HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Parents of autistic children in Ho Chi Minh City now
have another option to save their children from autism: traditional medicine.
The
HCM City-based Hospital for Traditional Medicine started to apply the
techniques early this month after being transferred from the National Hospital
of Acupuncture. The methods include acupuncture, aqua-acupuncture and
electro-acupuncture, the Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon)
newspaper reported.
Previously,
the National Hospital of Acupuncture, based in Hanoi, has applied the methods
for 1,500 autistic children since 2012. Results showed 60 percent of the
children could re-integrate into the community and 20 percent of the children
could attend mainstream schools.
Ho
Thi Thu Hien, of HCM City’s Thu Duc district, said she spent three years taking
her daughter to many hospitals and health centres with the hope of treating her
child’s autism, but failed.
“My
daughter’s autistic symptoms seem to be worse than before,” she said.
Recently,
when Hien heard about the news, she thought she had a new hope and took her
daughter to the HCM City’s Hospital for Traditional Medicine.
Like
Hien, Bui Duy Linh, of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, recently brought his
son to the hospital for treatment.
Linh
said he found his son having autistic symptoms nearly one year ago. In a
meeting with a group of parents having children with autism, he heard about the
treatment methods using traditional medicine.
At
that time, only the National Hospital of Acupuncture provided the methods, so
he still hesitated to take his son to Hanoi due to financial pressure.
Now,
the HCM City’s Hospital for Traditional Medicine offers the service. He took
his son there.
Doctor
Truong Thi Ngoc Lan, from the HCM City’s Hospital for Traditional Medicine,
said before officially applying the methods, the hospital had sent doctors to
study in the National Hospital of Acupuncture three years ago.
Then
the hospital also started treatment for 80 children with autism. The treatment
showed initial positive results, so the hospital decided to apply the methods
to treat other children, she said.
“Our
doctors and facilities are now ready,” she said.
In
the coming time, the hospital plans to petition the Ministry of Health to add
autism treatment with traditional-medicine methods to the list of diseases that
health insurance pays for, she added.
“It
will help reduce medical costs for parents of autistic children,” she said.
According
to Doctor Nguyen Quoc Van, head of the National Hospital of Acupuncture’s
Autism Department, autism is like a mental illness.
When
a child’s psychology has a problem, his body can be affected too. The child
could show symptoms of hyperactivity disorder, learning disability and anorexia
nervosa.
Thus,
the traditional-medicine methods, including acupuncture and
electro-acupuncture, will create positive impacts on acupuncture points in the
child’s body, boosting his blood circulation and balancing the energies of Yin
and Yang throughout his body.
“When
the energies of Yin and Yang in the body of the child were balanced by
traditional-medicine methods, we then correct their behaviours with pedagogical
methods,” Van said.
According
to Van, the advantage of using traditional medicine methods to treat autism was
to repel autism without causing any nerve damage to the child.
However,
parents were advised to bring their children with autism for treatment before
the age of 3. It was the best time to take medical intervention to fight
autism, he said.
Parents
should talk with their autistic children every day, patiently teaching them
communication skills and correcting their behaviours step by step. Parents
should avoid causing their children any anger, he said.
Autism
spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disability. Signs typically
appear during early childhood and affect a person’s ability to communicate and
interact with others. Autism is treatable. Children do not “outgrow” autism,
but studies show that early diagnosis and intervention lead to significantly
improved outcomes.-VNA