Managing Cancer with Chinese Medicine Principles

Trust our healing power and co-exist with cancer

Cancer treatments were documented in ancient times. The principles behind Chinese medicine encompass both traditional Chinese values – moderation and management of illnesses – and practice co-existence. Dr Zhou Lizhong, founder of the Hong Kong Institute of Chinese medicine, was born into a family of Chinese medicine practitioners. Since the 1970s, he has painstakingly researched cancer and other incurable diseases over the past 40 years. He applies traditional remedies in his clinical treatments. 

The importance of balancing the seven emotions

“Contracting a disease must have something to do with a person’s mental state, lifestyle and many other issues,” said Dr Zhou. “Chinese medicine links a disease to both internal and external elements. The internal elements are joy, anger, worry, anxiety, sorrow, fear and panic, which in Chinese medicine are called the “seven internal emotional damages”; the external factors are the wind, cold, heat, wetness, dryness and fire, known as the “six exogenous elements”, including modern pathogens (eg, bacteria, viruses and parasites), plus chemistry, physics and other risk factors.” 

Chinese medicine physicians often say: “Joy damages the heart, anger damages the liver, sorrow damages the lungs, anxiety hurts the spleen and fear hurts the kidneys. It refers how emotional disorders directly damage the internal organs. For example, we have discovered that patients suffer a long period of severe depression before their diagnosis of liver cancer. Women’s breast cancer is also related to their emotions.”

Dr Zhou said: “A person’s mental state can affect the function of internal organs, thereby affecting a person’s immune system.” The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Cannon says: “Qi must be exhausted before evil forces can gather.” Dr Zhou further explained: “If a person lacks righteousness, evil forces will invade. Causes for cancer are complex and involve multiple areas, but studies have shown decreased immune function leading to the mutation of genes. Mutation results from disease and damage to our righteousness essence. Elderly and frail people tend to become victims of cancer. Right now, young people also can suffer from that ailment. It probably relates to radiation, drug abuse, air pollution, chemical toxins from food, stress and other factors.”

Dr Zhou believes that once some people are diagnosed with cancer, they become very nervous and fearful; they cannot eat or sleep, and thus their immune systems become worse and cause them to die; when a person’s seven emotions are imbalanced, it is adding insult to injury and their conditions are further aggravated. 

The majority of patients die from treatments rather than diseases

According to the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Cannon, one should not overly accumulate or eradicate something. One should stop after the majority of it has been removed, otherwise, one would suffer.” Dr Zhou explained: “In Chinese medicine, when treating a tumor, the goal is to eliminate more than half of it. Overdoing it would result in damaging both positive and evil forces in the body, and both may perish in the end.

“From ancient times to the present, Chinese medicine has advocated ‘co-existence’ with tumors. It means to live with a tumor and suppress its development. This principle exemplifies ancient Chinese philosophy.”

One patient was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1998 and died recently. He lived for 13 years. All he did was take Chinese medicine a few times every week. From 2007 till 2011, his tumor increased by 1cm. This patient could work and travel abroad like a healthy, normal person. That is rare in today’s medical field. 

However, nowadays, very few patients come to see Chinese physicians at the onset of their cancer. Mostly, they come after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, and wait until the cancer has reached a quite advanced stage. Dr Zhou also named a few such cases where the patients did live for a few years.

After several decades of clinical study, Dr Zhou discovered: “Eighty per cent of cancer patients died from the treatment or fear. Many patients were weakened, with their self-healing ability diminished after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. They became depressed and thus aggravated their conditions. No one can survive without their own righteous energy and no medical miracles can happen without righteous energy. Medical care is used to supplement righteous energy and regulate their conditions. With righteous energy, one will live; otherwise, one will die. And that is the great principle of Chinese medical treatment from ancient times.”

Dr Zhou stressed that people have the instinct to live. Therefore, we should never overlook the self-healing power within our bodies. In fact, the worlds’ medical research has also found that 1 per cent of cancer patients can heal themselves without treatment. In the healing process, he advocates “talk therapy” to stimulate the living power in a patient’s body.

Too strong an immune function is not necessarily better for us

Some people think that the stronger the immune function, the better it will be for them. Dr Zhou said: “That is a misconception. Many of our human diseases result from abnormal reactions from our immune system, such as diabetes, dermatomyositis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism lupus, etc. Those conditions are difficult to cure and they are all from increased immune function. AIDS and cancer come from decreased immune function, rather than the so-called improved immunity.

“Medical treatment is an adjustment to the equilibrium of the body. However, medicine can not go to extremes. When the treatment of cancer is done through the use of methods that are destructive to both good and bad forces, in the end, everything perishes. Chinese medicine emphasises the balance of Yin and Yang. Treat the main symptoms first and then restore the normal physiological condition. When the righteous energy is sufficient enough, the immune system will regain its normal function and then the disease will disappear naturally.”