Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 2 of 48
“How does Chinese traditional medicine cure cancer then?” I asked him forty
years ago. 我問: “然則中醫如何治療癌症?”
“I cannot tell you, because you may betray it to the West.2 The cure is in the
medical classics. We treat cancer no different from tumours.” “我不能告訴你,
恐怕你把療法出賣給西方. 療法在中醫典籍, 癌症與腫瘤, 療法相同.”
1
In the first of the only two national examinations for practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine administered
by the government before the Guomintang was forced by the communists to retreat to Chongqing, Nanking. Dr
PANG placed 2nd in the exam, and 1st in the southern provinces. Dr PANG was a Confucianist scholar, who said
he would teach me traditional Chinese Medicine (only) if I would learn the Four Books by heart. I learned the
Four Books, i.e. the philosophy of it, still unable to recite them. Master PANG’s point is that medicine is a skill,
which can do good or harm, depending on whose hands it is in, whereas Confucianism is the Tao, and it can only
do good, in whoever’s hands. He taught me Confucianism for free, taking me to tea, as Socrates would have done
to his students. I paid for the tea sometimes.
彭乃楨師尊, 業名彭幹, 國民政府中醫師考試全國榜列第二名, 南方第一名. “國民政府遷臺前曾舉辦過兩次
中醫考試,分別為民國三十五年及三十六年。彭公所參加的是三十五年。小弟有一本名為《中華民國中
醫師考試制度》由正中書局出版,是考試院考詮叢書指導委員會主編的,中華民國七十四年四月初版。
內容詳盡記錄考 試內容、概況及結果。 彭公怕出賣給西方的說話,小弟甚表存疑。以小弟所認的彭公,
不會有此狹隘的思想。就算是說的話,恐怕是說笑吧?想不宜供之於世,影響彭公形像!”(何譽丙醫師
2011.6.2)
2
As in the case of the herb mahuang 麻黄 (Ephedra; Ephedra sinica; Herba Ephedrae) for asthma. Dr Schmidt
from Germany came to Hong Kong and learned it. He never acknowledged it when mahuang drugs were later
mass-produced in Germany for asthma. This is also dangerous because mahuang is good for only most asthma
cases, but it is a wrong herb for some other asthma cases, which are in traditional Chinese medicine diagnosed
differently according to the ‘Eight Categories in Diagnosis (八纲辩证)’.
3
Dr PANG is survived by a disciple in traditional Chinese medicine: Dr HO Yu-Ping 何誉丙医师 in Hong Kong.
2
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 3 of 48
---o0o---
4
Vancouver Community College, Langara Campus, had a study programme on traditional Chinese medicine. Dale Byerstein is a sceptic. He
personally tested traditional Chinese medicine. He went to Chinatown and consulted three practitioners of CTM. They gave him three
different diagnoses and different prescriptions. Yet none of them could tell he was diabetic. Langara College discontinued the CTM
programme.
3
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 4 of 48
4
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 5 of 48
As this time it was in English, I sought criticisms on the article, suspecting that
it was forwarded by a Chinese student in Hong Kong. My friends responded:
Scary. We have too many patients come to us after delaying traditional western
treatment to use Chinese herbal medicine and then when it doesn't work they
come pleading to us to save them. Of course, by then it's usually too late to
receive anything but palliative treatment. In many cases a person can take
Chinese herbal remedies and western treatments concurrently but both
practitioners need to be advised.
5
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 6 of 48
This is indeed a dangerous article if anyone listens to it. It'll cause a lot of
unnecessary suffering and death. I don't have time to do a point by point critique
but it is full of falsehoods. For example, cancer does not indicate nutritional
deficiency. The acidity of water is meaningless. It's not buffered. Add the
slightest bit of acid or base to it and it's pH will change wildly and instantly.
Cancer cells no more have tough protein coatings than do any other cells; cancer
does not feed on mucus; cancer cells are highly likely to thrive in an oxygenated
environment (not that anything one does via diet or exercise will have much
bearing on that); etc., etc., etc. If traditional Chinese medicine routinely cured
cancer we'd have no cancer these days. People would have jumped on it long ago,
been cured and broadcast the fact far and wide.
---oOo---
6
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 7 of 48
Hippocratic Humours
希波格拉底的體液論
* The 4 humours were blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. 體液四: 血,
黃膽汁, 黑膽汁, 痰.
* The properties of the humours—heat, cold, dryness, moistness. 體液性質:
寒, 熱, 燥, 溼. (Very Chinese! 中醫基礎理論也.)
* Each of the 4 humours was also linked to one of the four elements—air, fire,
earth, and water. 體液分屬四行: 風, 火, 地, 水.
Each of the humours was identified with a bodily organ: phlegm with the brain, blood
with the heart, yellow bile with the liver, and black bile with the spleen.5 体液各屬臟
器: 痰屬腦, 血屬心, 黃膽汁屬肝, 黑膽汁屬脾.
