A New Approach for the Treatment of Myelodysplastic Syndrome

¡ª¡ªHemogenesis Regulation Method
Shijiazhuang Ping¡¯an HospitalShijiazhuang Doctoral Institute of Hemopathy

Liu QingchiWu Weihai
¡¡¡¡ There is currently no specific therapeutics available for MDS using the theory of Western Medicine. In most cases the patients have to rely on blood transfusion to keep their lives. And about 20%-30% of them eventually developed into acute leukemia. The Hematology Department of Ping¡¯an Hospital has taken it as our major research topic to develop a new method to treat MDS using the combined efforts of Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine. According to the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine, MDS belongs to the category of diseases of ¡°Deficiency Dystic Diseases¡± and ¡°Bone Marrow Toxins¡±. Its causes are associated with environmental pollution and contact histories of exposure to chemical or radioactive substances. Its fundamental pathogenesis lies in the hidden accumulation of pathogens and toxins inside the body and insufficiency of kidney essence. The kidney governs the bone system. The kidney can store essence that governs the generation of bone marrow just like the functions of the five Zang organs. The accumulated pathogens and toxins exhaust the essence and blood somberly and cause the insufficiency of kidney essence. The clinical symptoms include anemia, a pale face or yellowish complexion, pale lips and pale nails, tiredness and short of strength and dizziness, heart palpitation and shortness of breath in serious cases. The pathogens and toxins transform into heat pathogens and causes fever. The heat pathogens force the blood to circulate abnormally and thus causes hemorrhages in the nasal cavity and the gum. The accumulated pathogens and toxins cause hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. We developed a new method for the treatment of MDS, Hemogenesis Regulation Method. It is the combination of Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, with theories of Chinese Medicine to analyze and differentiate the disease and theories of Western Medicine to ascertain its pathogenesis. The most recent pharmacological studies show that many Chinese herbal medicines can regulate and control the proliferation and differentiation of hematopoietic cells at the genetic and molecular levels. For example, arsenous acid can enhance the differentiation and apoptosis of nromyelocytes by degrading PML/RAR¦Á gene products, climbing nightshade can control the proliferation of K562 cells and cause necrosis in them, and tetrandra root can decrease the expression of multi drug resistant genes. And there are other Chinese herbal medicines that can control the differentiation and proliferation of blood cells through their influences on the hematopoietic stromal cells. Based on these studies, we developed the Hemogenesis Regulation Method for the treatment of MDS to cure the abnormalities in hematopoiesis and restore the hematopoietic function. Clinically we divided the cases of MDS into two groups, the high-risk group and the low-risk group. In the low-risk group most of the patients are with refracrory anemia (RA), RA with ring sideroblast (RAS) or refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia (RCMD). Their major symptoms include dizziness, tiredness, mental confusion and shortness of breath, a pale or yellowish face, pale nails, a pale tongue and thready pulses. The principle therapeutic strategy is to tonify the kidney and nourish the essence. The aim of this strategy is to actively enhance the generation of normal blood cells. The subsidiary therapeutic strategy is to clear away the pathogens and toxins. The aim of this strategy is to inhibit the generation of abnormal blood cells. In the high-risk group most of the patients are with RA with an excess of blast (RAEB). Their major symptoms include anemia with fever, hemorrhage, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly and dark tongues with yellow coating. The principle therapeutic strategy is to clear away the toxins and remove blood stasis. This strategy is to regulate the hematopoietic function of the bone marrow and block the generation of abnormal blood cells. The subsidiary therapeutic strategy is to tonify the kidney and nourish the essence. This strategy is to enhance the generation of normal blood cells.
¡¡¡¡The Foot Bath Hematogenesis Method: According to the theory of acupuncture and meridian in Traditional Chinese Medicine, the feet are very rich in acupuncture points. The acupuncture points which can influence hematogenesis include y¨¯ngqun, zhoh¨£i, tix¨©, shu¨«qun, ji¨§x¨©, ldu, nitng, ch¨­ngyng, y¨«nbi, tibi, s¨¡ny¨©nji¨¡o, g¨­ngs¨±n, sh¨¡ngqi¨±, k¨±nln, sh¨¥nmi and zhy¨©n. These acupuncture points are connected to the Zangfu-organs with the collaterals. The theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that stimulating these acupuncture points can have the functions of dredging the vital channel Qi, nursing and regulating the vital Qi and blood, and regulating the functions of the Zangfu-organs.

