Growing tall

Growing tall

Mike likes to play basketball with his father. He loves watching NBA and often searches for videos about dribbling and shooting on the internet. On a sunny day, he and his father go to the basketball court to play one-on-one.

Mike dribbles smoothly and made quick turns. When he gets rid of his father's defense and makes the shot, he gets blocked ferociously by his father.

"You think you can score? Not yet!"

"Hmph! I will beat you someday!"

"Then you need to grow taller!"

"What should I do?"

Sif is the daughter of Thor. She likes to sit on her father's back and soar through the sky with his hammer.

"Sif, what do you want to become in the future?"

"I want to be the best Valkyrie in Midgard!"

The child's words makes her father laugh.

After all, this little girl is not even half his height now. Whether she will be qualified to be a Valkyrie in the future remains uncertain.

Little Sif also knows very well that her height is an undisputable obstacle  to become a Valkyrie. Although there is no height limit for Valkyries, she doesn’t want to be  recognized as  a dwarf!

"What should I do?"

So the two children were taken to a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in the hope of finding ways to grow taller.

Dr. Lu's Advice

1. The puberty period of children is a period of physiological and psychological changing before turning into adults. It is the peak period of organ (including height) growth and development. Boys on average start at the age of 12, while girls start at around 10 years old. Girls' growth and development will be slightly earlier than boys.

2. Parents' height has influence  on their children's height. The influence of height from parental genes accounts for about 70%, which is a predetermined congenital situation. Therefore, if both parents are national basketball players who are tall and strong, the child will most likely not be too short. Children with ordinary parental height should not be discouraged, as the impact of diet, sleep, exercise, and emotions are important as well. There is still room for some efforts!

3. The “Growing tall” Chinese herb prescription  can help children with  liver and kidney supplementation, menstrual regulation, and  digestive absorption . When the child's secondary sexual characteristics appear, they can begin to consume it regularly. The so-called secondary sexual characteristics refer to the development of the breasts in girls and the first menstruation; boys have enlarged testicles, their Adam's apple appears, and their voice changes. From the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics to about age 20, when the growth plates seal, children can consume the  formula 4-5 times a week and measure their height every three months to track the effect.

4. A balanced diet that includes milk, vegetables, fruits, beans, and meat can provide the necessary nutrients such as protein, calcium, and zinc for growth. It is also recommended to eat more oysters and shellfish to obtain plenty of zinc, and soy milk,  fish, kelp, mustard greens, etc. to obtain plenty of calcium. Avoid excessive sugar intake, which will inhibit the secretion of growth hormone, and avoid excessive tea and coffee, which will affect the absorption of calcium and iron.

5. Develop the habit of regular exercise, such as jumping rope, volleyball, and basketball, which requires vertical jumping to stimulate growth plates. Plain jumps are also good, or you can jump rope for 400-800 times a day. Exercise also has the benefit of relieving stress. The pressure from schoolwork can affect digestion and the endocrine system, affecting growth and development of children. Regular exercise is a good solution.

6. Adequate and effective sleep is extremely important: go to bed early at night, sleep enough, and the brain will secrete enough growth hormone. Try to go to bed before 22:30 and not later than 23:00. The sleeping time should be more than 6 hours. Avoid using electronic devices before bedtime to avoid radiation interference , which decreases sleep quality. Do not stay up all night to play mobile games, as temporary happiness will not bring long-term growth.

