Confronting photos of the bruised and swollen body of the Chinese actor Xu Ting widely circulated after her death have been used to highlight the dangers of using traditional Chinese therapies over conventional medicine for treating cancer. “Frankly, traditional Chinese medicine is also painful,” Xu wrote as a caption underneath one of the images of the treatment she posted to her blog. Her death has sparked a debate in the Chinese media about the use and effectiveness of Chinese therapies. On the Chinese news website people.cn, the head of the traditional Chinese medicine department at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, Dr Feng Li, wrote that Chinese therapies should not be blamed for Xu’s death. “Moreover, after the tumour is under control, traditional Chinese medicine helps to repair the immune system, accelerate the body’s recovery and minimise the chance of the tumour returning.”A 2014 review of complementary and alternative medicine for cancer pain found alternative treatments, including Chinese treatments, had “low or moderate” evidence for alleviating cancer pain.

Source: The Guardian September 16, 2016 06:56 UTC