Principles of Treatment in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Su Ziyang typed a document on his computer, summarizing the precautions for the first moxibustion treatment, and then sent it directly to his cousin.

"Brother, this is some material I just compiled. Please let your wife take a look. If there's anything else to be aware of, I'll add it later."

My cousin replied with a "received" emoji and didn't say anything else.

"Xiao Xiao Su, you're quite busy."

Fairy Li cross-legged, staring blankly at Su Ziyang.

"I'm all done with work. My cousin-in-law wants to open a moxibustion health center and asked me to help out. I just sent her some things."

Su Ziyang chuckled and snuggled up next to Fairy Li.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, Su Ziyang Han Jinkai, who hadn't been in contact for some time, suddenly called.

Hey bro, got free this weekend?

When Han Jinkai talks to Su Ziyang like this, it usually means there's something he needs to say.

"Brother Han, what's wrong?"

Su Ziyang said with a smile that now that he was familiar with Han Jinkai, Su Ziyang didn't care how rich Han Jinkai was or what he did, and treated him as a friend.

People like Han Jinkai particularly liked Su Ziyang's way of interacting with them, because so many people had to beg them for favors, and they were helpless about it...

"Let's go to Qingfeng Teahouse this weekend. I have some friends to meet, and I'd like to get to know you, this miracle doctor."

"Brother Han, you're really supporting me!"

Su Ziyang laughed heartily, and the two agreed on a time and place.

Su Ziyang accepted the invitation to go over the weekend. After Su Ziyang stopped drinking, Han Jinkai and the others rarely invited Su Ziyang to dinner anymore, instead opting for teahouses and tea restaurants, basically just not drinking much anymore.

When Su Ziyang arrived, he found that several people at the table looked very familiar.

Moreover, ever since Song Li decided to make his daughter, Song Huiru Su Ziyang, his mentor, Song Li has been present at every event where Su Ziyang is involved.

Looking at the two people next to the tea table, Su Ziyang felt they looked familiar, but he couldn't immediately recall where he had seen them before.

"Dr. Doctor Su, you seem to have a bad memory. We've met once before. My name is Song Liangtao."

As soon as the man introduced himself, Su Ziyang immediately remembered that Song Liangtao was the head of the gastroenterology department, one of the two doctors from the city hospital brought by Yu Xiushui 'Auntie Yu nephew.

"Doctor Su, this is Zhang Yu."

Let me introduce the other person as well.

"Sit down, brother."

Han Jinkai gestured for Su Ziyang to sit down, Su Ziyang sat down next to Han Jinkai.

"This is a friend. Although I organized this gathering today, I'm not the main character; you are."

Han Jinkai is impeccable in his words and deeds; he always gives face to whoever he's supporting.

Later, Han Jinkai told Su Ziyang that he didn't know these two guys well; they were brought by two other friends at the table, and he didn't know why they were there. He hoped Su Ziyang wouldn't misunderstand.

Su Ziyang and Han Jinkai had a long-standing relationship, so he naturally wouldn't misunderstand Han Jinkai.

After the two directors introduced themselves, Su Ziyang also introduced himself very formally.

"Doctor Su, thanks to the presence of these business owners today, let's be frank. We contacted you because we wanted to ask if you could tell us about your prescription."

As soon as these two appeared, Su Ziyang knew that they must still be after the medicine for treating gallstones.

"Um, let me ask you something first. What do you need this prescription and this medicine for?"

Su Ziyang sipped his tea and spoke in a rather unfriendly tone. What Su Ziyang found strange was that this wasn't actually a secret recipe.

Moreover, Jingchengdao Medical Clinic does not have any secret recipes, because all the prescriptions are prepared by writing out a list and adding it to the prepared Chinese medicine.

The purpose is to ensure openness and transparency. You can check what medicines are in the clinic at any time, so that patients are not confused and the clinic is more sincere.

Since those two people who came last time were shills hired by these two, then the recipe should definitely be in their hands. Why not experiment with it ourselves and figure it out?

"Doctor Su, to be honest, we use your prescription to treat and save lives, not for profit. If this medicine can improve the condition of some patients with gallstones and reduce their pain, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?"

What Song Liangtao said was indeed the truth, and Su Ziyang wasn't that kind of person. Most importantly, this thing really wasn't some kind of secret recipe.

"Oh. Didn't you two hire a shill last time? Besides, all the prescriptions in our clinic are public and transparent. There's no need for you to come back to me, a humble doctor."

Upon hearing Su Ziyang's words, Song Li, who was sitting to the side, understood immediately. He frowned, put down the blue-and-white porcelain in his hand, and said, "Ah, I understand now. So you two are here to trick Doctor Su into giving you his secret formula. You two are really something..."

When Song Li stood up for him, Su Ziyang patted Song Li's arm and said softly, "It's okay, Brother Song. It's not some secret recipe."

"Mr. Song, you've misunderstood. We were mainly discussing with Doctor Su whether we could publish the prescription. We're currently working on a research project to study the effective components in traditional Chinese medicine that can dissolve fossils."

Song Liangtao quickly explained to Song Li, and Su Ziyang waved his hand to indicate that he understood.

"That's all. I'll just tell you about it if you like. The patients I've seen with gallstones are all based on dialectics."

Su Ziyang felt that the two people's attitude was much better than last time. Anyway, if he didn't say anything, these two people would find some other way to approach him, so it was better to avoid trouble.

"Dialectical basis?"

Both of them are Western doctors, but they have some knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine and don't really understand it.

"Yes. The prescriptions I gave to that patient named Hao, and the shill you two found, were actually different. I just added a herb called 'Phoenix Tail Grass' to both prescriptions."

Su Ziyang spoke sincerely.

"Is this what you call syndrome differentiation and treatment in traditional Chinese medicine? But for the same disease, you prescribe different formulas for different conditions. The differences are too great, which seems rather unscientific!"

Zhang Yu took a sip of tea and said from the side.

"Tch, traditional Chinese medicine is profound and complex, how could people like you understand it?" Song Li rolled his eyes at Zhang Yu from the side.

Zhang Yu looked at Song Li with a helpless expression, but she didn't want to argue with Song Li, who was a complete novice, so she didn't say anything and took a sip of tea in frustration.

"Since you've come to me, let's not talk about science. You didn't come to me to hear about science or not, because from your point of view, the fact that these two patients' stones disappeared is quite unscientific."

Su Ziyang didn't express any dissatisfaction; he simply spoke calmly.

"The so-called syndrome differentiation and treatment is the core of traditional Chinese medicine. Our medical sage said, 'Observe the pulse and symptoms to know what kind of disorder has occurred, and treat accordingly.' For example, that patient with gallstones I saw last time, that's the shill you found..."

Although Su Ziyang didn't mean it, his constant use of the word "shill" was still very irritating to Song Liangtao and Zhang Yu.

Song Liangtao interrupted Su Ziyang somewhat awkwardly, "Excuse me for interrupting, Doctor Su, that person wasn't a shill we hired. So please don't be so harsh. And to be honest, that person is just one of our patients, someone who wanted to join in the fun."

"Also, Doctor Su," Zhang Yu added, "We'd like to add something. Neither of us managed to get our hands on those two prescriptions you wrote, and we don't know what medicine was in them."

"The first patient, Hao, absolutely refused to let us see the prescription, even though we had agreed. The second person, the one you mentioned who was the shill, came back for a follow-up checkup and was cured, but he also refused to give us the prescription... We thought you had contacted that family privately!"

The two talked back and forth, Su Ziyang finally understood the cause and effect of the matter. This also explained Su Ziyang's previous doubts, namely, why the undercover agent, despite being sent out, still came to find him again.

Because these two kept fiddling around with each other, they didn't find the right formula...

Absolutely amazing!!!

Su Ziyang sighed inwardly at the way these two guys thought; they must have figured out this family's scheme, which was why they hid.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's get back to the main topic. I mainly want to talk about these two patients."

Su Ziyang explained their situations in detail, "First of all, we can talk about constitution. For example, some people get a sore throat when they catch a cold, while others get a fever. That's true, isn't it? It's not unscientific, is it?"

The two nodded without speaking, indicating their agreement with Su Ziyang's words.

"So, we can explain it a bit: even with the same gallstone, the symptoms can be quite different. For example, Hao's patient mainly experienced severe pain, while the second person didn't experience much pain, but rather had diarrhea. Is that right?"