Hippocrates 希波格拉底
Blood 血 heat 熱 air 風 heart 心
Yellow bile 黃膽汁 cold 寒 fire 火 liver 肝
Black bile 黑膽汁 dryness 燥 earth 地 spleen 脾
Phlegm 痰 moisture 溼 water 水 brain 腦
5
The History of Medicine: a Very Short Introduction. William Bynum. Oxford: University Press, 2008, p. 10.
7
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 8 of 48
Bloodletting, for example, had a rational basis, since local inflammation, or the
fluid of fever, was easily interpreted as evidence that the body had too much
blood, and therefore needed aid in ridding itself of it.
乃至構成放血理論根據: 局部發炎, 或者發熱的流液, 容易以爲是身體太多血
的證據, 需要幫助棄去.
Hippocrates taught the doctrine of the healing power of nature: ‘Natural forces
are the healers of disease. As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help,
or at least do no harm.’6
希波格拉底教導自然療能道理: 治病者, 自然能力也. 至於疾病, 宗旨二: 能幫
助,則幫助, 不能幫助最低限度不要爲害.
6
Ibid, p. 12.
8
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 9 of 48
Therapy was thus aimed primarily at assisting the patient’s body to do its natural
work.7 因此, 治療目的, 在於幫助病人身體進行自然工作.
Food therapy 食療
Galen (who followed Hippocrates) tried to relate the properties of foods to the
four humours and their various constituent qualities. Some foods were heating,
others cooling, moistening or drying; some thickened the humours, others thinned
them, making them easier to excrete and thus acting as a sort of slimming aid.
Galen’s listings and his placing of foods according to their digestibility, strength
and suitability for human beings differ little from those of other ancient writers
on food. 8
蓋侖跟從赫波格拉底, 以食物性質及各成分連屬四體液. 食物有寒熱燥濕。
有令體液濃密;有令體液稀薄, 使體液更容易排泄, 幫助瘦身. 蓋侖把食物分
列消化難易, 力量, 對人類適合程度, 與其他古代食物論者大同小異.
Criticism by Professor Joseph Agassi. Quoting Hippocrates agreeing with Dr PANG Kong
does not make Dr PANG’s view stronger. Kwan: Perhaps it only makes Master PANG as
ancient as Hippocrates. But it is all right, because Master PANG’s practising clinical theory
was as ancient as the legendary Yellow Emperor. Indeed, Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM) makes sense of Hippocrates.
---o0o---
9
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 10 of 48
10
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 11 of 48
11
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 12 of 48
12
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 13 of 48
13
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 14 of 48
Adrenalectomy 腎上腺切除
Hypophysectomy 垂體切除
In 1895, Scottish surgeon George Beatson discovered that removing the ovaries
from one of his patients shrank her breast tumor. This news spread and soon
surgeons were performing “prophylactic” oophorectomies, which involved
removing both ovaries and performing a radical mastectomy. The operations
were debilitating and the results unpredictable since the surgeons had no way of
determining which tumors possessed estrogen receptors. Because of this, by 1920
most surgeons employed an oopherectomy only as a last resort. What modern
oncologists now know is that some breast tumors have estrogen receptors that
feed on estrogen. Removing the ovaries in some cases starved the tumor, at least
temporarily. The tumor would always regrow because the body compensated by
secreting estrogen-like substances from the adrenal and pituitary glands.
In 1952, approximately the same time as Urban’s super-radical mastectomy,
Charles Huggins began removing a woman’s adrenal gland (adrenalectomy) in
an effort to starve the tumor of estrogen. 1952 年, 與哦爾班超級徹底乳房切除
朮相約同時, 赫根斯開始切除婦女的腎上腺 (腎上腺切除) , 企圖餓死雌激素
的腫瘤.
Rolf Lefft and Herbert Olivecrona began performing hypophysectomies, or the
removal of the pituitary gland. Side effects included impaired vision,
personality changes, and cognitive difficulties. 勒夫特與哦力為克魯納開始垂
體切除(垂體腺切除). 其副作用包括視力損害, 性格改變, 認知困難.
Even with these extreme surgeries, the tumors still returned to kill. 如是諸多極
端手術, 結果腫瘤還是回來殺人.
14
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 15 of 48
George Crile in 1955 began to argue that cancer was not localized but rather is
spread throughout the body. 1955 年, 佐治.克爾開始辯論認爲: 癌非局部病, 癌
其實傳播全身.
Bernard Fisher also revolutionized cancer treatment by revising metastasis theory
which, like Hippocrates, argued that cancer cells traveled throughout both the
circulatory and lymphatic systems and that surgery could not cure cancer because
cancer cells were floating throughout the body in the circularity system. 伯納非
沙革命性改變癌病的治療, 重新修定均衡理論, 如古希臘醫聖希波格拉底所
論, 認爲癌細胞走行整個循環系統與整個淋巴系統, 開刀手術不能醫治好癌
病, 因為癌細胞浮游全身循還系統内.
