Thirty-six cases with hyperglycemia were treated with the method of promoting blood circulation and removing stasis in a course of 4 weeks. The treatment was significantly effective in correcting the abnormal viscosity of the blood by reducing the contents of total plasmic cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and apoprotein B (apoB), while the level of the apoprotein A (apoA) was elevated.

Case HistoryPatient Chen, female, 68 years, case number: 9800297; date of hospitalization: May 11, 1998.Chief complaints: Fever accompanied with cough and lassitude for 3 months and skin rash for 7 days.History of present illness: In early Feb. 1998, the patient got fever accompanied with cough, chest distress, and expectoration of sticky sputum. She had been diagnosed at a hospital and later at a clinic as chronic bronchitis and pneumonia, and treated for more than 50 days with antibiotics and medication of some drugs for cough and sputum, but with no complete remission of the symptoms. One week previously, she developed general skin rash mainly in the face, accompanied with itching, high body temperature of 38~39℃, aggravated cough and chest distress, lassitude, poor appetite, slight thirst, absence of bowel movement for 3 days, and yellow brownish urine.

Evacuating the bowels to remove internal heat is one of the major therapeutic principles in treating pediatric diseases. Since the children are incapable of controlling in take of milk or food, the accumulated foodstuffs in the body will impede the spleen and stomach in digestion and transportation. In addition, children are easy to be attacked by exopathogens, because their organs are tender and do not fully develop. Once an exopathogen gets into the interior, it will transform into heat. However, simple measures of eliminating the heat often fail in the treatment of some critical and emergent pediatric cases. We have treated such cases by the method of evacuating bowels to remove the internal heat with miracle effects and would like to share our experience with our colleagues. The following are some examples.

Cerebrovascular dementia is a common disease in the middle-aged and old people. Its incidence makes up about 10-20% of all kinds of dementia. It is mainly caused by general degeneration of the brain function resulted from cerebral arteriosclerosis and cerebral infarction. The author has treated 32 cases of cerebrovascular dementia with acupuncture in the recent years with satisfactory therapeutic results. A report follows.

Hemirachischisis is commonly-seen in clinic. Many patients complaining of lumbago are often found to have this disease shown by radiography. The common methods of treatment in Western medicine are surgical operation and administration of analgesics. In recent years, the authors have adopted acupuncture and moxibustion for the treatment, with quite good therapeutic results reported as follows.Clinical DataOf the 48 cases in this series, 32 were male and 16 female; ranging in age from 16 to 67 years; with course of illness from 1 month to 32 years. All the patients had the chief complaint of lumbago, and were diagnosed as having hemirachischisis by radiography.

Acupuncture treatment has long been proved effective for mental disorders. Many points of the twelve regular channels and extra-ordinary points are named after "Shen" (mind) such as Shenmen (HT 7), Shenting (GV 24), Shentang (BL 44), Shendao (GV 11), Benshen (GB 13), and Sishencong (EX-HN1). As their names indicate, these points yield specific therapeutic effects for disorders of the mind. Based on the above knowledge, we have made clinical observations on the acupuncture treatment for mental disorders, and obtained quite satisfactory therapeutic effects. The followings are four summarized methods.

Huang Qi Gu Jing Yin (HQGJY黄芪固精饮decoction of Astragalus root for Strengthening the Essence) was used in a controlled clinical trial for treatment of senile benign renal arteriolosclerosis. In the therapeutic group (n=30), cure, marked effect and no effect were obtained respectively in 18 (60%), 9 (30%) and 3 (10%) cases with the total effective rate being 90%; the corresponding figures in the control group (n=30) were 10 (33.3%), 9 (30%) and 11 (36.7%) with the total effective rate being 63.3%. The significant difference (P<0.01) between the two groups demonstrated that HQGJY is an effective agent for treatment of the disease.

Hordeolum, the acute pyogenic infection of staphylococci in the palpebral glands, is one of the most commonly seen disorders of the external eye diseases. According to the location of the lesion, it can be divided into internal and external hordeolum. The early symptoms are redness, swelling, and pain in the eyelid. In severe cases, the condition can be accompanied with ipsilateral headache and swelling of the pre-auricular lymph node. Since TCM bloodletting has remarkable effect for treating hordeolum at the early stage, we would like to recommend this simple, easy and effective treatment to doctors who are interested in physiocracy.

