IAG Healthsciences
#07-11/12 Paragon Medical Suites
Tel 6836-3637
TRADITIONAL Chinese medicine (TCM) can be used to treat many a lifestyle ailment, but here's the definitive word on cancer from a renowned Beijing doctor: Don't rely on it to cure cancer.
'The first line of defence is to see an oncologist and act on his advice, whether it's surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, because that's what will deal with the tumour,' says Yu Ren Cun, who heads the department of oncology at the Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a specialist in the complementary treatment of tumours.
TCM comes in mainly as a complementary treatment, he points out, as it deals effectively with the side effects of chemo and radiotherapy. 'TCM works well to complement Western cancer therapy so both can be used concurrently. Its strength is in regulating the body's systems, reducing toxicity, thus increasing the efficacy of oncology treatment,' he says.
The two medical systems have their strengths and weaknesses, which is why patients would benefit best from an integrative approach. However, the integrative TCM-Western oncology treatment approach has to be carried out by TCM cancer specialists, and not just any general TCM practitioner, Prof Yu cautions.
Trained in Western medicine, Prof Yu is among the first batch of Chinese doctors trained in both Western medicine and TCM - a practice encouraged by the Chinese government in the 1960s. After his Western medicine and then TCM training, he spent more than 40 years researching the application of TCM in cancer treatment, and is the foremost authority on it today.
The Honorary Celebrated Physician of TCM by National Bureau of TCM, China, Prof Yu is also an honorary adviser to IAG Healthsciences clinic at Paragon, and visits two to three times a year to see patients.
In China, the standard protocol on how to integrate TCM and Western oncology is in part drafted by research that Prof Yu and his colleagues have done, as cancer is one of the areas of medicine where both systems work well together.
The advantage in China is that patients are put on the integrated track immediately when they're diagnosed with cancer, whereas in places like Singapore, where TCM isn't practised fully in the hospital setting - most of the patients he sees here come to him mostly at late stages of their illness.
'I've even seen cancer patients who refused Western cancer treatment when they're first diagnosed, but would rather just go for TCM. And that's not the right approach, because TCM isn't effective against the tumour growth per se,' he explains.
When TCM is used on late stage cancer, which is then incurable even in Western medicine, it's used to improve the quality of life, he adds.
In China today, TCM has undergone so much development that it now co-exists on an equal footing with Western medicine, Prof Yu, 75, explains. The initial call to train Western doctors in TCM was given in the 1960s, and thousands of doctors were dually trained in a three-year course.
Clinical research has also been carried out using combined TCM and Western techniques, and today, TCM treatment concepts and principles lie at the core of the combined TCM and Western clinical practice, he says.
'The TCM treatment concept emphasises the relationships between one part of the body and the whole person, between treatment and detoxification. These principles include balancing the various organ systems and functions and not merely treating the diseased part.'
So, TCM has seen good results in treating chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, cancers, and renal diseases. 'Chinese scientists have proven that certain TCM herbs minimises side effects. The herbs also have been shown to increase cellular immunity.'
Herbs such as artemisinin (Qinghausu) treats malaria; arsenic trioxide treats Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and Indirubin treats Chronic Myelocytic Leukaemia. Danshentong and tetramethylpyrazine treat cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases.
In fact, modern medicine is increasingly leaning towards the direction of TCM these days - in the ability to tailor treatment to the individual, such as targeted cancer therapy. Ultimately, however, TCM still has a different view from Western medicine on how cancers are caused, Prof Yu points out.
'In Western medicine, it's believed that cancer is caused mainly by external factors. In Chinese medicine, the view is that internal weakness or imbalances cause cancer. That's why the TCM approach is to address the internal weaknesses and find out the root cause,' he explains,
Prof Yu points out that a third of cancers can be treated, a third can be prevented and a third can be addressed so that the patient's pain is reduced. As for general advice, he says that the public should avoid proven causes of cancer such as smoking, and also improve their own immune system.
'If you get diagnosed early and treated early, the results can be good,' he concludes, adding that cancer patients should get solid medical advice, and not be swayed by old wives' tales or random health sayings.
IAG Healthsciences will accept appointments for consultation with Prof Yu from now until Aug 28.
