A comprehensive TCM approach to diagnosis and treatment. Author : - Dr. Edward Tsang (registered Chinese Herbalist & Acupuncturist ) Wu Zhu Metaphysician Introduction This is a real life case study about the patient who had diagnosed and suffered with terminal Small Cell Cancer. The cancer specialist believed that her life would not last more than 3 months when the patient was diagnosed with the symptom of cancer at the final stage in Dec. 2002. The patient however survived over one and half years and the diagnosis put forward is to suggest that acupuncture, herbs, diet, region of Buddhism, strong warm support from the whole family and feng shui cures could improve her quality of life and perhaps even extended her life. Definition of Cancer Western Term Cancer is a disease of the body s cells. Human s bodies are constantly producing new cells to replace the worn-out cells or to heal damaged cells after an injury. The process is under control by certain genes. The formation of cancer is generally caused by the damages to these genes (The Cancer Council of Victoria 2004 & Cheung 2002). Tumours can be benign or malignant. The former does not spread their normal boundaries to other parts of the body, and the latter is made up of cancer cells. If these cells cannot be properly treated, they can be spread out to their normal boundaries (The Cancer Council of Victoria 2004). TCM Term In TCM, cancer may be understood and diagnosed in the following ways : Disharmony of the body immunity, stagnation, deficiency, dampness, heat and toxicity of qi and xue are causing the formation of tumours (Wang 1994). Sign and Symptoms of the captioned diagnosis can be classified as follows : Stagnation Pulse : Choppy or Sink Tongue : purple/red with some dark red dots Deficiency Pulse : Weak, thin and empty Tongue : Pale, dry Dampness :
Pulse : Wiry, slippery and soft Tongue : wet with white or yellow coating depending heat or cold symptom. Toxic heat, qi and xue : Pulse : Rapid, full, forceful Tongue : Red Different Treatment Methods While the patient was having chemotherapy and radiotherapy, she was also undertaking method of traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, diet, Buddhist ceremonies and Feng shui and eventually under the treatment of palliative care before having her second mission. Differentiation and effects between western and TCM treatments : Western treatment : There were totally three treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. Each treatment contented five injections with one week interval for each injection. The first treatment was held in Feb of 2003 and had an effective response. However, the minimal satisfactory reaction was only lasting for 3 months only. The second treatment was held in September of 2003 and the effect was unfavourable. The last treatment was held just one month later after the second treatment in Jan of 2003. It seemed that the second and third treatments had no any favourable effects. After having each injection of chemotherapy and radiation from these three western treatments, patient experienced the following manifestations. Pulse : very rapid, beating per breath between 12 to 15 beats and the beating is very forceful and looked like she could hardly breath. Tongue : very dry and red, peeled, with red dots showing on the tip and two sides of the tongue edges. There was no coating on the tongue. Other manifestations : vomiting and nausea for whole week after each injection and radiation. Patient lost her appetite and could not eat and drink and her shen was very dull and xu, irritable and she needed to lie flat and could not get up. TCM treatments : Chinese herbal medicine were given to patient while she was taking the chemotherapy and radiation and continued through ending up her life. After having taken the TCM raw herbs decoctions, patient had a sensation of comfort in her upper jiao, not so irritable and different manifestations were showing few days after the treatment of chemotherapy and radiation : Pulse : slowing down from the peak beating rate from 15 back to 6 beats per minute and the pulse was back to quite normal or slightly slow than normal and not so forceful. 2
Tongue. Returning back to quite normal with slightly yellow coating and slightly red and not so dry. That might be the side effect left over from the treatment of western medicine. Other manifestations : patient s appetite getting better, vomiting and nausea reduced and patient was not so irritable and could take a few walk with the support from the members in her family. Her shen was getting better, not so dull and pale and she could sit for awhile and looking at the television. That was quite a miracle. Treatment principle from patient s TCM practitioner was divided into different stages. Initially, 活 血 化 瘀 法 tonify the xue, resolve stagnation & 正 培 本 法 fortify the Ben and zheng qi 正 氣, modify the internal yin and yang, xue mai and jing luo and reinforce the zang and fu organs, so to increase patient s immune systems. Herbs were used and modified based on patient s daily situation. Modifications of prescriptions formulas were adjusted periodically for the past 18 months depending on patient s conditions, health, shen and qi. Whenever there was more heat symptom, practitioner used herbs for nourishing the yin and clearing heat ; whenever there was more qi xu symptom, practitioners used more qi tonification herbs. Basically, raw herbs that provided to patient were