Traditional Chinese Medicine Is an Intangible Science

My Medical Practice and Reflections of TCM

Boxin Guo

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9789813239319
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

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This is a collection of essays written by a skilled TCM practitioner with over 40 years of experience. The author shares his experiences and reflects on his medical career, illustrating in many instances with real-life case examples, in the hope that the book will inspire and benefit TCM learners. The content was previously published in Chinese by China Renmin University Press.

The book provides three main viewpoints: 1. Chinese medicine needs to be accurately positioned to guide professionals in practice; 2. The TCM essence of finding a cure with syndrome differentiation and treatment is emphasized; 3. Pulse diagnosis is essential when prescribing for a cure.

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Preface
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an intangible science --> Contents:

• Foreword to the Chinese Edition
• Preface to the English Edition
• Preface to the Chinese Edition
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Prescriptions
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an Intangible Science
• Theoretical Knowledge is Acquired Through Practice
• Traditional Chinese Medicine Belongs to Tao-Like Medical Knowledge
• The Goal of TCM Therapy is to Deal with the Primary Cause of Disease
• Kidneys are Not the Therapeutic Region for Treating Nephrolithiasis
• TCM is a Medical Science of Meeting Changes with Constancy
• TCM is a Medical Science of Simple Solutions to Complicated Problems
• TCM is a Medical Science of Handling Difficulties with Great Ease
• TCM is an Intangible Science, While Western Medicine is a Tangible One
• It is Valuable of Curing a Coronary Artery Disease Patient without the Heart Stent Implantation
• TCM Regards Symptoms as 'Disease'
• The Thinking of the Development of Integrating TCM and Western Medicine Has Been Misled
• Disease Differentiation and Treatment Has Been Mistakenly Used for Treating Again and Again
• Never Go Astray in the Combination of TCM and Western Medicine
• Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment is the Key to Solve Difficult Medical Problems Worldwide
• There are Only Unknown Diseases But No Incurable Ones
• What Chinese Medicinals Treat is to Readjust Imbalance
• No Fixed Therapeutic Regimes, Formulas, or Fixed Dosages
• Discussing that Pulse Diagnosis is More Important Than Symptoms and Prescribing Should Base on It
• Treating Serious Cough with Half Dose of Formula
• Opportunity Favors the Prepared Mind
• If a Patient Coughs, the Doctor Shall Not Relieve the Cough First; If a Patient Has Phlegm, the Doctor Shall Not Dispel Phlegm First
• Toxic or Not Toxic
• Poison or Not Poison
• TCM is Deeply Rooted Among the People
• The Over-Concern on the TCM Education
• Where are Those Fish in the Sea?
• Several Inspirations from TCM Study
• Epilogue: The Charm of Traditional Chinese Medicine

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--> Readership: Medical practitioners and general public who are interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine. -->
Chinese Medicine;TCM;Healthcare;Modern Medicine00

No fixed therapeutic regimes, formulas, or fixed dosages

— Discussing the core of TCM clinic is the comprehensive analysis of the pulse and symptoms by taking the example of curing an 80-year-old cerebral thrombosis patient

Mr. Lu, a retired manager from Shanxi Construction Engineering Corporation, suddenly had cerebral thrombosis on November 7, 2007, when he was 80 years old. After being hospitalized for a month in Chinese People’s Liberation Army 264 Hospital, he came to my clinic on December 12 after leaving the hospital.

After the examination, I found that he had facial paralysis, right hemiplegia, an unmovable right hand, a stiff tongue, slurred speech. He had a slight red tongue with a thin and white coating. The pulse at his left Cun and Guan positions was floating, slightly tight and rapid. Although he was diagnosed with cerebral thrombosis in Western Medicine, from the pulse and symptoms, he belonged to stroke in TCM. The treatment should primarily focus on dispelling pathogenic wind, then on activating blood and dredging collaterals. Here were the ingredients of the formula:

Mahuang (Herba Ephedrae) 10g

Fangji (Radix Stephaniae Tetrandrae) 10g

Yedangshen (Radix Codonopsis) 30g

Guizhi (Ramulus Cinnamomi) 10g

Huangqin (Radix Scutellariae) 10g

Chishao (Radix Paeoniae Rubra) 10g

Chuanxiong (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong) 10g

Xingren (Semen Armeniacae Amarum) 10g

Fangfeng (Radix Saposhnikoviae) 15g

Fuzi (Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata) 10g

Xixin (Herba Asari) 5g

Shengma (Rhizoma Cimicifugae) 10g

Baizhi (Radix Angelicae Dahuricae) 10g

Sumu (Lignum Sappan) 10g

Honghua (Flos Carthami) 10g

Gancao (Radix Glycyrrhizae) 10g

All the medicinals should be decocted with water for oral administration, and 6 doses should be taken.

The patient was advised to take the formula three times in the daytime and once at night and to live in the room with no wind from outside.

On December 27, 2007, the second treatment. The patient said that after taking the formulas for 4 days, all symptoms were effectively decreased and that his brother looked after him and boiled medicinals for him; he took the formula strictly according to my advice and lived in the wind-proof room. Therefore, he was cured after four days.

I said that I was enlightened by the oral administration method of Xiao Xuming Tang (Minor Life-Prolonging Decoction) mentioned in the book Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold for Emergencies (Qiān jīn fāng, 千金方) written by Sūn Sīmiǎo (孙思邈). The words ‘only living in a wind-proof room can cure this disease’ was also proposed by this great doctor and not me.

