I Can Hear the Heart's Voice of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Chapter 428 - 176: Guange (Chronic Renal Insufficiency) (Part 2)

Chapter 428: Chapter 176: Guange (Chronic Renal Insufficiency) (Part 2)

While Lu Xuan was diagnosing Old Li, Liu Shao watched curiously from the side. Seeing Lu Xuan write down a lot of Old Li’s conditions in the medical record, Liu couldn’t help but think of some situations he’d encountered in hospitals before, and said, "Nowadays, Western medicine doctors rarely write case files. Although it saves a lot of time, it also brings a lot of trouble to patients. When switching hospitals or doctors, it’s difficult to know the previous diagnosis and prescription, making differential diagnosis more challenging. Patients also have a hard time understanding their own health situation."

"Of course, even if they write it, it’s useless. What Western doctors write looks like ghostly scribbles, nobody can understand it except themselves. Unlike traditional Chinese medicine doctors, worried that patients might not understand, they even write their cases in neat regular script."

"Western medicine doctors actually do write; they just don’t write in the medical record books anymore. They operate on computers now."

"What’s that like? Writing just for themselves? Can’t patients know what’s going on with themselves? What medicine they’ve taken? What judgments the doctor made?" Liu Shao said with a curl of his lips.

"Moreover, if I remember correctly, Western doctors used to write things down as well. It’s just that suddenly, for some reason, they stopped."

"Writing case files has always been a tradition passed down, whether in Western or Chinese medicine. Why has Western medicine skipped this step, while Chinese medicine still adheres to it?" It was apparent that Liu Shao had deep grievances against Western medicine, especially having observed issues while treating diabetes over the years.

"It’s not so much that Chinese medicine insists on it. If I were to use a word, it would be ’inheritance,’" Lu Xuan explained.

"Inheritance?" Liu Shao frowned.

Lu Xuan nodded and said, "Medical records are a result of the evolution of the medical system in society. The purpose is consistent—it is to record the condition, establish a file, confirm the illness, summarize experiences, and even serve as teaching reference, among other uses.

It essentially involves datafying the condition, standardizing it, verbalizing it, or even setting conventional norms.

According to modern physics views, the description of a thing involves time and space elements, and ancient Chinese had their own expression of these elements.

For instance, introducing concepts of time and space through cyclical systems like Five Elements, Six Climatic Cycles, and the Twelve-Hour Meridian Flow models.

Some schools of medical cases only focus on describing symptoms and pulse images without accurate records of age, or noting which solar terms they became ill.

Meanwhile, some physicians, with deep understanding of Five Elements and Six Climatic Cycles, might record diagnosis down to the year, month, and day, even noting the cyclical signs.

This is a habitual practice, which also adds notes on the time of illness.

The "Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor" also detailed the impact of Nine Palaces and Eight Winds on human health. Time field and space field have distinct influences on the human body.

Just like the same ailment may require different drugs at different times, differing between spring and summer, as well as autumn and winter.

These factors are all elements forming diseases. Many components form a single thing, but what is the focus? How to simplify the model is in itself a reflection of the understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of disease."

"No wonder Chinese medicine doctors still write case files, while Western medicine has abandoned this practice." Liu Shao realized.

"So, Dr. Lu, can my friend’s father’s condition be treated with traditional Chinese medicine?" Although Liu Shao was curious about these matters, he hadn’t forgotten the main issue.

"Of course, he can use traditional Chinese medicine."

Lu Xuan thought for a moment and said, "But his condition is quite severe, so the adjustment period will not be short. If you really want to see effects, it will take at least ten days to half a month. As for reducing serum creatinine and urine protein levels to a slightly normal state, it might even take two to three months."

"A longer time is fine, as long as he can live almost like a normal person afterward." Li Chengyuan quickly said.

"Dr. Lu, how much would it cost for such a long period of medication?" For Old Li, the concern was not whether his illness could be cured but how much the treatment would cost and whether he could afford it.

