Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment for Leukemia—April 6, 1979

Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment for Leukemia—April 6, 1979

Pathogenesis of leukemia: Pathogenic toxins invade the bone marrow, causing bone pain, fever, hepatosplenomegaly, and a dark purple tongue. If blood stasis persists, new blood cannot be generated, resulting in anemia; qi governs blood, and blood nourishes qi, so blood deficiency leads to qi deficiency, manifested as fatigue, shortness of breath, reluctance to speak, and excessive sweating. Blood is yin, so blood deficiency leads to yin deficiency, presenting with internal heat symptoms. Yin depends on yang, and yang depends on yin; prolonged yin deficiency eventually leads to yang deficiency.

Common symptoms of leukemia: ① Fever: Pathogenic factors accumulate in the bone marrow, forming "leukemic heat"; external pathogens invade; yin deficiency causes internal heat; yang deficiency causes fever. Among these, the first three are the most common. ② Bleeding: Blood stasis prevents blood from circulating normally, leading to bleeding; internal heat forces blood to flow erratically, causing bleeding; qi deficiency fails to control blood.

Treatment principles and medications for leukemia: ① Clearing heat and detoxifying drugs: Indigo naturalis, Toad venom, Yellow hellebore, White flower snake grass, San-dou-gen, Solanum nigrum, Hemiphragmus, Rhizoma gastrodiae, Tuberculos, Ma-tou-hui, Ge-xue; ② Activating blood and removing stasis: Red peony, Ligusticum, Carthamus, Dipsacus, Salvia, Angelica; ③ Tonifying qi: Baoyuan Tang, Ginseng, Cornus officinalis; ④ Tonifying blood: Siwu Tang, Donkey-hide gelatin, Salvia; ⑤ Tonifying yin: Zengye Tang, Turtle shell, Softshell turtle shell, Erzhi, Peony, Yam, He Shou Wu.

Medications to regulate blood cells: ① Increasing white blood cells: Chicken blood vine, Psoralea corylifolia, Purple river horse, Tiger stick, Astragalus, Cornus officinalis, Deer antler glue, Salvia, He Shou Wu, Vitex negundo, Cinnamon, Aconitum, Ginseng; ② Decreasing white blood cells: Indigo naturalis, Gentian root, Honeysuckle vine, Horse hard grass, Realgar, Dryopteris crassirhizoma. (Zhou Aixiang, Beijing Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine)