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Bladder Tumors

1. Overview and Causes
2. Symptoms
3. TCM Effectiveness and Evaluation
4. Common Syndromes and Treatments in TCM
  a. Downward Flow of Damp-heati
   b. Yin Deficiency of Liver and Kidney
 5. Healing by Other Therapies
  a. Qigong and other
  b. Medicated diet
  c. Life style
6. Psychological Adaptation


1. Overview and Causes

Bladder tumor is one of the commonly-seen tumors in the urinary system. In countries other than China, the incidence of this disease is next to that of prostate cancer, occupying the second place, but it ranks first in China. Bladder tumor comes mostly from epithelium, mainly papilloma or papillar cancer, making up 90-95% of the incidence, while other tumors, such as fibroma, occupy very little in the incidence.

According to the statistics, the ratio of male and female in the incidence is 3.2:1. This disease is incidental to those at the age of 50-60. It is seldom seen in those under 30. The main cause of bladder tumor is not clear, but it has something to do with the following:

1. Chemicals: benzidine, saccharine, etc.
2. Long-time smoking
3. Many chronic irritations, such as urinary calculus, or the rarely seen schistosome ova, infection, virus, etc.

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2. Symptoms

1. Hematuresis "Painless hematuresis" is one of the symptoms for bladder tumor. About 75% of the patient go to see their doctors with this primary symptom. Blood in the urine does not come out continuously, It may occur intermittently, with indefinite quantity. When it is severe, there may be a large quantity of blood, even blood lump. The quantity of the blood in the urine does not necessarily signify the severeness of the tumor. Very often patients at the earlier stage ignore the painless hematuresis with little blood, thus missing the diagnosing opportunity because of a delay.
2. Urethral irritation: Frequent micturition, urgent micturition, oliguria. Patients with bladder infection may suffer from urinary pain. Therefore at the earlier stage they may be wrongly diagnosed as uninay infection,
3. Urinary pain: At the earlier stage the patient may have painless hematuresis, but at the advanced stage, the tumor invades widely, with infection and festering, causing severe pain when the bladder contracts at urinating.
4. Urethral obstruction: At the advanced stage, the tumor swells and expands, causing obstruction at the bladder outlet, making it difficult to urinate.
5. Other changes: anemia and malnutrition.

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3. TCM Effectiveness and Evaluation

1) At the earlier stage the main treatment should be surgery, using TCM treatment to strengthen body resistance and prevent recurrence. This is the best healing method. Some earlier-stage patients request TCM treatment only, rejecting surgery. This is not a smart choice. We don't encourage this method.

2) At the middle stage, when the patient is treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, herbal medicine should be used to detoxify so that the Western medical treatment can have effective result.

3) When the disease reaches an advanced stage, and the Western treatment has failed, or the Western medical doctor has found it incurable, we can simply apply Chinese herbal medicine to prolong life and improve life quality.

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4. Common Syndromes and Treatments in TCM

This ailment, according to TCM, has different syndromes. The treatment for these syndromes using herbal medicine and acupuncture is shown below.

Syndrome (a)
Downward Flow of Damp Heat

Hematuresis, frequent micturition, urgent need to urinate, or urinary pain, back pain, edema of lower limbs, perturbation in the mind, thirsty, difficult to go to sleep at night, reddened tongue with yellow and greasy fur, slippery and taut pulse.

To treat by Herbal medicine
Therapeutic principle: Inducing diuresis and eliminating dampness, clearing away heat, cooling blood and arresting bleeding.

Prescription/Formula: Plantain seed (Che Qian Zi), Common Knotgrass Herb (Bian Xu), Talc (Hua Shi), Chinese Pink Herb (Qu Mai), Lophatherum Herb (Dan Zhu Ye), Coix Seed (Yi Yi Ren), Chinese Arborvitae Twig and Leaf (Ce Bai Ye), Rehmannia Root (Sheng Di), Argy Wormwood Leaf (Ai Ye), Field Thistle Herb (Xiao Ji), Glabrous Greenbier Rhizome (Tu Fu Ling), Dandelion (Pu Gong Ying).

 

To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Therapeutic principle: Invigorating qi and enriching the blood to alleviate pain, and anti-cancer.

