There Is Nothing Wrong with a Chinese-Medicine Doctor Learning More Modern Medicine

People often tell me that having someone trained in modern medicine study Chinese medicine is nothing short of a disaster—implying that learning modern medicine harms rather than helps the study of Chinese medicine. Such a claim is logically hard to sustain, yet it is preached by no small number of people.

With respect, most of those who hold this view have great difficulty learning modern medicine; many Chinese-medicine practitioners cannot get past the basic-science barrier and cannot read the modern medical literature. Simply writing off whatever one does not understand is convenient, but it is not the right attitude.

I myself encounter obstacles when reading the modern medical literature. An authoritative oncology reference such as Clinical Oncology, edited by Professor Abeloff, is hard going for me; I had to supplement a great deal of molecular biology before I could make my way through it bit by bit—and I happen to have a science and engineering background with decent grades. Yet I am glad to overcome these obstacles and study such monographs, because in doing so my own overall level rises noticeably.

I do not think studying molecular biology and Western oncology does my research on anticancer Chinese medicine any harm. On the contrary, I feel that studying Chinese and Western medicine side by side gives me a clearer picture of cancer treatment. For example, modern medicine teaches me that inflammatory cytokines and the microvascular system have a markedly adverse effect on tumor growth and spread; this gives me a more definite idea of how Chinese medicine can better fight cancer. Among the Chinese herbs and formulas that activate blood and resolve stasis and that resolve phlegm and dissipate nodules, many can inhibit angiogenesis, destroy the tumor's blood supply, and improve inflammation in cancer patients. Western animal experiments provide evidence for our choice of formulas and medicinals—what is wrong with that?

Whether one practices Chinese or Western medicine, the most important professional ethic should be the spirit of objectivity. From an objective standpoint, both Chinese and Western medicine have their merits, and there is much they can share, though fully integrating them will still take a long time. Yet it is an undeniable fact that a good deal of integrative work has already achieved outstanding results.

My research focus is on oncology; whatever pertains to oncology, whether Chinese or Western, I am glad to learn. Years of clinical practice have taught me that solving the problem of malignant tumors requires multidisciplinary collaboration.

No single treatment approach has more than limited success against tumors. Only through multidisciplinary cooperation—fully deploying available medical means, enlisting the patient's own natural healing power, and comprehensively bringing to bear the effects of every treatment and recovery measure—can we win for the patient the longest possible survival and the best possible quality of life.

Therefore, an oncology expert who is proficient in both traditional and modern medicine, and who has also studied psychiatry and nutrition in depth, would undoubtedly be a blessing for his cancer patients. Truly reaching such a level may take twenty to thirty years of study and practice. If I keep on learning without cease, I would be well satisfied to become such an oncologist by the age of fifty.

Between traditional and modern medicine, and even between medicine and other natural recovery methods, I favor neither to the neglect of the other. Through reading and through observing in practice, I have learned that many cancer patients recover because of the adjustments they make to their own lifestyle and the improvements they make to their mental state. These look like things outside medicine, yet they can achieve what medicine cannot.

Professor René Dubos, the discoverer of the clinical use of antibiotics, once said: "I have always thought that the only problem with scientific medicine is that it is not yet scientific enough; modern medicine will be truly scientific only when both doctors and patients have learned to use the natural forces of healing to harness the powers of body and mind."

Exploration in medicine is endless. As long as humanity's health problems remain fundamentally unsolved, doctors have not reached any final destination. We must keep observing and summing up in practice to advance medicine. Pursuing the integration of traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine with this aim is not a disgrace—it is an honor.