Why is pancreatic cancer "eaten"? From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the prevention and treatment hotspots of "Cancer King"
2024-08-21
In recent years, the incidence rate and mortality of pancreatic cancer in China are on the rise, and the overall five-year survival rate of patients barely reaches 10%. The "king of cancer" theory is not a myth. This article talks about the understanding of pancreatic cancer from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, hoping to be helpful to the public in the prevention and treatment of pancreatic cancer, and also to the daily adjustment of patients. Pancreatic cancer? First of all, let's talk about the pancreas. There is no such organ as the "pancreas" in ancient Chinese medical texts. Currently, most people believe that the anatomical location and physiological function of the "pancreas" are similar to that of the spleen in traditional Chinese medicine. In the book "Shi Ming Shi Xing", it is said that "the spleen, also known as the pi, is located under the stomach and assists in the digestion of stomach qi, leading to the transformation of grains. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that the spleen is one of the five organs, located in the center and responsible for transportation and digestion. Simply put, the spleen is responsible for the body's digestive and absorption functions. Because digestion and absorption are the most basic conditions for maintaining life in the human body, ancient people often referred to it as the "foundation of postnatal development". Modern medicine believes that the physiological function of the pancreas is mainly composed of endocrine and exocrine components. The endocrine function mainly secretes insulin into the bloodstream to regulate blood sugar; The exocrine function mainly secretes digestive enzymes into the small intestine to digest the three major substances of fat, protein, and starch ingested by the human body, which is also in line with the theoretical understanding of spleen function in traditional Chinese medicine. Secondly, understand the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. From the epidemiological survey, the most important risk factors for pancreatic cancer are smoking and diet. Smoking has been recognized as a risk factor for a variety of cancer diseases, and about half of pancreatic cancer can be attributed to dietary factors. As far as diet is concerned, risk factors mainly refer to meat, especially over processed meat, and the intake of high-fat and high-calorie diet. The intake of vegetables and fruits has a protective effect on the incidence of pancreatic cancer. From the perspective of disease, chronic pancreatitis, diabetes, chronic cholecystitis (gallstones), etc. are the most common risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and the occurrence of these disease factors is closely related to our eating habits, such as overeating, irregular meals, unbalanced diet, etc. Therefore, we say that the occurrence of pancreatic cancer is closely related to people's living habits, especially their eating habits. Therefore, smoking cessation, reducing the intake of meat or high-fat and high-calorie diet, avoiding overeating, having regular meals, increasing the intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, and controlling diabetes will reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the above risk factors belong to the category of "irregular diet" and overeating of "fatty, sweet, thick, and greasy products". In addition, mental factors such as long-term heavy ideological burden, high mental pressure, and depression are also increasingly valued by everyone. Traditional Chinese medicine says that "emotional internal injury", "liver depression and qi stagnation", and "qi stagnation" are also risk factors in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer. Of course, the onset of pancreatic cancer is a long process, the reason has not been clarified, and the mechanism is also very complex. Here we mainly talk about the risk factors that are related to everyone's daily life and can be avoided through their own efforts. Pancreatic cancer is highly malignant and difficult to treat. In addition to its special location and biological characteristics, another main reason is that it is difficult to detect early. Therefore, it is recommended that those who have the above-mentioned risk factors and are over 40 years old should undergo regular physical examinations, especially those who experience unexplained recurrent digestive symptoms, as well as abdominal pain, fatigue, skin itching, or blood sugar fluctuations without obvious causes, which should be treated with caution. Is dietary therapy really effective? Daily adjustment after illness is also very important. First, let's talk about the diet after pancreatic cancer. Dietotherapy has a very long history in China. When pancreatic cancer is prone to emaciation after illness, or is weak after surgery, and adverse reactions occur in chemotherapy, people hope to solve the problem of rehabilitation through "food tonic". Two points need to be reminded here. First, poor diet is one of the important factors in the incidence of pancreatic cancer, especially after the disease, whether surgery or not, the pancreas and its digestive function have already been low, combined with chemotherapy, will increase the burden of digestion; Secondly, the low levels of white blood cells and decreased platelets caused by chemotherapy or radiotherapy are mostly due to chemotherapy toxicity and radiation damage, rather than a lack of "nutrients" such as protein. Therefore, it is still necessary to avoid high protein and high calorie "food supplements", especially animal high protein foods such as turtles and eels, and increase the intake of fresh fruits and vegetables in moderation. The latter helps to restore gastrointestinal function and reduce the toxic side effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At the same time, we advocate for the principle of "eating without hating the essence" and hope to achieve careful optimization of dietary structure, especially for postoperative patients with pancreatic head cancer. Surgical treatment for such patients often requires partial resection of the stomach and duodenum, which are the main functional areas of the spleen and stomach in traditional Chinese medicine, known as the "postnatal foundation". Therefore, the postoperative spleen and stomach transport function is significantly weakened, which not only affects postoperative recovery, but also affects the overall qi and blood function and other organ functions due to insufficient transport. This is also one of the important reasons for poor chemotherapy tolerance and poor long-term survival of postoperative patients. The careful collocation and fine processing of food is the best supplement to the weakness of spleen and stomach, which can be said to be the essence of "food tonic" for pancreatic cancer patients. In this process, patients can also seek traditional Chinese medicine treatment, which is an important component of comprehensive treatment for pancreatic cancer. The purpose is to help patients recover from the disease and enhance their tolerance to western medicine treatment. For many nutritional and health products on the market, we hope everyone can choose carefully and preferably seek advice from a specialist doctor before making a purchase. How to 'move' after getting sick? How to maintain good physical condition after illness is also a widely concerned issue. Physical exercise or maintenance after illness can be understood from two aspects. One is "living within one's means", which measures the amount of exercise or daily physical exertion based on one's own dietary and nutritional status. This principle applies to the postoperative recovery period and during radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Due to weak spleen and stomach circulation, excessive consumption cannot be replenished in a timely manner, which will aggravate the deficiency of qi and blood in the body and the weakness of organ function. It emphasizes that it is not advisable to rush for success or exercise excessively. Although fatigue itself does not cause disease, prolonged excessive consumption can cause disease. The second is "measuring out to control in", which means determining dietary intake based on exercise and daily physical exertion. This principle applies to patients who have recovered from a disease or are in a stable period of the disease. At this time, the spleen and stomach function is gradually recovering, and the patient can basically resume daily life. The physical energy consumption is relatively high, and the dietary intake is also increased. However, at this time, special attention should be paid to avoiding the same mistakes as before the disease, emphasizing less meat and more vegetables, a reasonable diet, and not excessive consumption. The complementary principles of "keeping expenditures within limits" and "keeping expenditures within limits" are necessary to achieve a good steady state. Overall, the general principle of physical exercise and dietary management is moderation. 'Suitable' refers to adapting to oneself, not a uniform standard. Especially for elderly patients, the focus of health preservation, elderly care, and disease recovery is on "nurturing" rather than pursuing a specific goal. The saying 'humble benefits, full recruitment of losses' is also suitable for physical maintenance. Although pancreatic cancer is highly malignant, we strive to objectify different problems in the specific treatment and rehabilitation, so as to be aware of them and face them calmly. (New Society)
Edit：HAN ZHUOLING Responsible editor：CAICAI
Source：whb.cn
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