Monday, January 22, 2007

A "Stinging" Rebuke to Western Medicine? It seems that the "old ways" - Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM are under attack, even in China - where their system of socialized medicine is having trouble being all things to all people. As "Western Medicine" with it's high-tech, Big Science / Big Pharma / Big Money answers to every problem infiltrates the Chinese health care system it looks like it is pricing good health care out of the reach of many people, just as it has here in the Good Ol' U.S. of A. The propaganda machinery of Big Medicine and Big Pharma is as effective there as it has been here in convincing people that if a cure does not come from some cold, sterile, impersonal laboratory, delivered by white-coated scientists on an expensive platter of "government approval" it must be worthless, or ineffective, or even dangerous (at the very least dangerous to profits for Big Pharma...) and must be spurned - and of course  people must be "protected" from it. Those who bleat their warnings about the "dangers" of these "unscientific" and "unproven" traditional remedies trot out all the usual medical bogey-men as they sing their siren song of technology: "you might be allergic!", "your blood pressure might drop!", "you might have cold sweats!" - all the while forgetting that their revered chemical offerings of Big Pharma may do all those things (and worse!) as well... but at least they do it with government approval! The Chinese government has been trying to fight a rear-guard action on behalf of their people, funding studies and attempting to promote the traditional ways, but it appears that the unholy trinity of Big Science / Big Pharma / Big Money may be an irresistible force, even in China. Interestingly, the same propaganda techniques are being used there as here - academics, scientists, legislators; all the very people who have access to and can afford to travel in the circles of power, prestige and influence that the Big Pharmacy Companies provide are the people who are calling for an end to the recognition of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Efforts to maintain a place for TCM in China's health care system are most likely doomed in the face of such high-powered and high-priced opposition, just as they appear to be here. We are likely to see some interesting "discussion" over the next two years, as our presidential hopefuls in this country will all roll out their versions of some sort of "Universal health care plan". Hilary Clinton, darling of the Democrats and demon to the Republicans, has repeatedly stated her intention to create a national socialized medical system. President George Bush has just announced his version of government-supported health care with promises of tax breaks for purchasers of health insurance. Every other candidate who has tossed a hat into the ring has made sure that the term "Affordable Health Care" is used early and often in their promotional materials. But what will that mean? Who will decide what is to be considered "Health Care"? Currently, Big Pharma, through their lapdogs the FDA, seems to be in control: if something doesn't meet their definition of "scientific" and "effective" (read: 'patentable' and 'profitable') then it is highly unlikely to be considered to be "Standard of Care" for your doctor. If your doctor does something, uses some technique or treatment that is not considered "Standard of Care" he or she can find themselves in very hot water indeed, even when the treatment works and the patient is happy. Not that your doctor is likely to ever even hear about alternative treatments other than by accident - the Drug Company "Reps" (salespeople) make sure that your doctor only ever hears about the latest, greatest (most expensive) drugs that form "Standard of Care"... So it's a pretty safe bet that over the next couple of years the arguments over how to provide "Affordable Health Care" will center around what drugs and high-tech diagnostics and surgeries will be paid for by which new bureauocracy - not whether improved nutrition or nutritional supplements or natural medicines or massage or acupuncture or other therapies will be allowed to be a part of America's medical tool kit. Even more worrisome than the marginalizing of natural and alternative health care through their exclusion from government-sanctioned and funded programs is the fact that as they are excluded, and as people insist upon seeking them out and using them nevertheless, the unholy trinity of Big Science / Big Pharma / Big Money uses that marginalization as proof of their unworthiness and even "danger" and calls for the banning of these alternatives. You may be certain that Bee Venom Therapy, delivered in the traditional fashion described in this article, will not make the "approved" list - but you can also be just as sure that as soon as the Big Drug Companies figure out how to synthesize it in the lab, and patent it, and provide a high-tech delivery system with a goodly profit margin it will become "Standard of Care", just as lowly fish oil for cardiac patients has recently become the latest expensive "Standard of Care" with prices for prescription bottles of the stuff running over $200 - ten times what it should cost! Here's hoping