Celebrating the 21st Anniversary of Dr Lam's Newsletter | Tai Chi for Health Newsletter (September 2021)

I am going to share with you three simple tricks that everybody can do to relieve stress and boost immunity. There is always stress especially recently with the pandemic. These are techniques that I learned from many years of being a western family physician and tai chi teacher, as well as my practice with Chinese traditional medicine. These tricks are simple - you can do them anywhere and anytime.

First of all, I want to make sure you understand that this is not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. They are simply three useful and easy tricks, based on medical, tai chi and traditional Chinese medical knowledge. Please do them well within your comfort zone and check with your chosen health professionals before you start.

First Trick: Dan Tian Breathing

Breath is life. Breathing the right way can improve our lung space, more importantly it is related to the nervous system. The right way of breathing activates the parasympathetic system, which is in charge of relaxing, enhancing healing and recharging the body. I would like you to be aware of this area named the Dan Tian. You don’t have to know the name, but it is located at the centre of the body, three finger breadth below the belly button.

Please put your palm over the centre of your body, or dan tian. Alternatively visualise your palm on this area. Then we are going to focus our breathing on this spot. Please allow yourself to relax, standing tall but not tense. It is fine to do this seated, be sure your back is well supported, and your posture is upright. Try to have your body as upright as much as possible, try to think of this dan tian area like a balloon. When you breathe in, gently fill the balloon with air, just gently allow the balloon to expand outward a little. Do this gently, thinking about it would be good enough. When you breathe out gently contract this area and press in with your palm, like squeezing the balloon very gently. Do this as many times as you like, whenever you feel any discomfort please let go and breathe naturally.

Now, follow me, breathing in gently, and breathing out gently and contracting the dan tian very gently. If you find it hard to do, contract the pelvic floor muscles gently, or the muscles around the anus. Just a gently contraction as you breathe out. Try to keep your body upright, but not tense. Keep your body vertical to the ground as comfortable as possible. You can do that without your hand on the dan tian, breathe gently and softly. Do a full breath in without overdoing it and breathing out. You can do that anytime but stop if there is any discomfort. You can do this anywhere; for example you can do this sitting down.

Be sure you have a chair that is comfortable and safe. Feet on the ground and if possible, sit forward a little so that you are not leaning back. But if you need to lean back that is ok too. The key is to keep your body upright as much as possible without being tense. The rest is the same, your dan tian area, breathing in expanding and breathing out contracting the balloon.

I travelled around the world teaching tai chi, by five years ago I have flown a million miles for it. Inside a small seat of an aeroplane, it is almost my second home! This is how I keep myself well, to avoid air sickness and to replenish my energy: I practice tai chi seated every three hours, including the dan tian breathing. Yes I visualize different forms of tai chi, including jumping in the air of some Chen style form. This is the breathing trick, take it anywhere and do it anytime. But it is nice to have a routine. I would suggest early in the morning do three dan tian breathing, or six or nine. It would not take much time, you will find if you do it regularly, especially daily, and when you are tense, that would really helpful to health!

Second Trick: Mindful Walking

Sometimes you might not be able to do your favourite exercises, there is usually a space to walk even within small space. Walking and being mindful, be aware of your body being upright without being tense. The next thing you can be mindful of is your balance.

Let me explain, when you step forward, be aware of touching down with your heel first, then the entire foot and then shift weight forward. Do the same for the next step with the other foot. You can see me sideways so that it is clearer when I touch down with the heel first, my knee is soft but not bent yet, but when my weight is forward, the knee is bent then. Take each step softly and slow, be aware of doing everything within your comfort zone. You can do this with visualisation even when seated. Be mindful of body upright and transferring weight. This is an exercise of mindfulness. We know studies have shown being mindful helps us to relax and improves many aspects of health. And of course, walking is an excellent activity, we are made to walk. We all walk every day, even if you don’t walk much, you can use visualization to enhance relaxation and health.

