Cancer Patients Should Avoid Long-Term Decoction Use During the Sanfu Dog Days

Unless there is an unavoidable emergency requiring a decoction, I myself would not advise cancer patients to take decoctions during the Sanfu (dog) days. The Sanfu period is truly the hardest stretch of the year; many weak elderly patients, even without major disease, easily die from being unable to bear the Sanfu heat, showing how greatly this climate harms the body.

The sensible approach is to take good heat-avoidance measures during Sanfu. If medicine must be taken to treat disease, prefer patent medicines with fewer side effects over decoctions. Many patients have developed relatively severe side effects after taking decoctions during Sanfu—mainly gastrointestinal adverse reactions. Some patients' appetite is very hard to restore after taking the medicine, causing weight to drop sharply and greatly affecting physical strength; that would be more loss than gain.

The folk have long had the taboo against taking Chinese medicine (mainly decoctions) during Sanfu. This taboo has a long history and is not without reason; it arose because so many people had problems taking herbal decoctions in Sanfu that the taboo naturally formed.

Of course, this does not mean decoctions should absolutely not be used in Sanfu. Some emergencies, such as fever and acute abdomen, require rapid resolution by decoction, and decoction must still be used. But for chronic diseases like cancer, whose treatment cannot be accomplished overnight, one must take special care to protect the patient's spleen and stomach. TCM says the spleen is the acquired foundation; only when the spleen is vigorous through all four seasons can the body be healthy. The spleen and stomach are the foundation of health; only by protecting the patient's spleen and stomach is it possible to prolong survival.

Taking pills, powders, pastes and other patent medicines in Sanfu is not entirely side-effect-free, but the side effects are relatively smaller. Yet for diseases like cancer, once medication stops the disease progresses rapidly, so taking patent medicine is also a forced choice.

For patients with most ordinary diseases, if there is no life danger, it is better to take little medicine during Sanfu. As for those who take medicine purely in pursuit of health preservation, recklessly using drugs against doctors' advice during Sanfu is even less wise.