The Eight Brocades is a long-standing qigong exercise with good health and disease prevention benefits. Chronic gastritis, on the other hand, is a common disease among modern people. So, can the Eight Brocades treat chronic gastritis?
Can the Eight Brocades treat chronic gastritis?
The Eight Brocades can assist in the treatment of chronic gastritis.
When practicing the Eight Brocades, it is required to press the tongue against the palate to enhance saliva secretion. At this time, saliva should be swallowed, as the bicarbonate and mucin proteins in saliva can neutralize gastric acid. Mucin proteins can also adhere to the gastric mucosa, forming a protective film that can treat diseases caused by excessive gastric acid, such as gastric ulcers and chronic gastritis.
In addition, saliva contains lysozyme, which can clean and protect the oral cavity, teeth, and taste organs, and has functions of enhancing appetite and aiding digestion.
Practicing the Eight Brocades requires the "qi to enter the dantian", which can increase the secretion and peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract, thereby promoting appetite and helping with food digestion, absorption, and excretion. It can regulate gastrointestinal function, maintain regular bowel movements, and promote blood supply to the abdominal organs, ensuring gastrointestinal health.
How to treat chronic gastritis
1. Diet and eliminating unfavorable factors:
In the treatment of chronic gastritis, a light diet is recommended, avoiding spicy and rough foods, hot beverages, alcohol, and salty foods. Various causes that may lead to chronic gastritis should be identified and eliminated, such as stopping medication, quitting alcohol and smoking, etc.
2. Psychological and comforting therapy:
People's fear of chronic gastritis is often more focused on the concern that it may progress into cancer. Some clinical observations have found that neuroendocrine dysfunction and imbalance of gastrointestinal hormones play a certain role in the pathogenesis of chronic gastritis. Therefore, it is important to pay sufficient attention to the lifestyle and manifestations of autonomic nervous system dysfunction, such as tension, anxiety, excitement, irritability, and sadness, in the treatment of patients. Currently, only atrophic gastritis is considered to have a certain relationship with gastric cancer, so it is necessary to provide correct health education to patients, help them maintain an optimistic attitude, and avoid increasing their mental burden.
3. Drug therapy:
1) Gastric mucosal protective drugs:
The main function of gastric mucosal protective drugs is to enhance the barrier function of the gastric mucosa and increase its ability to resist damaging factors. For patients with symptoms of acid reflux, gastric burning, gastric pain, and mucosal erosion and bleeding confirmed by gastroscopy, mucosal protectants can be given.
2) Gastric motility drugs:
Gastrointestinal motility drugs can be given to patients with bloating and belching.
3) Acid-reducing drugs:
Patients with chronic gastritis may have either high or low gastric acid levels. The use of acid-reducing drugs can increase the pH value in the stomach, reduce the extent of H+ diffusion, and create a favorable local environment for the inflammatory repair of the gastric mucosa.
4) Hp eradication therapy:
For patients with active gastritis caused by Helicobacter pylori infection, Hp eradication should be performed.
5) Other treatments:
(1) For atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia, nutritional drugs for gastric mucosa, such as carotene, folic acid, zinc, VitE, etc., can be used.
(2) For gastric mucosal metaplasia and atypical hyperplasia, vitamin C, E, and folic acid can be given, and regular endoscopic follow-up should be conducted. Chronic atrophic gastritis with severe dysplasia is currently considered as a precancerous lesion, and surgical treatment should be considered.
(3) Treatment of autoimmune gastritis: No special treatment is required, but injections of Vitamin B12 may be administered in cases of pernicious anemia. Patients with poor digestive function can be given dilute hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes.
Who is suitable for practicing the Eight Brocades?
1. The Eight Brocades are suitable for busy people.
The Eight Brocades are simple, easy to learn, do not require money, and have no restrictions on time, place, or age. They can be practiced anytime and anywhere, making them suitable for busy people.
2. The Eight Brocades are suitable for sub-healthy individuals.
Many people nowadays are in a sub-healthy state due to overeating, lack of exercise, and other bad habits. Practicing the Eight Brocades can promote blood circulation, invigorate the spleen, nourish the lungs, and reduce internal heat. It can prevent diseases, resist aging, and adjust immune function. It is very suitable for sub-healthy individuals.
3. The Eight Brocades are suitable for overweight individuals.
The Eight Brocades are also very suitable for overweight individuals. Typically, overweight individuals have cardiovascular diseases such as hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and arteriosclerosis. The Eight Brocades can promote circulation in the cardiovascular system. This is what modern medicine calls relaxing muscles and fascia, ensuring smooth blood circulation, and preventing cardiovascular sclerosis.
In addition, the Eight Brocades can increase the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), or "good cholesterol", in the body through its relaxing effect, effectively reducing the incidence of coronary artery diseases such as angina and myocardial infarction.