Third Trick: Ringing the Mind Bell

The third exercise comes from traditional Chinese medicine, using acupuncture points. I have been treating patients with acupuncture for more than 40 years. There are two key acupuncture points, Feng Chi, they are at the back of the neck. Slip two fingers backward from middle of the ears, you should feel two depressions just below the bony part of the sculp. They are about 3⁄4 inch or 2 cm from midline. Once you find them, gently massage them clockwise and then anticlockwise in small circular motion three times. So gently that touching them would be good enough. If you are in a plane like me, people might think you are going to sleep. No one would know you are doing acupuncture massage. These two points have a connection with the brain, they relieve stress, improve relaxation and enhance inner energy or the Qi, as well as making you think more clearly. It also stimulates the healing process. They are also effective at relieving headaches. But there are many causes of headache, be sure to work with your health professional about the real cause. You can use these to make you feel more comfortable. Anything which makes our lives more pleasant is worth doing.

If you wish to do more with me, you can go to YouTube and search for my “5 Minute Tai Chi to Relieve Stress and Improve Immunity” with my name. It is free. You are welcome to visit my online tai chi lessons or instructional DVD. For more information about tai chi visit the Tai Chi for Health Institute website.

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Our ancestors’ lives were so much tougher than ours. They had to build homes practically with their bare hands, endure the vagaries of the weather, work hard for their food, watch out for wild animals and, worse still, fight the many enemies they could not see. They did not know what they are, where they were, how they could stop catching germs, or how to survive them.

I am a little embarrassed to admit that as a family physician I did not know that smallpox killed 500 million people! It destroyed armies and changed nations and killed 30% of people who were infected. I cannot imagine how fearful the world was! The Black Death or Bubonic plague that killed 25-50 million people, about a third of Europe, the ferocity of the disease was even more horrible. The more I found out about history, the more I appreciate where we are now with our medical knowledge and available tools against germs.

During these horrible plagues, our ancestors found ways to cope. Like blind persons, not able to see the germs, they devised various methods. Some “cures” made matters worse. During the Black Death, groups of people such as the Flagellants travelled around Europe. These groups of 50 to 500 hooded and half-naked men would march, sing and thrash themselves with lashes until they were swollen and bloody. Worse still were the anti-Semites. They believed Jewish people were responsible: a classic scapegoat way of laying blame on someone. They murdered thousands and thousands of Jews throughout Europe.

Around 30 to 40% of the population in Europe died from the Black Death. Can you imagine how horrific it was? Can you understand why so many people would thrash themselves or murder innocent people?

Science came to the rescue, we found out it was caused by a bacterium, Yersinia pesti, transmitted by fleas and rats. It is well controlled nowadays with good hygiene and effective treatment. Sadly, the WHO estimates there are still 1,000 to 3,000 cases existing in the world today. It is still a triumph for mankind.

Smallpox raged the world in an unthinkable way. In 1776, in America, 50% of the Continental Army soldiers in Quebec fell ill with smallpox. They retreated southward in May because of it. John Adams wrote: “… The smallpox is ten times more terrible than the British, Canadians, and Indians together. This was the cause of our precipitate retreat from Quebec.”

Arguably, this defeat preserved the status of the northern British colonies, permitting Canada to become the separate country it is today.

The next year, George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, ordered mandatory inoculation for troops. But inoculation carries the risk of 0.5- 2% mortality rate. On the other hand, 20-30% of people infected with smallpox will die. Inoculation is quite different from vaccination; the latter is incomparably safer. Check out this link for an excellent explanation of the differences.

Smallpox is estimated to have killed up to 300 million people in the 20th century and around 500 million people in the last 100 years. 30% of sufferers died. The survivors were often left with disabilities like blindness and ugly scars. Considering the world was much less populated then, 500 million was unimaginably horrible!

Do you know that in 1661, the Chinese Emporer Fu-lin died of smallpox? His son became Emperor K’ang at a young age. K’ang survived smallpox and had his children inoculated. He administered the smallpox inoculation through China. The method was to grind the pox scabs and blow the matter into the nostrils. It has around a 2-3% mortality rate. K’ang was very proud that he saved millions of children. He seems to be a caring emperor, I wonder what would he gave to have the smallpox vaccine to save the 2-3% of kids who died from inoculation.

