THE INFLUENCE OF MEDICINAL CAKE-SEPARATED MOXIBUSTION UPON RED BLOOD CELL IMMUNITY AND FREE RADICAL IN THE AGED

Eighty-six senile persons,aged 60 years old or over,were treated by medicinalcake-separated moxibustion and the influence of moxibustion upon red blood cell immunity func-tion and free radical was observed.We have adopted the principle of tonifying the kidney andstrengthening the spleen,promoting blood flow and removing blood stasis.The tonic points suchas Dazhui（GV 14）,Shenshu（BL 23）,Guanyuan（CV 4）,Shenque（CV 8）and Zhsanli（ST36）were chosen.Besides,it was supplemented with the principle of nourishing blood,tonifyingspleen and replenishing essence,using medicinal cake moxibustion.The moxibustion was givenonce every other day,three moxa-cone on each point,and twenty-four times as a therapeuticcourse.The total moxibustion amount is 264 moxa-cone.Before and after the treatment,wemeasured the red blood cell immunity function（RBC-C_3b,RBC-IC,RFER,RFIR）,the SOD ac-tivity of RBC,and the contents of serum LPo. Results show that in senile person,the RBC-C_3b rosette formation falls while the RBC-ICros

THE INFLUENCE OF MEDICINAL CAKE-SEPARATED MOXIBUSTION UPON RED BLOOD CELL IMMUNITY AND FREE RADICAL IN THE AGED

Eighty-six senile persons, aged 60 years old or over, were treated by medicinal cake-separated moxibustion and the influence of moxibustion upon red blood cell immunity function and free radical was observed. We have adopted the principle of tonifying the kidney and strengthening the spleen, promoting blood flow and removing blood stasis. The tonic points such as Dazhui (GV 14), Shenshu (BL 23), Guanyuan (CV 4), Shenque (CV 8) and Zhsanli (ST 36) were chosen. Besides, it was supplemented with the principle of nourishing blood, tonifying spleen and replenishing essence, using medicinal cake moxibustion. The moxibustion was given once every other day, three moxa-cone on each point, and twenty-four times as a therapeutic course. The total moxibustion amount is 264 moxa-cone. Before and after the treatment, we measured the red blood cell immunity function (RBC-C3b, RBC-IC, RFER, RFIR), the SOD activity of RBC, and the contents of serum LPo.Results show that in senile person, the RBC-C3b rosette formation falls while the RBC-IC rosette formation rises; the adherence accelerant factor in serum falls, while adherence inhibitive factor rises. It demonstrates that the immunity function of RBC in aged people is lower. After treatment, the RBC-C3b rosette formation apparently rises, and RBC-IC rosette formation falls. Meanwhile, the level of RFIR in the serum falls, and RFER rises. It shows that moxibustion is able to correct the imbalanced regulative function of RBC, strengthen the immune adherence activity. It can also protect the organism from the damage of immune complex. It can lead to postponement of the ageing. The results also show that the activity of red blood cells SOD in the elderly falls while the contents of LPo rises which demonstrate that the metablolism of free radical in senile person is disturbed. After moxibustion , the SOD activity of red blood cells evidently rises. The content of LPo in the serum evidently decreases. It demonstrates that moxibustion can regulate the internal environment of the organism, and strengthen the SOD activity. Thus it can effectively clean free radical in the organism, combat senility and prolong life.