HOME > Gastrointestinal phlegm stagnation and systemic disease > Behcet's disease and gastrointestinal phlegm stagnation
It is a general multiple chronic systemic inflammation with symptoms such as skin ulcer, canker sore, venereal ulcer, peptic ulcer, conjunctivitis, uveitis, and arthritis. In a serious case, it can result in blindness and a brain disorder.
The first Behcet’s disease patient was reported in Korea in1961, and the number of patients increase every year since the 80s.
There are several theories on what causes Behcet’s disease such as virus, pesticide or heavy metal poisoning, genetic association, and immune disorder. The most influential theory is the one suggesting immune disorder as the cause. Autoimmune diseases - mentioned several times earlier - refers to inflammations or ulcers that occur as result of an immune reaction as antigenic substances like virus or toxins attacks the body. This happens because the body is contaminated with various causes and inside the body lives different harmful substances acting as antigens. The throat contamination is related to recently increased consumption of contaminated food, environmental pollution, heavy metal, agricultural pesticides, various poisonous food, and toxins in medicine. The ideal treatment for Behcet’s disease is improving the body condition to prevent the body from forming antigens.
Improvement of body condition starts, again, from eliminating the phlegm toxins. Once the body is purified through phlegm removal, autoimmune responses do not occur as there are no antigens in the body. However, elimination of phlegm toxins is not the ultimate solution for Behcet’s disease.
Oriental medicine considers the strongest cause for the disease to be hepatization or wet-heat liver and intestines. Recessive condition of the liver and intestines due to stress, overwork, alcohol, and hepatotoxin provoke excessive immune responses. Over-activated immune system aggressively attacks any factors recognized as harmful, and inflammations, ulcers, and tissue damages occur in different parts of the body. In the end, Behcet’s disease can be thought of as a disease formed by the anger in the liver and intestines based on the toxic condition created by phlegm. In reality, a 45-year-old male patient suffering from Bahcet’s disease with the symptoms including canker sore, genital ulcer, and multiple arthritis was treated with the gastrointestinal phlegm stagnation treatment along with hepatization control therapy. His canker sores disappeared, the eye pain and the genital ulcers were reduced, and the arthritis symptoms also improved to the point where he no longer had to take the medicine he used to take - 6 pills a day.
However, there is no satisfactory treatment for Behcet’s disease at this point. Immunosuppressants had been used, but a long-term use of this medicine is followed by side effects. Thus, more research is required, but as successful results were obtained through the treatment, the joint use of the detoxification therapy - gastrointestinal phlegm stagnation treatment - and the hepatization control therapy that adjusts the excessive immune responses could be a great treatment model for Behcet’s disease in the future. A Behcet’s disease medicine developed by our hospital has obtained an international patent.