Moving to the UK, in 1694, Queen Mary II of England, age 32, died of Smallpox.

In 1768 Catherine the Great of Russia was inoculated by physician Thomas Dimsdale, with relays of horses at the ready in case the inoculation should go wrong and Dimsdale need to escape from Catherine’s angry subjects. The operation was kept secret, and Catherine recovered successfully. Her inoculation later encouraged others to follow suit. Fancy the powerful Queen gambled her own life! I bet she would gladly have given half her empire for the smallpox vaccine.

Edward Jenner (1749-1823), an English doctor, heard this folk wisdom from a milkmaid: having caught cowpox from a cow, she believed that protected her from Smallpox. Here is a doctor who knew how to listen to the incoming force. I wonder if he had learned tai chi.

5/14/1796 - Jenner successfully tested that infection with cowpox could protect a person from smallpox infection. The word vaccine came from his work: the name for a pox virus—the cowpox virus, vaccinia. Immunization by vaccine is the greatest advance in medicine and had save countless millions of lives, enabling us to live life as it is now.

Immunization is training our bodies’ defense force against germs with a safer stimulant similar to the germ, like army training. If an army has learned and practiced how to fight the enemy, it would have much higher chance to triumph over the enemy in a real battle. The advanced of medicine has enable us to device extremely low risk vaccines that would protect mankind against many devastating germs.

5/14/1806 - Thomas Jefferson, president of USA, gave full support and deep appreciation to Dr Jenner for the Smallpox vaccine.

The United Kingdom Vaccination Act of 1853 made smallpox vaccination mandatory in the first three months of an infant's life. A parent's penalty for not complying was a fine or imprisonment. Other countries joined in to administer the vaccine.

1980, WHO declared that mankind has eradicated Smallpox! The vaccine is the key, but it only worked with the united effort from all the countries in the world! WHO did incredible work to bring immunization to people in less prosperous countries. I wonder if a percentage of people chose not to participate in the immunization program, would we still have eradicated smallpox?

I still remember seeing people with pox scars all over their faces in my childhood. Let us remember the horror it delivered to mankind. 500 million lives is not a lesson to forget!

I shall never forget other nasty germs like diphtheria. It was the number 1 infant killer. Community immunization for the public began in 1932. But in Southeast Asia, it would be many more years before they had the vaccine. I nearly died from diphtheria at 6 months of age. Two of my cousins were not so lucky; they perished. Sadly, so did millions of children from Southeast Asia until the vaccine became affordable.

If we stop childhood immunization, we will see many kids suffer or die from diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles, mumps, and rubella. Mumps can cause infertility in boys and rubella causes deformity in pregnant women. Tetanus, whooping cough, and measles all kill people. Billions of triple antigens were given to children around the world. The side effects are extremely rare. These vaccines are becoming more effective with fewer side effects. I knew firsthand, I gave countless triple antigens. I hate giving injections, so I learned every trick possible to do it with less pain. Some of my patients grew into parents, and remembering the painless needle, they travelled long distances to bring their kids to me for immunizations. I love that, but still don’t like giving the jab or getting it.

The world is in crisis with the pandemic, but COVID-19 is not as vicious as smallpox or the Black Death plague. Though we are all affected, sadly 4.4 million people already perished. Imagine that we let go and take the risk of exposing everyone to the coronavirus. Many more would have perished, including young and healthy adults. Hospitals would be much more overflowing (they already are in many countries). The world would be in worse chaos, many more people would die in other conditions because of lack of medical facilities.

Do we want to see that happen? While we have the science and technology to prevent it? At this time, 4.91 billion doses of vaccine have been administered globally. They are closely monitored so that the effects and side effects are public knowledge.

I have to admit I was so confident in my strong immunity because of tai chi, I got my first COVID-19 jab only because I did not want to be a carrier to infect others especially my friends. By the time of the second dose, I was so glad to be protected. How can I be sure that tai chi can protect me against the coronavirus? Even young healthy athletes perished. Though studies did show tai chi with vaccine gets the highest level of immunity.