4. The Eight Brocades are suitable for individuals with poor stomach health.
The Eight Brocades are suitable for individuals with poor stomach health. When practicing the Eight Brocades, it is required to press the tongue against the palate to enhance saliva secretion. At this time, saliva should be swallowed, as the bicarbonate and mucin proteins in saliva can neutralize gastric acid. Mucin proteins can also adhere to the gastric mucosa, forming a protective film that can treat diseases caused by excessive gastric acid, such as gastric ulcers.
In addition, saliva contains lysozyme, which can clean and protect the oral cavity, teeth, and taste organs, and has functions of enhancing appetite and aiding digestion.
"Qi entering the dantian" can enhance the secretion and peristalsis of the gastrointestinal tract, thereby promoting appetite and helping with food digestion, absorption, and excretion. It can regulate gastrointestinal function, maintain regular bowel movements, and promote blood supply to the abdominal organs, ensuring gastrointestinal health.
5. The Eight Brocades are suitable for individuals with poor lung health.
The Eight Brocades are suitable for individuals with poor lung health because the breathing method used in the Eight Brocades is an internal cultivation breathing method of "exhale, hold, inhale" and "inhale, hold, exhale", which can improve the ventilation function of the lungs and facilitate the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
In addition, when combined with arm movements, such as stretching the arms forward, raising them upward, and spreading them apart to the left and right during exhalation, and inhaling during the opposite movements, the so-called "inhale during upward movement, exhale during downward movement", can increase the mobility of the chest and massage the internal organs, ensuring smooth respiratory passages and improving conditions such as bronchospasm and emphysema.
6. The Eight Brocades are suitable for individuals with poor endocrine health.
Endocrine activity is regulated by the central nervous system, and the hormones it secretes are carried throughout the body via the bloodstream. The Eight Brocades can regulate the central nervous system and improve blood circulation, thus having a good two-way regulation effect on the endocrine system. This includes reducing the metabolism levels of adrenaline and norepinephrine, increasing the secretion of digestive enzymes, and lowering the concentration of cholesterol in the blood.
7. The Eight Brocades are suitable for individuals with emotional tension.
Individuals with emotional tension, irritability, and high stress levels can also practice the Eight Brocades. Besides exercising muscles and joints, practicing the Eight Brocades can relax the muscles and skeleton throughout the body and help reduce tension in the sympathetic nervous system, thereby improving internal emotions.
In addition, with the help of breathing, it can also adjust and massage the internal organs, promote blood circulation, increase oxygen intake, enhance organ function, ease emotions and worries, and allow the cortical cells of the brain to rest fully.
Who should not practice the Eight Brocades?
1. Individuals with acute spinal injuries of unknown causes
Individuals with acute spinal injuries of unknown causes are not suitable for practicing the Eight Brocades. For example, if the cause of sudden inability to move or sudden pain in the lower back is unknown, one should not practice the Eight Brocades or engage in any other exercise, as the movements of the Eight Brocades involve bending, stretching, twisting, and rotating the spine, and any movement that involves twisting or bending the waist can aggravate spinal injuries.
2. Individuals with spinal cord symptoms
Individuals diagnosed with spinal cord symptoms, such as spinal cord compression or spinal cord injury, are also not suitable for practicing the Eight Brocades. The treatment and rehabilitation training for this group of patients should be conducted under the guidance of a doctor. If there is a desire to practice the Eight Brocades, it can be done after consulting a doctor, who can decide on the timing and methods of exercise.
3. Individuals with severe heart, brain, or lung diseases
Although the movements of the Eight Brocades are simple and easy to learn, practicing a complete set may generate a feeling of body heat and sweating, as if engaging in vigorous exercise. Therefore, individuals with severe heart, brain, or lung diseases are not suitable for practicing the Eight Brocades to avoid exacerbating their conditions.
However, individuals with milder conditions can practice the Eight Brocades after consulting a doctor.
4. Individuals with extreme physical weakness
Many individuals with physical weakness may feel dizzy or physically exhausted with a little extra walking or lifting. The Eight Brocades are a form of qigong exercise that requires coordinated breathing, and individuals with extreme physical weakness or lack of energy are not suitable for sudden practice.
Precautions for practicing the Eight Brocades
1. Pay attention to the environment
The environment for practicing the Eight Brocades is important. It is best to practice in a place with fresh air, as fresh air is needed for breathing and exhalation during the exercises.
2. Wear loose-fitting clothing
When practicing the Eight Brocades, avoid wearing tight clothes and opt for loose-fitting clothing to ensure smooth circulation of qi and blood in the limbs.
3. Post-practice precautions
After practicing the Eight Brocades, there are some precautions to be aware of, such as avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol, refraining from taking an immediate shower, avoiding squatting immediately, and not eating immediately.
4. Consistency is key
The Eight Brocades are a qigong exercise, so it is best to practice consistently without interruption, every day. If one misses a day, they can continue practicing, although the effects may not be as good as those who practice continuously, it can still produce significant fitness benefits.