The two nodded again.

"This brings us to what I just said: 'Observe the pulse and symptoms to know the nature of the problem, and treat accordingly.' Although both patients have gallstones, their symptoms are completely different, so the medications used are different."

"But don't think that traditional Chinese medicine does this arbitrarily or without accuracy. In fact, it is more in line with the individual's condition. We can't all wear the same clothes, whether they are tall or short, fat or thin. Isn't tailor-made more humane?"

"Traditional Chinese medicine also has specific medicines for specific diseases. For example, the pteris vittata I just mentioned is a specific medicine passed down to me by a traditional Chinese medicine master, used to treat kidney stones."

"In internal medicine, there are very few diseases with specific drugs. Specific drugs are mostly used for surgical diseases, such as skin diseases and bone injuries. Without a specific drug, the disease simply cannot be cured. That's what it means to have a specific drug for a specific disease!"

Su Ziyang spoke so much in one breath that not only the two Western medicine experts were a little surprised, but even the bosses next to him listened with great interest.

"So, Doctor Su means that the pistache plant is the specific medicine for dissolving kidney stones."

Song Liangtao understood Su Ziyang's meaning and directly stated the main point.

Su Ziyang nodded, indicating that he was right. Song Yu was also completely convinced by Su Ziyang's theory.

That's how debates or the dissemination of ideas work: the burden of proof lies with the one making the statement.

Su Ziyang first used facts to speak, and then used theories to speak.

The two had no choice but to accept it.

Song Liangtao happily noted down the key points Su Ziyang had made, then took a sip of tea, licked his lips, and said, "Doctor Su, I have something to discuss with you. You mentioned we wanted to conduct an experiment with this medicine to extract the components that fight kidney stones. Is that feasible?"

Since the discovery of artemisinin, research on traditional Chinese medicine has sparked heated discussions, with people keen to conduct experiments to extract more direct and effective components to directly combat diseases.

However, most of these attempts ended in failure because most experiments ultimately found that any component we could analyze might not have a direct therapeutic effect on a particular disease.

"I think you can give it a try, but I don't know much about experiments. So it's up to you to decide. But Dr. Song and Dr. Zhang, I don't mean to discourage you, but I think the chances of success are slim."

What Su Ziyang said was true, and the two of them knew it, but being told it so bluntly still made them feel a little awkward.

Why do you say that?

Zhang Yu is straightforward; if she's unhappy, she'll say it directly and ask directly.

Su Ziyang frowned and thought for a moment, then told a story about something he had experienced during his school years.

"Glomerulonephritis, both of you should know about it. In Western medicine, infection is the main cause, such as glomerulonephritis caused by acute streptococcal infection."

Su Ziyang was referring to purely Western medical theory, which the two of them naturally understood.

"I know, but what does that have to do with kidney stones?"

Song Liangtao didn't quite understand what Su Ziyang meant for a moment.

"Haha, I'm not saying these two things are directly related. I'm just giving another example. Back in the day, there was an old traditional Chinese medicine doctor in our area who was incredibly skilled at treating glomerulonephritis, using only pure herbal medicine."

When Su Ziyang recounted this story, everyone listened intently once again.

"His treatment of this disease was almost like an old lady blowing her nose; he could cure it with a pinch and a pinch of the skin. Later, a research team approached him, wanting him to help with their experiments."

"The elderly person also wanted to contribute to the cause of traditional Chinese medicine, so they didn't refuse. They took out several of their commonly used prescriptions and asked the team to conduct research on them."

"Later, the team began analyzing the ingredients and performing various extractions. They eventually discovered that none of the ingredients in these formulas could directly kill the viruses or bacteria causing the infection..."

"The research team at the time thought the old man was hiding something, that he had a secret. So they followed him in clinical practice and found that it was indeed these few prescriptions that worked; people who took them recovered quickly. But they just couldn't get the same results in individual experiments!"

"And in the end? It failed, didn't it?"

Zhang Yu asked excitedly from the side.

"I don't know if it counts as a success or a failure. In the end, they discovered something: the extracts from the old man's prescription didn't kill viruses or bacteria, but they could isolate the virus from normal human cells!"

"The wood element of the East (甲乙木) governs growth, not destruction. Their coexistence might be a better treatment approach."