We humans are social animals and need other people. The mental effect of isolation for such a long time is devastating. Mental health professionals predicted the impact could be worse than the damage COVID-19 did now.

The sooner we can overcome this, the less damage would be done to the entire world. Unlike Black Death, we have a solution, backed by irrefutable evidence. I see hope that 4.91 billion doses of vaccine have been administered, and 32 million more daily. Like smallpox, with the vaccine, we triumph. It was eradicated. Because of the vaccine, now no one needs vaccines against smallpox any longer.

Medical experts often disagree among themselves. But for the pandemic, all experts have a consensus - get vaccinated as soon as possible. To the best of my knowledge, all credible epidemiologists around the world agree on the same direction. What is there to stop us from following the experts’ advice?

If we work together using medical science, like with smallpox, we will triumph over COVID-19. The alternative of letting people die from it is inhumane.

If you wish to help provide COVID-19 vaccines for poorer countries, check out Unicef’s appeal.

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This article is about a new medical procedure that may help this condition, but it is not intended as a substitute for medical advice.

About 50% of men over age 50 have benign prostatic hypertrophy. 70% for the over 60 and 80% for over 70. It is a real pain. Usually, it is associated with an increased and sometimes urgent need to urinate, often several times at night, hesitancy, and different degrees of urinary obstruction. Let me start with a quick introduction to this gland.

The bladder stores the urine, and when full, it flows out through a tube called the urethra which connects the bladder to the opening of the penis. The prostate wraps around the urethra close to the bladder. It does not do much, just secretes some fluid. It is generally quiet and harmless until men grow older when it starts growing. When it becomes too big it presses on the urethra, causing problems with the urinary flow. Hence all those unpleasant symptoms.

Over a period of years, the prostate can eventually block the urethra. If the obstruction is bad enough it can cause urine to flow back to the bladder causing kidney damage. In severe cases, blockage of urinary flow is painful and dangerous.

The prostate can also develop a cancerous growth, which is one of the complicated conditions. But that is outside the scope of this article.

Generally, urologists are the specialists for the water works. They will do several tests, such as getting the patient to urinate onto an instrument to measure the strength of the flow. Blood tests, X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs can be used to find out exactly what is happening. It is especially important to check for cancer.

Sometimes a medication might be prescribed which might or might not relieve the problem, but it is not a fix. Eventually, as it gets worse, surgery is necessary. There are different procedures but the most common is called TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate). The doctor uses something like a miniature electric drill, which enters the urethra from the penis and travels to the blocked area. Like a drill, it cuts off all the tissue there - the lining of the urethra and the offending part of the prostate. Patients wake up with considerable discomfort and bleeding. Of course, the medical staff administer painkillers and render care to help recovery. It is quite an unpleasant operation, to say the least.

In some cases, the bleeding becomes excessive and uncontrollable. Some time ago, urologists asked interventional radiologists to try to help. They are specialist radiologists who perform procedures. They insert a little tube into the artery to reach a certain part of the body and do tiny intricate procedures. For example, in this case, they inject a blocking agent to block the prostate artery thus stop the bleeding.

Then the penny dropped. Some smart radiologists thought: Why not block the prostatic artery to kill the overgrown prostate! Wow, Prostatic Artery Embolization (PAE) is born!

Prostatic Artery Embolisation (PAE) is a minimally invasive treatment for BPH and a relatively new application of routine Interventional Radiology techniques. Embolisation in various conditions has been performed successfully for several decades. The consumables–catheters, guide wires, and embolic particles – have been used successfully in Interventional Radiology for many years. This minimally invasive technique and is being performed internationally with promising published results. Not all patients with BPH are suitable. From studies I have read, this is by far less painful, much safer, and less expensive procedure compared to TURP.

If you have BHP, talk to your doctor about PAE. Don’t worry if your doctor doesn’t know about it. Nobody knows every new advance. Doctors can find out from medical journals; they would understand the procedure better than non-medical people. Your doctor would know you well and the best person to let you know if it suits you. You can find a lot about it from Google too.

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