Integrating Medical Care, Nourishment, and Prevention for Chronic Disease Management

Chronic diseases such as COPD, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and psychiatric disorders are, in essence, basically incurable. This means that among patients with these diseases, only a few fully recover; the great majority of chronic patients must live with their disease for a lifetime. Living with disease is the human norm; being disease-free is the relatively rare exception.

We humans are multicellular organisms made of billions of cells. Under the influence of genetics, environment, and the various stresses and accidents we encounter, some of the cells in our body always develop deviations. Some deviant cells can be repaired; some changes are irreversible. This gives rise to what the ancients meant by the saying that people who eat grains and vegetables inevitably fall ill with a hundred diseases.

Living with disease is a survival skill each of us must master. Once we fall ill—especially with a difficult, major disease—our psychology is more or less shaken, and we inevitably become pessimistic, flustered, angry, depressed, or anxious. We need to adjust our psychology so it rebalances as soon as possible, while learning the general pattern of the disease. Accepting the disease, learning to live with it, and learning chronic disease management can significantly improve our quality of life, extend our lifespan, and avoid losing money through blind pursuit of medical care.

We need to understand chronic disease, accept the fact that it is basically incurable, and adopt the mindset of chronic disease management. I began to show COPD symptoms around age 15; now I am 46. Thirty years on, my COPD has not been cured. At first I sought doctors everywhere, even registering with several academicians, seeing both Chinese and Western medicine; but regrettably no doctor cured my disease. This firsthand experience taught me that, whether TCM or Western medicine, their actual effect falls far short of what the general public expects.

I gradually accepted the reality that COPD is incurable and learned to live with it. Because of COPD, I know I must not overexert myself, must not chase fame and gain to the point of exhausting my body and mind, must do everything in moderation, must keep regular hours, and must get enough sleep. By now I am actually grateful for COPD; like a sword of Damocles hanging over my head, it has made me a highly disciplined person. Discipline has brought not only control of COPD but many other benefits. Thus Laozi's saying that good fortune lies within bad fortune is truly a maxim.

Although chronic disease is incurable, if we know how to prevent acute flares, it need not seriously affect our lives; many patients with severe chronic diseases (such as cancer) live to an advanced age. Some people live a long time with disease because they integrate medical care, nourishment, and prevention and manage their chronic disease well.

Medical care can help patients relieve distressing symptoms and save lives during acute flares, and can also play a therapeutic role during remission; nourishment and prevention are the patient's own self-restraint in daily life—not overexerting, and not pressing the buttons that trigger flares.

I sought medical care for my own illness for years, and then studied medicine for many years to help others. Whether as a patient or as a helper of other patients, I have deeply felt the limits of medicine. Humans' wish to solve chronic diseases once and for all may forever remain a fantasy. Because humans are animals living in an environment, influenced not only by genes but also by surroundings; genes keep drifting, and the environment keeps changing, and in the long river of life we cannot possibly be free of these influences. These influences have a good side and a bad side; the bad side is what makes us ill.

Chronic disease management is the wisdom of biology adapting to change and to environment. In ages without medicine, it was precisely this innate wisdom by which we lived with disease. As medicine has advanced, it has brought blessings to humanity but also many side effects. The greatest side effect is humanity's over-belief in medicine, surrendering the initiative over our own health and destiny, and falling into over-dependence on medical care.

Medicine in fact cannot fundamentally solve disease the way the public expects; in more than half of diseases, doctors can only treat symptoms, not cure the root. Most doctors tell patients or families this truth, but some people exploit patients' and families' anxiety to seek improper gain. For patients and families, recognizing and accepting reality early and facing disease more rationally not only avoids loss and harm but also yields better quality of life and longer survival.

Everyone must die; disease is not the only cause of death—aging and accidents also kill. And disease does not necessarily lead to death; many chronic diseases are only one of several factors that impair health and lifespan, and alone cannot inflict that damage. They usually require co-action with other trigger factors before causing suffering or death. We can mitigate the damage of disease by controlling those trigger factors.