Chorea


 * IBIS:**

Definition:
Irregular, spasmodic, involuntary movements of the limbs and facial muscles, usually referring to: • Huntington's chorea: "Chronic progressive, Hereditary, or Degenerative chorea" » inherited as an autosomal dominant trait » characterized by gross atrophy of corpus striatum with neuronal degeneration in the caudate and other deep nuclei and frontal cerebral cortex • Sydenham's chorea (chorea minor, rheumatic chorea, St. Vitus' dance) » CNS disease, often of insidious onset but of finite duration » characterized by involuntary, purposeless, nonrepetitive movements, and subsiding without neurologic residua

Sydenham's chorea is generally regarded as an inflammatory complication of Group A streptococcal infections. Onset of chorea is often up to 6 months after the infection, therefore may seem unrelated. More common in girls than in boys; in childhood; in summer and early fall after the rheumatic season.

Nutrition:
therapeutic foods: • foods that open the channels • increase foods rich in Calcium, Phosphorus, Manganese, Sulfur, Iodine, tryptophan (Jensen, p 63) • egg yolk, kale, celery, fish, raw goat's milk, veal joint broth, cod roe, rice polishings, brewer's yeast, nutritional yeast (Jensen, p 63)

fresh juices: • celery, carrot, prune (Jensen, p. 63) • prune and rice polishings (Jensen, p. 63) • raw goat's milk and 1 tsp. sesame, sunflower or almond butter, 1 tsp. honey and sliver of avocado (Jensen, p. 63) • black cherry and egg yolk (Jensen, p. 63) • carrot (Walker, p. 130) • carrot, celery, and parsley (Walker, p. 130) • carrot, beet, and cucumber (Walker, p. 130) • carrot, celery, parsley, and spinach (Walker, p. 130) • carrot and spinach (Walker, p. 130)

avoid: • fruit, meat (Zeff)

Botanicals
• Atropa belladonna (toxic): nervous exaltation: great irritability and impressionability of all senses accompanying spasmodic disorders, use of root in abnormally increased motor function (Felter and Lloyd, p. 337; Weiss, p. 305) • Avena sativa: neurotonic (British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, p. 236) • Cimicifuga racemosa: especially if associated with amenorrhea or when menstrual function fails to act for the first time, acts slowly. May use with Valeriana spp. (Felter and Lloyd, p. 532) • Conium maculatum (toxic): excited or excitable condition of the nervous system, depresses muscular movements, tranquilizes the muscular system (Felter and Lloyd, p. 594) • Datura stramonium (toxic): consult indications (Mitchell, p. 15) • Hyoscyamus niger (toxic) • Lobelia inflata (toxic): children (Harper-Shove, p. 170) • Passiflora incarnata: spasmodic disorders (Felter and Lloyd, p. 1440) • Scutellaria lateriflora: twitching, tremor, restlessness with or without uncoordinated movements; combines well with Humulus lupulus and/or Passiflora incarnata (Ellingwood, p. 124; British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, p. 194) • Valeriana spp.: according to indications: stimulant, tonic, anti-spasmodic, sedative, used in cases with decreased cerebral circulation; there is despondency and marked mental depression (Felter and Lloyd, p. 2042) • Viscum album (toxic): (British Herbal Pharmacopoeia, p. 236)

Harper-Shove, p. 170, also lists: Anemone pulsatilla (toxic), Ferula asafoetida, Solanum carolinense (toxic), Paeonia officinalis

Chinese Formulae
• Da Ding Feng Zhu. (Yeung, p. 63; Bensky and Barolet, p. 407) • Gastrodia 9 (patent): Liver Wind Arising from Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) (Dharmananda, 1990, p. 83)

Acupuncture
after assessing the person and palpating, consider these patterns: Wind; Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency); Kidney Xu (Deficiency)

