Insights and Updates

Maqianzi is the dried ripe seed of Strychnos nux-vomica (Loganiaceae); it is also called Maqianzi, Maqian, Fanmubie and Niugen. Maqianzi was first recorded as a medicinal in Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica). However, Li Shizhen's understanding of Maqianzi's toxicity was wrong; Li…

Because I treat a relatively large number of neuroblastoma children, I have come into contact with many neuroblastoma families and thus have some understanding of the epidemiology of this disease. Many of the neuroblastoma patients I treat come from my hometown, Huanggang, Hubei. I have…

Since last Thursday I have been staying in a very quiet little place, returning home only this Monday. It happened to rain the whole time I was there, and I took along four books and a Kindle. Listening to the rain under the eaves and…

Treating cancer is one of the hardest things in this world, and being a doctor who treats cancer is very far from easy. Every doctor wants to achieve good results for the patient, but for an oncologist this beautiful wish is often shattered by cruel…

I have made my son stop using his phone and computer for three weeks now; the only electronic device he has left is a Kindle e-reader, and everything else has been confiscated by me. At first my son could not adapt; for a modern person,…

Qinghao Biejia Decoction comes from Wenbing Tiaobian (Systematic Differentiation of Warm Diseases). It has the action of nourishing yin and venting heat, and treats the late stage of warm disease with the syndrome of pathogen latent in the yin phase. Signs include fever at night…

During radiotherapy and chemotherapy, childhood tumor patients develop nausea, vomiting, poor appetite, hair loss and other symptoms; without appropriate adjuvant treatment, the child's quality of life is seriously affected. I respectfully publish here the adjuvant formulas I commonly use for childhood tumor patients undergoing radiotherapy…

Qingpi, Zhishi and Chenpi are the peel or fruit of unripe or ripe citrus or orange. The unripe citrus is green; its peel is collected for medicine and hence called Qingpi (green peel). The peel of the ripe citrus is yellow; the aged kind has…

When a person reaches middle age and faces the life situation of "having elderly parents above and children below," he will truly feel that life carries great pressure. He may have wished countless times to lay down the burden on his shoulders and make life…

Recently Ethel, a long-lived British woman, died at the age of 114; it is said her greatest trait was a heart free of worry. This is a bit like the late Chinese scholar Zhou Youguang, who died at 113. This old man spent his life…