Prescription/Formula: Qihai (RN 6 ), Guanyuan (RN 4), Qugu (RN 2), Henggu (K 11), Shuidao ( ST 28), Hegu (LI 4),Zusanli (ST 36), Yao Shu (DU 2), Yaoyangguan (DU 3), Sanyinjiao (SP 6).

 

 


 

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Syndrome (b)
Yin Deficiency of Liver and Kidney
This type is mostly seen at the advanced age, or after receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy, heat reaction occurs, or complicated by infection. The symptoms include frequent micturition, sometimes blood in the urine, or abdominal distension and pain, back pain, dry mouth but don't like to drink, low fever, constipation, light red tongue with little fur, or uncoated and smooth tongue, thready pulse.

To treat by Herbal medicine
Therapeutic principle: Nourishing Yin and invigorating kidney, clearing away stagnation and detoxifying.

Prescription/Formula: Dwarf Lilyturf Tuber (Mai Dong), Dendrobium (Shi Hu), Glossy Privet Fruit (Nu Zhen Zi), Cowherb Seed (Wang Bu Liu Xing), Black Nightshade Herb (Long Kui), Indian Bread(Fu Ling), Coix Seed (Yi Yi Ren), Heterophylly Falsestarwort Root (Tai Zi Shen), Cochinchinese Asparagus Root (Tian Dong), Coastal Glehnia(Sha Shen), Amur Cork-tree (Huang Bo), Largehead Atractylodes Rhizome (Bai Zhu), Red Peony Root (Chi Shao), White Peony Root (Bai Shao), Rhubarb (Da Huang), Liquorice Root (Gan Cao).

 

To treat by Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Therapeutic principle: Invigorating qi and enriching the blood to alleviate pain, and anti-cancer.

Prescription/Formula: Qihai (RN 6 ), Guanyuan (RN 4), Qugu (RN 2), Henggu (K 11), Shuidao ( ST 28), Hegu (LI 4),Zusanli (ST 36), Yao Shu (DU 2), Yaoyangguan (DU 3), Sanyinjiao (SP 6).

 

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5. Healing by Other Therapies

(a) Qigong and other therapies

 

For effect of Qigong on the Nervous System Function, click here.

Generally speaking, Qigong is good for healing effect of this specific ailment, however individual results may vary. It improves the flow of the qi and the circulation of the blood, so you'll experience more energy, but, you won't see/ feel any immediate effects, as with many exercises and therapies, it takes a few weeks or even months of practice before you'll see any significant improvements.

The following types of Qigong may help:

For the information of different types of Qigong ,just click a link above.

This information is for education purpose only. We strongly advise you seek a licensed Qigong master to learn the correct ways to conduct these exercises before attempting them.

(b) Medicated diet

After surgery
Ingredients: Ginseng and Beiqi 25g, Chinese yam 60g, Chinese dates 10, some chicken breast
Preparation: Wash the chicken breast clean, cut it into slices,stew the slices with the herbs in water to make soup and season it with salt.

During or after chemotherapy or radiotherapy
Ingredients: American ginseng, Dwarf Lilyturf Tuber (Mai Dong), Cochinchinese Asparagus Root (Tian Dong) 25g, Heterophylly Falsestarwort Root (Tai Zi Shen) 50g, Coastal Glehnia Root (Sha Shen) 50g, some lean port.
Preparation: Wash the lean pork clean, cut it into slices,stew the slices with the herbs in water to make soup and season it with salt.

(c) Life style
1. Don't eat any pungent and spicy food.
2. Eat more fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and lean pork.
3. Reduce stress through relaxation, Qi-gong or Tai-ji.
4. Restrain from sex during treatment.
5. Join a support group for people with cancer and their families. Emotional support seems to aid in recovery.

6. Psychological Adaptation to a Chronic and Severe Illness
One encounters different health problems in the course of one's life. Some problems are acute yet minor and often improve by themselves or yield to simple self-management. Severe and acute conditions often necessitate the help of health professionals who may provide fast relief with specific interventions. However, when the condition is chronic, the management required is quite different.

Please click the following button to learn "Psychological Adaptation to a Chronic and Severe Illness".

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Acknowledgments:
Healthphone.com greatly acknowledges the support and dedication of our
Healing Centre Panel, without whom this section would not be possible.

We also greatly acknowedge Ms. Najaf Munir, MBBS, for her editorial support. Ms. Munir simplified the highly technical medical documents into easy-to-read documents, for the enjoyment and education of our numerous visitors.