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由西医转学中医的高军
我曾听闻并见过不少老一辈西医改学中医的大夫，有的还成为中医名家。但新一代西医中改学中医的还不多见。有一次我云游到大连参加一个民间中医的聚会，在新结识的民间中医里，居然发现了一个西医转学中医的大夫，大家感觉彼此投缘，就成了朋友。他的名字叫高军，毕业于哈尔滨医科大学，毕业后一直在黑龙江七台河市矿务局总医院铁东分院骨伤科工作，现已担任主治医师。虽然他学的是西医，但是他与中医的缘分早在上大学之前就很深了，那时他16岁，已经跟着民间中医学中医，到现在也一直在学习和实践中医。他说读大学时报考西医，是为了用现代科技来改造中医。可是自从分到医院工作后，他才发现自己的理想正好要掉头：用中医改造西医才对。因为西医在治病疗效上远远不如中医，但这还不是最要紧的，他对西医最大的担忧是日趋严重的西药和手术的副作用。
我对这个科班出身的西医充满好奇，就问他西医骨伤科一般怎么治病。他说西医一般以用药为主，比如用的较多的就是芬必得、安芬黛英片等止痛类药，可惜长期服用这些药伤肝、伤肾，副作用很大，医生自己得病就不太用这类药。我自己对此深有体会，因为常常有给别人动手术治疗腰椎间盘突出的医生来找我治疗，问其为何不做手术，答曰：凶多吉少！西医的另一大疗法是物理疗法，相当于中医的外治，可是疗效也不好，跟中医外治没法比。我问何以见得？他说你见过西医外治敢跟中医外治打擂台的吗？客观情况的确如此，因为我治疗的重病号几乎全是在著名医院内治外治都无效才来找我的。他感慨地说，医院用得最多而且最赚钱的疗法就是手术。
我问他自己用西医治好过什么病，他没有直接回答我的问题，而是婉转地说，他虽然在医院以西医的名义看病，但是最后要治好病还得用中药，包括自制的药丸和药膏。他坦言自己在西医院工作了十几年，发现西医有太多令人恐怖的弊端，从检查、化验，到用药和手术，西医都把简单问题复杂化，为的是多赚钱。出于良心的觉醒，他干脆一咬牙创立了“中国绿色健康网”宣扬中医。因为他本人是西医，所以他一直小心翼翼避开对西医的直接批评，而是婉转地表达西医在临床上的确没什么有效的方法。他对西医的要求很低：不把病人治出新病就不错了。他说自己真正用来治病的有效方法几乎全部来自中医，而且是民间中医。于是他上班时是西医，下班后就变成了中医。
高军主治的病类是腰骨伤痛、关节炎、类风湿等。由于他本身是西医，又长期在医院工作，所以对西医如何处理这类病了如指掌。他说西医对仪器设备的依赖是中医难以想象的，无论什么病，只要到了西医手里就得搞一大堆检查。据他估计，仅仅腰椎间盘突出这一项，每年全国人民的花费就有几百亿，光检查费也得几十亿，所以各种名目的检查成了西医的生财之道。比如只要是腰痛，西医都得让病人去接受X光、CT、核磁共振的检查，再加上血常规检查，病还没治，一千多元就花掉了。可是如果真的查出问题，要么用西药治不了，要么就诱逼病人做手术。医生是权威，病人谁敢不服从？做手术最省事，而且最赚钱，所以医院对手术乐此不疲。于是病人被“很人性化”地抬上了手术台，因为给病人打了麻药，所以应该被称为“人性化的屠宰”。手术永远是“成功”的，但病却往往不仅没治好，反而加剧！高军一直在学中医，所以他用了很专业的中医词汇描述西医之害，他说手术势必伤气伤血，令患者更易受风寒湿的侵入而形成气滞，气滞则血淤，会进一步加重病情。由此可见，即是再“人性化的屠宰”也毕竟要动刀流血啊！不仅如此，昂贵的手术费用大大增加了患者负担，通常做个腰椎的手术，在小医院得花上万，在大医院就得花好几万。让人宰割也不是免费的！
我问他同样的病，用中医治疗是什么情形。他说用中医治疗，花几元钱或几十元可能就治好了，而西医则花了几千、几万元不仅治不好，还落下病根和副作用。我反复问他是否有西医治好的案例？这些真难倒他了。他挠头想了很久，却没想出一例。对！连一例都没有！我说难道你在医院呆了十几年就没用西医治好过一例？他沉重的摇摇头说，如果用西医，我不把人治坏就不错了！我让他举例说明中医的疗效，他立刻来了神，列举了一串真实的案例。为保证信誉，他列举的第一个最典型的案例就是他自己所在医院的一位西医大夫，此人患股骨头坏死，每晚痛得不能翻身，拄拐杖都三年了，用西医久治无效。可尽管如此，他死活也不让西医做手术。这几乎成为当今惯例：如同养猪的不吃猪，养鱼的不吃鱼，许多做手术的西医自己不做手术，而私下里请民间大夫治疗。该西医最后实在没辙，才请高军用其自制的中医药膏给他治疗，结果七天就见效，一个月以后治好。写到这里顺便提一句，用本书推荐的“拍打拉筋自愈法”治疗股骨头坏死有奇效。目前案例已经不少，其中一位辽宁人患双侧股骨头坏死，在医行天下培训中心开业的当天，只拉筋十分钟左右，就可做正常下蹲、上下台阶等一系列患者以前不可能做的动作。如此奇效，令全场轰动。三个月后我在辽宁再次碰到他，他说早已放弃吃药，却不再疼痛。于是为了推广拉筋，他自己专门开了一个拉筋馆。
我让高军再举一例中医有效案例，为了表明其所言不虚，他举了治疗一个类风湿的病例，患者也是当地医疗界的干部，因西医久治无效，高军才接手用中医治。他让患者口服他自制的面药近三个月，结果达到了临床治愈。我问何谓临床治愈？他说就是水肿消失、疼痛消失，停药后维持临床治疗效果。我问他的这个药方是哪来的，他说是跟师父学的，连药也是他自己跟师父上山采回，然后自己配制的。当然，他说中医并非包医百病，民间中医里头也有好有坏，混钱蒙人的也有。但总体而言，他认为中医的优势是西医无法比拟的。于是我们聊得更远，列举的例子更多……
后来高军也到了北京，我们再次见面神聊时，才发现他已经不单纯依赖内服中药和膏药，并开始跟民间中医学手法外治，因为他发现外治的疗效又好又快，常常令其瞠目结舌，这让他对中医的信心更足了。面对这个由西医主治医师转变而成的民间中医，再看着他自制的药丸和膏药，我心理充满欣慰、遐想、矛盾和荒谬之感。毕竟，中国又多了个师带徒出来的中医！不过，想学中医的西医听了这个故事，面对道德、利益、前途、事业等诸多的矛盾，便可能进入一种哈姆雷特式的彷徨：To be, or not to be? 到底学，还是不学？
Gao Jun’s Transition from Practicing Western Medicine to Chinese Medicine
I have heard of and met quite a few elderly doctors of Western medicine turning to study Chinese medicine, some of whom went on to become TCM masters. This phenomenon is rare among younger doctors.
Once I went to Dalian to attend a conference of folk doctors and got to know one such doctor named Gao Jun. We hit it off and soon became friends. Gao studied at Harbin Medical University, and since graduation, he has been working at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology in the hospital of a mining company in Heilongjiang province in northern China. At the time we met, he was an attending physician. Although his academic background was Western medicine, his bond with Chinese medicine had started long before college. Gao began to learn from folk doctors at 16, and has been learning and practicing Chinese medicine ever since.
“I studied Western medicine at college hoping to transform Chinese medicine with modern sci-tech Western medicine. But when I began actual work at the hospital, I found that, contrary to my previous ideal, Western medicine needs to be transformed by Chinese medicine, for it falls far behind Chinese medicine in efficacy; more importantly, my biggest concern now is the increasingly rampant drug use and severe side effects of Western medicine and surgery.” said Gao.
“How do you treat orthopedic diseases as a doctor of Western medicine?” I asked out of curiosity.
“Medication, painkillers in many cases.” he replied.
Then he went on to explain that prolonged intake of these drugs impairs functions of the liver and kidney and has severe side effects. Doctors try to avoid taking these drugs themselves.
I knew this from my personal experience. Often, doctors who operate on patients with lumbar disc herniation would come to me to receive my treatment. When asked why not undergo an operation, their reply was, “It brings more bad than good.”
Gao then said, “The efficacy of Physiotherapy in Western medicine could not compare with that of external therapies in Chinese medicine.”
“How come?” I asked.
“Have you seen a doctor of Western medicine bold enough to challenge a doctor of Chinese medicine on the efficacy of external treatment?” was his reply.
This is indeed the case, for the gravely ill patients that I have treated are almost invariably those who failed to find a cure after trying medication, surgery and external treatments at famous hospitals.
Gao sighed, “Surgery is the most common and lucrative option in a hospital.”
“What diseases have you cured with therapies of Western medicine?” I asked.
He did not give me a direct answer. Instead, he said, “Although I work as a Western doctor, when it comes to actually curing a disease, I use Chinese medicine, including tablets and ointments that I prepare myself.”
He confessed that having worked in the hospital for over 10 years, he had found so many horrendous malpractices in Western medicine. It tends to complicate simple matters, from checks, tests, medication to surgery, and for the sake of making more money. Out of conscience, he started a website called “China Green Health” to promote Chinese medicine.
As a doctor of Western medicine, he very cautiously tried to avoid direct criticism of Western medicine. He tactfully put it this way, “Western medicine has yet to provide an effective cure. I do not expect much from doctors of Western medicine — Just DO NOT induce new diseases in patients. I rely almost entirely on Chinese medicine, or more exactly, folk medicine, for a genuinely effective cure. At work, I am a doctor of Western medicine; after working hours, I am a doctor of Chinese medicine.”
Gao Jun specializes in treating such diseases as waist bone pain, arthritis and rheumatoid. As a doctor of Western medicine having worked in hospital for over a decade, he knows exactly how such diseases are treated by doctors of Western medicine. Its reliance on medical devices and equipment is hard to imagine for a doctor of Chinese medicine.