However, before Lu Xuan could speak, Liu Shao comforted him, "Uncle, don’t worry about the cost. Traditional Chinese medicine doesn’t cost much. A week’s worth of medicine might cost a little over a hundred yuan on your dime, maybe not even a hundred. Monthly expenses would be just a few hundred yuan, not even as much as two dialysis sessions, so rest easy and get treated here with Dr. Lu.

Dr. Lu has said this, so he must be confident. He said two to three months, but I think you may not even need two months to bring those abnormal indicators back to normal."

Lu Xuan smiled wryly. He originally wanted to say something along the lines of not guaranteeing a cure, but seeing the uncle’s lack of confidence, he thought better and kept quiet.

Nonetheless, Liu Shao’s words had some effect; Old Li felt a little relieved after hearing them.

"If a month’s medicine is just a few hundred yuan, that’s okay, that’s okay."

Seeing Old Li’s cautious demeanor, Lu Xuan couldn’t help but take a deep breath, feeling a mix of emotions.

Although Chinese medicine also has diseases that cannot be cured, there are not many cases where, like Western medicine, unsuccessful treatment leads to patients falling back into poverty. Western medicine often incurs astronomical costs in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, which, for many people, is equivalent to bearing a heavy burden on an already difficult life, making it hard to even breathe.

Otherwise, Old Li wouldn’t say such things.

Lu Xuan had little doubt that if Liu Shao mentioned high costs of treatment, the other party might directly choose to give up treatment, not wanting to be a burden on his son.

For many, a monthly treatment cost of several hundred yuan may be no more than a meal, but for someone like Old Li, it might be enough to make him give up the will to live.

The harsh reality left Lu Xuan feeling a bit down.

"Dr. Lu, could you prescribe some medicine, preferably enough for more than half a month? My brother and I have just come to Yong City, and haven’t found jobs yet. Your appointments are hard to get, so two weeks of buffer time would be convenient."

Liu Shao’s words brought Lu Xuan back to reality.

"Yes, yes, Dr. Lu, can you prescribe a half-month’s worth of medicine?" Li Chengyuan quickly asked.

From the conversations between them, Lu Xuan also realized that Old Li had probably exhausted most of his savings for treatment. Otherwise, he wouldn’t consider giving up treatment, so he nodded, "Alright."

"Thank you, Dr. Lu." Li Chengyuan immediately thanked him.

Lu Xuan shook his head slightly and then buried himself in writing, scribbling the prescription on the bottom of the medical record.

Prescription: Modification of Golden Cabinet Kidney Qi Pill.

Medicine: Astragalus 50 g, White Atractylodes 30 g, Rehmannia Glutinosa, Dioscorea, Cornelian Cherry, Coix Seed each 20 g, Polygonum, Fuling, Peony Bark, cinnamon, processed aconite slice (pre-cooked), Dried Tangerine Peel, River cow knee, Cicada Shell, Scutellaria baicalensis, Baked Licorice each 10 g, Rhubarb 6 g. 14 doses, taken one dose daily, decocted with water.

After writing, he handed the medical record directly to Ji Xiuwen.

Ji Xiuwen glanced at the differentiation process and prescription Lu Xuan wrote, slightly frowned, pondering some unclear aspects to ask about later, then planned to register the prescription into the system.

But Liu Shao, on the other hand, seemed curious about this aspect: "Dr. Lu, could you explain the medical principles behind the prescription you’ve written?"

Li Chengyuan was surprised. Are you allowed to ask about such things?

He didn’t know, as previously, no doctor had ever explained things so clearly.

According to his understanding, it was like, ’I prescribed the medicine, you just take it.’ As for the underlying medical principles, patients didn’t need to know much.

However, Li Chengyuan also knew that Liu Shao was quite curious about Chinese medicine, so it was normal for him to ask.

After all, the reason he followed Liu Shao’s live broadcasts was mainly that Liu would talk about some stories related to Chinese medicine and his medical experiences over the years, promoting Chinese medicine while receiving treatment himself.

Especially after Liu Shao found Lu Xuan, more and more people began to pay attention to Liu Shao, and as his health condition improved, Liu Shao personally became more curious about Chinese medicine.

With such a great opportunity now, how could he pass it up?