According to the ancient way of preserving health in Chinese Medicine, conserving a healthy Qi, is essential for a good long life. Thus diet therapy is crucial, for all the Qi and Blood that is required for our body comes from our diet. And similarly, many of the health problems we see in today's society, also comes from the food we eat.

Cancers are caused by different factors. Therefore each will have their own diet requirements.

Brain tumour

• Avoid:

Smoking, alcohol, coffee, smoked/preserved food, food high in saturated fat and spicy pungent flavours.

• Diet should consist of:

Fresh fruits and vegetables and food rich in vitamins and minerals.

Nasal Pharyngeal cancer

• Avoid:

Smoking, alcohol, smoked/preserved food, deep fried food, spicy pungent flavours such as raw garlic and pepper.

• Diet should consist of:

Fresh fruits and vegetables and food with a rich source of vitamin C, B, E.

Lung Cancer

• Avoid:

Smoking, alcohol, salty food and food that has high level of preservatives.

• Diet should consist of:

Walnuts, red dates, nuts, beans, legumes and food that is nutritious and rich in vitamins.

Breast Cancer

• Avoid:

Food that has phytoeastrogen or has hormonal effects in the body (ie Royal Jelly), high in saturated fat, deep fried food, animal offal, fish/crab roe, high in sugar, preservatives, smoked/preserved, spicy food, smoking and alcohol.

• Diet should consist of:

Fresh fruits and vegetables, food rich in iron and vitamins. Post menopausal women should have food high in Iron.

Esophageal Cancer

• Avoid:

Smoking, alcohol, Nitrosamine containing food (ie, smoked/preserved, deep fried food), hard solid food, raw garlic, hot chillies, pepper, spices. Also avoid eating food that is very hot or cold, as it will affect the throat. Do not overeat or swallow food without chewing.

• Diet should consist of:

Finely chopped, soft and easily consumed, non-spicy, full of nutrition and vitamins. The food should be consumed at body temperature to avoid aggravating the condition.

Stomach cancer

• Avoid:

Smoking, alcohol, and Nitrosamine containing food (ie, smoked/cured food, deep fried food), high salt, BBQ, charcoaled, flamed grilled, hard solid food, sour, sweet, hot and spicy food. Avoid over eating.

• Diet should consist of:

Soft food such as noodles instead of rice, pasta or bread. Once should consume food slowly, have nutritious food rich in vitamins and minerals. The meals should also be small and frequent.

Eat healthy everyone!

Dr An Ni Chien CMD

Blue Sky Clinic

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

Common side effects of Chemotherapy includes:

Nausea, vomiting, mouth ulcers, insomnia, dry mucous membrane, constipation, hot flushes, lethargy.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/09/040922070424.htm

http://www.jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/28/7188

http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/chinesemedicine3.html

Aches and pains are a common side effect from chemotherapy or the heavy medication that is used to target the cancer cells. Research has showed that acupuncture can help reduce the aches and pains, which means you can get back to a more pain-less life with ease.

http://www.painjournalonline.com/article/S0304-3959(99)00304-8/abstract

http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/acupuncture-for-pain.htm

Above are studies which has shown acupuncture and/or herbal medicine can help reduce the severity of Chemotherapy.

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Dr An Ni Chien CMD

Blue Sky Chinese Medicine Clinic

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

02 61624950

Cancer Acupuncture

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What we will discuss today, is to let everyone know what really happens during an acupuncture session.

Acupuncture, as most people already know, involves the insertion of hair fine, single use sterile needles into the acupuncture point. The needle is very fine and solid. Unlike the injection needle an acupuncture needle is not hollow and thus not able to draw any blood out. It is very thin (like a hair) and compare to the 0.5mm normal hypodermal needle (injection needle), an acupuncture needle is atleast twice as fine. We often use a needle that is 0.25mm in diameter or smaller.

With a skilled practioner, acupuncture should not be painful at all. There was once a patient who was very surprised at how painless the acpuncture session was, as the previous doctor she went to was very rough handling her. Therefore make sure that the acupuncture doctor that you go to is accrediated and has training by a reputable university either locally or overseas.

In Australia, most Chinese Medicine doctors would have join medical associations like AACMA, FCMA. These are the largest Chinese Medicine associations in Australia. It will also be good to make sure that the doctor is also registered with Chinese Medicine Registration Board of Victoria (CMRB). The state of Victoria is the only state in Australia, where all practising practioners have to be registered like a medical doctor. This helps to protect the public by making sure that high uniform standards of training and practice are met. 

From 2012 all Chinese medicine practitioners in Australia will have to be registered with the new national registration board in order to practice.

With Acupuncture, you'll only fee a prick when the needle goes in. At times, you may not even feel anything. The sensation which is ideal to be felt, is a dull/heavy/aching sensation. This is what we called the de qi sensation. This is the arrival of Qi sensation. When the energy (Qi), flows past the acupuncture point, it will produce the dull/heavy/aching sensation. This sensation will also signify that the function of the acupuncture point is working.

The whole session should be a relaxing one, and not sharp and painful. Aching sensation from the de qi sensation would at times be constant during the whole session, or it will gradually disappear. Usually, the needles will be left on the body for 20-30  mins. This allows the Qi to flow through all the 12 meridians in the body, thus acheiving the maximum effect of flowing the engergy in the body. This practise has been recorded down in the Yellow Emperor's Classic text book which is still used as a guide to practice today.

