AJ goes to the hospital for tests every six weeks or so. Sometimes the results would be cause for celebration, other times the results would cast a cloud in an otherwise blue sky. Why do we care so much about these snapshots of our health? Camera pictures are not always glamorous, even for the photogenic ones there are days when the lens just doesn’t do us justice…. but hey, that doesn’t mean you’re ugly for life.
Our answer to these tests is experimentation with alternative methods.
According to Jonathan Treasure’s article for The Journal of the American Herbalist Build 2003, “serum creatinine is commonly measured as an index of glomerular function. Broadly speaking serum creatinine varies inversely with the glomerular filtration rate (GFR), other things being equal. A number of non-renal factors may affect creatinine levels, ranging from heavy dietary meat ingestion, medications including glucocorticoids and cimetidine, and muscle mass decrease in chronic illness. There is also a small but variable degree of proximal tubule secretion of creatinine, which declines as GFR decreases and which may confound interpretations of creatinine values. Nevertheless, creatinine remains a simple single measure test of nephron function. Units of measurement vary in laboratory reports, upper limits for a normal serum concentration in men are 1.2mg/dL (conventional units), or 110micromol/L (SI units). Values for women are -85% men’s values, at 1.02mg/dL or 93.5micromol/L.”
Jonathan Treasure, an English medical herbalist currently residing in the town of Ashland whose bio can be found here, discussed in his 2003 article case studies in which Urtica dioica L. and Urtica urens L. (stinging nettles) were used clinically to treat patients with serious renal challenges.
Using this information as a starting point, AJ found a tincture named Kidney Support Compound by David Winston’s company Herbalist Alchemist. AJ initially planned to take it for a month and monitor its effects via serum creatinine test, but changed his mind after consulting with Doc Misha; she mentioned conflicting and repetitive ingredients. The herbal remedy prescribed by Misha consists of alternating use of Six Flavors Teapill (六味地黃丸) and Nine Flavors Teapill
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