In 1976, Fisher published results indicating that simpler breast-conserving
surgery followed by radiation or chemotherapy were just as effective as the
radical mastectomy, and usually more so (Hellman 1993). 1976 年, 非沙發表研
究結果, 顯示簡單的保存乳房手術, 跟著放療或者化療, 效果不遜於徹底切除
整個乳房, 而且通常效果更好.
By advocating a more systemic approach to breast cancer, Fisher and Crile
directly challenged the surgeon’s role as the primary source of breast cancer
treatment. 主張系統處理乳癌, 非沙與克尔挑戰或否定開刀手術醫生所扮演
的乳癌治療首要角式.
Yet physicians were reluctant to abandon the Halstead mastectomy until the
sexual revolution and modern feminism. 可是手術醫生們死不放棄<赫死她乳
房切除朮>, 直至現代代婦女運動興起革命.
With the decline of the Halstead radical mastectomy and a revised theory of
metastasis, physicians hypothesized about the origins of breast cancer and, during
the 1990s, everything ranging from diet, chemical pollution, race, delay in having
children, and breastfeeding was up for debate. <赫死她乳房切除朮> 衰落, 加上
轉移論的復興修正, 醫生們又再來推測乳癌病因. 1990 年代, 飲食習慣, 化學
污染, 種族, 晚生孩子, 哺乳, 等等辯論不停.
Despite this uncertainty, there were still advances. After an in initial increase in
breast cancer rates, the number of deaths plateaued in 1995 and then started to
decline. 雖則如是辯論不明, 還是有了進步. 乳癌病起初增多之後, 1995 年乳
癌死亡率至高原, 其後開始下降.
By 1995, less than 10 percent of breast cancer-inflicted women had a
15
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 16 of 48
16
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 17 of 48
References 參考資料
Leopold, Ellen 愛倫李普. 1999 . A Darker Ribbon: Breast Cancer, Women, and their Doctors
in the Twentieth Century 更深色的飾帶: 二十一世紀乳癌, 婦女, 和她們的醫生 . Boston 波
士頓: Beacon Press 燈塔出版社.
Olson, James 詹士歐森. 2002. Bathsheba’s Breast 巴詩巴的乳房: Women , Cancer, and
History 婦女, 癌, 歷史. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press 約翰斯.赫根氏出版社.
-----oo0oo-----
17
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 18 of 48
“How does Chinese traditional medicine cure cancer then?” I asked him forty
years ago. 我問: “然則中醫如何治療癌症?”
“I cannot tell you, because you may betray it to the West. The cure is in the
medical classics. We treat cancer no different from tumours.” “我不能告訴你,
恐怕你把療法出賣給西方. 療法在中醫典籍, 癌症與腫瘤, 療法相同.”
---o0o---
In 2003, a book, “betraying the secret”, in English, was published in the West:
Management of Cancer with Chinese Medicine 中醫藥與腫瘤. LI Peiwen 李沛
文 et all. UK: Donica Publishing. 2003 年, “出賣中醫治療癌症’ 的一本莊重
權威的英文書出版了, 北京中日友誼醫院中醫腫瘤科主任李佩文教授等著作
兼翻譯, 英國丹尼卡出版社出版.
The Chinese title of the book is Chinese Medicine and Tumours, written and
translated by five medical doctors, four of which had been trained and practised
in Western science-based medicine.9 此書作者西醫李文沛教授, 兼中醫程志強
9
Authors 作者
Professor LI Peiwen 李文沛教授 graduated in 1967 from Beijing University of Medicine with a Bachelor of Medicine degree. Since 1984,
Professor LI has been Chief Doctor and Director of the TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) Oncology Department of the Sino-Japanese
Friendship Hospital, Beijing and a supervisor of Ph.D. students. He is Vice-Chairman of the Chinese Association of Ontology in Integrated
Chinese and Western Medicine. Professor LI has accumulated 35 years of clinical and research experience in the application of integrated
Chinese and Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of cancer and the side effects caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
CHENG Zhiqiang 程志強 (音譯) graduatedin 1995 from Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine with a Bachelor of Medicine
degree.
DU Xiuping 杜修平(音譯) graduated in 1982 from Yangzhou University of Medicine with a Bachelor of Medicine degree. From 1982 to
1987, he worked as an internal medicine doctor in the Hospital Affiliated to Jiangsu Salt Company. He graduated Translators 翻譯
MAO Shuzhang 毛樹章, now retired, graduated from Tongji Medical University, Hebei and was Professor of Microbiology at Peking Union
Hospital.
