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Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective of Cancer
I have just completed my TCM tongue diagnosis class and I always wonder if there is a possibility to tell if by looking at the tongue, we can tell if the patient is suffering from some chronic disease like cancer. I did take a look at my own tongue and I must say, it looks pretty normal in TCM terms, pale red, moist and with a thin even layer of white coating. Of course, the correct time to look at it was at the time I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and not 21 months later. From pulse diagnosis, my lecturer say that I lack qi but then again to diagnose cancer is really not that easy. Treatment of cancer is also not an easy matter.

From TCM prespective, there is no specific concept of cancer and the tumors is just a symptom of something more seriously going on inside the body. Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners believe that the causes of tumor development comes from a) external factors include toxins and other environmental factors and b) emotional stress, unhealthy diets, and damaged organs are internal factors. Internal factors also include stagnant blood, and a blockage or accumulation of qi (pronounced chee), the vital energy said to circulate along the meridians, or pathways, linking all parts of the body.

All illnesses, in the perspective of TCM, are a result of energy imbalance, either an excess or a deficiency of the body's elemental energies. Therefore cancer is the manifestation of an underlying imbalance, and a tumor is the "uppermost branch" of the illness, not the "root". Therefore to cure cancer is an attempt to treat the imbalance. But I have yet to acquire enough knowledge to discuss on this subject matter further.

Western medicine has begun to take notice of the correlation between cancer patients and changes in the color, coating and texture of their tongues. There is a very interesting article in the December 2002 issue of “Acupuncture Today” which discusses a scientific study being conducted at Pittsburgh Medical Center. Researchers have begun taking computerized images of patients’ tongues to see if an examination can provide an early indication of colon cancer.

Can Tongue Diagnosis Predict Colon Cancer?
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center are taking a scientific approach to the usefulness of tongue diagnosis. In what is believed to be the first study of its kind in the United States, the investigators have begun taking computerized images of patients' tongues to see if an examination can provide an early indication of colon cancer.

Yang Cai, PhD, a native of Suzhou, China and a systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon, is responsible for taking and analyzing the tongue images. He also has a vested interest in the subject, having lost a close friend to ovarian cancer and an aunt to brain cancer only four months after being diagnosed.

One intriguing paper, published in the Chinese-language Journal of Oncology in 1987, examined the tongues of more than 12,000 patients and found "significant changes" in color, coating and texture in the tongues of cancerous patients compared to those without cancer.

The results of Cai's informal investigation led him to Dr. Robert Schoen, director of colorectal and gastrointestinal cancer prevention and control research at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). After initial discussions, Schoen warmed to the idea of tongue diagnosis and allowed Cai to add his research project to Schoen's ongoing study with the Early Detection Research Network.

To date, Cai has personally photographed more than 30 tongues, and has provided a camera and instructions on tongue imaging to Xingming Lin, a traditional Chinese medical doctor who oversees a cancer unit at Anhui Medical School in Hefei, China. If tongue screening proves accurate, it would give providers an inexpensive, noninvasive alternative to a traditional colonoscopy.

This is a good start between Western Medicine and TCM collaboration and I hope it would include other forms of cancer as well.

Fungicide Therapy Trial - Day 25 Update
Yesterday, just after lunch I took a nap to catch back some sleep. After lunch, I went to see the TCM practitioner who diagnosed that I had internal heat. I bought herbs to be taken over 3 days. After I had first bowl of herbs 5pm, I fell asleep while watching the TV and I woke up at abut 7pm. I would like to sleep a bit more but I can't as I need to make my juices and also take dinner. I also know that I would not be able to sleep so early in the night.

At about 11pm, I took the baking soda remedy to neutralise my stomach acid. It's quite effective and I could lie down without feeling the discomfort of the acid back flow. I was not sleepy then, so I watched an old 1993 Chicago, Live At the Greek Theater video. To me, this is one of their best rendition and in particular, songs like Look Away, Hard Habit to Break and If You Leave Me Now was beautifully done. Bill Champlin and Jason Scheff's combination were magical. I was mesmerised by guitar genius, Dawayne Bailey and thought, if only I could have 1% of his skills, my guitar would not be collecting dust. I was so in the mood! After that, I managed to sleep without any sleeping aid.

I have been on the fungicide therapy for 21 days now. So far, the notable changes since I took this therapy is that I have more whitish phlegm discharge everyday and that my enema discharge are a little more smelly. There has not been any side effects or discomforts. I will continue this therapy for another 9 days.

I have also been on zeolite detox for more than a week now. Zeolite is easy to take and I normally mix it with my oat meals. After taking zeolite, I noticed my enema discharge smells a little fishy and for the last two days, I also noticed a top layer that look like minerals floating on the surface of the enema discharge.

I met another stage 4 lung cancer patient about 7 months ago. At the time, he was still on conventional medicine, Irresa(Gefitinib) and practiced medical qigong. In Japan, over 800 people have died due to Iressa’s side effects, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry(Kyodo News 2011 Jan 8). He looked quite good then and we exchanged experiences and as usual, I suggested that he changed his diet to organic vegetarian but he could was not after finding out that it was a no sugar, no salt and no oil diet. I just received news that he was called home to be with the Lord. May he rest in peace.