[Welcome to consult our clinic for advice on children's growth]

肝（四）肝病、血脂、壽美降脂

急性病毒性肝炎
通常來得快，去得也快，只要在家多休息或是透過點滴補充養份、體力，肝臟便能自行修復自己。

慢性病毒性肝炎
冤有頭，債有主，既然被稱作病毒性肝炎那便是「病毒」在做怪，除了抗病毒藥物諸如Lamivudine或是Entecavir之外也可以注射干擾素（Interferon)。所謂干擾素可以促使「未受感染」的身體細胞合成抗病毒蛋白，藉以阻斷病毒的傳播。

酒精性肝炎
戒酒。

藥物性肝炎
切勿聽信偏方，切勿自行診斷增加、減少處方用藥量。

肝硬化
能免則免，到此地步較難以逆轉，除了飲食需要控制之外，多半是症狀及輔助治療，例如用利尿劑以減輕水腫和腹水的情形。

高血脂
多高叫做高？以下是一些較良好的數值範圍

低密度脂蛋白（LDL，俗稱的壞膽固醇）
LDL<130

高密度脂蛋白（HDL，俗稱的好膽固醇，別名血管清道夫）
HDL>40

三酸甘油酯（Triglyceride，縮寫TG )
TG<200

總膽固醇（TC)
TC<200

中藥降血脂：壽美降脂一號
功效
由紅麴萃取出有效成分，根據實驗統計可以藉由抑制HMG-CoA來減少壞膽固醇LDL的合成，也能降低三酸甘油酯，還有脂蛋白Apo B。

禁忌
肝臟正在發炎或是孕婦及哺乳者

成份
每顆膠囊內含600mg紅麴

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肝（三）肝的中醫生理學

與交感神經之重疊性：有別於現代醫學中肝臟存粹討論臟器本身，中醫在討論肝臟時有部份和交感神經重疊。所謂交感神經屬於自主神經的範疇，代表並非個人意念所能控制，號令腎上腺髓質(Adrenal medulla)中的嗜鉻細胞（Chromaffin cells)於交戰或逃亡等危機時刻分泌兒茶酚胺（Catecholamine)=大家比較耳熟能詳的腎上腺素（Epinephrine)、正腎上腺素和多巴胺(Dopamine)等，使身體反應加速、肌力上升、心搏加速以應付危急情形。

這也正對應到肝主疏泄（朱丹溪 格致餘論 陽有餘陰不足論：司疏泄者肝也）白話文意思就是肝臟與情緒的調節有關；

肝臟屬於將軍之官（黃帝內經.靈蘭秘典論：肝者，將軍之官，謀慮出焉。）畢竟沙場上的將領時常需要在很短的時間內對部隊下達戰鬥或是撤退的命令。

肝藏血（黃帝內經.五藏生成：人臥，血歸於肝）

除了是人體一大血庫之外，它還有以下功能：

a製造肝素（Heparin）避免血液凝固

b老朽的紅血球在失去功用之後被組織內的巨噬細胞摧毀成血紅素（Hemoglobin)其後再繼續分解為膽紅素（Bilirubin)。肝臟會將膽紅素轉化成水溶性的膽紅素葡萄糖醛酸苷（Bilirubin diglucuronide)並分泌到膽管去排除。

「詳見肝（一）西醫生理學」

肝者，罷極之本（黃帝內經.六節藏象論)

肝臟除了儲存肝醣，在人體血糖低時分解肝醣（Glycogen)為人體提供葡萄糖之外，也能藉由糖質新生（Gluconeogenesis)把一些素材轉化成葡萄糖，可以說是人體的備用能量庫，也就是「罷極之本」的白話文意思，即人體對抗疲勞的本錢，就好像電玩遊戲裡那圈綠色的精力條。

「詳見肝（一）西醫生理學」

肝主筋（黃帝內經.六節藏象論：其充在筋）

肝主管筋肉的活動。有些肢體不自主抽動、抽筋的患者們可能就有「肝風內動」的狀況，便是異常狀態影響肝主筋的生理機能。

肝開竅於目（黃帝內經.五藏生成：肝受血而能視）

眼睛的好壞多少跟肝臟有點關聯，某些眼睛發紅、發腫的患者除了用眼過度或是過敏之外，也有可能是肝火太旺所造成的。

肝經循行過陰器

由於肝經的循行會通過人體的外生殖器，因此不論是女性常見的月經問題如經痛或是分泌物多，男性的小便灼熱、陰莖搔癢或多或少都和肝臟機能失常有點關聯。

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