BAO Liling 包麗玲 (音譯), also now retired, graduated from Peking Union Medical College in 1955. She was Professor and Chief Doctor of
the Ophthalmology of Peking Union Hospital and Shanxi Medical University.
Subject editor 編輯
Trina Ward graduated with a background in anthropology, started studying Chinese medicine in Australia in 1988 and graduated in 1992
after completing an internship at the Shu Guang Hospital in Shanghai and studying Chinese at Feng Chia University, Taiwan. In 2002, she
completed an Mphil at Exeter University on safety aspects of Chionese herbal medicine. Practising in London alongside Western doctors, she
is keen to promote the integration of Chinese medicine with Western medicine.
Publisher
UK: Donica Publishing Ltd, 2003.
18
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 19 of 48
Professor Joseph Agassi had said to me 50 years ago (1962) when I wanted to
write an M.A. thesis on the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine: “Unless
you are a qualified doctor in Western (science-based) medicine, what you say
about the philosophy of Chinese medicine does not carry any weight.”
四十九年前(1962), 我在香港大學學士畢業, 想寫一篇中醫哲學碩士論文, 艾
格思教授說: “除非你是西醫生, 你的中醫哲學論文沒人看重.”
“Even though the term cancer (ai 癌) cannot be found in the ancient writings
on Chinese medicine, there are many other terms that clinically correspond to
cancer. 雖然傳統中醫沒有 ‘癌’ 字, 可是有很多別的字詞, 說的就是癌症.
“… cancer could only be diagnosed in ancient times when it gave rise to a
palpable 可以触诊的 mass. If the mass was very small and not palpable, an
ancient doctor could not have diagnosed it. Modern diagnostic techniques allow
us to diagnose (and therefore treat “masses” before they are palpable: a small
fibroadenoma 纤维腺瘤 revealed by mammogram and a small myoma 肌瘤10
revealed by a CT scan11 are good examples.
“Chinese medicine has a great deal to offer in the treatment of cancer in three
major ways: it can be used to “attack” the cancer itself, it can be used effectively
in conjunction with Western treatments, and it can be used to alleviate the side-
effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Moreover, Chinese medicine sheds
light on the etiology 病因 12 and prevention of cancer, particularly through the
practice of Qigong 气功 13 (energy exercise).” (Foreword by Giovanni
Maciocia.)
10
Myoma. A tumour formed of muscular tissue. (Dorland’s Pocket Medical Dictionary, Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1982.
11
CT = computed tomography. Tomography = any imaging method that produces images of cross-sections of the body.
12
13
Qigong Therapy = energy-healing exercise. Management of Cancer with Chinese Medicine, chapter 6, pp.
339-350.
19
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 20 of 48
---o0o---
The principal author, LI Peiwen, has been Professor and Director of the TCM
(traditional Chinese medicine) Oncology Department at the Sino-Japanese
Friendship Hospital in Beijing since 1986.
20
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 21 of 48
“This book is designed for TCM practitioners to consult in their daily practice,
working either in an alternative or conventional medicine environment, and can
also be referred to by other health professionals to gain a better understanding of
the role Chinese medicine can play in treating cancer.”14
---oOo---
Let’s have a quick look at how breast cancer is managed today with Chinese
Medicine in China. The crude text below is copied for your convenience. The
CTM terms are troublesome, which will be my responsibility to later simplify for
an average newspaper reader, i.e. a grade 12 graduate, to understand. Please
simply glance through the crude text first in no more than an hour’s time. My
writing will follow.
14
Back cover of the book.
15
Ibid.
21
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 22 of 48
---oOo---
BREAST CANCER 乳癌
22
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 23 of 48
Internal factors 内因
The breast is traversed by the Liver channel, whereas the Stomach channel
passes through the nipple. In addition, women rely on the Chong and Ren
vessels (任冲二脉) as the Root, which depends on the Essence-Qi (精氣)
of the Kidneys. Deficiency of Vital Qi (Zheng Qi 正气), internal damage
due to the seven emotions, obstruction of Spleen Qi, and Deficiency of the
Liver and Kidneys will disturb Qi and Blood (气血) and cause disharmony
of the Chong and Ren vessels. When the functions of the Zang-Fu 脏腑
organs are debilitated and the immune function weakened, Qi and Blood
will stagnate, and Phlegm will congeal. Pathogenic Toxins will eventually
accumulate in the network vessels of the breast, resulting in cancer.
Prolonged emotional depression may lead to endocrine disturbance,
imbalance in the sex hormone level and over-secretion of estrogen.
Persistent stimulation of estrogen will result in the loss of control of cell
division, giving rise to carcinomatous changes.
External factors 外因
External pathogenic Wind-Cold can take advantage of Deficiency in the
channels to settle and bind with Blood to form lumps.
Pathogenic Fire Toxins invade the Zang-Fu organs to cause breast cancer
with inflammation, characterized by redness, swelling and pain.
