[BIOLOGY | Week #7] Cell Biology + Cancer

Understanding Cancer: TCM vs Western Medicine

Like our approach to diseases in the U.S., our understanding of cancer is superficial, driven by fear and 'over-diagnosing' of patients. An article by Ezra Klein "Is America better at treating cancer than Europe" published by Vox in 2014 writes that a study of 90,000 women aged 40-59 who received an annual mammogram did not reduce mortality beyond the physical examination and 22% of invasive breast cancers caught by these screenings were over diagnosed, leading to expensive and dangerous treatment for women who did not need them. Health care in the United States is designed to keep people sick in order for providers and pharmaceutical companies to maintain profit. We continue to see an even bigger disparity in quality of care when we include factors of race, gender, and socio-economic class.  As we continue to delve into our understanding of 'medicine' in this class and ACCHS, I've become more reflective of what my role will be in disrupting the Medical Industrial Complex. I found a dense, but really cool visual in how oppression and power operates within the scope of medicine.: 

[The image shows a visual layout of the Medical Industrial Complex, which is written at the top in large letters. Just under it, there is a thin, long box that contains the words: Profit, Power, Control, Exploitation, Ableism, Oppression, Violence, Trauma. There are four main quadrants, each in a different color with large matching colored arrows connecting the outer broad categories to inner underlying motives: “Science and Medicine” is connected to “Eugenics;” “Access” to “Charity and Ableism;” “Health” to “Desirability;” and “Safety” to “Population Control.” Subcategories and main categories within each quadrant, are listed in large and small boxes that are all connected to each other with lines, forming a web-like effect, filling the entire page. (There is a complete listing of all the boxes by quadrants below.) In the bottom right corner there is small grey lettering that reads, “Posted on leavingevidence.wordpress.comVersion: 2015.1]

 

"Chinese medicine views the human person differently from orthodox western medicine. Disease is always seen as part of an imbalance of the whole person, not just an isolated event.  Cancer can not simply be cut out, allowing the person just to carry on exactly as before. Disease is seen  in the context of the person's relationships with the wider world..."

The holistic (taking into account the emotional, mental, and physical relationship a person has to the world) approach to treating a person with cancer, rather than treating the disease is what makes Traditional Chinese Medicine starkly different from the West.  Even if individuals have little to no understanding of qi, you can not deny how factors such as stress, diet, mental health, etc. have a significant impact on your physical health and in some cases, can pose you at higher risk of developing a form of cancer. The most challenging concept for Western medicine to grasp (or their refusal of it) is the role of "spirit" in health, which I believe is universal for many cultures whose medicine is rooted in ancient or indigenous knowledge. For TCM, emotions are stored in particular organs in the body; which is taken into account when treating the imbalance in a patient.  

I'm reminded of my cousin in-law who received acupuncture treatment after he was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and was going to chemotherapy. His experiences with oncologist was very different from his acupuncturist. While doctors at the hospital treated his aggressive tumor, it was a nice balance for him to receive acupuncture that helped with pain management, stress relief and to an extent spiritual grounding.  Although approaches to cancer may be significantly different between TCM and Western Medicine, I think its important to intentionally integrate both in order to be an effective practitioner.