Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a comprehensive system of medicine complete with its own theories and principles that guide various diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. TCM is a logical, elegant and independent system of thought and practice that continues to develop as a result of a process of extensive clinical observations, testing, and critical thinking. Characterized by more than 2500 years of use and refinement, TCM represents a significant alternative to the conventional biomedical model and continues to be used today by a sizable number of patients, both in the Far East and increasingly here in the West.
TCM differs from Western medicine in its conceptualization of health and disease through a holistic view of the person. TCM emphasizes the inseparable nature of body-mind-spirit, the centrality of dynamic homeostatic balance, the importance of energetic flow, and self-healing. It recognizes the impact that physical, nutritional, psychological, and environmental factors have on health. It emphasizes the functional and energetic systems of the human body and, consequently, regards illness as an imbalance in the systems.
http://www.cancerresources.mednet.ucla.edu/5_info/5c_archive_lec/2004/lec_eastwest_hui.htm
TCM views the cancerous process as a systemic disease; the local growth is a manifestation of a larger problem. The pathogenic factors analyzed in TCM’s approach to cancer treatment include external/noxious stimuli, psychological/emotional factors, lifestyle factors, and the deficiency of the mind-body-spirit system. There is a constant tug-of-war in the cancerous process between the noxious stimuli and endogenous resistance. Any factor, no matter how seemingly indirect, that increases the amount of noxious stimuli and/or decreases one’s endogenous resistance can accelerate the cancerous process.
TCM’s approach to cancer treatment emphasizes an understanding of each patient, not merely the patient’s specific form of cancer. Because of its focus on the individual patient, TCM results in the design of a flexible, individualized therapeutic approach that encompasses the differential diagnosis of the pathophysiogical state of the patient.
In China , and increasingly in the US , patients with cancer seek TCM for the following:
- Prevention of cancer
- Symptom management
- Improvement in their quality of life
- Improved ability to tolerate conventional therapies
- Prevention of disease progression
- Maintenance of remission
- A new and different philosophy of life, and a new approach to health and disease
TCM is most effective in the management of pain, fatigue, nausea, stress, dry mouth, and reducing the complications from chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
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