Whatever disease a patient has, he has to go through a number of checks and tests. According to his estimation, each year, money spent on treating lumbar disc herniation in China amounts to tens of billions RMB, with billions spent on checks and tests alone. What a great way to make money!
The common practice for a doctor of Western medicine works like this: Whoever has lower back pain has to undergone X-ray, CT, MRI and routine blood tests. Before actual treatment, the patient may have already spent over a thousand yuan (a unit of Chinese currency). If indeed a problem is found, he has to take Western medicine, or be induced or forced to undergo an operation. How could a patient possibly disobey the authoritative doctor?
Surgery is the most convenient and lucrative option. Hospitals simply love it, and patients are carried to the operation table with great care. Thanks to anaesthetics, a patient who is cut open can somehow maintain his dignity. The operation is almost always “successful”, but the disease itself, more often than not, is not cured. Quite on the contrary, it tends to worsen.
Gao has been learning Chinese medicine over the years, so he used the terms of Chinese medicine to describe the hazards that Western medicine brings: Even the most “humane” operation involves cutting and bleeding. Surgery inevitably disrupts and weakens Qi and blood circulation, making the patient more vulnerable to external influences of wind, cold and dampness. This causes Qi to stagnate, leading to slow or stagnated blood flow. This will further aggravate the patient’s condition. To make matters worse, the high cost of an operation is a huge burden on the patient. A lumbar disc operation costs more than 10,000yuan at a small hospital; in a big one, it can cost several times that much. After all, getting “slaughtered” is not cost-free.
I asked, “What happens if you use therapies of Chinese medicine to treat the same disease?”
He replied, “Just several or dozens of yuan will do; whereas thousands of yuan spent on tests and treatments of Western medicine cannot buy a cure, and the patient can potentially suffer side effects.”
I repeatedly asked whether he had actually cured a disease with Western medicine. It beat him. He scratched his head and thought for a long time, but could not come up with one such case. Right, none at all!
“You have worked in hospital for over a decade, and yet you cannot even provide one successful case?” I asked.
He slowly shook his head and said, “If I use Western medicine, it would be great if the patient is not ‘mis-treated’.”
I asked him to exemplify the efficacy of Chinese medicine, and he instantly got invigorated and listed some genuine cases. To ensure the authenticity, the first typical case he gave was one of his colleagues who suffered from necrosis of the femoral head. It used to give him so much pain that he could not turn over at night. He had walked with crutches for three years and there was no improvement after prolonged treatment of Western medicine. In spite of this, he simply refused to have an operation. This has almost become today’s secret “code of conduct” among doctors — Just like people who refuse to eat the meat of pigs or fish they breed (for they’ve added so much toxic “nutrients” to speed up their growth), many surgeons refuse to go under the surgical knife themselves. Instead, they choose to seek treatment from folk doctors of Chinese medicine in private. His colleague had no other choice but to ask Gao to apply the self-made ointment on him. It worked in seven days, and a month later, he was cured.
Just to cut in here, the PaidaLajin (slapping and stretching) self-healing method recommended in this book has wonderful healing effect on necrosis of the femoral head. Up to now, there have been many successful cases. One was a man in Liaoning province who suffered from bilateral necrosis of the femoral head. On the opening day ofour E-TaoTraining Centre in Beijing, he came and stretched on a Lajin bench for around 10 minutes. Then he was able to squat, walk up and downstairs normally, postures impossible for him prior to stretching. It became an instant sensation among the attendees. Three months later, when I met him again in his hometown, he told me that he had long stopped medication, and had no more pain. Soon after his amazing healing experience, he opened a stretching salon to promote PaidaLajin.
I asked Gao to give me one more example. This time, he gave me a case of rheumatoid arthritis. The patient was an official in the local medical circle. As he had failed to find an effective cure after repeated treatments of Western medicine, Gao took in the patient and asked him to take herbal powder he had prepared. After approximately three months, he was clinically healed.
“What do you mean by ‘clinically healed’?” I asked.
“No more edema or pain, and the clinical curative effect sustained after medication is stopped.” was his reply.
“Where did you get the prescription?” I asked.
“From my master. I went uphill to pick medicinal herbs with my master and made the powder myself. But again, Chinese medicine is not a cure for all, and there are good and bad folk doctors. There are quacks who coax patients for money. But overall, Western medicine cannot compare with Chinese medicine.” He said.
We continued our conversation and he listed more cases...
Later, Gao came to stay in Beijing as well. When we met again, he had already started to learn external therapies from folk doctors. He found that those therapies worked stunningly fast and well. This gave him more confidence in Chinese medicine. Seeing his transition from an attending physician of Western medicine to a folk doctor of Chinese medicine, and the pills and ointments he prepared, I had a mixed feeling of relief, fancy, contradiction and absurdity. After all, here was another doctor of Chinese medicine trained in the master-disciple style. But, for a doctor of Western medicine aspiring to learn Chinese medicine, when faced with the many contradictions of morality, material gains and career prospect, he could be undecided, just like Hamlet in William Shakespeare’s play — To be, or not to be?
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