that the American people get the "point" and don't get "stung" with an expensive bureaucratic nightmare of an "affordable health care system" that denies access to anything other than the offerings of Big Pharma and Big Medicine... Cheers, Nurse Mark Ancient medicine all the buzz in modern China Sun Jan 21, 11:25 PM ET With doctors urging amputation to stop the gangrene spreading upwards from his toes, Liu Guorong was skeptical when a friend said bee venom might save his foot. "I was doubting this place," the 58-year-old diabetes sufferer said in a raspy voice during a visit to the Xizhihe Traditional Medicine Hospital on the outskirts of Beijing. "When I got here, I had no idea what I was doing and what the bee sting treatment was all about." As Liu found out, it was painful. Bees were placed on his foot and provoked to sting him in a bid to rejuvenate the blackened, rotting flesh by flooding it with a rush of protein-rich blood. A folk remedy for treating arthritis, back pain and rheumatism for 3,000 years in China, practitioners say that such pinpointed stings can repair damaged cells, stave off bacteria and ease inflammation. Doctors at Xizhihe hospital believe they can even cure liver ailments, diabetes and cancers. They admit, however, that they do not really know how it works. "Our knowledge has increased over the years," said Xu Xiaowang, Xizhihe hospital director. "But there are still large areas that are unknown to us all... There are too many unanswered questions," Xu said. Western-trained doctors dismiss the treatment as unscientific and dangerous. "It's alternative medicine and has no basis in western medical science... I would doubt its efficacy," Professor Christopher Lam, a chemical pathologist at the Chinese University in Hong Kong said. "People allergic to bee stings can develop hypersensitivity reactions like a sudden drop in blood pressure, swelling of the airways, cold sweats... it may be life threatening," Lam said. Hazy science notwithstanding, at 20 yuan (about $2.50) a sting, the treatment offers a cheap alternative to mainstream medicine. "Doctors at other hospitals were telling me that they needed to cut my foot off," Liu said. "I'd spent loads of money." Liu has been to Xizhihe several times to get stung and is now on a course of orally-taken bee venom medication. He now expects to keep his foot. "The flesh is growing back ... I'm feeling better," Liu said. DYING TRADITION Bee venom is just one of an exhaustive catalog of ancient folk remedies involving bugs, herbs, animal parts and massage that make up traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Incorporating elements of mysticism and based on a philosophy developed several thousand years ago, TCM is regarded as an alternative medicine in the West, but in China it remains a central plank of modern health care. About 3,000 private clinics provided TCM treatments to more than 230 million people in 2005. Health officials say it generated 95 billion yuan that year -- more than a quarter of the medical industry's total income -- and revenues have grown an average 20 percent a year over the past decade. The government, sensing an export-driven cash cow, plowed 740 million yuan into research and development last year in a bid to bolster TCM's scientific credibility and standing in Western markets where alternative remedies are increasingly welcomed. And yet, domestically, TCM is in free-fall. Once the only player in the market, economic reforms have ushered in foreign drugs and foreign-trained doctors, forcing a showdown between modern Western practices and ancient Eastern pragmatism. Between 2000-2004, TCM's share of prescription drug income declined by nearly a quarter, state media reported. Increasingly spurned by China's time-poor youth, TCM is also under siege from academics who deem it unscientific and of dubious medical benefit. Zhang Gongyao, a scientist at Central South University in Changsha, capital of China's central Hunan province, created a media storm in October after he posted an essay on his personal blog urging the government to strike TCM from the official medical registry. PAIN RELIEF Western medicine, however, let alone basic health care, is a luxury many of the country's 1.3 billion people cannot afford. Fees at state-run hospitals, robbed of funding after deregulation in the 1990s, have soared in recent years, while individual spending on health care nearly doubled from 1978 to 2002, according to health ministry statistics. Beijing has pledged to spend more on basic health services, but expensive public health care ensures a steady stream of customers to small, private clinics like Xizhihe -- where relief may be as cheap as a few beestings. Lu Jiumei, a middle-aged woman with rheumatism, made the three-hour journey to Xizhihe from her home-town in Hebei province to get bee venom therapy. "I don't think this could be harmful to the body in terms of side effects. I have been treated a few times now," she said. She grimaced as an angry bee deposited its salutary sting into her leg. But a few moments later, a smile broke out on her face. "My pain is relieved a lot and it's going away," she said, patting a freshly swollen mound on her thigh. 1:41:01 PM

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