Most lung cancer patients, whether treated or not, are chronically plagued by symptoms, with cough being the most common.
Because lung cancer tumors are located in the middle of the airway, mechanical stimulation of obstruction and sputum accumulation may directly or indirectly stimulate the mechanical receptors frequently, resulting in excessive coughing, or the substances secreted by tumor cells will stimulate or increase the sensitivity of peripheral nerves to further induce coughing.
This type of cough is characterized by intermittent or paroxysmal irritating cough, which has a feeling of incomplete coughing, generally no sputum, or only a small amount of white foamy sputum, which can be bloody, usually with a long course of illness and easy to recur.
It should be noted that cough control is very troublesome, first of all, cough will aggravate breathing difficulties, pain, fatigue, insomnia and other symptoms, enhance the patient's anxiety, and even some patients will feel that it is not the limit is coming, can not survive. Secondly, in addition to the impact of coughing on daily life, what is more frightening is that it may lead to a series of consequences such as lung infection, bloating, chest pain, constipation, and enlarged lumps - it seems that the "parts" of the entire body are scattered with a cough.
So, how should we effectively solve the cough problem?
In the modern medical Western medicine system, when treating such coughs, etiological treatment, antitussive therapy and expectorant therapy are usually used, including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, targeted therapy and other means to control tumors, or with various types of cough syrup, antitussive drugs, opioid derivatives and other symptomatic treatment to alleviate symptoms.
How effective are the above methods? Are there any major limitations in western medicine alone?
Mr. Fei, 56, went to a local hospital in early May 2019 for a cough that gradually worsened over the next month, and the results suggested suspected lung cancer. Subsequently, he went to the cancer hospital for further investigation, CT suggested lung cancer in the lower lobe of the left lung, and surgical resection was performed on May 29, and postoperative pathology suggested alveolar adenocarcinoma.
Mr. Fei coughed frequently after the operation, especially after full food.
On the advice of his doctor, he began to take various cough medicines, however, after more than 1 month of treatment, the cough still did not improve significantly.
In fact, Western medicine generally has a relatively good effect on other symptoms of lung cancer, but for the management of cough symptoms, evidence-based practice is still less, so that lung cancer patients can not get the desired treatment effect of cough. If the cough of lung cancer patients is not effectively controlled for a long time, it can easily turn into a stubborn cough. At present, Mr. Fei's family is anxious to inquire about methods, hoping to seek help from Chinese medicine.
The east side is not bright, the west side is bright!
When Mr. Fei came down to the clinic accompanied by his family, it was already the middle of July, and Mr. Fei's face was slightly redder than normal because of his severe cough. Symptoms: cough without sputum, acid reflux, belching, pharyngeal discomfort, and self-conscious weakness, red tongue and yellow greasy. Combined with his condition and the current dialectics, he was treated with gastric reversal, clearing the lungs and dissolving phlegm and cough.
Recipe: Swirling flower (bun frying), calcined ochre, ginger half summer, shoot dry, platycodon stem, hot loquat leaf, hot aster, hot winter flower, lung-shaped grass, comfrey, madder, bean root, poria, fried white art, taizi ginseng, raw rice kernel, fried rice kernel, white grass root, white hair vine. A total of 14 doses, decoction. (Note: Do not grab the medicine yourself, the condition is different, the dosage and the basic formula also vary from illness to illness, from person to person.) ）
Second diagnosis after taking the drug: The last time he came to the clinic, Mr. Fei coughed because of his severe cough, he coughed before saying a few words, so the condition information was described by his son; and this time, Mr. Fei could express it normally, according to him, the cough had improved significantly after taking the medicine, and the acid reflux, belching, and fatigue were also significantly reduced, but there was still discomfort in the pharynx.
So according to Mr. Fei's situation, the prescription was readjusted, adding burdock seeds and xiqingguo. Continue taking 14 doses. When I returned to the clinic again, the cough had basically healed, my physical strength had returned to normal, and the rest of the symptoms had disappeared. Chemotherapy treatment was then initiated, and traditional Chinese medicine was still taken during chemotherapy to prevent and alleviate the toxic side effects of chemotherapy.
In the treatment of lung cancer cough, Chinese medicine will often consider many factors to achieve the effect of treating the disease, such as considering the characteristics of insufficient qi and blood after lung cancer surgery, lung yin deficiency, often on the basis of the original formula to add tonic qi and blood, nourish yin and lungs, emphasizing cough and not forgetting to make up for deficiency.
Just as the above formula, swirling flowers, calcined ochre, ginger half summer and stomach reversal; shoot dry with orange stems, one liter and one drop, publicize the lungs and scatter evil, sharp throat and cough; hot loquat leaves, hot aster, hot winter flowers are commonly used clinical medicine pairs, hot loquat leaf taste bitter cold, clear lung qi, hot aster, hot winter flowers warm and moist, run lung cough; lung-shaped grass, comfrey, madder is also commonly used medicine pairs, comfrey, madder cool blood, lung-shaped grass clear lung cough, three medicines combined to clear the hot and cool blood, activate the blood and dispel the wind; mountain bean root clear heat and pharynx; poria, fried white, Prince ginseng tonify the lungs and vitality, strengthen the spleen and dissolve wetness; add raw rice kernels, fried rice kernels, white grass roots, white hair vines, spleen and dampness, detoxification, and can still resist tumors. The combination of various medicines plays together and has the effect of reducing stomach reversal, clearing the lungs and relieving cough, and helping the qi.
It should be noted that the patient's type of evidence is often complex and changeable, and the disease will be in a dynamic change, and the information such as the pathogenic disease position involving the internal organs is also in dynamic change, so the actual treatment needs to be combined with the patient's personal situation to dispatch the prescription and adjust with the evidence.