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Surveyor

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I’m in a “watch” phase of my treatment, so I decided to visit a Chinese herbalist recommended by an 8 year pancreatic cancer survivor. We’re talking recent immigrant – I could only understand part of what he was saying. He sold me the following month’s supply at a cost of $394. I would appreciate any thoughts about the herbal medicines, the cost, other suppliers (the herbalist is 800 miles away) etc.

1. Plum Flower Brand, Eight Righteous Tea pills, Ba Zheng San (4 bottles – 200 pills each).

Ingredients:

• Lysimachia christinae herb

• Akebi trifollata stem

• Plantago asaslatica seed

• Dianthus superbus aerial parts

• Polygonum aviculare aerial parts

• Gardenia jasminoides fruit

• Glycyrrhiza uralensis root

• Phellodendron amurense bark

• Rheum palmatum root

A space appears and then: Jin qlan cao, Mu tong, Che qian zi, Qu mal, Blan xu, Zhi zi, Gan cao, Huang bal, Da Huang.

“Also known as Eight Herb for Rectification, Eight Righteous Teapills, Ba Zheng San Wan.” Take 8 little pills, 3 times each day, before each meal. Forgot why herbalist said I should take these!

2. Plum Flower Brand, Nei Xiao Luo Li Tea Pills, Nei Xiao Luo Li Wan (4 bottles – 200 pills each). Herbalist said “for cancer cell.”

Ingredients:

• Prunella vulgaris spike

• Scrophularia ningpoensis root

• Halitum

• Angelica sinensis root

• Mentha haplocalyx herb

• Citrus aurantium fruit-rip,

• Rheum palmatum root

• Platycodon grandiflorum root

• Forsythia suspend-root

• Sargassum pallidum herb

• Fritillaria thunbergii bulb

• Trichosanthes kirilowii root

• Glycyrrhiza uralensis root

• Rehmannia glutinosa root-prep.

• Mirabilite

• Ampelopsis japonica root

• Notarchus leachii egg

A space appears then: Xia ku cao, Suan shen, Da quing yan, Dang gul, Bo he, Zhi ke, Da huang, Jie geng, Lian qiao, Hal zao, Zhe bei mu, Tian hua fen, Gan cao, Shu di huang, Mangxiao, Bia lian, Hai fen.

“Also known as Dissolve Mass Pills.” Take 8 little pills, 3 times each day, before each meal.

3. Bio Essence Brand, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Wan (Decongest the Blood Mansion Pill). Herbalist thought I had some fluid around lung. He said this pill for Chest & “plural.” (4 bottles – 200 pills each).

Ingredients:

• Tao Ren (Persica Semen) 16%

• Shen Di Huang (Rehmannia Radix) 12%

• Chuan Niu Xi (Cyathula Radix) 12%

• Dang Gui (Angelica Sinensis Radix) 12%

• Hong Hua (Carthamus Flos) 12%

• Zhi Shi (Citrus Auruntiunm Fructus) 8%

• Chi Shao (Paeonia Rubra Radix) 8%

• Jie Geng (Pltycodon Radix) 6%

• Chuan Xiong (Ligusticum Rhizoma) 6%

• Gan Cao (Glycyrrhiza Radix) 4%

• Chai Hu (Bupluerum Radix) 4%

Take 8 little pills, 3 times each day, after each meal.

4. Guang Ci Tang brand (4 bottles – 200 pills each). Herbalist said for immune system & energy. “Shi Quan Da Bu Wan.”

Ingredients:

• Radix codonopsis (dang shen)

• Rhizome atractylodis macrocephalae (bai zhi)

• Poriae (fu ling)

• Tadix glycyrrhizae (gan cao)

• Radix angelica sinensis (dang gui)

• Rhizome chuanxiong (chuan xiong)

• Radix paeoniae albae (bai shao)

• Radix rehmanniae (shou di huang)

• Radix astraqali (huang pi)

• Cortex cinnamomi (rou gui)

Take 5 little pills, 3 times each day, after each meal.

5. The last one is “PING XIAO PIAN.” I don’t know if this is the brand name or the contents. Herbalist said “for shrinkage of tumor size.” A paper inside says this is the Canelim tablets I had previously inquired about on this website, but it looks like it contains a few more herbs, feces, etc. Ingredients:

• radix curcumae

• sermen strychni pulverarum

• herba agrimoniae

• faeces trogopterori

• alumen, niter

• resnia toxicodendri

• fructus aurantii.

Take 5 little pills, 3 times each day, after each meal.

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My Chinese neighbor made Bob a mushroom tea from Reishe mushrooms until her herbalist sold her the capsule form and then he started taking capsules. When Bob and I visited a nutricienist she told us that Coriolus mushroom extract actually was better for lung cancer so now he takes two capsules at breakfast and dinner. She said that the extracts coming from Japan had alot of lead in them and so she recommended a company out of Oregon to buy them from. I look forward to hearing how they are working out for you. Diane

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Here's an on-line article I found and also a link to a more cautionary article. It's hard to know which to trust.