Although there is a statement of ‘To treat wind syndromes, the blood shall be treated first, and the wind syndromes would disappear with smooth blood circulation’ in TCM, in this specific case, dispelling wind shall be emphasized, or it can be said that ‘To treat blood, pathogenic wind shall be treated first, and the blood will be back to normal with the leaving of wind’. How can cerebral thrombosis be cured only with activating blood and resolving stasis? This is the case of making the prescription based on the pulse manifestation.

When asked about the reason for coming to my clinic this time, Mr. Lu said that he had felt fullness in head, dizziness, heaviness at the front of his head, dry mouth and bitter taste, so he was afraid it was the sign of the cerebral thrombus again; therefore, he came to me immediately.

After the examination, the pulse at his left Cun and Guan positions was wiry and huge, which obviously indicated the syndromes of ascendant hyperactivity of liver yang and liver yang transforming into up-disturbing wind. Therefore, the treatment should primary focus on settling liver and extinguishing wind with large doses of medicinals, then on resolving phlegm and dredging collaterals. Prescription:

Daizheshi (Hematite) 50g

Huainiuxi (Radix Cyathulae) 30g

Longgu (Os Draconis) 30g

Muli (Concha Ostreae) 30g

Baishao (Radix Paeoniae Alba) 15g

Yuanshen (Radix Paeoniae Alba) 30g

Tiandong (Radix Asparagi) 30g

Chuanlianzi (Fructus Meliae Toosendan) 20g

Maiya (Fructus Hordei Germinatus) 15g

Yinchen (Herba Artemisiae Scopariae) 30g

Banxia Sheng (Rhizoma Pinelliae) 20g

Tiannanxing Sheng (Rhizoma Arisaematis) 20g

Baifuzi Sheng (Tuber Typhonii) 20g

Yemingshao (Feaces Vespertilio) 15g

Wugong (Scolopendra) 10 pieces

Quanxie (Scorpio) 5 pieces

All the medicinals should be decocted with water for oral administration, and 10 doses should be taken.

On March 16, 2008, the patient came to me for the third treatment. All symptoms were eliminated. However, he still had fullness in head, dizziness, dry mouth and bitter taste, and chest distress. I found that the pulse at his left Cun and Guan positions was wiry and huge. This indicated the relapse of liver yang transforming into wind. What’s more, he also suffered from blood stasis. Treatment should primarily focus on settling liver and extinguishing wind, and then on activating blood and resolving stasis, smoothing chest and regulating qi, and dredging collaterals. Prescription:

Daizheshi (Hematite) 60g

Huainiuxi (Radix Cyathulae) 30g

Longgu (Os Draconis) 30g

Muli (Concha Ostreae) 30g

Baishao (Radix Paeoniae Alba) 30g

Yuanshen (Radix Paeoniae Alba) 30g

Tiandong (Radix Asparagi) 30g

Jiegeng (Radix Platycodonis) 10g

Zhiqiao (Fructus Aurantii) 10g

Gualou (Fructus Trichosanthis) 20g

Xiebai (Bulbus Allii Macrostemonis) 10g

Yinchen (Herba Artemisiae Scopariae) 30g

Yedanshen (Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) 30g

Yemingshao (Feaces Vespertilio) 30g

Maiya (Fructus Hordei Germinatus) 15g

Juhua (Flos Chrysanthemi) 10g

Dilong (Lumbricus) 10g

Wugong (Scolopendra) 5 pieces

Quanxie (Scorpio) 10g

All the medicinals should be decocted with water for oral administration, and 10 doses should be taken.

On April 30, 2008, he came to me for the fourth treatment. He said that he was cured after taking the formula; he also gained a better sleep quality and a good appetite. The only problem was that his eyes were often with tears, and he felt exhausted and unstable for a long walk. The pulse beat 6 times in a cycle of breath. The pulse at his left Guan position was slightly floating, huge, and slippery. The therapeutic methods included smoothing triple energizer, activating blood and resolving stasis, harmonizing exterior and interior, invi...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Series Editors
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword to the Chinese edition
• Preface to the English edition
• Preface to the Chinese edition
• Acknowledgments
• Note on Prescriptions
• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an intangible science
• Theoretical knowledge is acquired through practice
• Traditional Chinese Medicine belongs to Tao-like medical knowledge
• The goal of TCM therapy is to deal with the primary cause of disease
• Kidneys are not the therapeutic region for treating nephrolithiasis
• TCM is a medical science of meeting changes with constancy
• TCM is a medical science of simple solutions to complicated problems
• TCM is a medical science of handling difficulties with great ease
• TCM is an intangible science, while Western Medicine is a tangible one
• It is valuable of curing a coronary artery disease patient without the heart stent implantation
• TCM regards symptoms as ‘disease’
• The thinking of the development of integrating TCM and Western Medicine has been misled
• Disease differentiation and treatment has been mistakenly used for treating again and again
• Never go astray in the combination of TCM and Western Medicine
• Syndrome differentiation and treatment is the key to solve difficult medical problems worldwide
• There are only unknown diseases but no incurable ones
• What Chinese medicinals treat is to readjust imbalance
• No fixed therapeutic regimes, formulas, or fixed dosages
• Discussing that pulse diagnosis is more important than symptoms and prescribing should base on it
• Treating serious cough with half dose of formula
• Opportunity favors the prepared mind
• If a patient coughs, the doctor shall not relieve the cough first; if a patient has phlegm, the doctor shall not dispel phlegm first
• Toxic or not toxic
• Poison or not poison
• TCM is deeply rooted among the people
• The over-concern on the TCM education
• Where are those fish in the sea?
• Several inspirations from TCM study
• Epilogue: The charm of Traditional Chinese Medicine