Nipple erosion or nipple discharge is due to invasion of pathogenic Damp.
23
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 24 of 48
Treatment principle 治則
Dredge the Liver and regulate Qi, transform Phlegm and dissipate lumps.
Prescription 處方
XIAO YAO SAN 逍遥散加减
Free Wonderer Powder, with modifications
(Ingredients given in full. See page 436.)
Explanation
(The purpose or effect of the herbs/ingredients explained in full. See page 436.)
Treatment principle 治則
Fortify the Spleen and transform Phlegm, soften hardness and dissipate lumps.
Prescription 處方
XIANG SHA LIU JUN ZI TANG JIA JIAN 香砂六君子汤加减
(Ingredients given in full. See pp. 436-7.)
24
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 25 of 48
Treatment principle 治則
Harmonize the Chong and Ren vessels, enrich the Liver and supplement the
Kidneys.
Prescription 處方
LIU WEI DI HUANG TANG JIA JIAN 六味地黄汤加减
Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Decoction, with modifications
(Ingredients given in full, pp. 437-8.)
Explanation 解釋
(Full explanation on page 438.)
Treatment principle 治則
Clear Heat and relieve Toxicity, transform blood stasis and dissipate lumps.
25
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 26 of 48
Prescription 處方
TAO HONG SI WU TANG HE JIN YIN HUA GAN CAO TANG JIA JIAN 桃
红四物汤和金银花甘草汤加减
Peach Kernel and Safflower Four Agents Decoction Combined with Honeysuckle
and Licorice Decoction, with modifications
(Ingredients given in full on page 438.)
Explanation 解釋
(Explanation of the effects of the herbs, page 438-9.)
Prescription 處方
26
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 27 of 48
Integrating Chinese medicine in the overall treatment strategy for breast cancer
can obtain very good results by improving the therapeutic effect, raising the
quality of life and prolonging the survival period.
TCM treatment for supporting Vital Qi (Zheng Qi) and dispelling pathogenic
factors should be applied throughout the course of treatment with surgery,
radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
INTERNAL TREATMENT 內治
After surgery for breast cancer, internal treatment with Chinese material
medica can help the patient to recover more quickly and also lay the
foundation for strengthening the body to cope better with future
radiotherapy or chemotherapy.
Treatment principle 治則
Supplement Qi and nourish the blood, fortify the Spleen and boost the Kidneys.
Prescription ingredients 處方
(Ingredients given in full on page 440.)
If the surgical wound does not heal, this is due to depletion and deficiency
of Qi and Blood and obstruction of static Blood.
Treatment principle 治則
Augment Qi and nourish the Blood, invigorate the Blood and free the network
vessels.
Prescription ingredients 方藥
(Ingredients given in full, p. 440.)
27
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 28 of 48
Apply Sheng Ji San 生肌散 (Powder for Generating Flesh) or Hua Yu Sheng Ji
Fen 化瘀生肌散 (Powder for Transforming Blood Stasis and Generating Flesh)
to the affected area and hold in place with a gauze dressing. Change once a day.
EXTERNAL TRREAMENT 外療
For postoperative swelling in the upper arms, local external treatment can be
combined with the internal treatment described above based on pattern
identification for postoperative conditions.
Three prescriptions can be used depending on the manifestations. Decoct the
ingredients to produce 500-800m. of liquid, which is used first to steam then to
soak the affected arm for 30 minutes, once or twice a day. Alternatively, 50ml of
the concentrated concoction can be obtained for application to the affected arm,
then covered y gauze and wrapped in plastic film; change the dressing two or
three times a day.
3 Prescriptions 藥方
(Given in full, together with treatment principles and explanations of the effects
of the herbs, pp. 440-1.)
DIET THERAPY 食療
For persistent swelling with a normal skin color and which depresses on
palpation (pitting edema), prescribe Wu Mi Zhou 五米粥(Five Grains Congee) to
take once or twice a day on a long term basis.
Preparation
Radiotherapy 放療
Breast cancer is relatively sensitive to radio therapy, which can be given before
or after surgery or as a palliative treatment for patients who cannot or do not wish
28
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 29 of 48
to undergo surgery. However, radiotherapy for breast cancer can cause severe
side-effects manifesting as painful local skin, ulceration, swelling and fibrosis,
radiation pneumonititis, and radiation damage to the heart.
INTERNAL TREATMENT 內治
DAMAGE TO YIN 傷陰
Treatment principle 治則
Nourish Yin and generate Body Fluids, clear Heat and relieve Toxicity.
Prescription ingredients 方藥
Treatment principle 治則
Augment Qi and nourish the Blood, draw out Toxins and generate flesh.
