The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 139

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 139

“The discomfort in the body caused by cold symptoms led to sniffling, which then developed into premonitory sensory urges. While there’s actually nothing wrong with the physical areas anymore, incorrect signals are being generated in the corresponding sensations.”

I began explaining how cold symptoms can lead to tics.

“He can control it if he tries to. It’s not involuntary trembling. However, to relieve the vague discomfort, he ends up doing abnormal behaviors like sniffling or squinting his eyes… Ah, is this level of explanation okay for you? Are you a medical interpreter?”

Would terms like premonitory sensory urges be alright?

When I asked the interpreter briefly, she shook her head.

“Ah, I’m not a professional interpreter. I work as a nurse in Italy, but the chairman contacted me urgently through an acquaintance when he said he was going to the hospital.”

Ah, so that’s why her language skills are fluent but the timing of her interpretation feels oddly awkward?

Anyway, I was relieved to hear that everything could be conveyed.

I waited for the interpreter to speak to Chairman Rich in Italian, and the chairman and his son quietly nodded their heads.

“Of course, not all children who catch colds develop these problems. The fundamental issue is an abnormality in brain neurotransmitters, and the cold is just a trigger that made the senses more sensitive. The mechanism of tic disorders hasn’t been clearly identified, but dopamine imbalance is considered one of the main theories. Excessive secretion and activity can cause tics and schizophrenia, while deficiency can trigger conditions like ADHD and depression.”

“…!”

Chairman Rich was startled upon hearing the explanation.

“What surprised you?”

“It’s because of schizophrenia. He’s worried that his son might develop a serious illness.”

“Ah.”

He had thought it was just mild symptoms of nodding and sniffling, so mentioning schizophrenia would naturally feel serious.

However, it’s not the kind of connection where tics can worsen and become schizophrenia.

“It’s not simply a matter of quantity difference, but rather ‘which part of the brain becomes overactive’ that manifests as different disorders. So when one area becomes overactive while other areas lack the necessary amount of dopamine, tics and ADHD can appear together.”

Chairman Rich nodded, saying he understood the dopamine mechanism explanation very well.

“‘Oh, the doctors we met in our country didn’t explain it in such detail! They simply said to wait and see since it often disappears after a month or two!’ …is what he said.”

That wasn’t an incorrect prescription.

“That’s actually true. At exactly this age, temporary imbalances often occur during the brain’s growth process. It can heal naturally over time.”

If using Western medicine, drugs that directly affect dopamine are used.

Usually, they’re the type that blocks dopamine receptors to prevent activity, so side effects like depression and lethargy can occur during treatment.

Conversely, tics sometimes develop while treating ADHD.

“Do herbal medicines have no side effects?”

I shook my head.

As Paracelsus said, all medicines are poison. Not all poisons are medicine, though.

“There’s no medicine in the world without side effects. However, herbal medicines don’t directly interfere with hormones or their receptors, so naturally they have fewer side effects.”

“anfdlkajfoqi!”

“He says that’s wonderful.”

“That’s right. So then…”

Since I had explained tics and treatment methods using psychotropic drugs in detail, it was time to discuss traditional Korean medicine treatment approaches.

But Chairman Rich opened his mouth again and began saying something.

Hmm, it’s definitely inconvenient having to go through one person.

Since Yu Gyeonghun and Jeon Minji had communicated this way multiple times, it was natural for them to consider studying Chinese.

I was thinking about other things briefly while waiting for the interpreter’s words.

“So he’s asking if balancing yin-yang and the five elements would also correct the dopamine balance.”

“….”

I heard something completely unexpected.

“Yin-yang and the five elements?”

“Yin-Yang is yin-yang, right? The 5 elements that come with yin-yang seem to be the five elements…”

“Ah, the translation is correct. I asked again because I was surprised.”

Right, no wonder he had just been quietly nodding until now.

Because we were communicating through one person, I hadn’t fully grasped his needs.

Now I understood.

I should have noticed from when he said he liked Eastern things… he was the type who liked things like yin-yang and the five elements.

Just because he’s a Westerner, I thought explaining with a focus on hormones would be easier to understand.

That was my prejudice.

‘Come to think of it, Professor said he experienced something similar when he went to America.’

There was a professor at my alma mater who had earned a doctorate from a prestigious American medical school.

When he said he majored in Oriental Medicine, American doctors asked him various questions, and there were often those interested in qi, yin-yang, and the five elements.

They would come running over saying they had wonderful ideas and share their insights about the principles of the five elements.

It was quite different from South Korea, where even Korean medicine doctors have resistance to yin-yang and the five elements while being attacked for not being scientific.

“It’s similar. Yin-yang and the five elements were tools used to explain phenomena at that time. The liver belongs to wood, the heart to fire, the spleen to earth, the lungs to metal, the kidneys to water – this way, the structure and function of the human body were assigned to the five elements, starting with the five organs. In cases of dopamine deficiency, hmm…”

In the traditional Korean medicine category, stress is liver qi stagnation, and mental areas are all assigned to the heart, called “the heart governs the spirit.”

“When qi doesn’t flow well and gets blocked, he moves with a twitch to try to release it. Especially, we need to unblock the blocked wood energy and supplement the insufficient fire energy.”

“Oh, kiiiiiiii!”

The interpreter glanced at me.

Okay, I understood that without translation.

“He also says his son lacks burning passion.”