including : Bai zhu, tien men dong, mai men dong, ban xia, wei ling xien, ye ju hua, fu ling gou zhi zi, nu zhen zi, huang qi, yao wang, jin yin hua, lian qiao, Bai Hua she she cao, pu kong yin, ban zi lian, chuan xiong, e- zhu, chuan lian zi, yin chen hao were used for treatment for patient The actions of these herbs are as follows ( Bensky & Gamble 1993 ; Cheung 2002 ; Lui 2002 ; Lee 1998). Bai zhu : tonifies the spleen qi, dries dampness, augments the qi, strengthens the spleen. Tien men dong : nourishes the kidney yin, moistens the lung and clears deficient heat and generates fluids. Ban xia : Dries dampness, resolves phlegm, transforms phlegm, disperses phlegm stagnation and nodules, harmonizes the stomach and stops vomiting, as patient experienced lot of phlegm and vomiting during the final stage. Wei ling xien : expels wind damp, unblocks the 12 channels and alleviates pain. Ye ju hua : drains fire and relieves toxicity, patient suffered a lot of heat under the treatment of chemotherapy. Fu ling : promotes urination, expels dampness, as patient experienced difficult urination ; strengthens the spleen and harmonizes the middle jiao and transforms phlegm. Gou qi zi : nourishes and tonifies the liver and kidneys for patterns of yin and xue xu, enriches the yin. 3
Dang gui : tonifies the xue and regulates the menses, invigorates and harmonizes the blood. Reduces swelling, expels pus and generates flesh and alleviates pains. Some sources comment that dang gui is not appropriate to use for patient who has the symptom of cancer. However, the patient s practitioner advised that if dang gui just uses alone may not be good for cancer patients, but if it can be used with the combination of other herbs, it is still good for cancer patient and this has been practising and using in China, especially now the patient s qi and xue is quite deficiency. Nu zhen zi : tonifies the liver and kidney yin, clears heat Huang qi : tonifies qi and raises the yang qi, fortifies wei qi, tonifies qi and xue. Yao huang : Relieves toxicity, dries dampness, expels phlegm, reduce abscesses. Jin yin hua : clears heat, relieves toxicity, clears damp-heat in the lower jiao, as patient showed heat symptom after the chemotherapy and the tongue is purple red. Lian qiao : clears heat and detoxicty, dissipated nodules, as per above heat symptoms. Bai hua she she cao : clears heat, strongly relieves fire toxicity, reduces abscesses, clears heat and dispels damp by promoting urination. Pu Kong yin : clears heat and fire toxicity, clears abscess and nodules, expels dampheat and promotes urination. Ban zhi lian : clears heat, relieves toxicity, invigorates the blood,, reduces swellings for furuncles, sores and abscesses. Chuan xiong : moves blood, moves qi for patterns of blood stagnation, expels wind and stops pains. E zhu : Moves xue and breaks up stagnation, regulates qi, stops pains, dissolves accumulations and relieves pain. Chuan lian zi : regulates liver qi, stops pain, clears heat, dries dampness. Yin chen hau : clear damp-heat from liver and GB channels, promotes urination and clears damp-heat. In addition to herbal treatment, acupuncture treatment was also used to improve patient s illness. Acupuncture treatment As per advice from certain experienced TCM practitioners, the treatment of acupuncture can only be adopted in the way of palpation on certain points of channels, otherwise, the cancer could be spread out faster. Therefore, after having consulted 4
with some experienced practitioners in Victoria, palpation on LV 3 Taichong, LV 13 Zhangmen, St 36 Zanzhuli, Sp 6 Sanyinjiao and Ren 12 Zhongwan were used to alleviate patient pain and generate her system of the body (Deadman 2000 ; Lee 1998 ; Rogers 2000 ; Li 1996 ; Liu & Hyodo 1996). LV 3 Taichong was used to relieve and to stop pain. It was used to soothe the live qi, reduce liver yang ascending, subdue liver yang and extinguish wind, stop pain, calming and sedative function. LV 13 Zhangmen was used to harmonize the Zang organ, liver and spleen, spread the liver qi and regulate the qi and relieve abdominal distension, St 36 Zusanli was used to harmonize the stomach, strengthen the spleen and resolve dampness, nourish the xue and yin, clear fire and calm the shen and reduce abdominal distention. Sp 6 Sanyinjiao was used to fortify the spleen and stomach, resolve dampness, harmonize the lower jiao, alleviate pain and calm the shen. Ren 12 was used to harmonize the middle jiao and descend rebellion qi, reinforce the stomach and spleen, regulate qi and stop pain. Diet proper diet was also assisting to patient for the purpose of against her cancer situation and improve her life, such as : 甘 諾 寶 力 Ganoderma Polysaccharides plus Cordyceps Sinensis extract ( 冬 蟲 夏 草 Dong Cong Xia Cao). They are highly potent extract from 100% natural and pure red Lingshi and Cordycepts sinensis. The capsules are manufactured in New Zealand by Alpha Healthcare (NZ) Ltd. These healthy natural ingredients and potent can resist and anti-cancer and increase immune system. 姬 松 茸 Agaricus Blazei Murrill capsule is manufactured from the precious highly nutritious and medicinal Agaricus blazei Murrill fungus, which is rich with protein, polysaccharide, soluble fibres, vitamins, minerals unsaturated fatty acids and amino acids. These natural ingredients can improve body metabolism, and the immune system which has the ability to resist diseases and improves body s respiratory, circulatory digestive systems. These capsules are manufactured in Shanghai and distributed in Hong Kong and well known for patients who are under the treatment of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Tian Shan Xue Lian 天 山 雪 蓮, is a kind of fungus and has been traditionally and widely used by Chinese family for years. It is said that the fungus has mild, high nutritious effects and nourishes the lungs and yin. It can support patients lacking of immunity. Congee : Patient was suffering of cancer at the 4 th stage, she finally could not eat firmed food and drink, in order to support her middle jiao and transform her fluids 5