¡¡¡¡Modern holographic biology believes that every part of the body has a corresponding echoing area in the foot area. Stimulating these echoing areas can result in physiological responses and changes in their respective corresponding parts in the body and thus cure the illness in those areas.

¡¡¡¡Based on the theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern holographic biology, together with our clinical experiences, we successfully developed the Foot Bath Hematogenesis Method. This method uses Chinese herbal medicines with the functions of tonifying the kidney, invigorating blood circulation or nourishing the blood in the foot bath. At the same time the acupuncture points in the foot area are massaged. This method can restore the hematopoietic function of the bone marrow and regenerate blood cells by dredging the channel vital Qi, nursing and regulating the vital Qi and blood, tonifying the kidney, and invigorating and nourishing the blood. Using this kind of Foot Bath Hematogenesis Method to treat MDS is initiated by our hospital. There are no similar reports from other hospitals.
Ion Penetration Method: Ion penetration agent is a kind of new formulation developed as the result of the combination of pharmaceutics and physical therapy in clinical use. The active ingredients of the Chinese herbal medicine are first extracted and then are prepared into a kind of solution with certain concentrations. Then put a certain amount of this solution onto a part of the surface of the body with gauze or other bibulous materials and use a direct current to force the medicines to penetrate into the skin. After the medicines are absorbed by the body and they would take their effects locally or systemically. This kind of formulation is suitable for those drugs whose molecule is polar or can become polar in an electric field. The theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine believe that the Zangfu-organs are connected with the surface of the body through collaterals and acupoints. So we can regulate the functions of the Zangfu-organs by stimulating the acupoints on the surface of the body. The Ion Penetration Method is developed based on the theory of ¡°treating the internal illness with an external method¡±. It is a combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern science and technology.
¡¡¡¡Shijiazhuang Ping¡¯an Hospital is the first hospital in China that uses the Ion Penetration Method for the treatment of MDS. The medicines with the functions of replenishing essence, nourishing the bone marrow, tonifying the kidney, nourishing the blood, clearing away toxins and expelling pathogens are placed around the acupuncture points in the stomach, spleen and kidney area. Under the action of the electric field, the ions of these medicines are forced to the corresponding Zangfu-organs along the meridians. By this method the medicines can act directly on the Zangfu-organs and exert their effects of tonifying the kidney, invigorating and nourishing the blood. Our numerous clinical practices show that there are no apparent side effects using this method to treat MDS. And this method is well tolerated. It can significantly increase the cure rate and remission rate of MDS when used together with other methods.
¡¡¡¡The Hemogenesis Regulation Method is developed as a perfect combination of the oral administration method, the foot bath method and the ion penetration method. The pathogenesis of this disease is ascertained using the theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Chinese herbal medicines used are carefully chosen according to the risk groups the patients belong to and their specific symptoms and signs.
¡¡¡¡With the synergic effects of oral administration and external treatment, this method greatly enhanced the curative effects of this refractory disease.
The Clinical Symptoms of MDS
¡¡¡¡Most of the onsets of MDS are hidden and abrupt. It occurs mostly in the middle-aged and the elderly males. About 70% of the patients are 50 years old or older. It rarely occurs in children but its incidence in youngsters was increasing in recent years. The first symptom of MDS is not characteristic and some patients experienced no apparent subjective symptoms. Most of the patients suffered from dizziness, short of strength, epigastric discomfort and arthralgia. Many of the cases started from anemia, which can be considered as the first symptom in diagnosis. This kind of anemia often lasts for several months to several years. About 20%-60% of the cases were accompanied with hemorrhagic diathesis of different severities, including dermal petechiae, gingival bleeding or epistaxis. Alimentary canal or cerebral hemorrhages may be observed in serious cases. This kind of hemorrhage is associated with thrombocytopenia. In some cases the patients were also suffering from malfunctions of thrombocytes. About half of the patients experienced fever during the course of their MDS. This kind of fever is associated with infections, mostly infections in respiratory tract. Other kinds of infections include septecemia, perianal infections and infections in perineum. The type of this kind of fever is uncertain. Infections or hemorrhages were the major causes of death in those cases that did not develop into acute leukemia. There may be moderate or mild hepatomegaly or splenomegaly in some cases. Painless enlargements of lymph nodes occurred in a small number of patients. Some exceptional patients experienced tenderness of the sternom.
The Treatment of MDS ¡¡¡ú¡úfirst
 
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