“That’s… not it. Yes, anyway, we need to use medicine to supplement the deficient qi and release what’s blocked and not communicating. Each of the hundreds of Eastern herbs has its meridian tropism – that is, the organ it targets – and different properties. Heart qi, um… just tell him we use medicine that enhances fire energy.”

Wow! Bravo! Exclamations poured out.

Chairman Rich was very pleased.

“Paolo says he’s very excited about it too.”

I didn’t expect even his son’s eyes to sparkle like that.

Like father, like son, I suppose?

“Liver qi stagnation is practically synonymous with stress. And when the heart and gallbladder are deficient, one becomes sensitive and easily startled or fearful over small matters. In such cases, exercise is as important as medicine.”

“So that’s how it’s connected?”

Even the interpreter’s eyes sparkled as he conveyed my words to the chairman.

“While taking the medicine, please also manage your lifestyle as you heard in Italy. Based on the current progress, from my experience, you should recover within 3 months.”

I had treated tics quite often.

There were quite a few children of high officials who received psychological pressure at home from that age.

Perhaps families of lesser status wouldn’t visit a physician for such minor symptoms.

When I met children who came for discreet treatment, they often blinked their eyes, twitched their noses, or nodded their heads.

Motor tics, especially those limited to facial symptoms, had the best prognosis.

Children who shook their arms and legs wildly, or had complex vocal tics that made them blurt out curses or obscenities, took much longer to treat.

Of course, the longer the duration and the more severe the symptoms, the worse the prognosis, so Paolo’s case was quite manageable.

“Exercise is also very important. Whether dopamine is deficient or excessive, it can be considered to regulate in both directions.”

Since the topic of exercise came up, I emphasized its importance once more.

The pressure felt by a martial arts heir unable to break through barriers wouldn’t be less than that of a scholar facing exams, yet I had rarely seen tic patients in martial arts families.

“dkjfnokjwe!”

Then Chairman Rich suddenly stood up.

Shouting incomprehensible words again.

“Oh, he says he’ll have him learn taekwondo. That taiji balances yin and yang, and um…”

I just smiled broadly.

There was no need to explain the difference between taekwondo and taijiquan.

After waiting for Chairman Rich to finish speaking, I had him sit back down.

“Finally, let me check your pulse and ask a few more questions. While the direction for heart-gallbladder deficiency and liver qi stagnation is set, I need to adjust if there are imbalances elsewhere. Poor digestion means earth deficiency, frequent urination means water deficiency, and so on.”

I wondered if it was okay to speak like this, but Chairman Rich went even further.

“He says he knows. That water overcomes fire and wood overcomes earth too.”

“You’re quite knowledgeable to know about mutual generation and restraint.”

Water restrains fire, wood restrains earth.

What an interesting person indeed.

Fortunately, there were no major issues in the questioning and pulse examination.

At most, he caught colds a bit frequently.

There was a slight commotion during the pulse-taking process, but it was quickly resolved, and we moved to the treatment room to correct Paolo’s energy.

* * *

Chairman Rich received acupuncture first.

He absolutely wanted to experience it.

When I asked if he had any pain, he said his head throbbed when he thought too much.

“You must have a lot of stress too, Chairman. I’ll release your liver qi and place additional needles where needed after checking your pulse.”

Given Nam Hyeonjeong’s precedent, I didn’t bother mentioning that the acupuncture fee would be higher since insurance wouldn’t cover it.

“He’s happy that he can feel his energy moving.”

…Unless he’s as sensitive as Kim Ijin, he probably can’t feel it.

But if he says so, then so be it.

“You saw how well Father took it, right?”

I made eye contact with Paolo and asked.

Because Chairman Rich got excited several times, I hadn’t been able to have much conversation with the child.

Usually, children like this react sensitively to acupuncture too, but since his father had received it first with great enjoyment, curiosity seemed to outweigh fear.

“It won’t hurt as much as you think. Relax, one~ two~.”

I inserted the needle on “two.”

Piercing the skin instantly, Paolo blinked, asking if it was already over.

“Yes. It doesn’t hurt at all, does it?”

I proceeded to place about 20 needles.

What was lacking would be supplemented with medicine, but I had to do as much as possible today with acupuncture to release what could be released.

Unless I went to Italy, there would be no chance to meet again.

“Now, just lie still like this for a moment. Breathe comfortably.”

“Grazie. Thank you.”

How polite he is.

Unlike his father who had rattled off completely incomprehensible rapid-fire speech, he calmly expressed his gratitude.

“Clinic Director, did the consultation go well?”

After placing the needles and coming out, Seo Inae, who was in charge of the 3rd floor today, asked me.

“Oh my, you’re using three times the energy.”

Whether it was because of going through the interpreter, or because Chairman Rich had a peculiar personality, I was exhausted in many ways.

“Would you like some water for a moment? Four people are waiting.”

“It’s fine. I’ll see them right away.”

“Um… ah.”

The interpreter who had been standing awkwardly in the corridor tried to stop me but hesitated.

“Did the chairman or Paolo say anything by any chance?”

“No. Both of them are receiving treatment well.”

Hmm, it seems like there’s something she wants to talk about.

“If you don’t have any other business, you can wait in the waiting room. Or do you perhaps have any pain somewhere too?”

I asked just in case, and surprisingly, she affirmed.

“I do, but how long will the chairman’s treatment take?”

The interpreter said while touching her stomach.

“Since he received acupuncture right away without physical therapy, it’ll be finished in 20 minutes.”

“Ah… then I’ll come separately tomorrow. There’s a problem I’d like to consult about.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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