Neurological and Endocrine Disorders
Mastering the coordination of the physiological functions of the human body, the neurological system mainly consists of the nervous system, including the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. The endocrine system also regulates the functions of the body. It includes two categories:
1. The visible organs that exist independently, i.e., endocrine secretion organs such as the pituitary, thyroid, and the adrenal glands.
2. Endocrine organisms and tissues hidden in other organs and tissues across the body, such as islets in the pancreas and follicular cells in the ovaries.
If you perform the hand massage and exercises in this chapter, you will improve the health of your neurological and endocrine systems.
1. Neuralgia
Neuralgia is a pain caused by damaged nerves, which radiates to the nerves it regulates. When the cause is unknown, the disease is called congenital neuralgia; if there is an obvious cause, it is called secondary neuralgia.
Trigeminal neuralgia and sciatica are common forms of neuralgia. Trigeminal neuralgia may be related to factors such as deformed small blood vessels and petrous temporal bones. Sciatica may be caused by tumors in the spinal cord, spinal tuberculosis, lumbar spinal stenosis, pelvic tumors, pressure on the uterus during pregnancy, hip trauma, and diabetes.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Trigeminal neuralgia: Also known as facial neuralgia due to excruciating pain in the cheek, the frontal part of the head, and the forehead. The onset is characterized by a sudden attack of flashing pain that lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes, and an unbearable burning sensation. Episodes of trigeminal neuralgia are of different durations, and pain can be triggered by activities such as washing the face, brushing the teeth, and eating.
Sciatica: The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body. It starts in the lumbar spine, travels through the pelvis and sciatic foramen to the hip, and then runs along the back of the thigh to the foot. When one raises a heavy object, or squats or rises up too quickly, pain will be triggered from the lower back to the back of the thighs.
Hand Exercises
1. Hold a ball with the tips of your five digits; use the mobility of the fingers to turn the ball without touching the center of the palm.
2. Put the ball on the back of your hand and keep it rolling back and forth, left and right.
3. Put two balls in your palm and keep them attached, and then use the mobility of the fingers to turn them.
Other Methods
In everyday life, people with neuralgia should pay attention to the following:
1. Keep a routine of regular daily activities and a balanced diet; get enough sleep and rest; avoid excessive fatigue.
2. Be careful with your movements: Go slowly as much as you can, to avoid triggering potential pain and stimulating sensitive spots.
3. Keep warm when the temperature is low, and avoid exposing your face directly to cold wind.
4. Eat soft food. If pain is triggered by chewing, eat liquid food, and avoid food that is fried, spicy, and irritating; also avoid seafood and the food that are high in heat energy.
Neurosis is the result of mental disorders, and can manifest as a variety of mental and physical discomforts. However, examinations are likely to reveal no pathological features in the body.
Although its pathogenesis is related to many fields such as biology, psychology, and sociology, it is mainly caused by mental disorders that occur due to societal factors. When the patient experiences anxiety, stress, mood swings, or psychological trauma, problems will occur in the central nervous system’s excitation and inhibition process. The cardiovascular system, which is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, will also malfunction, leading to a series of symptoms associated with excess tension in the sympathetic nervous system.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Cardiac neurosis: This manifests symptoms such as tightness in the chest, palpitations and panting, anxiety, and fright, but examination shows no organic disorders of the heart.
Gastric neurosis: This often manifests as acid reflux, belching, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, epigastric burning sensation, fullness and bloating after meals, and discomfort or pain in the upper abdomen, accompanied by fatigue and headache. Gastrointestinal examinations may reveal irritable bowel syndrome or superficial erosive gastritis, but they do not explain the more severe symptoms.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
1. Use a stick to jab the little finger evenly from the top down along the phalanx bone line.
2. Use a toothbrush to brush the palm side of the middle finger up and down.
3. Put a coin horizontally between the index finger and the middle finger, and keep it there firmly with the force of the fingers.
Other Methods
An appropriate diet is often complementary to treatment. Lotus seeds and lily bulbs are conducive to nourishing the heart and tranquilizing the mind, and facilitate the treatment of neurosis.
Parents should help their children develop into psychologically healthy people, and should support and encourage them to face challenges so that they foster a personality of resilience, calmness, tenacity, and openness, and an ability to rise to the challenges of life.
3. Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a condition in which a group of highly excitatory neurons in the brain experience sudden, excessive, and repeated electrical events, resulting in a sudden and temporary dysfunction of the brain. Epilepsy is primarily caused by genetics and brain injuries.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures: Sudden loss of consciousness, and then uncontrollable stiffness and jerking and shaking, often accompanied by screaming, a bluish complexion, loss of bladder control, biting the tongue, and foaming in the mouth.
Absence (petit mal) seizures: Sudden disconnection from others around you, loss of consciousness, accompanied by a myoclonic seizure.
Hand Exercises
1. With your thumb and index finger, pinch the center of the other palm and expand in concentric circles.
2. With your thumb and the index finger, pinch the little finger of the other hand in spiral rotation, starting from the root and going upwards.
3. With your palm facing outward, cross your index finger over the back of the middle finger, pressing with as much force as possible.
Other Methods
1. Maintain a light diet; eat more vegetables and fruit; avoid pungent and spicy food and caffeinated drinks such as coffee and coca cola; quit smoking and alcohol.
2. Avoid taking medicines containing caffeine and ephedrine, and medicines such as penicillin or floxacin drugs, which could trigger an onset.
3. Keep a regular life schedule by having a fixed bedtime routine; make sure you have enough sleep, and avoid staying up late or engaging in excessive physical strain; avoid watching TV and playing electronic games for extended periods.
4. People with epilepsy are forbidden from driving and swimming in the sea or rivers. They should not take up occupations that involve aerial work or operating machines.
4. Cranial Nerve Injuries
Cranial nerve injuries include traumatic brain injuries (mostly related to basal skull fractures) and sequelae of cerebral arteriosclerosis (cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis), sequelae of encephalitis and meningitis, and sequelae of demyelinating disease.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Damage to the olfactory nerves: Damage to the olfactory bulb and olfactory tract, leakage of cerebrospinal fluid, partial or complete loss of olfactory sensation on one side or both sides.
Damage to the visual nerves: Reduced vision or even loss of vision; loss of direct light reflection, with normal indirect light reflection.
Damage to the facial and auditory nerves: Facial palsy at different times, loss of taste capacity by two thirds on the same side of the tongue, keratitis, tinnitus, vertigo, and sensorineural hearing loss.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
1. Press the tips of two thumbs against each other; bend the remaining fingers and interlock into the fingers of the other hand.
2. Place a stick between the tips of the two little fingers and use the force of the little fingers to press it.
3. Use a stick to evenly jab the little finger top down along the phalanx bones.
Other Method
Some research shows that eating curry can help alleviate cranial nerve damage and improve memory.
5. Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a common mental illness involving abnormally elevated moods and periodical depression. Sufferers experience much stronger mood swings than others, which last for a long time and can affect social lives and physiological functions.
The exact cause of bipolar disorder is still unknown. In addition to factors such as genetics, extreme mental stress, traumatic events, changes in neurotransmitter function, and neuroendocrine disorders, fast-paced work and strained inter-personal relations are also important factors. Stressful and traumatic events in adverse environment may be triggers. Current studies tend to believe that genetics and environmental factors play an important role in the onset of the disease. By comparison, genetic factor may play a more prominent role.
Manifestations and Symptoms
The onset of this disease includes two modes: mania/hypomania and depression. As for its manifestations, the affected can either be exceptionally elated, happy, worry-free, and in high spirits, or depressed, sad, melancholy, sullen, unpleasant, lacking confidence, or even hopeless about the future; worse still, the affected may inflict pain on themselves and be susceptible to suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Some patients may flare into a rage due to trifling matters or irritability. Some may engage in provocative behavior if seriously irritated.
Patients alternating between the two modes are bi-directional, whereas those who suffer only one form are one directional.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
Hand Exercises
1. Use a stick to jab the palm side of the middle finger in even dots, starting from the fingertip downward.
2. Spread the five digits; use a stick to jab with force along the transverse palmar creases.
3. Put a coin horizontally between the proximal phalanges of the index finger and the middle finger, and keep it there firmly with the force of the fingers.
Other Methods
Maintain a healthy mentality and a good diet; avoid pungent and spicy food. Wheat seedling tea and fungus-tofu soup are good for alleviating the symptoms.
