@algancao – On Speaking Chinese in English

My favorite line from a current TV commercial “He can speak French… in Russian.” http://bit.ly/e5W3i Sat Aug 01 15:25:29

But what of the MD who speaks Western medicine with Chinese medicine terms? http://bit.ly/4EBbA

Are an MD’s Western medicine (WM) descriptions of essence (jing) deficiency as the cause of cancer valid from Chinese medicine (CM) logic?

The author of “Acupuncture and the Cancer Patient” describes Kidney essence as governing reproduction, growth, and development. I agree.

But he then suggests that a deficiency of essence causes uncontrolled cell proliferation ala cancer. This is speaking WM in CM.

There is some logic there because essence is often associated with genetics that tell the cell when to stop growing, else there is cancer.

However the author is too focused on the cell which barely exists from the level of gross observations that define TCM.

The relationship between essence and cancer then, is that as we grow older, the essence declines. THEN we find tumors arising.

Tumors can be a phlegm nodule, blood stasis, or both. There are a few other “toxic” patterns too, but they still derive from some stasis.

So, aging and the decline of essence is more about the other organs that are secondarily effected, as the author describes later.

Speaking “WM” in “CM” can be the means by which new uses for CM can be discovered. But we should always keep one eye on clinical outcomes.

Although speaking French in Russian and speaking Western medicine in Chinese medicine does make you an interesting guy, ala the beer ads. :)

Last modified: September 9, 2009  Tags: , , , ,  ยท  Posted in: Tweetz