Treating Eczema With Traditional Chinese Medicine

FRONT MATTER
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:i–xiv

Part I Research

Chapter 1: “GIVE-UP PATIENTS”: THE ROAD TO ECZEMA TREATMENT A CONVERSATION WITH DR. XIU-MIN LI
Henry Ehrlich
Pages:3–11

Chapter 2: THE ALLERGIST’S DILEMMA
Paul Ehrlich
Pages:13–14

Chapter 3: TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE FOR FOOD ALLERGY AND ECZEMA
Zixi Wang, Zhen-Zhen Wang, Jan Geliebter, Raj Tiwari and Xiu-Min Li
Pages:15–57

Chapter 4: BRIEF OUTLINE OF CHINESE MEDICINE’S UNDERSTANDING AND TREATMENT OF DERMATOLOGICAL DISEASE
Mazin Al-Khafaji
Pages:59–63

Chapter 5: MECHANISM OF ECZEMA, BIOMARKERS, AND PERSPECTIVES OF TCM THERAPEUTIC TARGETS
Kamal D. Srivastava and Xiu-Min Li
Pages:65–73

Chapter 6: THE ROLE OF MICROBIOTA IN ECZEMA
Jan Geliebter, Xiu-Min Li and Raj Tiwari
Pages:75–81

Chapter 7: SHI ZHEN TEA I: INSIDE LOOK AT A BOTANICAL FORMULA
Nan Yang and Xiu-Min Li
Pages:83–90

Chapter 8: COMPUTATIONAL APPROACHES TO REVEAL THE ACTIVE COMPOUNDS AND MOLECULAR TARGETS FROM TCM FORMULAS FOR ECZEMA
Zhen-Zhen Wang
Pages:91–99

Chapter 9: TOPICAL STEROID WITHDRAWAL
Belinda Sheary
Pages:101–109

Chapter 10: SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF SEVERE ECZEMA CHARACTERIZED BY CORTICOSTEROID ADDICTION AND WITHDRAWAL USING TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
Tory McKnight and Xiu-Min Li
Pages:111–117

Chapter 11: ECZEMA, FOOD ALLERGY, AND TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE (TCM) THERAPY
Johnathan Neshiwat and Xiu-Min Li
Pages:119–124

Chapter 12: BEYOND CORTICOSTEROIDS: STRATEGIES AND MILESTONES OF THE HEALING PROCESS
Xiu-Min Li
Pages:127–144

Chapter 13: “SHE LEARNED TO CHEW THROUGH HER SLEEVES TO GET AT HER SKIN”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:145–146

Chapter 14: ECZEMATOUS LESIONS SPREAD “LIKE IVY”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:147–149

Chapter 15: THEY SWADDLED HIM AT NIGHT AND RESTRAINED HIS HANDS WITH VELCRO
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:151–152

Chapter 16: “I WOULD OOZE AND CRY”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:153–154

Chapter 17: “WHEN WE WERE LITTLE, YOUR SKIN SCARED ME”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:155–156

Chapter 18: “EVEN THE AIR HURT HIS SKIN”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:157–165

Chapter 19: THE CONDITION LOOKED LIKE ECZEMA BUT IT “BEHAVED DIFFERENTLY”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:167–168

Chapter 20: A “BLUR OF MISERY”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:169–170

Chapter 21: “THIS WAS NO WAY TO LIVE”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:171–172

Chapter 22: POTENTIAL FOR MUCH WORSE
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:173–174

Chapter 23: ITCH THAT NEVER SEEMED TO BUDGE
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:175–176

Chapter 24: SHE FELT COMPLETELY HEALED, AND CELEBRATED BY GOING OUT AND DANCING UNTIL 3AM
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:177–178

Chapter 25: “IT LOOKED LIKE SHE HAD BEEN SKINNED ALIVE FROM HEAD TO TOE”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:179–180

Chapter 26: SHE KEPT A DUSTBUSTER BY HER BED TO COLLECT DEAD SKIN
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:181–182

Chapter 27: “MY BABY IS GOING TO DIE IF I CAN’T HELP HIM”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:183–184

Chapter 28: HE HAS BEGUN TO HAVE A NORMAL CHILDHOOD
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:185–186

Chapter 29: THE MESSAGE WAS ALWAYS THE SAME. “THIS IS LIFE FOR HIM”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:187–189

Chapter 30: “IT HURT TO SHOWER”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:191–192

Chapter 31: THE PARENTS WOULD LIE IN BED AND LISTEN TO HIM SCRATCH
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:193–194

Chapter 32: ALL BLOOD AND CRYING
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:195–196

Chapter 33: “WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE. GOOD LUCK”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:197–199

Chapter 34: “JUST WANTED TO BE NORMAL”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:201–202

Chapter 35: “ZERO SPONTANEITY IN OUR LIVES”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:203–204

Chapter 36: “A LIFE OF CHAOS AND TRAUMA”
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:205–208

Part II: Patients and Their Stories

Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Page:125

BACK MATTER
Xiu-Min Li and Henry Ehrlich
Pages:209–214

It was August 1, a time when New York children are generally wearing shorts and short-sleeved shirts. My first patient was 18 months old and dressed more appropriately for late fall. When we took off his clothes I saw why. He was covered head-to-toe with oozing, staph-infected lesions, which he promptly began to scratch. That explained the overdressing — it was the only deterrent to scratching ... I had expected quick resolution using oral medication–teas — based on my experience in China. I wasn't prepared for this level of severity."