Wheat Seedling Tea: Appropriate amount of green wheat seedlings, orange peel (15 g), field sow-thistle herbs (9 g), 10 dates; cook all ingredients together. Strain and keep the juice. Add some sugar, and drink warm.
Fungus-Tofu Soup: Fungus (30 g), tofu (3 pieces), walnuts (7 pieces). Cook in water, drink the soup, and eat the contents.
6. Acute Cerebrovascular Disease
Acute cerebrovascular disease is one of the three most common causes of death, and refers to a group of events that hinder cerebrovascular blood circulation. The onset is usually abrupt. The underlying causes may vary, from abrupt cerebral thrombosis, cerebral ischemic stroke, or cerebral hemorrhagic stroke due to cerebrovascular rupture. Hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease is a result of hypertension, cerebral atherosclerosis, congenital cerebral aneurysm, and cerebrovascular deformity.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Dizziness, headache, blurred vision, hemiplegia, and uncontrollable shaking. If the condition is severe, the patient may suffer loss of vision, vertigo, vomiting, and quadriplegia.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
1. Open your palm, and quickly fold in the four fingers, with the thumb tightly attached.
2. With your palm facing outward, tuck a coin between the index and middle fingers and keep it there firmly; make the coin move up and down slightly without falling out.
3. Spread the five digits. Use a stick to jab with force along the transverse palmar creases from the top down.
Other Methods
1. Lifestyle: Avoid staying in bed for too long, as it will reduce blood circulation, which can lead to ischemic stroke, and is not conducive to poststroke physiological recuperation; when temperatures are low, put on a few more layers of clothes to stay warm, and wear gloves, a hat, a scarf, and an overcoat when going out. This will help prevent blood vessels contraction causing hypertension and exacerbate your condition. Do not take off your quilt as soon as you wake up, and make sure the room is warm (ask a family member to turn the heating on) before you get up; heat the bathroom before going in to wash; brush your teeth and wash your face with warm water.
2. Diet: Increase your intake of highprotein food such as fish, poultry, and lean meat; avoid food that is rich in saturated fatty acid such as fatty meat, animal fat, and offal; control your salt intake, but if using dehydrating agent or diuretics, properly increase the amount; ensure that you eat plenty of vitamins and fresh vegetables every day.
3. Mental health: Maintain good control of your emotions and stay calm; avoid excessive fatigue, and shun extreme emotions such as ecstasy, rage, depression, sorrow, fear, and fright.
4. General: Keep risk factors in control; have a physical checkup once every six or twelve months; do not replace medication with health supplements; do not stop taking lipidlowering drugs without consulting your doctor.
Diabetes is a common endocrine and metabolic disorder. Its main causes are:
• Deficiency of the immune system: A number of immune antibodies are found in the blood of people with diabetes. These abnormal antibodies may damage β-cells, which help to produce insulin from the pancreas.
• Genes: Current research points to genetic deficiency as the basic cause of diabetes.
• Viral infections: Diabetes may be triggered by a virus. Sufferers are often found to have been infected with a virus before the onset.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Clinical diagnosis is based on the indicator of high glucose; common symptoms are excessive thirst and hunger, frequent urination, and weight loss.
Some patients with Type II diabetes may not have any symptoms apart from dizziness and feebleness. Early diabetes or pre-diabetes may manifest as low glucose before lunch or dinner.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
Hand Exercises
1. With the palms facing each other, bend the index finger and the middle finger over, leaving the ring finger and the little fingers pressing against each other while moving left and right.
2. With the palms leaning towards each other sideways, interlock the fingers; press them against each other, and push them away from you.
3. With the right palm facing down, lock the fingers of the left hand into the right hand from the back, and press as hard as you want.
Other Methods
Dietary changes may prove to be the most important factor in treating diabetes. The general principle is to control weight and calorie intake.
1. Reduce fat in your food, particularly saturated fatty acid; increase your intake of fiber, and keep an appropriate proportion of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins in your diet.
2. Control your overall calorie intake, balance your nutrition, and maintain a healthy weight.
3. Eat less: take the initiative in controlling the amount of food you eat; eat appropriate portions; eat more whole grains.
4. More exercise: do exercise every day, particularly for aerobic metabolism; practice massage every day.
When doing exercise outside the home, take some sweets with you. Eat one if you feel light-headed. Prepare a health information card about yourself, including information such as your name and health condition, home address, emergency contact, the hospital and doctor you usually go to. This way, if an emergency occurs (such as fainting) people around you will be able to help.
8. Hyperthyroidism
Hyperthyroidism is an endocrine condition in which your thyroid gland produces too much thyroxin. The causes of hyperthyroidism are closely related to the immune system, genetics, and the environment, e.g., trauma, traumatic experiences, and infection.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Manifestations in metabolic syndrome patients include increased appetite, weight loss, aversion to heat, palpitations, and excitement. They also include increased excitement of the nerves and blood vessels, as well as varying degrees of such features as enlarged thyroid glands and bulging eyes, shaking hands, and vascular bruit in the neck. If the disease is severe, the patient may experience thyroid crisis, coma, or even death. Senile hyperthyroidism does not usually show these typical signs, but often manifests as apathy, loss of appetite, and obvious weight loss, which can sometimes be misdiagnosed as cancer.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
Hand Exercises
1. Use a stick to poke the little finger evenly along the metacarpal bone from the tip downward.
2. Place a coin horizontally between the roots of the index and the middle fingers, and hold it there firmly with the force of the fingers.
3. Place two balls in your palm, and keep them attached. Then, use the mobility of your fingers to turn the two balls.
Other Methods
Early stage hyperthyroidism should be treated as quickly as possible. Learn about the condition, and take measures to prevent complications and bring the disease under control.
In the early recuperation period, special care should be taken with diet and medication. Regular checkups are necessary. The patient should keep track of their condition and prevent it from reoccurring:
1. Keep a pleasant mood and be free of anxieties in daily life.
2. Maintain an appropriate diet. Avoid pungent and spicy food such as chili pepper, raw green onion, and raw garlic. Avoid seafood such as kelp, sea prawns/shrimps, and ribbonfish.
3. Follow an appropriate daily schedule; strengthen your immune system and your ability to resist disease.
9. Menopause Syndrome
When a woman’s ovaries lose their function, she will experience menopause, i.e., turning from childbearing age to non-childbearing age. During this time, women may experience a variety of symptoms due to ovarian dysfunction, hyperpituitarism, and over-secretion of sex hormones, causing autonomic system dysfunction.
Manifestations and Symptoms
Hot flushes on the cheeks, neck, chest, and back; accelerated pulse, mood swings, excitability, difficulty concentrating, paranoia, tension or depression, irritability, insomnia and dreamful sleep, headaches, pain in the lower back and legs, dizziness and tinnitus, swings in blood pressure, frequent urination, urinary incontinence, osteoporosis, back pain, susceptibility to bone fractures; the reproductive organs and breasts may sag in varying degrees. Other symptoms include lengthening of the menstrual period and less menstrual discharge; shortened menstrual cycles and increased period discharge; irregular cycles, length of periods, and discharge; or sudden termination of periods.
Hand Reflexology and Acupressure
1. Cross your index finger over the middle finger, and press the middle finger down with as much force as possible.
2. Form two fists with the palms facing down; interlock the knuckles of the metacarpal bones so they press into the depressions of the other fist, and press hard.
3. Use a stick to poke the middle finger evenly, from the fingertip downward.
Other Methods
Usually, women suffering from menopausal syndrome do not need special treatment. If they take some measures in daily life regarding their diet, the phase will pass naturally. Men can also experience hormonal changes, but the symptoms are much less obvious, including memory failure, trouble concentrating, loss of sleep, depression, anxiety, irritability, paranoia, and neurosis. To determine if you are suffering from menopause syndrome, go to the hospital for a physical checkup in order to exclude other disease factors. This will include a hormone test, a blood test, and medical imaging for diagnostic determination.
As for diet, sufferers are encouraged to eat food that calms the mind and relieves dryness.
Lotus seed and lily bulb congee: Cook lotus seeds, lily bulbs, and short grain rice together (30 g of each). Eat in the morning and afternoon. This recipe is good for those who suffer palpitations, sleeplessness, forgetfulness, physical fatigue, and rough skin.
Licorice and wheat drink: Cook wheat (30 g), 10 dates, and licorice (10 g) together. Drink the tea once in the morning and once in the afternoon. This is good for those suffering from hot flushes, sweating, irritability, palpitations, depression, ill temper, and lusterless complexion around menopause.