Prescription ingredients 方藥
External treatment 外療
Chemotherapy 化療
29
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 30 of 48
DIET THERAPY 食疗
* After surgery, patients should be advised to eat foods for augmenting Qi,
supplementing the Blood and regulating the Spleen and Stomach such as Chinese
yam powder, spinach, vegetable sponge, seaweed, Chinese dates (Da Zao,
Fructus Ziziphi Jujubae), Ling Zhi Hong Zao Zhou (Glossy Ganoderma and
Chinese Date Congee), or Hong Zao Gui Yuan Zhou (Chinese Date and Longan
Flesh Congee).
* During radiotherapy, patients should eat foods for enriching Yin and
moistening Dryness such as Xing Ren Shuang (Apricot Kernel Jelly), Xing Ren
Mi Nai Shuang (Apricot, Honey and Milk Jelly), Wu Zhi Yin (Five Juice
Beverage) and Zhe Ou Zhi Yin (Sugar Cane and Lotus Root Juice).
*During chemotherapy, patients should regularly eat ganoderma, yellow jelly
fungus (Bai Mu Er, Tremella), Chinese olives, oranges, hawthorn fruit, fresh
ginger, radish, tomato, and other fresh vegetables and fruit, as well as Yi Mi Zhou
30
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 31 of 48
(Coix Seed Congee) and Mu Er Nuo Mi Zhou (Jelly Fungus and Glutinous rice
Congee).
* Patients with breast cancer should avoid stimulating foods such as raw ginger,
or ripe pumpkin.
-----ooOoo-----
Problems 疑問
Please notice that the same disease, breast cancer, is diagnosed here as five
different types or patterns by TCM ‘pattern identification 辨証’.
1 Liver depression and Qi stagnation 肝郁气滞
2 Phlegm-damp due to spleen deficiency 脾虚痰湿
3 Disharmony of the Chong and Ren vessels 任冲不调
4 Accumulation of stasis and toxins 瘀毒垒积.
16
See also a simple and excellent explanation of the theory of Qigong therapy in Alternative Medicine Definitive
Guide to CANCER. W. John Diamond, M.D. and W. Lee Cowden, M. D. with Burton Goldberg. Tiburon,
California: Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., 1997. Chapter 33: Physical Support Therapies for Reversing
Cancer: Qigong, pp. 1005-1025.
31
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 32 of 48
Question: Are there only five types or more of TCM breast cancer ?
Answer: Who knows?
Question: Are the so-called different types or ‘patterns’ only different stages of
breast cancer?
32
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 33 of 48
Answer: The five TCM breast cancer types may each have different stages and
correspondingly different expressions in severity. I am guessing. Am I right?
Question: Does breast cancer develop from one type to another type? Do the
different types/patters (syndromes) manifest at the same time, and in different
combinations?
Answer: Who knows?
Problem: The TCM terms of Liver, Spleen, Chong and Ren vessels, Qi and
blood, are things completely different from or strange to science-based medicine.
For example, the TCM ‘Liver’ has functions that you cannot find in the science-
based anatomical liver, so much so that the TCM Liver is like a ghost17 or spirit
with no anatomical organ, or consists of different anatomical organs. One
wonders what on earth has the liver got to do with breast cancer. And the
spleen!
Criticism by LI Xiaojing
The only thing I am not comfortable with is the term "breast cancer cells" used in your
answers. "Breast cancer cells" sounds more like something from western science. TCM only
uses "病” and "证" (‘disease’ and ‘symptom evidence patterns’.)
However, it is your research, I cannot say you cannot use it this way.
My understanding of breast cancer is that it is related to "气血“ (energy and blood) which
transform to "月经“ (menstration) or ”人乳汁“ (human milk.).
Breast cancer is the "chaos" during this process. Of course, it affects/is affected by the
functions of "心" (Heart) and “小肠”(Small Intestines.).
17
Please see my paper “Ghost Liver.”
33
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 34 of 48
The "心” (Heart) shares an interior-exterior relationship with the "小肠" (Small Intestines.)
(LI Xiaojing)
---ooOoo---
How can traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) help breast cancer patients? Is
traditional Chinese medicine science or nonsense? Is it reliable? Can it really
help breast cancer patients? Can it do harm? Can Western science-based
medicine work with traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment and
management of breast cancer? Can TCM really compensate for the shortcomings
(side-effects) and faults, if any, of Western science-based medicine? On its own,
can TCM cure cancer? Has it been able to in the past 3000 years?
34
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 35 of 48
Some may argue that traditional Chinese medicine does not need the Theory of
Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. But Master Dr PAGN Kon emphasizes that
without the Theory of Yin-Yang and the Fiver Elements, there is no traditional
Chinese medicine. 沒有陰陽五行就沒有中醫。
Paradox 1 gives you a headache, because if is true, then it is false, as it says itself.
This paradox is possible because it says something about itself, called self-
reference. To avoid such paradoxes, Wittgenstein disallows such self-references
as illogical nonsense.
