Can Traditional Chinese Medicine Offer Hope ?
The diagnosis of irritable bowel syn- respond well to the prescribed drug, Story BY drome, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s they might experience unpleasant and Kristin McCahon disease is something each patient dreads. even debilitating side effects, and still no Kristin has an MA from It is frightening enough to learn that we symptom relief. Their doctors will then the University of British have a chronic condition that could affect try another drug that might work better Columbia. She has had a us for the foreseeable future, but adding and, if necessary, try another and another. long interest in health and to the initial worry is uncertainty around Unlike the broken arm or pneumonia the causes of disease. the treatments. situations, there is no one-size-fits-all For people with acute conditions, such drug that, if taken according to direction, as a broken bone caused by a car accident, will enable the physician to tell the patient or pneumonia brought on by a virus, sur- some weeks or months later, “You are gery or pharmaceutical products generally cured of your GI tract illness!” The goal give immediate and certain relief. On the for most doctors dealing with these and other hand, the treatment for chronic other chronic illnesses, including type II illnesses, including those of the gastroin- diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and heart testinal (GI) tract, is much more complex disease, is to control the symptoms of the and uncertain. particular disease so the patient can live a Naturally enough, doctors want to full, productive, and pain-free life. relieve pain and control the unpleasant While patients appreciate the efforts of symptoms of the illness, and patients will their concerned doctors and the benefits usually try the remedy their doctor offers. of advanced drug therapy, the reality that, Who wouldn’t want to be rid of extreme in many cases, they are only managing, bloating, constipation (or diarrhea), or not curing, their chronic illness is deeply the feeling that one’s innards are trying to unsatisfying. Surely there is something process a bale of barbed wire? that could lead to a cure, to a situation Many of the drug therapies that physi- where the symptoms of the illness were cians prescribe don’t cure the problem; but an awful memory and not a lurking they treat the symptoms. When patients threat. respond well to the drugs, they will hold Some of the one-third of Canadians the symptoms at bay, sometimes for a with at least one chronic health condi- short time, sometimes for quite a while. tion1 are turning to Eastern medicine, On the other hand, if patients don’t hoping that it can offer some benefit.
16 | GI Society’s Inside Tract® Issue 194 Want to learn more about traditional chinese medicine? We have more articles online visit www.badgut.org/tag/
Please give at www.badgut.org | 17 Photo: © Kateholms | Bigstockphoto.com For those wanting to know more about how TCM and Western medicine are working together to help treat GI tract illnesses, Dr. Joseph Sung and Dr. Jeffrey Bland will both be speaking to a colloquium in Vancouver on September 26, 2015. For full details, please see https://www.drrogersprize.org/
Photo of Dr. Joseph Sung Dr. Sung is a world leader in gastroenterological research.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is what each discipline can learn from the attractive because it doesn’t look only at other. Dr. Joseph Sung from the Chinese a patient’s symptoms. It takes a holistic University of Hong Kong, for instance, approach and examines the patient’s is a world leader in gastroenterological 1 CNA NurseOne. Chronic Disease. Available at: https://www.nurseone.ca/en/knowledge- physiological and psychological make-up research who, for years, has been actively features/chronic-disease. Accessed 2015-05-03. to try to determine why the person has exploring how Chinese and Western 2 Organic Themes. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: those symptoms in the first place. Once medicine can collaborate. A Chinese Medicine Perspective. Available at: http://balfourhealing.com/?page_id=107. the TCM practitioner has determined Dr. Sung is no Pollyanna. In 2003, he Accessed 2015-05-03. why the patient has the problem and how worked ‘in the trenches’ personally lead- 3 Vincent C et al. Why Do Patients Turn it is manifesting, she or he will offer a ing his medical team in the fight against to Complementary Medicine? An Empirical 4 Study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. treatment that could involve some combi- SARS. He appreciates the benefits and 1996;35:37-48. nation of gentle exercise, herbal therapy, challenges of both approaches to medicine 4 Chinese University of Hong Kong. Biography and acupuncture. Each patient is unique, and warns of the “unresolved differences for Professor Joseph J.Y. Sung, SBS, JP. Available at: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/governance/officers/ so the combination of herbs in the herbal in perspectives between complementary joseph-sung/english/biography.html. Accessed therapy and acupuncture treatments are medicine and Western medicine” and 2015-05-14. individually specialized.2 the “real or perceived lack of evidence of 5 Zollman C et al. Herbal Medicine. British 5 Medical Journal. 1999;319:1050. These treatments and the individualized the effectiveness” of TCM. He is actively 6 Lipman F. Total Renewal. 8th ed. New York, approach are reassuring and comforting, working to bring some of the Western NY: Penguin Group; 2003. but the big question is, do they work? measurement processes to TCM, particu- 7 Major G et al. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the Western trials of TCM are generally incon- larly in the treatment of chronic illnesses, Microbiome, Current Opinion in Endocrinology, clusive. Despite that, many patients who including GI tract diseases. His research Diabetes and Obesity. 2014;21(1):15-21. are anxious for a cure and who appreciate attempts to determine whether and how 8 Kennedy PJ et al. Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Microbiome-Gut-Brain Axis Disorder? World the individualized approach of Eastern the Western gold standard for assessing Journal of Gastroenterology 2014;20(39):14105–25. medicine seek out TCM.3 research – the double-blind study – can 9 Sung JJ et al. Agreements among traditional Fortunately, there is a lot of research work for evaluations of TCM. Sung also Chinese medicine practitioners in the diagnosis and treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. underway seeking out the connections recognizes that the safety, quality, and Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. between TCM and Western medicine, and efficacy of proprietary Chinese medicine 2004;20(10):1205-10.
18 | GI Society’s Inside Tract® Issue 194 Traditional Chinese Medicine
are ongoing concerns. on the operation of the immune system. Dr. Sung is not alone in the search Innovative research is focusing on the for integration. Dr. Jeffrey Bland, who link between the microbiome and the created the Functional Medicine Insti- brain, including a link between IBD and tute in Washington State, is recognized depression.7,8 worldwide for creating “a new model of The rigorous analytical assessment of medicine that combines modern Western TCM by Dr. Sung and other researchers knowledge drawn from biochemistry and offers great encouragement to patients in physiology with ancient Chinese wisdom both the East and West. For those in the and its concepts of balance and the inter- West who want to ‘see the numbers’ behind connectedness of all things.”6 any treatments they are given, and want to 10 Zollman C et al. Herbal Medicine. British Medical Journal. 1999;319:1050. Meanwhile, researchers are increas- know that the therapies they are taking 11 Joseph Sung (n.d.), Integrative Medicine: East ing their investigations into the vast and actually work, Dr. Sung’s research is start- Meets West, PowerPoint presentation.
Dr. Rogers Prize Colloquium Dr. Rogers Prize Award Dinner
Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Microbiome: The $250,000 Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in A Modern Context for an Ancient Practice Complementary and Alternative Medicine is awarded every two years to celebrate the achievements of individuals who Saturday, September 26, 2015 | 1:00 to 5:00 pm have impacted the practice and progress of health care. Vancouver Convention Centre ~ West Building Join us for the announcement of the 2015 winner!
Program includes: Friday, September 25, 2015 | 6:00 to10:00 pm Dr. Joseph J.Y. Sung, SBS, JP Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, Vancouver, BC Vice-Chancellor/President, Chinese University of Hong Kong “Measuring an Eastern Distance with a Western Ruler” Keynote Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey Bland, father of Functional Medicine and author of The Disease Delusion
Early bird tickets on sale now! Individual tickets: $125 / table of ten: $1,250
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