"We must completely rethink our position. We need to go back to the old days when a doctor looked at a patient as a whole. We must seek the cause of an illness. We must combine humoral pathology with cellular pathology. Both are of equal value". -Josef Issels (German doctor),from the book Gentle Giants by Penny Brohn.
To administer medicine to disease which have already developed and to suppress revolts which have already risen is comparable to the behavior of those people who begin to dig a well when they have become thirsty....would these actions not be too late? -Nei Jing( The yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, compiled over 2,200 years ago)
These quotes summarize the approach of Chinese medicine on cancer management- holistic and prevention. The patient's mind, body, spirit are as a whole, the patient and external environment(including climate, pollution, diet and medications etc) are as a whole, the tumor and the Vital energy are as a whole. Long term stress, negative emotions play importance role in cancer too. The biology of belief by Bruce Lipton is an interesting book. Chinese medicine can detect the subtle imbalance before it becomes manifested on imaging scan or blood test. The combination of acupuncture and Chinese herbs, are effective in preventing as well as treating cancer, supporting patients who are going through cancer treatments. "All the cancer patients who took the herbal formula experienced relief from nausea, but something else happened: their tumors shrank faster." -National Georgraphic Magazine1.2019
Case history
Breast cancer, Tamoxifen side effect
J, 52. J was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 48. She had lumpectomy, chemo and radiotherapy. She started Tamoxifen a year later. When I first saw her J was having frequent hot flushes, night sweats, stiff joints on hands and feet. She also had been suffering from migrainse and taking Propranolo 40mg twice a day for 10 years. She had been taking Amitriptyline 10mg for the nerve pain on the breast which was operated on. Her oncologist suggested acupuncture. The Tamoxifen induced symptoms eased off quickly. Her migraines and the nerve pain on her breast had much improved too. A couple of months later she came off both Propranolo and Amitriptyline. J've been coming every couple of months for 5 years now to maintain her health. All her annual check ups have been fine.
Leiomyosarcoma
J, 68. J was diagnosed with stage 4 Leiomyosarcoma out of blue, when she went to doctors after she had a bleed. She was given two months to live by the oncologist due to the poor response of this rare type of cancer. The tumor originated in her uterus and had spread to her lungs. She was extremely frightened and anxious. Her tongue had thick yellow coating and her pulses were rapid. While having acupuncture and herbs they fortunately found Kristie in Manchester who was willing to treat her. She had 3 chemos. The reviewing scan showed that tumor in uterus hadn't grown, the nodules in her lungs have shrunk! It was very encouraging for both Kristie and herself. Her complexion was glowing. She had another 3 chemo and review showed no growth on tumor at all, everything was stable. Kristie was happy for her to resume the Chinese herbs. Unfortunately as they didn't want to operate on the tumor in her uterus, which inevitably slowly grown bigger and started to cause blockage; her kidneys were struggling and she developed blood clots in the end few weeks. Her daughter wrote to me, “My mum passed away peacefully at home with us last night. We just wanted to thank you for everything you did for mum and for never given up on her. Ying you have been amazing and you have kept things at bay for over a year. Mum always thought very highly of you. All your kindness shore through, we are so glad we found you when we needed help. Thank you for always giving her hope."
Breast cancer with bone, liver and possible lung metastases
S, 47, 8 years ago Grade 2 cancer on right breast, treated with wide local excision and axillary node sample followed by adjuvant 4 cycles of chemotherapy. 3 years later multifocal Grade 3 invasive ductal cancer on left breast. Treated with left mastectomy followed by dose dense AC followed by weekly Paclitaxel. Endocrine therapy with Latrozole followed by Exemestane. She has BRCA2 gene mutation. She had bilateral oophorectomy. Beginning of this year lymph node, bone, liver and possible lung metastases. Commenced Fulvestrant and Palbociclib. The palbociclib caused her white blood cell and Nutrophils to decrease dramatically. When she first came to me she was suffering from lots of painful mouth ulcers which disappeared in a couple of weeks after commencing acupuncture and herbs. Two months later the MRI of her liver (reduced from 2.3 to 1.4 cm) and the PET scan showed a big improvement- no longer showing cancer in bone and lungs. No new areas of disease. Her WBC had gone back to normal.
Prostate cancer stage 4
J, 69, cancer had spread into his bone. He first came for acupuncture to support him going through a Chemotherapy trial. He completed the 6 months trial, blood counts were fine, his PSA went down to 9. But 4 months after the chemo had finished his PSA started to shoot up and bone scan got worse too. He was reluctant to take herbs but did. A month later his PSA went down from 132 to 11, 10 the following month, which was unbelievable. The second line hormone therapy Nilutamide for his metastatic cancer had made his fatigue and low mood much worse. Very unfortunately J discontinued the treatment.