congee with lian zi, long yan rou and fu ling was therefore given to patient to maintain and prolong her life. Feng Shui cure was also adopted for improving patient s quality of life and extended her life. Feng shui has been widely used and adopted by Asian people over the last few thousands years. This method is according to the harmony in the environment of wu xing ( five phases) that people are living in and people s four pillars (birth day of year, month, date and time). The birthday of the patient belonged to a weak yin earth. The entry of the patient s room belonged to 艮 Gen position, the flying stars of the seven age of the feng shui are 95. Number 9 represents fire, which generates the big disaster star 5 causing the star of number 5 becoming more serious and fierce. Unfortunately the small Tai Ji of the room in the entry belonged to 震 Chen position which belongs to wood and invading the star number 5. According to the theory of feng shui, the above events manifested a symptom of cancer. Therefore, patient was living in such environment that no doubt would suffer from cancer. As per patient s Western practitioner predicted that this patient could only survive no more that 3 months. However according to the calculation of patient s 4 pillars, she could live at least more than 2 years. Feng shui cures were therefore set for her to reduce her pain and prolong her life, such as 安 忍 水 An ren Shui, 天 醫 葫 蘆 Tian Yi Hu Lu. Feng shui herbs, such as hong hua, qian cao, gan cao, bai he, du zhong, rou gui, bo he, po sheung and bai shi were put inside of the 葫 蘆 Hu Lu and put in patient s 天 醫 位 Tian Yi position, so to create her qi. Seven of yellow lotus wax cups were put in her 寅 位 Yin position, so to nourish her weak earth. After setting the feng shui cures, she looked more comfortable and relaxed and recovered for about 12 months. Palliative care Unfortunately, after struggling and suffering from small cell cancer over one and half years, she was hardly fully recovered. During the past one and half years, she had been admitted into hospital for a couple times. Eventually she decided to have a better quality of life before having other mission and therefore returned home. Patient had undertaken the morphine injection during the palliative care for 2 weeks in order to reduce her pain. However, she did not take morphine injection for 10 days before passing away, she did not feel any pain at all and her shen was so good and her pulse was getting back quite normal and tongue not so red and dry. The manifestation shows that the reactions from herbal medicine and other additional supports really contributed a big task. 6
During the few weeks of palliative care at home, the whole family provided her with strong warm supports before taking other mission. Few days before patient passed away, her pulse stopped and no matter how deep that practitioner palpated her pulse, there was no pulse, but she was still able to prolong her life with no pain suffering and her spirit was calm and quiet, even though there was a few moment of rapid breathing before she finally passed away. Buddhist ceremonies After suffering from the cancer disease, the patient took refuge in the Buddha s teaching 歸 依 and made up her mind and went to Yuan Yang temple and became a Buddhist follower. Her shen was so relaxed and did not feel any pain at all in the last few days before she passed away. Conclusion The patient suffered from the disease of small cancer for over one and half years. Her western practitioner predicted that her life could only prolong for no more that 3 months. Such predictions had been advised for a couple of times, but she still maintained her life over the next one and half years. With the supports from TCM treatment, proper diet, acupuncture, feng shui, religion, palliative care and warm supports from whole family, the patient eventually passed away. From the above information, herbal medicine and additional supports indeed provided patient a more comfortable life before her life ended. Reference The Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria (2002) Cheung, T. (2002). Cancer Booklet in Western and TCM 癌 症 中 西 醫 雙 效 自 療 手 冊. Hong Kong. C 2002 Joint Publishing (HK) Co., Ltd. Bensky, D. & Gamble, A. (1993). Chinese Herbal Medicine Materia Medica. Washington : Eastland Press, Incorpoated. Deadman, P. & Al-khafaji, M. (2000). A Manual of Acupuncture. California. Eastland Press. Liu, G. (1997). A complement Work of Present Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Beijin. HuaXia Publishing House. Li, T. (1996). Acupuncture 針 灸 學. Beijin : The people Health Publisher. Liu, G.W. & Hyodo, A. (1996). Acupoints & Meridians, A Complement Work of Present Acupuncture and Moxibustion. 現 代 針 灸 全 書 經 穴 篇.TianJin : HuaXia Publishing House. 7
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