Paradox 2 has two sentences: neither refers to itself. And you still have a
paradox.
Popper says self-reference need not be nonsense. Consider this self referring
statement: “This statement, in this study paper, is written by LH Kwan.” I see
nothing wrong with it.
35
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 36 of 48
If you say the universe is finite and I say it is infinite, you can never prove me
wrong, and I can never prove you wrong either.
If I say the stars add up to an odd number, and you say they add up to an even
number, again neither you nor I can prove each other wrong.
If I say there is a diamond ten tons big in the universe, you can never prove me a
liar, because you can never search the whole universe.
What if Master Dr PANG Kon says there is a cancer cure in the Chinese medical
classics?
Fundamentalist Christians say we have souls and there is heaven and hell after
death to reward or punish you. Religious Buddhists believe the same, plus
human reincarnation as humans or animals to reward or punish you. Enlightened
Christians say heaven and hell are in this very world. Enlightened Buddhists say
the same. Neither can prove the other wrong.
Contradictions 矛盾论的荒谬
36
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 37 of 48
Example: “All swans are white and there are black swans in Australia.”
Hegel, Marx, and Mao all say contradictions are all right in dialectic. People’s
Republic of China traditional Chinese medicine textbooks still officially say
traditional Chinese medicine is ‘dialectic materialism’, i.e. both ‘dialectic’ and
‘materialism’ (No spirit in the body.) 中國大陸中醫課本誤認中醫基礎理論是
樸素辯證唯物論, 是唯物論(只有身体, 没有魂魄.). 也是辯證法(容許矛盾).
Communist dialectic allows contradictions 共产党辯證法容許矛盾. They say
traditional Chinese medicine is simple (primitive) materialism 说中医是朴素唯
物论.
Professor Karl Popper, father of modern scientific method, says, “If you say your
contradictions are all right, you shut yourself up from criticisms, i.e. exposure
and elimination of your errors.” 以矛盾自豪, 是禁绝批评. But science is the
unending elimination of errors, says Professor Joseph Agassi. 艾格思教授说: 科
学就是永无终止的改掉错误: 改错就是科学, 科学就是改错. Confucius says,
“There is no greater good than correcting our mistakes. 孔子也说: 错而能改, 善
莫大焉.
Elementary logic tells us contradictions, like the example above, cannot be true.
Any sensible schoolboy will tell you the same. Professor Karl Popper, has
written an article to say the same.18
The trouble is that our TCM doctors in mainland China have been brainwashed
or forced by MAO Zedong and communism to accept contradictions and think
with contradictions.
18
“What is Dialectic 什么是辯證法?” Conjectures and Refutations. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963,
chapter 15, pp. 312-335.
37
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 38 of 48
You cannot say all swans are white and black swans are not swans but monsters;
nor can you say TCM can cure all cancers except monster cancers.
Materialism 唯物論?
“The mechanist view of life holds that all phenomena, no matter how complex,
are ultimately describable in terms of physical and chemical laws and that no
‘vital force’ distinct from matter and energy is required to explain life. The
human being is a machine –an enormously complex machine, but a machine
nevertheless. …. But vitalism, the view that some force beyond physics and
chemistry is required by living organisms, is not completely dead, nor is it
surprising that this viewpoint remains specifically in brain physiology, where
scientists are almost entirely lacking in physicochemical hypotheses to explain
such phenomena as thought and consciousness. Most physiologists believe that
even this area will ultimately yield to physiochemical analysis, but it would be
unscientific, on the basis of present knowledge, to dismiss the problem out of
hand.” 19
Again, materialism, that the universe is ultimately matter and matter alone, or
matter before mind, is metaphysics. So is idealism, that the universe is ultimately
mind, and mind alone, or mind before matter. Both materialism and idealism are
metaphysics, and you can never prove either wrong.
Strange, Master Dr PANG Kon asserted materialism for both traditional Chinese
medicine and for Confucianist metaphysics.
19
Human Physiology: he Mechanisms of Body Function. Arthur J. Wander et al. New York: McGraw Hill, 1990.
(First paragraph of Preface, Introduction, or Chapter 1.)
38
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 39 of 48
The Yellow Emperor’s Internal Classic, which is the bible of traditional Chinese
medicine, clearly says “Spirit is one with body 形與神俱.” It says that the primal
‘substance’ of the universe is Qi (energy), which is both matter and life.
TCM links our emotions with our body organs: liver-anger, heart-joy, spleen-
thought, lung-worry, kidney-fear. Both are real and affect each other. You
cannot cure the body neglecting the ‘spirit’, its consciousness in thoughts and
feelings. Neither can you cure breast cancer ignoring the patient’s ‘karma’.
Master Dr PANG Kon said, “Without the theory of Yin-Yang and the Five
Processes, there is no traditional Chinese medicine. Without the theory, TCM is
a mere collection of crude experiences or a mere grocery store of herbs plus.
