Combining TCM and Western medicine for liver disease treatment

Local doctors are adopting a combined therapy of Western and traditional Chinese medicines for liver disease treatment and it has achieved positive effects, experts said ahead of World Hepatitis Day on Friday.

Patients suffering from fatty liver are not only receiving medication but also lifestyle guidance and TCM therapies such as herbal soup, acupuncture, futie (herbal medicine applied to acupoints), acupoint thread embedding and infrared therapy to relieve symptoms and assist in weight loss.

"We use a comprehensive treatment for patients with fatty liver, whose incidence keeps rising due to changes in lifestyle and unhealthy diets," said Dr Zhu Junfeng, director of the liver disease department of Shanghai Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.

Patients with liver cancer could keep their disease under control through combined Western and TCM therapy, especially for patients in the terminal stage, doctors said.

A 67-year-old patient said he was diagnosed with liver cancer after suffering symptoms like fatigue and poor appetite, but he was already in the middle and terminal stage when diagnosed.

"I have missed the best time for surgery," said the patient surnamed Wang. "But I don't want to give up, so I visited many hospitals but failed to get a satisfactory answer. Until I came to Yueyang, where doctors said they can help control the symptoms and improve my life quality through the combined therapy, which helps liver cancer patients live longer and better."

Dr Zhao Gang from the hospital's liver disease department said experts from multiple departments discussed the case and reached a plan with Western and TCM treatment. "In addition to targeted medicine, we introduced self-made futie targeting liver cancer to relieve symptoms," he said.

After one year of treatment, the patient's cancer had shrunk and the level of cancer biomarkers also dropped significantly.