Leslie

Chinese herbs effective in the treatment of lung cancer

Chinese medicinal herbs (CMH) can improve chemotherapy treatment in lung cancer according to researchers at the Jiangxi Cancer Hospital, Nanchang.

The researchers observed the effect of Chinese medicinal herbs (CMH) and chemotherapy on non-small cell lung cancer.

Comparing the therapeutic effects of three treatment regimens on 110 patients diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients - 58 patients were treated with CMH plus chemotherapy, 28 cases treated with chemotherapy only, and 24 cases treated with CMH alone.

The results showed that the effective rates (i.e. partial remission or complete remission) were 22.9 per cent in CMH and chemotherapy group, but just 13.6 per cent both in chemotherapy and in the CMH groups.

There were no significant differences between the three groups according to the short-term results. The average (mean) survival time for those patients treated with CMH in conjunction with chemotherapy, was 10.2 months, whereas the patients in the chemotherapy and CMH groups had an average survival rate of 5.3 and 8.0 months respectively.

The survival rate (Kaplan Meicr method) of both the CMH and chemotherapy group and the CMH group were significantly higher than that of the chemotherapy group but there were no significant differences between CMH and CMH + CT group.

The researchers concluded that Chinese medicinal herbs were helpful to improve average survival times and survival rates of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The herbs could be used in conjunction with chemotherapy and the evidence suggests that they may be equally effective used alone which would mean that patients may be able to avoid the side effects of chemotherapy treatment.

[Therapeutic effect of Chinese medicinal herbs combined with chemotherapy on advanced non-small cell lung cancer]. Huang ZM; Long H. Chung Kuo Chung Hsi I Chieh Ho Tsa Chih, 17:26-8, 1997 Jan

© The Internet Health Library 2000

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/conte ... Cancer.asp

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Thank you DianeFox. I have heard of Coriolus & Reishi Mushrooms. Actually, I have some Reishi Mushroom with Astragalus tablets that I was planning on taking before seeing the herbalist. Maybe I’ll fit them into my “get well no matter what” routine in the future.

http://www.jhsnp.com/ “Known as PSK in Japan and PSP in China, the immune supporting beta glucans extracted from the medicinal mushroom Coriolus versicolor are one of the first herbs from Traditional Chinese Medicine to be fully backed by modern scientific research. . .” Medicinal mushrooms mentioned are: Coriolus Versicolor, Cordyceps, Maitake, Reishi.

Thank you Leslie for your input. You are a great contributor to this site and I always appreciate everything you have to say and the links you give. I like the Chinese study better! Unfortunately, I’m really getting skeptical about anything put out by the American Cancer Society. Personally, I think they are a big outfit that uses a large percentage of their donations to keep their bureaucracy alive and may only speak for the American Medical Association.

An internet search on canelim finds several Chinese clinical studies showing a possible benefit. Admittedly, they may be all lies from their drug companies. I don’t know either! What I do know, is one survivor and other people who speak highly of the herbalist I saw and Chinese medicine in general. The survivor and friends of friends were left without viable options and seemed to recover (or at least enjoy more life than expected). My observation has been that our health care system only promotes (and only does thorough clinical trials for) recent and expensive drugs. Some of us are being left to twist in the wind. I know Chinese people die too, but I figure the treatment can’t hurt in my particular situation. A couple of quick “Google” links would be:

http://www.xiancp.com/e-product-pingxiaojiaonang.htm

http://www.tcm.hk/index.cfm?id=11945&fu ... &pageid=96

Hi francesbean. You must have some really good herbalists in Manila. Have you checked any of this stuff out? I would love to hear anything you have learned.

After starting this thread, I did some searching for availability & prices. I was able to find the following links, but could not find a source for the canelim tablets (number 5 below). There are a lot of canelim tablets available, but the ingredients vary, so I think I should try to find the suggested brand.

I really wonder if I even need the first two (Plum Flower pills). I would really appreciate comments (or a private message) from some of you who are somewhat experienced with Chinese herbs.

1. Plum Flower Brand, Eight Righteous Tea pills, Ba Zheng San

http://bioessence.com/index.asp?PageAct ... ProdID=901 $6.56

http://www.primeherbs.com/engstore/cr/c ... 5157&cat=1 $6.56

2. Plum Flower Brand, Nei Xiao Luo Li Tea Pills, Nei Xiao Luo Li Wan

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/maxnature/gegentangwan.html $4.95

http://www.herbswest.net/groups/plumflower.shtml

One website said the following: Invigorating the spleen and replenishing qi (energy), elevating the spleen yang to cure drooping. It is used for weakness of the spleen and stomach, deficiency of qi in middle-jiao, mental fatigue with loss of appetite, fear of cold, perspiring easily, lack of qi, drooping of zang-organs, massive or incessant extramenstral vaginal bleeding. This medicine can help to build up physical strength and resist disease. It is especially used for assimilating nutrition badly, anemia, low blood pressure, chronic hepatitis, chronic diarrhea and nourishing during the convalescence of disease, correcting catching cold easily, enhance immune ability and improving one’s looks. Look carefully at the directions or in compliance with the doctor.