Hope this article gives you an insight in to what you'll be expecting during your next visit to an acupuncturist. Be mindful that acupuncture is not a miracle cure. Often, it'll need a few sessions to get the most benefit to occur. So don't be too anxious about getting an immediate cure.

Stay healthy everyone!

Dr An Ni Chien CMD

Blue Sky Clinic

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

The Australian government is focusing on various scams that have been happening around the country. One such area includes Health and Medical Scams.

It is important that we as consumers are aware and be vigilant. Make sure that you check before accepting treatment. Check that your practitioner is well qualified and registered where possible and remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Dr Anni Chien CMD

Chinese Medicine Doctor

Blue Sky Clinic - Cancer Support Acupuncture Specialist

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

(02) 6162 4950

Chinese Medicine consultations are slightly different to Western Medicine consultations. Instead of having a quick 3mins chat with the doctor, we have a 1 hr consultation and treatment, which includes a detailed medical history, looking at the tongue, and reading the pulse.

Tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis are part of the 12 diagnostic technique used in Chinese medicine.

The tongue: is an organ that helps us peek into the organ functions of the body. A normal tongue should be pink with a thin white tongue coating. Anything that varies from that, ie: Pale tongue, red crimsom tongue, cracks, teeth marks, thick yellow coating, thick white coating, red edges or red tip are a sign that there is imbalance in the body.

Below are a great websites that talks more about the ancient art of tongue diagnosis:

Yin Yang House

AcuMedic

Pulse reading: Many patients often ask what I am looking for when taking your pulse. Rate? Rhythm?

Unlike in Western Medicine where the rate and strength of the pulse is important, in Chinese Medicine, we are also feeling for the strength, rate and to identify the various types of pulse. Each finger location indicates an organ within the body and through feeling the pulse of the organs we can determine how each organ is functioning.

As an example a person who has stress or pain will have often have what we would describe as a Taut pulse. This is a pulse that feels taught like a guitar string, while a person who is pregnant, having period, or obese, will have a Slippery pulse.

Similarly, a person who is weak and deficient will tend to have a thready pulse, where the size of the vessels are thin like a thread. Below are some links which explains more about the art of Pulse Diagnosis:

Yin Yang House

Bob Flaws

Treatment with acupuncture and herbal medicine will follow. We will explain our diagnosis to you so that you are aware of what we are going to do and why.

Acupuncture sessions generally last for 20mins and patients often comment on how much they have relaxed and rejuvenated themselves with a quick power nap.

Feel free to come and speak to us in regarding your health. We also do a free 30minute consultation for people who are not sure if Chinese Medicine is the right path for thier health.

Hope to see you again.

Dr An Ni Chien CMD

Cancer Support Acupuncture Specialist

Blue Sky Chinese Medicine Clinic

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

(02) 6162 4950

Nausea, Vomiting, Loss of appetite, Lethargy, Dry/sticky mouth, Constipation, Hair loss...

These are the more common ones we get and of course, there's also the aches and pains that often linger for some time.

Patients often cruise through the first cycle of Chemotherapy, but struggle to get through subsequant cycles. Lethargy, Nausea, Poor appetite, Dry mouth; these are little things that makes patients feel down and hinders their day to day activities.

Acupunture helps by regulating the body's Qi and Blood circulation. Commonly, patients have 1 week of bad side effects follow by 1 week of recovery and end off with one week of 'normal' happier days before the next round of Chemotherapy.

 Acupuncture can help to shorten the duration of side effects and recovery time, allowing patients to have longer rest and bounce back to a normal life quicker, before the next cycle of Chemotherapy.

From a Chinese Medicine point of view, Chemotherapy is classified as toxic heat designed to counteract the tumours/malignant cells in the body. Chemo itself tends to be drying and draining of the body's Qi and Blood. Thus the side effects tend to include Lethargy, Dry mucose membrain, Thirst, Constipation, Dizziness.

In many cases these types of side effects can be reduced significantly by Chinese medicine.

Please contact me at the clinic if you would like more information.

Dr An Ni Chien CMD

Chinese medicine doctor

Blue Sky Chinese Medicine Clinic

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

(02) 6162 4950

So, how do we know if it works as it is claimed? In desperate situations, any sign of hope or a miracle is what we want. Therefore it is very important that we as patients, do not fall into these sorts of traps. In most cases if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

We are very cautious with the latest and greatest medicinal fruit or herb. Very often they come from the Chinese materia medica and yet are almost always used in combination with other medicinal to get their affect. For this reason alone it is important to be aware FAD medicines.

So what to look out for:

Credible research - This means that there have been wide variety of research done on them. Meta-Anlaysis, Randomised Control Trial, Clinical Trial Phase 4. Citations and references from such research articles are valued in the academic world.

Sites to visit for credible journal sources include:

Pubmed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.ezproxy.lib.rmit.edu.au/mesh

CINAHL: http://www.ebscohost.com/cinahl/

Medline/ProQuest: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/default.shtml

If all these seems too much work to do, an easy way will be to ask around and see if any of your friends or family members have tried them. However, as a rule of thumb, which I personally reckon: If a treatment has excellent results, then it will surely be used as part of the mainstream treatment in hospitals and clinics somewhere around the world.

You are also welcome to ask me and I'd be happy to give you my opinion on such products.

Stay healthy everyone~!

Dr An Ni Chien CMD

Blue Sky Chinese Medicine Clinic

www.blueskyclinic.com.au

(02) 6162 4950