Insights and Updates

Patient Yan, female, 64, from Wenling County, Zhejiang Province.First visit August 5, 1970. For several years the patient had frequently had vaginal bleeding, heavy in amount and foul in odor. Examination at the hospital's gynecology and obstetrics department confirmed late-stage cervical cancer. For days she…

The formula "Mendong Yinzi" appears in several sources. In "Zheng Yin Mai Zhi" (Treatment of Disease Causes by Symptom, Pulse, and Pattern), it consists of Tiandong (Asparagus root), Maidong (Ophiopogon), Sangbaipi (Morus bark), Zhiqiao (bitter orange), Jiegeng (Platycodon), Jingjie (Schizonepeta), and Gancao (Licorice), in appropriate…

Zhike Siwu Tang comes from "Ye's Gynecology" (Ye Shi Nüke). It treats great postpartum diabetes-like thirst, incessant drinking, with extreme fluid depletion and fire restlessness. Its composition is: Shudihuang (prepared Rehmannia) two qian, Danggui (Angelica sinensis) two qian, Baishao (White Peony) one qian, Chuanxiong (Ligusticum)…

Patient Xue, from Pingdingshan, Henan Province, was a family member of a lung cancer patient I treat. On October 8, 2022, he sought my help for discomfort caused by allergic rhinitis. Through remote online consultation I learned the patient had aversion to cold, nasal congestion,…

I rarely watch films and even more rarely write film reviews, but today I will write a review that is not quite a review. I call it that because less a review than a reflection: after watching the documentary "Free Solo," I combined it with…

Today, a family member from Jiangmen, Guangdong, whose child is suspected of having adrenal neuroblastoma, consulted me. She told me her child (now three and a half) had previously grown a lump on the neck (never confirmed by a hospital), and after a cold with…

In the lower volume of "Waike Jingyi" (The Essence of External Medicine) by Qi Dezhi, the Yuan-dynasty master of external medicine, there is a formula called "Dihuang Jian Wan" (Rehmannia Decoction Pills). It treats malignant sores, toxic abscesses, and bound, difficult urination and defecation. Its…

These past two days I have shrunk my "balcony vegetable garden" by about half. I threw away the old foam boxes and added their soil to the planting pots. After tidying up, I sowed some spinach seeds in the pots—at this season, besides spinach, there…

Xingpi Yiwei Tang is from "Waike Zhengzong" (Orthodox External Medicine), by Chen Shigong. It was used for spleen-stomach weakness and failure of transportation arising after a sore or ulcer has ruptured and the patient has over-eaten raw and cold foods. Clinically, its indications are fullness…

Approximately 150 to 200 million years ago, the common ancestor of all mammals—the cynodont, which lived in the Triassic period—appeared on Earth. Mammals evolved from reptile-like animals; they are the most structurally advanced and physiologically complete animals in the animal kingdom. Most mammals are covered…