» illustrative combinations: • for chorea: first, GV-14, UB-10 and GB-20 to calm the nerves; then, LI-4, LI-11 and TW-6 to clear the joints and harmonize the flow of Qi; consider also: St-36, Ht-7, GB-31, GB-34 and/or Sp-6 as appropriate (McWilliams, et al., Lesson 31, p. 212) • GB-41, GB-40, GB-34, TW-6, UB-63, UB-60, SI-8, Lv-3 and Lv-2 (-) for chorea (McWilliams, et al., Lesson 31, p. 212) • GV-16 and GV-20: treat brain disorders (Finkelstein, p. 81) • consider treatment for "Internal Dragons" or "External Dragons"; External Dragons: GV-20, UB-11, UB-23, UB-61; Internal Dragons: Master point 1/4" below CV-15, St-25, St-32, St-41; In both treatments, sedate first. If the person and the pulses change, fine. If no change with sedation, then tonify. (Worsley)

Homeopathy
• Absinthium: tremor; hallucinations; vertigo with tendency to fall backward • Agaricus muscarius: sensation as if pierced by needles of ice; violent bearing-down pains; symptoms appear diagonally (right arm, left leg); loquacious; fearlessness, vertigo from sunlight • Hippomanes: weakness of hands and fingers; violent pain in wrist; sprained sensation in wrist • Mygale lasiodora: twitching of facial muscles; constant motion of whole body; uncontrollable movements of arms and legs; < sleep, a.m. • Tanacetum parthenium: abnormal lassitude; ears seem to close up suddenly • Tarentula hispania: constriction sensation; extreme restlessness

Subtle Support
mental/emotional: • rhythmic folk songs • County Derry • songs of Steven Foster • Spanish tangos • Brahms' Hungarian dances • Sousa's marches • Strauss' waltzes • Gilbert and Sullivan • Indian Love Call • My Wild Irish Rose • Wishing • Estrellita (Heline, p.18)

Mind/Body
Chinese psychophysiology: • Liver ~ Gan is the home of the Hun (Ethereal Soul); it relates to decisiveness, control, and the principle of emergence; maintains smooth flow of Qi and Xue (Blood); controls the muscles, especially their contractility; reflects emotional harmony and movement; and expresses itself in the nervous system. » Healthy expressions are kindness, spontaneity, and ease of movement. » Liver Xu (Deficiency) signs include impotence; frigidity; pain in thighs, pelvic region, and throat; ready tendency to "the blahs" (Seem, p. 28); timidity; depression; irritability; vertigo; pruritus; dry skin and/or tendons; asthma; aching at the waist; hernia; and difficulty raising head up and down. » Liver Qi Stagnation reflects and accentuates emotional constraint as the Liver's function of facilitating smooth flow in the body is constricted. Stagnation is associated with frustration, irritability, tension, and feeling stuck. With time this pattern tends to produce a gloomy emotional state of constant resentment, repressed anger or depression, along with tightness in the chest, frequent sighing, abdominal tension or distension, and/or a feeling of a lump in the throat with difficulty in swallowing. (Maciocia, p. 216) » Liver Wind derives from Liver Yin Xu (Deficiency) and/or Liver Xue Xu (Blood Deficiency) and their subsequent inability to embrace the Yang, and can manifest as joint stiffness, dizziness, tremor, paralysis, convulsions, and neurological problems.

• Kidney ~ Shen stores Jing (Essence) and governs birth, growth, reproduction, development, and aging; houses the Zhi (Will); expresses ambition and focus; controls the bones, particularly the lumbar spine, and displays the stresses of aging and chronic degenerative processes » Healthy expressions are gentleness, groundedness, and endurance. » Kidney Xu (Deficiency) signs include indecisiveness; confused speech; dreams of trees submerged under water; cold feet and legs; abundant sweating (Seem, p. 28); hearing loss; fearfulness; apathy; chronic fatigue; discouragement; scatteredness; lack of will; negativity; impatience; difficult inhalation; low sex drive; lumbago; sciatica; and musculoskeletal irritation and inflammation, especially when worse from touch. » Intense or prolonged fear depletes the Kidney. Often chronic anxiety may induce Xu (Deficiency) and then Fire within the Kidney. (Maciocia, p. 250) Overwork, parenting, simple aging, and a sedentary or excessively indulgent lifestyle all contribute significantly to Kidney Xu (Deficiency).