TCM -- Liver and Bladder cancer

[Guest guest]

Joe C. sent the following study showing that traditional Chinese

medicine (TCM) physicians (presumably Taiwanese) fare better than the

general population in general health (including cancer), but do have

a tendency to die of liver and bladder cancer at rates higher than

one would expect. This could point out three possibilities that are

not mutually exclusive:

1. TCM approaches to fighting these two cancers are not as effective

as TCM approaches to effectively fighting other common cancers.

2. TCM is slower to accurately diagnose liver and bladder cancers

(both require invasive confirmation) and TCM would catch them at a later stage.

3. TCM usually uses oral meds which enter the body (the liver)

through portal circulation where they are oxidized (made soluble)

and pass through the kidney to rest in the bladder until

voided. Some of these herbs may be mutagenic and pro-inflammatory to

liver and bladder tissues. Injectable meds on the other hand bypass

the liver at first pass and then only go to the liver through the

hepatic artery, so their mutagenic and pro-inflammatory actions would

be systemic and thus dispersed to a variety of tissues.

Considerations:

Obviously TCM practitioners must become more aware of herbs that are

toxic to the liver and bladder, and must become more astute at early

diagnosis of these cancers.

If systemic administration of a hepatotoxic drug is desired, consider

non-oral methods such as insufflation, transmucosal, and transdermal

routes unless allergenic. Injections for treatment should only be

used when the body's natural barriers MUST be violated as in some

acute pathological processes. This may not apply to immunogenic

injections (e.g., thymus extract).

At 07:12 PM 6/12/2010, you wrote:

>

> Mortality and cancer incidence among physicians of traditional

> Chinese medicine: a 20-year national follow-up study

>

>

>

> Liu SH, Liu YF, Lin YL, Chen CC, Li CY, Mu TN, Liu SH, Wu TN

>

>Institute of Environmental Health, College of Public Health, China

>Medical University and Hospital, 91 Hseuh-Shih Road, Taichung 404, Taiwan.

>Occup Environ Med. 2010 Mar;67(3):166-9.

>

>Abstract

>

>

>

>OBJECTIVE: To study the risks of mortality and cancer incidence in

>physicians of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) who had frequent

>exposure to herbal medicine. METHODS: A population-based cohort

>design was conducted in which a total of 7675 certified physicians

>of TCM who ever practised between 1985 and 2005 were compared with

>the age-, sex- and calendar year-specific mortalities and cancer

>incidence rates of the general population of Taiwan. The age-, sex-

>and calendar year-standardised mortality ratio (SMR) and

>standardised cancer incidence ratio (SIR) were calculated to

>estimate the relative risks of all causes and site-specific

>mortality and cancer incidence. RESULTS: Over an up to 20-year

>observational period, 796 (10.4%) physicians of TCM died, and 279

>(3.6%) developed cancer. The study cohort showed a significantly

>reduced SMR for all-causes mortality (68, 95% CI 63 to 73), and for

>deaths from infectious (SMR=64), circulatory (SMR=68), respiratory

>(SMR=64) and digestive (SMR=56) disease. The study cohort also had a

>significantly reduced SIR (80, 95% CI 71 to 90) for all cancers, and

>for neoplasm of rectum, rectosigmoid junction, and anus (SIR=45),

>female breast (SIR=30) and cervix uteri (SIR=10). On the other hand,

>we noted that physicians of TCM suffered from a significantly

>increased SIR for neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts

>(SIR=151, 95% CI 116 to 192) and of bladder cancer (SIR=259, 95% CI

>167 to 382). CONCLUSION: Like other healthcare workers, we noted

>that physicians of TCM had significantly reduced risks of all-causes

>mortality and cancer incidence. Nonetheless, reasons truly

>responsible for significantly increased risks of liver and bladder

>neoplasm among physicians of TCM warrant further investigations.

>

>PMID: 20223844 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]