Atlanta
Acupuncture
Center
275 Carpenter Drive, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA. 30328
Tel: 404250-9903; E-mail: lihua@aac2000.com
Intestine Cancer ¨C Colon
Cancer and Rectal Cancer
By Li Hua, L. Ac. TCMD.
Intestine
cancer is the general name for colon cancer and rectal cancer. They are one of
common cancers. There are many reasons for causing the cancer. Among these
reasons, the environment factors give human beings more influence than genetic
factor and race disposition. In the environment factors, foods lead to the
cancer higher, for example, preferring to eat high animal protein food to make
gall bile and anaerobic bacteria increased in the intestine, so that it will be
easy to form more carcinogenic substance. At the same time, the less the fibre
in the food is, the higher the consistency of carcinogenic substance in faeces
will be. When the faeces stay in the intestine longer, there will be higher
risk to get intestine cancer. Up to now, it is not very clear what exactly
causes intestine cancer. But doctors and scientists have found that intestine
cancer can be developed from schistosomiasis japonica, ulcerative colitis,
adenoma, familial colon polypi or villous adenoma.
Traditional
Chinese Medicine (TCM) thinks intestine cancer has something to do with (1)
unbalance of the spleen and the stomach due to anxiety and depression led to
intestinal noxious dampness and turbid Chi; (2) damaging of the spleen and the
stomach result from un-proper diet led to the pathogenic dampness-heat
attacking the lower-jiao (anatomy concept of TCM, around abdomen
area). Intestine cancer, in TCM, is called as ¡°Zheng Jia¡±, ¡°Chang Pi¡±,
and ¡°Zang Du¡±. For colon cancer, the main symptoms are (1) abdomen pain,
irritable bowel movement, abdomen mass felt, (2) abdomen pain or bloating,
constipation and vomiting. For rectal cancer, at the beginning, patients
usually do not feel anything, and just have bleeding bowel movement. Gradually,
patients will start frequent bowel movement with mucus and diarrhea. Some
patients may have abdomen cramping, tenesmus or constipation. Right now, for
treating intestine cancer, the main therapies include surgery and chemotherapy.
In China, except the surgery and chemotherapy, the main treatment also includes
acupuncture, Chinese herbs, proper diet and Qi Gong. With the combination of WM
and TCM, the patients are recovered quickly and the intestine cancer recurrence
rate is lower.
In the clinic, I
have cooperated with the