Dear Friends:

This is Part Two of the series Support the Shen in which you will find out more about natural therapies, integrated Chinese medicine and integrative medicine treatments (both self-care and practitioner based) for the psychological, emotional and mental manifestations of having liver disease.

The focus today is on diet and nutrition. Please see the previous blogs on diet and hepatitis.

In addition to following basic guidelines for sound nutrition for people with liver disease, these additional dietary recommendations are from Chinese medicine.

*Eat foods that regulate or move Stagnant Qi and motivate stuck energy: basil, bay leaves, beets, black pepper, cabbage, chicken livers (organic please!), coconut milk, garlic, ginger, kelp, leek, nori, peaches, scallions, rosemary.                                                 Avoid alcohol, fatty foods, food additives, unnecessary medicines, overindulgence in sweets.

*Eat foods that sedate Excess Liver conditions (Chinese diagnosis): beef, chicken livers, celery, kelp, mussels, nori and plums. Avoid coffee in excess, fried foods, excessively spicy foods, heavy red meat, sugar and sweets.

*Eat foods that help ease Xue Deficiency: oysters, sweet rice, liver, chicken broth. Avoid raw fruit and vegetables, cold liquids or ice.

Look for Part Three of Support the Shen soon!

Yours in health,
Doc Misha (aka Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, L.Ac.)

P.S. * Recipes for a Healthy Liver: Dietary Therapies to Help You Feel Better is a BONUS book you will get when you order my new e-book 7 Key Facts You Must Know To Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment.

1. Plan in advance
Create a plan in advance that you can stick with easily during treatment. This includes all aspects of your life as you can become worn down, spacy and not feel like doing things during interferon treatment. Having a plan that you and your friends and family can follow is very important to successfully getting rid of HCV and becoming cured.
2. Drink plenty of water
It is important to keep your electrolytes balanced and prevent a state of abnormally low levels of blood sodium known as hyponatremia. Dehydration only exaggerates constipation and other intestinal problems. It can also cause mental and body weakness.
3. Rest enough
Sleep 8 hours at night, rest during the day, and take naps as necessary.
4. Support system
Ask your friends and family for help with cooking, cleaning, driving to appointments—be assertive and plan for this in advance.

For more tips, more details on these tips and a full explanation of how to determine if interferon is for you and how to best manage your interferon treatment using integrative Chinese medicine, please go to my Web site and pick up my e-book Optimum Interferon Protocol.

Have a great New Year!

Yours in health,
Doc Misha

Hi Blog Watchers:

Here is a tidbit taken from a section in my new e-book Doc Misha’s Special Guide: 7 Key Facts You Must Know to Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment.

Here are some examples of how Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine integrates our own approach with western care:

For clients who have hepatitis C and are about to undergo interferon therapy, our focus is to prepare your body beforehand to support strong blood counts, minimize inflammation, and support liver function.

Co-management means we work with you during Interferon to minimize adverse effects such as decreased blood counts, fatigue, body aches, etc.

We ask questions to ensure you are getting optimal care from your western medical providers, and make referrals where appropriate.

Along with your western case managers, we monitor changes to your baseline blood counts especially in the first 4-6 weeks of Interferon so that we can adapt your herbal formulas for optimal red and white blood cell and platelets counts.

We know which herbs and supplements to use not to use in conjunction with interferon and ribavirin as well as those you should be using to optimize your quality of life while on treatment.

For more information on integrating East and West in hepatitis C and liver disease please visit Doc Misha’s Conquer Hepatitis C.

Yours in Health,
Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, L.Ac.
aka Doc Misha

Dear Friends:

Today I want to share with you a bit about eating healthfully when you have hepatitis C and want to help your liver to work as well as possible.

Diet is a very important part of Chinese medicine therapies – for people with hepatitis and other liver diseases there are some special recommendations.

Building correct nutritional habits includes learning how to expand your cooking habits to include a new variety of healthful recipes you can prepare easily at home.

