Treating Cancer With Chinese Herbs

Cancer is synonymous with death in most peoples’ minds. Ít is the most frightening of all diseases in spite of the fact that many cases are arrested or cured. Recently its incidence seems to have | increased—either due to the pollutants of modern industrial | society, the rise in the use of toxic chemicals as fertilizers and preservatives, or to the general increase in population and decrease in deaths due to other causes (childhood diseases, malaria, cholera, pneumonia, etc.) The battle with death will always present a paradox to humans, it being natural and unnatural at the same time; in one sense death is welcomed as surcease from care and pain and in another sense dreaded as the end of pain and pleasure. However we humans look at cancer though, the death it brings seems unnatural: it is too painful and too premature. For this reason medicine unceasingly pursues this enemy. Chinese herbal medicine with its seeds having been sown some 3,000 years ago has much to offer to the study and treatment of cancer. In classic Chinese medicine per se, there is no specific concept of cancer but there is of tumors—some tumors being deadlier than others. (In other words, some tumors can be cured.) Those that can be cured are probably Western medicine’s equivalant of a benign tumor. The Chinese have perfected over the years many, many formulas that reduce or arrest swelling and alleviate pain. They also have learned much about nutrition and are extremely aware of the benefits to be derived from nutritive, supplementary tonics. These are the medicines that are discussed in this book. The formulas and herbs don’t propose to cure cancer as such, but many of them do alleviate pain and prolong life by supplementing and strengthening the body’s life forces and by arresting the progression of tumors. Studies need to be instituted to establish the efficacy of these formulas, for in them may be the cure to cancer. Disease in Chinese medicine is caused by an imbalance of yin and yang and by excessive or insufficient blood, water, and ch’; (vitality or air). There is no concept of bacteria; however, outside forces, such as the climate, cause one kind of disease and inside forces, such as the passions, cause another kind of disease, (Modern Western research now is reporting a cancer-prone personality). For instance, melancholy injures the liver and thereby obstructs ch'i or vitality. Rooted in Confucianism, as is all Chinese culture, Chinese traditional medicine aims to regulate immoderation of all kinds and thus promote health. In a very real sense, it is holistic in its approach. Chinese herbal drugs are made from natural ingredients found growing and existing most everywhere. Following forntulas, the ingredients are prepared by grinding, slicing, chopping, and drying and are mixed together. The components are then usually decocted or boiled in water or wine and taken as a drink; thus they are called teas. Some ointments and pills are also made. Usually the patient or the patient’s family buys the raw herbs and other ingredients at a Chinese pharmacy and then cooks the brew at home following the specific directions of a physician. However, modern pharmacies now have scientifically, hygenically prepared formulas that they offer for sale in the form of capsules. Thus the preparation of prescriptions is becoming more scientific and standard. Surgery and radiation are considered viable treatment for all tumors, benign and malignant. In Asia, doctors trained in Western medicine perform such operations in *well-equipped hospitals located in the large cities. Chinese medicine is a complementary treatment to modern Western therapy and is offered in clinics that are dispersed throughout China, Taiwan, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Herbal medicine is an alternative therapy, sometimes 2 primary one, that often cures.cases that stump chemical mediciné and vice versa. This book is a direct translation of the section on cancer of Dr. Hong-yen Hsu's Chronic and Recalcitrant Diseases printed in Taiwan. The English editors have tried to stay as close to the orìginal as possible and still present the material in a fluent, understandable style. Each chapter on a specific cancer is organized into sections. First the disease is described in Western terms and then in Chinese medical terms. Next treatment according to Chinese medicine is thoroughly discussed and formulas listed. The last section covers Japanese kanpo practice. (Kanpo is Chinese herb medicine as it is practiced in Japan.) Usually there is a case history included in this section. We offer this information, hitherto unknown in the United States, to inspire further clinical research in the hope that by broadening the approach of cancer treatment much suffering will be stopped. Judith Haueter