention is made of adverse reactions to Chinese herbs, especially allergic reactions to the herbs, their constituents, toxins present such as fungicides sprayed on herbs when they are exported from China, pesticide residues, possible non-herbal additives, and even toxic packaging. Reactions to these things is on the rise, especially in the population of people with other allergies, such as food allergies. Chinese herbs are, of course, safer than Western pharmaceuticals, but they have their drawbacks and I have seen many patients with problems from "natural" and "herbal" remedies because of allergies to those remedies, or as is more often the case, to the fumigants and pesticides on the herbs and the plastic bottles some natural medicines are packaged in. I also am not sure that laypeople can safely learn to use such techniques as moxa, cupping, and plum blossom from a book alone. It is far better to get a hands-on lesson from a professional if you want to do these techniques yourself. Despite his years of experience, and his own personal experience with allergies, Dr. Flaws does not really mention any way of actually "curing" hayfever, as the book title suggests. This book is all about harm reduction, about symptom management. To this end, the book is thorough and I'm sure the advice he gives is very effective. But it won't make you stop being allergic, which he claims is impossible. (It's not impossible!) As Bob Flaws makes clear, it is up to you to manage your own lifestyle in healthy ways and not to rely on doctors or experts to fix you. However, many people who do lead healthy lives and have tried a great deal of natural medicine still have allergies, and may still have symptoms that trouble them a little or a lot. Following the advice in this book will probably help a great deal, but may be only a starting point. There are TCM methods beyond the scope of this book that can help when the advice in this book is not enough, and when seeing an acupuncturist or herbalist is not enough, or actually makes the problem worse. The cure is possible within the system of TCM, but not through the methods in this book. The methods I'm referring are more esoteric, and beyond the scope of this book. Though Dr. Flaws emphasizes that TCM is holistic (it is), there is little mention of spiritual causative factors or spiritual solutions to allergies. He advises the use of guided relaxation tapes, and that is as close as he gets to spiritual. There is much more to spiritual healing than relaxing your body. I understand that spiritual esoterica is really beyond the scope of this book, however, but spiritual esoterica of TCM is exactly where the real cure lies. TCM is holistic because it includes spiritual healing--without the spiritual element, it cannot be holistic. This book also neglects the modern toxic world, beyond the mention of the hazards of diet soda. There are reasons why allergies have become so common, and for some, so severe. Many of the causes, be they spiritual and/or modern problems, are not addressed in this book. "Faulty diet, lack of adequate exercise, and too much stress," are causes of health imbalances in general, to be sure, but often really just aggravate a situation that already exists. Many of the limits of this book are simply that the book is limited in scope. The concepts lacking may or may not be suitable for lay people, or may be beyond the understanding of Bob Flaws, who may be an expert on TCM but not necessarily an expert on allergies. On the other hand, the detailed herbal formulas, the acupoint-specific massage section, and the chapter on research are all fairly technical and even tedious, and may not be very helpful to laypeople either. All in all, the book is a good starting place, but not really about a "cure."
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