Meijuan Lu
President of Meng River Chinese Medicine Research Co. Ltd (USA)
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J of Neur & Neur
Statement of the Problem: This paper discusses the role and experience of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. This topic may be at the heart of this meeting - the gray area of the nervous system. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology that can affect almost all organs. A prominent feature of the disease is immune abnormalities, especially the production of large amounts of antinuclear antibody. Patients may present with different clinical features, ranging from mild joint and skin lesions to life-threatening kidney, blood system, or central nervous system lesions in severe cases. In terms of treatment, the commonly used drugs in the clinical treatment of SLE by Western medicine include glucocorticoids, immune-suppressants, gamma globulin, and biological agents. There are many TCM syndrome types for SLE, each having a specialized focus. Combined with the analysis of relevant literature reports, I conclude that the TCM syndrome differentiation of systemic lupus erythematosus is centered on visceral syndrome differentiation, and the mainstream is staged and classified, but there are also many TCM syndromes. Although the perspectives are different, from the point of view of the syndrome elements, the syndrome differentiation of SLE is unified, with multiple heat syndromes in the early stage, and multiple yin deficiency syndromes or yang deficiency syndromes in the later stage, and blood stasis runs through it all the time. Conclusion & Significance: This article summarizes the gratifying curative effect of TCM treatment for middle and late SLE to better guide the clinical treatment of SLE based on syndrome differentiation, and broaden ideas for TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment of SLE. It also allows traditional Chinese medicine to shine some bright spots of hope in the gray area of modern neuroscience research on lupus.
Meijuan Lu graduated from Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and moved to North America in the early 1990s. She was founder and owner of Indiana Lafayette Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Center. She is a Fellow of the Lafayette Society of Alternative Medicine and a member of the World Association for the Study of Mind and Matter. Dr Meijuan Lu was born in China and she is third of four generations of a traditional Chinese medicine family. As the third generation TCM physician of the Meng he school of TCM, she has extensive clinical experience with immune system deficiencies, such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Dr. Lu’s research includes the basic concepts of “Yin Yang” and “Qi” in ancient Chinese philosophy and Chinese medicine and their relationship to modern Western science.Jerome Busemeyer is Distinguished Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University.