Today, I am going to share one of the recipes taken from my new bonus e-book Recipes for a Healthy Liver: Dietary Therapies to Help You Feel Better*.

The first recipe is from the “Miso Magic” section of the e-book.

Miso is a paste made from fermented soybeans that contains active bacteria beneficial to the digestive tract. It helps disperse Stagnant Qi and tonifies the kidney. Those on a salt-restricted diet or who have water retention or swelling in the abdomen, legs or hands should avoid using highly salted miso. This often includes people with advanced liver disease and cirrhosis.

Miso Soup with Sea Vegetables

5 cups water

1 strip kombu, hijiki or other sea vegetable (available at natural food stores and Japanese groceries)

1 cup chopped chard, kale or other greens

1/2 cup sliced carrots

5 teaspoons miso of your choice

Rinse the sea vegetable in cold water for 10 minutes. (If using arame, do not soak.) Wipe with a towel to remove excess sodium. Fill a pot with 5 cups of water. Cut the sea vegetable into small strips and add to the pot. Bring the water to a boil. Add the carrots, cover and turn the heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove a little broth to mix with the miso to form a puree. Place the miso in the pot and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes. (Miso should not be boiled because it will kill the beneficial bacteria!) Add the greens and simmer for 2 minutes. To increase the ability of miso to warm, add ginger.

Look for more information on diet in future blog entries. Check the blog archives for additional articles on diet and nutrition.

Yours in health,
Doc Misha

P.S. * Recipes for a Healthy Liver: Dietary Therapies to Help You Feel Better is a BONUS book you will get when you order my new e-book 7 Key Facts You Must Know To Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment.

Dear Friends:

I am glad to be back up on the Conquer Hepatitis C blog. I know there had been a bit of a lag time in this blog. However, the good news is that the down time has been for an excellent reason. I have been involved in huge venture/adventure – my Chinese medicine clinic of 20 years, Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine, has moved to a great new location in the South of Market (SoMa) district of San Francisco. You can find my clinic at http://www.docmisha.com/clinic/clinic.htm.

Also, I have been preparing for the launch of the new e-book (out in the next week or two) for people with hepatitis C and their supporters:
Doc Misha’s Special Guide: 7 Key Facts You Must Know to Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment.

So today I would like to send out a report from our friends in Asia. As a member of the Care and Treatment Committee of the San Francisco Mayor’s Task Force on Hepatitis C, I spend a lot of time reviewing related materials from around the world.

There is great lack of information on hepatitis C, HCV/HIV co-infection and its consequences in many countries, including the United States.

Here is a timely press release from the Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV (APN+), Coalition of Asia Pacific Regional Networks on HIV/AIDS (7 Sisters), Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD), World AIDS Campaign (WAC) and International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC).

While the following report is from Asia, there are implications for us in the United States as well.

Yours in health,
Doc Misha

Dying of a Curable Disease – Hepatitis C (HCV).

Bangkok, 28 July 2010:

In accord with the 63rd World Health Assembly Resolution on viral hepatitis earmarking July 28 as World Hepatitis Day, Regional Organizations working on HIV and AIDS issues across Asia have expressed serious concerns about HCV related deaths amongst People Living with HIV (PLHIV) and people who use drugs (PUD).

Approximately 200 Million (about 3%) of the World’s population are infected with hepatitis C (HCV) and each year another 3 to 4 million people are newly infected. The World Health Organization reports that People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) are most at risk of HCV infection with the prevalence of HCV in this group being 92% in India, upto 98% in Indonesia, 90% in Thailand and 89% in Pakistan. A large proportion are also co-infected with HIV.

Awareness about HCV including prevention, diagnosis and treatment is alarmingly low among PLHIV and PUD as well as health professionals treating HIV. Few governments adequately recognize or address hepatitis C in their HIV or public health programs contributing to these low levels of HCV education and awareness.

