Treatment Cave

It is now 16 years since the Three Treasures remedy Chemo-Support was introduced. This remedy aims at lessening the side-effects of chemotherapy by tonifying Qi and Yin, clearing Heat, resolving Dampness and allaying nausea and vomiting. It has been used by hundreds (if not thousands) of patients world-wide. The newsletter of Summer 2005 explains the use of Chemo-Support and this is the link: http://www.three-treasures.com/newsletters/summer05.html It is always disappointing to hear about oncologists that still advise their patients against taking Chemo-Support, even after I provide a list of ingredients with their pharmacological effect. One reason oncologists advise against taking this remedy is the "old chestnut" of the alleged conflict between chemotherapy agents and anti-oxidants. The theory behind their opposition is that chemotherapy works by oxidating cancer cells and therefore one does not want to do anything that would prevent that. The Spring 2010 Newsletter on C...

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Tongue diagnosis plays a very important role in the prevention of disease especially in the elderly. Middle-aged and elderly patients often show abnormal signs on the tongue in the absence of any obvious disease. Elderly people often suffer from Internal Wind, Blood stasis, Phlegm, Heat or Yin deficiency or a combination of these. For example, it is common to have Blood stasis with Phlegm; or Phlegm with Yin deficiency; or Internal Wind with Phlegm; or a combination of the above. In the elderly, Blood stasis and Phlegm are so common that there is a saying in Chinese medicine which states “In the elderly, when in doubt, invigorate Blood and resolve Phlegm”. In such cases, the tongue often shows clear signs of these pathogenic factors and it therefore allows us to treat them before they give rise to disease. In particular, stroke in the elderly usually derives from a complex pathology involving Internal Wind, Yin deficiency with Empty Heat, Phlegm, and Blood stasis. The to...

STICKY AND SLIPPERY TONGUE COATING There are two types of greasy coating: one is called ni 膩which I call "sticky"; the other is hua 滑 which I call "slippery". The sticky coating is more common than the slippery coating. Both types of coating share a common quality of being greasy. The main difference is that with the sticky coating the individual papillae can be seen, while the slippery coating is more greasy and oily so that individual papillae cannot be seen. Also, the sticky coating is greasy but it adheres firmly to the tongue body; the slippery coating is more oily and seems to "slip" on the surface of the tongue. Another difference is that the sticky coating may be dry (an apparent contradiction but frequent) indicating Phlegm with Dryness of Phlegm-Heat. The slippery coating cannot be dry. A possible way of visualizing the difference between these two is to imagine spreading a layer of butter on a toothbrush: if we spread it thickly and do not push...

The “chest” area is on the sides of the tongue, between the centre part and the tip. The chest area reflects a pathology of three organs: heart, lungs or breast in women. Changes in this area to look for are: 1) Changes in colour (usually purple or red) 2) Changes in body shape (usually swollen or with teeth marks) 3) Red points The chest area reflects pathologies of the lungs, heart or breast but in a Western medical sense. A change in the chest area may involve a change in colour or body shape. How to differentiate when a change in the chest area indicates a problem of the lungs or heart or of the breasts in women? A change in the chest area indicates a pathology of the breast in women rather that of lungs/heart when: - In the absence of an obvious lungs/heart pathology - Especially when it is unilateral Examples of lung pathology manifesting in the chest area are chronic asthma or chronic emphysema (in which case the chest area would be swollen and possibly purple). An example of he...

The meaning of the name of the point SP-4 (Gong Sun) is the subject of much discussion. I have never been convinced by the translation of Gong Sun as "Grandfather-grandson" (or rather grandchild). Besides being the Luo point of the Spleen, SP-4 is also the master point of the Chong Mai. Although the translation of Gong Sun as "grandfather-grandchild" is possible, I think there is at least another possible explanation. "Gong" may also mean "general" and "sun" may also mean "second-growth", i.e. the second growth of a plant after pruning later in the season (like a rose for example). Thus, Gong Sun may be translated as "general second growth". What is this second growth? In my opinion, it is the image of the smaller branches stemming from a central stem. This is the image of the Main channels - the main stem - and of the Luo channels which branch out from the Main channels. This image is consistent with the point SP-4 ...

The location of the points BL-22 Sanjiaoshu above BL-23 Shenshu and of Ren-5 Shimen above Ren-4 Guanyuan is interesting and it presents interesting parallels. This location can be understood only by reference to Chapter 66 of the Classic of Difficulties (Nan Jing). Chapter 66 of this text states: “The Original Qi is the Motive Force [Dong Qi] situated between the two kidneys, it is life-giving and it is the root of the 12 channels. The Triple Burner causes the Original Qi to differentiate [for its different uses around the body]; the Original Qi passes through the Three Burners and then spreads to the 5 Yin and 6 Yang organs and their channels.”1 According to this view, therefore, the Triple Burner is the “agent” of the Yuan Qi arising from between the kidneys. This aspect of the Triple Burner is related to its transformation and excretion of fluids: in order to transform fluids, the body needs the heat of Kidney-Yang and of the Yuan Qi and this, in turn, needs the agency of the Triple...