Dr Xiu-Min Li

 

Thus began Dr Li's journey into the treatment of eczema in the United States, which afflicts some 15–20% of children and 10% of adults. This book represents years of collaboration with patients, parents, pediatricians, allergists and dermatologists to treat disorders that resist standard intervention, and in some cases are caused by conventional treatment in the form of topical corticosteroids. Chronic use of steroids by patients desperate for relief from itching, oozing and scaling, and subsequent withdrawal can result in severe physical and psychological symptoms.

 

"It wasn't just the extent of the disease. It was also the toll it took on family quality of life. Kids were crying. Mothers were crying. They were all sleeping badly. Most of these families also had bad food allergies, but food allergy is a silent disease. People worry about it, but with eczema they suffer every day."

Dr Li

 

This is a book of scholarship. Dr Li, explores the literature of traditional Chinese medicine, which has a long history of describing and treating skin disorders, to find therapies that might benefit current patients. It is a book of science as Dr Li and her team use state-of-the-art technology to explore the mechanisms of disease, the therapeutic effects of the herbs, and ways to make them more effective. But it is also a book of compassion as patients and their families recount their experience of illness and the road back, after working with Dr Li's private practice.

 

Dr Li has dual professorships in Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology, and Otolaryngology at New York Medical College. Dr Li and her team have long devoted to themselves to developing novel therapies for food allergy, asthma, eczema, Eosinophilic Esophagitis, and Crohn's disease, among other inflammatory conditions.

 

 

Sample Chapter(s)

Foreword

Chapter 1: "Give-Up Patients": The Road to Eczema Treatment A Conversation with Dr. Xiu-Min Li

Contents:

About the Author
Foreword
Anne Maitland

Research:

• "Give-Up Patients": The Road to Eczema Treatment (A Conversation with Dr Xiu-Min Li)(Henry Ehrlich)
• The Allergist's Dilemma (Paul Ehrlich)
• Traditional Chinese Medicine for Food Allergy and Eczema (Zixi Wang, Zhen-Zhen Wang, Jan Geliebter, Raj Tiwari, and Xiu-Min Li)
• Brief Outline of Chinese Medicine's Understanding and Treatment of Dermatological Disease (Mazin Al-Khafaji)
• Mechanisms of Eczema, Biomarkers, and Perspectives of TCM Therapeutic Targets (Kamal D Srivastava and Xiu-Min Li)
• The Role of Microbiota in Eczema (Jan Geliebter, Xiu-Min Li, and Raj Tiwari)
• Shi Zhen Tea I: Inside Look at a Botanical Formula (Nan Yang and Xiu-Min Li)
• Computational Approaches to Reveal the Active Compounds and Molecular Targets from TCM Formulas for Eczema (Zhen-Zhen Wang)
• Topical Steroid Withdrawal (Belinda Sheary)
• Successful Management of Severe Eczema Characterized by Corticosteroid Addiction and Withdrawal Using Traditional Chinese Medicine (Tory McKnight and Xiu-Min Li)
• Eczema, Food Allergy, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapy (Johnathan Neshiwat and Xiu-Min Li)

 

 

Patients and Their Stories:

• Beyond Corticosteroids: Strategies and Milestones of the Healing Process (Xiu-Min Li)
• "She Learned to Chew Through Her Sleeves to Get at Her Skin"
• Eczematous Lesions Spread "Like Ivy"
• They Swaddled Him at Night and Restrained His Hands with Velcro
• "I Would Ooze and Cry"
• "When We Were Little, Your Skin Scared Me"
• "Even the Air Hurt His Skin"
• The Condition Looked Like Eczema but It "Behaved Differently"
• A "Blur of Misery"
• "This Was No Way to Live"
• "Potential for Much Worse"
• "Itch That Never Seemed to Budge"
• "She Felt Completely Healed, and Celebrated by Going Out and Dancing Until 3AM"
• "It Looked Like She Had Been Skinned Alive from Head to Toe"
• She Kept a Dustbuster by Her Bed to Collect Dead Skin
• "My Baby Is Going to Die If I Can't Help Him"
• He Has Begun to Have a Normal Childhood
• The Message was Always the Same. "This is Life for Him"
• "It Hurt to Shower"
• The Parents Would Lie in Bed and Listen to Him Scratch
• All Blood and Crying
• "We Have Nothing Else. Good Luck"
• "Just Wanted to Be Normal"
• "Zero Spontaneity in Our Lives"
• "A Life of Chaos and Trauma"

 

Readership: Primary market: Dermatologists, allergists, general medicine. Secondary market: Patients and patient families.

 

 

Authors

 

Dr Xiu-Min Li is a full professor in both the Departments of Pathology, Immunology and Microbiology, and Otolaryngology at New York Medical College/Westchester Medical Center. She has pioneered research into the efficacy, safety and mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), for immune disorders. Her research has been funded by NIH, industry, private foundations, and family-donations with over 100 publications in these fields. Dr Li obtained her MD degree at the Henan School of Chinese Medicine(Zhengzhou) in 1983 and a Master's degree in Clinical Pediatric Immunology from the Graduate School of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (Beijing). She was a Visiting Scientist at Stanford and postdoctoral fellow in Clinical Immunology at Johns Hopkins where she was appointed Instructor in 1997. Dr Li joined the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Mount Sinai when it was established in 1997, where she rose to the rank of tenured Professor. She has chaired prominent committees about the use of alternative medicines for allergic diseases in the US and internationally and is the recipient of the Future of Health Technology Award in Cambridge, Mass. in 2016 and the Novel Research in Chinese Medicine Overseas Award in Beijing in 2017.