Although hepatitis C is a curable disease, the medications are prohibitively expensive and out of the reach of the majority of those infected resulting in poorer quality of life and in many cases, death from complications of liver disease, particularly during HIV treatment – all avoidable through HCV treatment and appropriate management of HCV HIV co infection. The Patents being held by two pharmaceutical companies severely limit access to treatment for those who most need it.

Rico Gustav, APN+ Treatment Officer and Regional Coordinator of ITPC Southeast Asia said “Many of us are living with HIV and HCV co-infection. The ARV we take for HIV will not make sense and be of benefit if our HCV is left untreated. So investment to increase people on ARV for HIV will not have the desired results if HCV is left unaddressed”.

“Though there has been recent positive developments with the WHA resolution on viral hepatitis, the WHO,UNODC and UNAIDS Technical Guide for Universal Access, people who use drugs who are most affected by HCV still need to put pressure and demand for access to diagnostics and treatment. This is compounded by the criminalization policies of governments in Asia, which inhibits and denies access to essential Harm Reduction services”, said Dean Lewis, Regional Coordinator, Asian Network of People who Use Drugs, (ANPUD).

The Regional Organizations call on policy makers, governments and the donor community to recognize the urgency of the issue. It is however clear that if HCV is left unattended and issues around prevention, testing, affordability and accessibility of treatment are not addressed, the global investment on HIV programs will not have the desired results and outcomes for those living with HIV and HCV co-infection. In fact, not addressing HCV will result in poorer health for people living with HCV and a greater burden to health systems.

Above all, what is the point of the investment when people continue to live with HIV, so far an incurable disease, but ultimately die of a curable disease – hepatitis C?

For more information, contact- Giten Khwairakpam, Regional Program Coordinator, Coalition of Asia Pacific Regional Networks on HIV/AIDS (7 Sisters), Bangkok at +66-811633923 or giten@7sisters.org.

Issued by: Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV (APN+), Coalition of Asia Pacific Regional Networks on HIV/AIDS (7 Sisters), Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD), World AIDS Campaign (WAC) and International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC).

Excerpted from My Upcoming E-Book 

“Doc Misha’s Special Guide: 7 Key Facts You Must Know To Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment”

In Chinese medicine there is a long tradition of treating fatigue associated with various syndromes and disharmonies. Before starting a program to combat fatigue you may want to be diagnosed by your practitioner; determining the nature of the fatigue is important before you begin treating it.

One of the best ways to make a diagnosis is to ask the question, “Does exercise make my fatigue better or worse?” If exercise makes you more tired, then your fatigue is probably associated with a Deficiency syndrome. However, if you always feel more energized from exercise, then your fatigue is probably the result of a Stagnant Qi. When the precise syndrome is identified, your practitioner can coordinate your self-care and in-office treatments most effectively.

Once you have discussed your condition with your healthcare provider, you may want to try some self-care techniques.

Self Care for Fatigue

The single most important tool for managing or overcoming fatigue, whether you rely on Western or Chinese medicine or some combination of both, is simply rest. It may seem a simple prescription, but many people try to steamroll over fatigue and end up making them more depleted and even more exhausted. This can lead to flare-ups of the flu-like symptoms associated with primary HCV infection or aggravate the symptoms of complications that are developing. Afternoon naps, a full eight hours of sleep a night, elimination of stimulants such as cigarettes and caffeine from the diet, and reduction of stress and tension are all important tools for managing fatigue effectively.

In addition to getting sufficient rest, Chinese medicine therapy suggests the following (and more):

1. Adjusting Your Diet
2. Finding Your Right Level of Exercise
3. Self-Acupressure for Health

Learn more about Chinese medicine treatment for Hepatitis C in my e-book due out in the next few weeks…………..

“Doc Misha’s Special Guide: 7 Key Facts You Must Know To Choose Your Correct Hepatitis C Treatment”

at www.HelpHepatitisC.com

Yours in health, 

Doc Misha 

(Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD., L.Ac.)