Problem: Chinese astrology and geomancy (fengshu) both have Yin-Yang and
the Five Processes as their theoretical framework. Both astrology and geomancy
are unreliable. Is traditional Chinese medicine also unreliable?
39
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 40 of 48
This all said, I shall guess what the cure of cancer is in the Chinese medical
classics, if there is at all a cancer cure in these medical classics, as asserted by
Master Dr PANG Kon. If I fail, you can try Master PANG’s disciple Dr HO Yu-
Ping in Hong Kong.
Conjectures
Master Dr PANG said, “The cure is in the (Chinese) medical classics. We treat
cancer no different from tumours.”
He also said, “Tumours are either benign or malignant. A benign tumour can
develop into a malignant tumour. Cancers are just the terminal stage of
tumours.”
Conjecture: That is the cure: cure the tumour before it develops terminally into
cancer. If you are already diagnosed with cancer, hopefully in the early stage,
cure it no different from a tumour.
40
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 41 of 48
She answered, “Yes, their tongues will show different features, in terms of Yin-
Yang, exterior-interior, cold-hot, and deficiency-excess; and they require
different treatments, depending on the stage of their cancer.”
We must first clear up the obscurity of the language, i.e. clarify the terms. Then
we point out and eliminate any errors. (Science is the elimination of errors:
Agassi.)
I have bought ten books in Chinese, recently published in China, on the treatment
of cancer by TCM by ‘well-known TCM doctors, ancient and contemporary.’ Do
20
TCM ‘Liver’ is a ‘ghost’ liver completely different from science-based anatomical liver. Understand it as a
system of organs and functions that “smooth the flow of Qi” For example, the anatomical liver has nothing to do
with the thyroid, but TCM says hyperthyroidism 甲亢 is due to ‘Liver depression 肝郁.’ I am also writing a paper
on “Liver Science and Nonsense.”
41
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 42 of 48
Diagnosis by the tongue is only one part of diagnosis by looking, and looking is
only one of the four things you do to diagnose: looking, listening (and smelling),
asking, and feeling the pulse (and touching). By all four, you ‘differentiate’ and
decide on the ‘pattern/syndrome’ of the disease. Ten initial stage breast cancer
patients can have different syndromes and you treat them with different herbs.
TCM calls this ‘treating the same disease with different treatments 同病异治’.
The same disease of breast cancer can take different forms, and the treatment has
to be different. This, TCM practitioners claim, is different from science-based
medical treatment of all breast cancer patients by surgery, radiation therapy, and
chemotherapy.
-------o0o-------
More Conjectures
盲人摸象
42
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 43 of 48
其病因病机为情志所伤,肝郁气滞,脾虚生痰,痰气交结;或冲任失调,
气血运行不畅, 气滞血瘀; 或湿热蕴结,久则聚痰酿毒, 气痰瘀毒凝结於
乳房而成瘤。
治疗以疏肝解郁,化痰散结, 解毒化瘀,调摄冲任,补益气血为法。
Treatment method: smooth through Liver (energy) and liberate depression;
dissolve phlegm and dissipate knots; detoxify; dissolve bruise; adjust and regain
control of Chong and Ren vessels; enhance energy and tonify blood.
21
黄志杰 HUANG Zhijie , 主编 editor-in-chief; 李荷君 LI Hejun, 责任编辑
‘editor-responsible’. 武漢 Wuhan:湖北科學技術出版社 Hubei Science and
Technology Press, 2009。
43
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 44 of 48
Back to Hippocrates
Hippocrates taught the doctrine of the healing power of nature: ‘Natural forces
are the healers of disease. As to diseases, make a habit of two things—to help,
or at least do no harm.’
Therapy was thus aimed primarily at assisting the patient’s body to do its natural
work.22
For Hippocrates, cancer was caused by the excess of black bile, or “melonchole.”
44
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 45 of 48
Conjecture: Could it be that breast cancer begins with black bile or phlegm-
damp, when it can be cured? The detection or diagnosis of excessive phlegm-
damp due to spleen deficiency is easy in TCM, and possibly also easy of ‘black
bile’ in Hippocrates’ system. The treatment is easy in TCM, and possibly also
easy in Hippocrates’ system. Could this be the simple cure of breast cancer, to
cure it before the black bile or phlegm-damp develops into tumours and then
cancer?
But they can both be in error. Perhaps black-bile or phlegm is not the only cause
of cancer. Perhaps some cancers are due to black-bile, and some cancers are due
to blood stasis, and still other cancers are due to other causes. We have already
listed above five causes.
45
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 46 of 48
-------oooOooo-------
CONCLUSIONS
2012-11-12
46
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 47 of 48
47
“Cancer Chinese Cure” 2012-11-12 page 48 of 48
13172 words.
48