3. Bio Essence Brand, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Wan (Decongest the Blood Mansion Pill)

http://www.bioessence.com/index.asp?Pag ... tegory=211 $6.56

4. Guang Ci Tang brand. Herbalist said for immune system & energy. “Shi Quan Da Bu Wan.”

http://www.shenenterprises.com/m046.html $??

http://www.maxnature.com/shiquandabuwan.html $6.95

5. The last stuff is mostly in Chinese except for “PING XIAO PIAN.” I believe Ping Xiao Pian is another name for Canelim. It is produced by Shanxi Goldsun Chemical Company Limited and is a private enterprise which is controled by Ningxia Goldsun Pharmaceutical & Chemical Company.

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Surveyor,

There is a web site at www.pubmed.com

You can register and get medical peer reviewed articles. Sometimes they are hard to understand though.

But Coptidis Rhizoma is one herb that is being researched.

If you go to the pubmed page and search "chinese herb cancer" you can get a lot of information.

These are peer reviewed, so there is science behind it

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Hello Surveyor,

Many thanks for the additional information. Yes, we have easy access to Chinese herbs around here and I live near Manila's Chinatown. However, I have not looked into the herbs yet as my dad's oncologist is strongly against herbal supplements during chemotherapy. :( As a matter of fact, whenever his doctor's other patients bring up the topic she gets upset and threatens them to stop seeing her altogether should they attempt to take the herbs.

Still, I believe in the efficacy of herbal supplements. A handful of our family friends have suggested Zilongjin tablets (http://zilongjin.com/?osID=1) as it has been working well on their loved ones. Strangely enough these chinese pills are only marketed in the Philippines.... But perhaps it is also being sold in other parts of the globe under a different name.

ZILONGJIN tablets

Ingredients:

Radix Astragali, Radix Angelicae Sinensis, Solani Lyrati Herb, and more.

The supplements definitely sound very promising. My mom and aunt's acquaintances swear by it. However, aside from their official website, there is very few information about it on the internet or none at all. This also goes for anti-cancer chinese supplements in general.

Will definitely write more about Zilongjin when I hear more about it. :)

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I also see an herbologist who is also a doctor that used to work at Sloan Kettering and other cancer centers. This is what he has me on:

custom blend chinese herbal tea (nasty tasting) containing many things, including huanglian, ganoderma, astragalus, polyphenols, different types of mushrooms (but not maitake, which studies have shown can be bad for cancer patients), licorace root, ginseng, co-10, and other traditional chinese herbs which I don't have the translations for; traditional vitamins (C,D-3,E,Selenium,Zinc); green tea capsules; Mega Soy; modified citris pectin; melatonin; IP6 with inositol; tumeric (curcumin); cholestene (a natural statin); thymus spray, celebrex (800 mg/day); Omega 3; worm wood (artemisinin); Thisilyn; CoQ10; PSP/Coriolus Mushroom Extract.

One of the mushrooms in my custom tea is ghonoderma (reishi).

My herbologist also told me to avoid sugar, as cancer feeds off of it and to have organic dairy. And the usual - eat a lot of veggies and fruit.

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I received the following reply to an inquiry I made and it may be of interest to anyone looking into the Chinese herbs:

Thank you very much for your reply. The Canelim Capsule also contains the powder of strychnos pierriana, K Al(SO4)2-12H2O, and other ingredients which is very little percentage that Pharmaceutical do not mention in their product direction to save the trouble in import matter. We think the doctor really charges you much more than it should cost in China. Canelim is the only Class A medicine that can be claimed for the medical insurance in China, it is also a standard treatment for the cancer patients in over 2000 tumor hospitals in China.

Refer to the medicines you mentioned, they are described in Chinese medicine theories as follows:

1.Ba Zheng San is for urinating the heat from the body because cancer always generates heat inside the body.

2.Nei Xiao Luo Li Wan is for soften and remove the tumor/cancer which it caused by phlegm.

3.Xue Fu Zhu Yu Wan is to decongest the blood left inside the body which it causes pain or accumulated to cause neoplasm.

4.Shi Quan Da Bu Wan is for women who is insufficient blood and qi, who is also good for patients with weak immunity, but it should be applied when the evil is gone because it will otherwise nourish the evil qi to grow inside the body (helping cancerous cells grow rapidly)

We hope the above information you will find them useful. Actually, your Chinese doctor will know you better for the current situation for which medicine is most suitable for you.

Should you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards,

FuQiZheng (Order)

www.tcm.hk

Edited: Nov. 22, 2005

I found a source for canelim in Hong Kong. I ordered 10 bottles (100 capsules ea.) for $25.60 including delivery by air parcel. I had to wire them the money, but received the parcel today. If interested, please send me a private message and I'll be glad to forward you additional information.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks for the great info. Thanks for sharing!

I am printing this out along with the articles to take to our previous primary doctor, the one who just closed his private practice. He is an MD from the Phillipines and has alot of knowledge in alternative medicine including herbs. As a midwife I also study herbs and will do research myself too...

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