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How Chinese Medicine can help cancer patients
(Note: it is strongly recommended that the
patients should consult their family doctors before they take Chinese
medicine treatment or medicines)
Cancer is one of the major public health problems in Canada and
is the second leading cause of death among Canadians. It has far-reaching
impact on patients' lives despite the fact that it can be curable
in early stages. Often, patients are faced with many challenges
and the fear of dying. No doubt, mainstream cancer therapies such
as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are now commonly used and
are regarded as the best available treatments. However, the potential
side effects of these treatments can be highly debilitating. Western
therapies kill cancer cells effectively, but they always, do not
address the source of the problem.
Chinese medicine is particular effective in strengthening the immune
system and the prevention coming- back of the disease after the
disease is cured..
Often, patients are keen to have effective alternative or supplementary
treatment especially in the recovery period after surgery, radiation
or chemotherapy therapies. Many doctors also help the patient by
providing facility and resources for them to obtain effective and
reliable alternative or supplementary treatment.
Traditional Chinese Medicine has 5000 years of history and has been
proved by time to be effective in many diseases. A lot of research
and studies have been done to investigate the effectiveness of Traditional
Chinese Medicine in cancer treatment. Unfortunately, this correlation
still has not been fully explored.
Joint treatment combining Western medicine and Traditional
Chinese Medicine against cancer
Many researches worldwide indicate that the best approach to fight
against Cancer are obtained by means of a joint treatment combining
Western medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the patient
pursuing a suitable diet, and therapeutic exercise.
Psychological adaptation is also an important factor for the patient
to this chronic and severe illness. The philosophy behind Traditional
Chinese medicine may relieve the anxiety of the patient.
Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective of Cancer
In Traditional Chinese medicine, there is no specific concept
of cancer, but there is of tumors. Nutritive tonics and herbal medicines
were developed to alleviate pain and prolong life by strengthening
the body's defenses against tumor progression. Traditional Chinese
Medicine practitioners believe that the causes of tumor development
come in two folds. First, external factors include toxins and other
environmental factors. Second, emotional stress, unhealthy diets,
and damaged organs are internal factors. Internal factors also include
stagnant blood, and a blockage or accumulation of qi (pronounced
chee), the vital energy said to circulate along the meridians, or
pathways, linking all parts of the body.
All illnesses, in the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
are a result of energy imbalance, either an excess or a deficiency
of the body's elemental energies. Qi, the life force, controls the
bodily functions as it travels along the meridians, completing an
energy cycle every twenty-four hours. The flow of qi may be disrupted
by a variety of causes including an imbalanced diet or lifestyle,
stress, suppressed emotions, or lack of exercise. These factors
cause imbalances in yin and yang-complementary forces in dynamic
flux and also disturb the normal flow of qi.
Cancer is the manifestation of an underlying imbalance, and a tumor
is the "uppermost branch" of the illness, not the "root".
Each patient may have a different imbalance causing what, on the
outside, look like the same type of cancer. Traditional Chinese
Medicine practitioners, in treating cancer, attempt to identify
the individual patterns of qi imbalance, and prescribe treatments
accordingly.
In treating cancer, Chinese Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners
make diagnoses of yin and yang, qi, and blood imbalances. Blood,
in Traditional Chinese Medicine, refers to much more than the material
fluid. Instead, blood is the process of nourishing the organism;
it occurs in a mutually regulating relationship with qi and moisture
(body fluids). In formulating treatments, Traditional Chinese Medicine
practitioners are guided by 8 principles. In 4 sets of polar categories,
those principles are: yin and yang, chill and heat, deficiency and
excessiveness, and interior and exterior. The eight principles serve
as the framework for the data gathered through physical examination,
tongue and pulse diagnosis, and observation of symptoms. Once the
Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner forms a cohesive picture
of the pattern of disharmony, he or she can formulate a plan of
treatment to restore balance.
The Components of Traditional Chinese Medical System
¦a. Herbal medication and Diet
b. Acupuncture and Acupressure
c. Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapeutic exercise - Qigong and
Taichi
I. Herbal Medication and Dietary
Decoction
The conventional method of applying herb therapy is to make a decoction
- a strong "tea" made by simmering raw herbs in water.
Herbs are usually taken as a formula, which may contain 10-15 herbs.
Each formula is consisted of a chief herb, a few assistant herbs,
and a courier herb to take the medicine to the site of the "lesion".
Each herb in the formula has a different role. In prescribing a
medication, a practitioner adapts a basic formula with proven effectiveness
in treating a particular pattern of disharmony, and adds other herbs
to suit the patient's distinct characteristics. The Chinese herbal
practitioner has a choice of close to 6,000 herbs, and a few mineral
and animal components. There are about 400 commonly used formulas.
Traditionally, a specially glazed clay teapot is used to make the
tea. Since the decoction method is time consuming, and the taste
of the decoction is unpalatable to many, two alternative methods
were developed - pulverized herbs in capsules, and concentrated
Chinese herbal granules.
