An Empirical Formula for Stomach Diseases (Gastritis, Gastric Ulcer, Gastric Cancer) Passed Down by Chiang Kai-shek's Physician
China has long had the saying "nine out of ten stomachs are diseased." People easily develop stomach problems due to improper diet, and modern people, fond of cold drinks and raw food, with irregular eating habits and late nights, are even more prone to them. Stomach disease is miserable; gastric ulcers and atrophic gastritis are precancerous lesions of gastric cancer and, if untreated long-term, may progress to gastric cancer. So stomach problems must be treated as early as possible, and after recovery one must care well for the stomach—regular routines and diet, eating less grilled, spicy, and pickled foods—so as to live out one's natural years.
Veteran TCM doctor Li Zhijian is already a hundred years old. His father and elder brother were both Chiang Kai-shek's physicians. When New China was founded, his family went to Taiwan, but he chose to stay on the mainland and practiced medicine all his life in Jiujiang, at the foot of Mount Lu. Because of his outstanding efficacy, Dr. Li enjoys an excellent reputation among the people across the border regions of Jiangxi, Hubei, and Anhui. He is himself a senior expert receiving special State Council allowance. In my hometown, Dr. Li Zhijian is highly regarded; people treat him as the last stop for difficult and complicated diseases, believing that if Dr. Li cannot cure a disease, no other doctor has any hope.
Dr. Li treated many stomach patients in our village. My neighbor once became skin and bones and was at death's door from a gastric ulcer and gastric perforation; after six months of treatment with Dr. Li's formula, he fully recovered, glowing and energetic, and went back to farming in the fields. In my own home village alone, many gastric cancer patients were cured by Dr. Li. My own mother was also treated for stomach problems by Dr. Li, with excellent results. Intending to study Dr. Li's approach to treating stomach disease, I deliberately collected and compared the prescriptions he gave to stomach patients in our village. I now record Dr. Li's empirical formula for stomach disease to share with everyone.
Dr. Li's basic formula for treating stomach disease is an enhanced Four-Gentleman Decoction, said to be his family's ancestral formula:
Astragalus (Huangqi) 15 g, Codonopsis (Dangshen) 12 g, Atractylodes macrocephala (Baizhu) 12 g, Poria (Fuling) 12 g, Solomon's seal (Huangjing) 10 g, Dioscorea (Huai Shanyao) 15 g, Lily (Baihe) 12 g, Coix seed (Yiyiren) 12 g, Sanguisorba (Diyu) 10 g, Houttuynia (Yuxingcao) 15 g, Scutellaria barbata (Banzhilian) 12 g, Oldenlandia (Baihua Sheshecao) 15 g, Agrimonia (Xianhe cao) 15 g, Licorice (Gancao) 6 g.
This formula is built on Four-Gentleman Decoction with additions; its main idea is to clear heat and resolve toxin on the basis of strengthening the spleen and nourishing the lung. I have seen Dr. Li's prescriptions for many patients, and they are essentially all this formula with one to three herbs added or subtracted. Dr. Li's prescription has been used to treat gastritis, gastric ulcers, and gastric cancer, with excellent results in each. Locally, there are gastric cancer patients who have survived long-term after surgery while taking Dr. Li's prescription.
Stomach patients often have chronic digestive-tract ulcers and bleeding, so Dr. Li's formula includes herbs that cool blood and stop bleeding, such as Sanguisorba (Diyu) and Agrimonia (Xianhecao). The formula looks unremarkable, but its reasoning is very rigorous; it takes into account the symptoms commonly seen in stomach disease and is suitable for patients with gastritis, gastric ulcers, and gastric cancer.