Insights and Updates

The great TCM classics of every era contain formulas using arsenic compounds to fight cancer, and clinically arsenic compounds do indeed have a reasonably good anticancer effect. Xionghuang (realgar, arsenic sulfide) and Pishuang (arsenic trioxide) are the most commonly used arsenicals, and both are highly…

Linggui Zhugan Tang (Poria, Cinnamon Twig, Atractylodes, and Licorice Decoction) is the principal formula in the Shanghan Lun for treating phlegm-fluid (tan yin) disorders. The original text of the Shanghan Lun reads: "In cold damage, after vomiting or purgation, there is inverted fullness below the…

In Professor Yin Huihe's Zhongyi Neike Xinlun (New Discourse on TCM Internal Medicine), Professor Yin specifically discusses the treatment of jiju (accumulations and gatherings) and guzhang (abdominal distension). The jiju of TCM encompasses modern tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and the female reproductive organs, while…

Breast hyperplasia refers to benign hyperplasia of the interstitium of the female breast and is one of the common gynecological diseases. It occurs most often between the ages of 25 and 40, though it is also seen after menopause. Its cause is mostly related to…

Gexia Zhuyu Tang (Blood-Stasis-Dispersing Decoction from Below the Diaphragm) comes from Wang Qingren's Yilin Gaicuo (Correction of Errors in Medical Works) of the Qing dynasty. In Yilin Gaicuo, Wang Qingren defined the indications of Gexia Zhuyu Decoction as: abdominal masses, pediatric pi masses, pain at…

"No clouds obscure any quarter, / On every side all is clear and bright. / A gentle breeze wafts fragrant scents, / A hush falls over all the hills. / Today is perfect joy, / Casting off this frail and brittle body. / No anger,…

The Mayo Clinic in the United States is among the world's top medical centers today; one could say that Mayo's medical education and research represent the pinnacle of modern medicine. In recent years, wealthy patients from China have increasingly traveled to the Mayo Clinic for…

I once hoped very much that my son would study medicine with me, but his heart was not in it. He was willing to follow me in studying medicine to build up his health, yet his true ideal was to spend his whole life studying…

At noon today, after finishing work, I went to my small vegetable plot to water the plants and picked some vegetables on the way back. Riding my bicycle home, I suddenly and for no reason fell into a deeply negative state. I felt life was…

Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, or taking anticancer Chinese herbs or patent medicines, often develop liver-function impairment. In clinical practice, veteran physician Liu Yaxian developed an empirical formula for repairing liver function, which he named Jia Yi Jian. Jia Yi Jian is composed as follows: Yinchen…