Concentrated Chinese Herbal Granules
Concentrated Chinese herbal granules are a representation of a new
generation of Chinese herbal products, and offer a safe and convenient
means of using herbs. They are extracts of herbs and carry the same
potency. Please refer to Single Chinese Herb Extracts - Manufacturing
Techniques and Quality Control for details regarding the extraction
process.
Common types of herbal therapies
Fu Zhen therapy
Fu Zhen therapy is an immune-enhancing herbal regimen, and is used
as an adjunct to chemotherapy and radiation. The principal herbs
in the therapy strengthen the body's nonspecific immunity and enhance
the functions of T-cells.
Principal herbs: Astragalus, Ligustrum, Ginseng, Codonopsis, Atractylodes,
and Ganoderma
Herbal Antitoxin therapy
Herbal Antitoxin therapy is a regularly used therapy with proven
effects in inhibiting tumor growth. Kelp and Pokeroot are among
the herbs known to dissolve tumors.
Principal herbs: Isatis Root, Heartleaf Houttuynia herb, Barbated
Skullcup Herb, Chinese Lobelia Herb, Honeysuckle Flower, Spreading
Heading Hedytis Herb, Glabrous Greenbrier Rhizome, Giant Knotweed
Rhizome, Vietnamese Sophora Root.
Blood Activating therapies
Blood activating therapy helps reduce coagulation and inflammatory
reactions associated with immune response
Principal herbs: Sanchi, Frankincense, Hisute Shiny Buglewood Herb,
Daushen Root, Szechwan Lovage Rhizome, Red Peony Root, Safflower,
Peach Seed, Common Burreed Tuber, Zedoray Phizome, Chinese Angelica.
Cattail Pollen, Cowherb Seed.
Dietary
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbs and food go hand in hand
in influencing the body's energy fields. It follows that a patient's
diet must align with medications taken for benefits to be realized.
Chinese dietary supervision is a sophisticated system that evaluates
food according to its properties and therapeutic value. Whole-grain
products, beans, fresh vegetables, and mushrooms are frequently
recommended. Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, on the
other hand, advise patients to avoid raw food, because it is too
"cold"; white sugar, too rich and would over-stimulate
the pancreas and liver; strong spices, for they disperse energy
to the surface of the body. Cancer patients are also advised to
shun coffee, because it overtaxes the adrenals; cold dairy products,
because they are too congesting; and shellfish and citrus, because
they are too "cold" and "moist".
II. Acupuncture and Acupressure
Acupuncture is another form of Chinese therapy applied to change
the flow or quality of the life force, and to rebalance body energies.
As mentioned, qi circulates in fourteen major meridians, or energy
channels, traversing the body from the top of the head to the tips
of fingers and toes. Each meridian is connected to an internal organ.
Specific points on each invisible channel, when stimulated, affect
the flow of qi in the particular organ and in other channels or
associated organs. By stimulating these points with extremely fine
needles or through massage, acupuncture unblocks energy or adjusts
its flow. Also, by inserting and manipulating the hair-like stainless
steel needles, acupuncture corrects the imbalances of qi that underlie
the disease.
Acupuncture is applicable in the treatment of persistent pain,
arthritis, asthma, infertility, and acute and chronic diseases.
For cancer patients, it serves to alleviate pain and to address
functional disorders associated with the illness. For example, acupuncture
improves the ability to swallow for patients with esophageal cancer.
Acupuncture also mitigates side effects of chemotherapy and radiation.
As complement of herbal medications, acupuncture has been employed
as a treatment for breast and cervical cancer in early stages. In
addition, acupuncture also helps release stress and pain following
surgeries.
III. Traditional Chinese Medicine therapeutic exercises
Another component of Traditional Chinese Medicine used in the
treatment of cancer is therapeutic exercise. It comes in two forms:
tai-chi and chi-gong. The purpose of both exercises is to enable
a person to regulate and direct the flow of qi within his or her
own body. A student in merial training is taught to focus his or
her qi in a place two inches below the navel, called the dan tian,
or vital center. From this center, the qi is said to emanate to
distant regions of the body. Upon practice, students can sense the
presence of qi at the vital center in the form of localized warmth
and can then direct the life energy to specific parts of the body.
For cancer patients, practitioners prescribe exercises that specifically
address the patients' illnesses.
The perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine on tai-chi and
chi-gong differs from that of Western Medicine in that Chinese Medicine
believes that these exercises energize the body's vital forces,
balances yin and yang, strengthens blood circulation, and improves
the patient's emotional and mental states. Western medicine believes
that the exercises, like yoga, increase the absorption and utilization
of oxygen.
Through intensive practice of chi-gong, an entire set of beneficial
psychological and spiritual conditions emerges. In promoting emotional
well-being, chi-gong exercises help build confidence among patients
in their battle against cancer. Many cancer patients, who have practicing
chi-gong and tai-chi, have noted that a positive attitude plays
an important role in the curing of the disease.
We heartily support you in the battle of flighting cancer. Please
never surrender and remember that your freinds, family, your family
doctors, your health care team and Sanjiu Chinese Medicine Clinic
are standing behind you.
Please click the following two special programs which may help
you
Cancer Supporting Treatment Program
Cancer Survivor Preventive Maintenance Program
Click here to learn more about Chinese Medicine to help other cancer
diseases
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