Stubborn insomnia is characterized by: a) a long course of illness, lasting over 3 months; b) ineffectiveness of the routine treatment; c) the patient can sleep no more than 2 hours at night; d) the patient has a low spirit, palpitation, poor memory, viscera function disorder, all seriously affecting the patient's life and work. The following is an account of the author's clinical experience in treating stubborn insomnia.

Thirty-six cases of constipation due to spasmodic syndrome of the pelvic floor were treated by electroacupuncture, with satisfactory therapeutic results reported as follows.Clinical DataThere were 36 cases in this series, 12 males and 24 females, ranging in age from 25 to 76 years, averaging 42 years. The course of disease ranged from 6 months to 22 years, with an average of 6 years. All the 36 cases were previously treated by purgative and emollient cathartic for promoting the bowl movement.

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is one of the common complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), its incidence can be as high as over 90%. The lesion can involve the sensory, motor and vegetative nerves. As a whole, the lesion can be divided into symmetric multiple neuropathy and asymmetric single neuropathy. Because the pathogenesis of the disease is not clear, no specific therapy is available so far. Besides control of blood sugar level, vitamin B, vasodilators and analgesics are often used in Western medicine for expectant treatment. Basic studies on chronic complications of DM show that aldose reductase and non-enzymatic glycosylation of protein are factors initiating the pathological changes, inhibitors against them have been tested in experimental studies and proved effective. Unfortunately, they are not used clinically due to severe side effects. Screening for herbal drugs to treat DN is still a popular trend in the TCM circle.

Chronic annexitis is a frequently encountered disease at clinic. According to clinical experience in acupuncture treatment of annexitis, the author has developed an effective acupuncture method called abdominal cluster-needling, with quite good therapeutic results as reported in the following.Clinical DataThere were altogether 66 cases of chronic annexitis in this series, which were divided randomly into the treatment group and control group. The treatment group consisted of 36 cases, ranging in age from 20-40 years, and duration of illness from 0.5-9 years. The control group consisted of 30 cases, ranging in age from 21-38 years, and duration of illness from 1-8 years.

Adrenocortical hormone (ACH) has antiinflammatory and antiallergic actions, changes stress state and controls the attack of some severe and obstinate diseases. The treatment of chronic diseases with ACH often leads to its dependence; especially oral administration of ACH for a long time is liable to inhibit the function of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical-thymic axis (HPAT), and results in the hypo-reservation of adrenal cortex. Hence, sudden ACH withdrawal or decrease often causes the disease recurrence, even adrenocortical crisis. Academician Shen Ziyin has a wealth of clinical experience in both the withdrawal and reduction of ACH and the keeping of therapeutical effectiveness to form his unique remedy in the application of drugs. Shen's rich experience is described as follows.

Prof. Zhang Zhili has practised traditional medicine for more than 40 years, hence an accumulation of rich clinical experience. As we have been fortunately guided by him in medical practice we would like to share with readers his experience in treatment of eczema as follows:Analyses of PathogenesisProf. Zhang holds that eczema is often caused by both endogenic and exogenic pathogens conflicting in skin and muscles: endogenic factors refer to improper diet or over-intake of irritative foods which may hurt the spleen and stomach, resulting in dysfunction of the spleen in transport and, as a result, leading to the accumulation of dampness-heat in the body; and exogenic factors refer to the invasion of exogenic pathogenic wind, dampness and heat. Moreover, a prolonged course of the illness may exhaust yin and blood and, consequently, turn pathogenic dryness factor into wind-evil. In the case of children, it is mostly caused by pathogenic heat stagnating in the gastrointestinal region due to weak congenital resistance and improper diet.

The namesake channel point selection is a method adopted in acupuncture treatment, in which the points on the six pairs of channels on the upper and lower extremities with same names are selected and needled. Clinically, this method is mainly used for some acute soft tissue injuries, for instance, needling point Yangchi (TE 4) with reducing method for sprain of external malleolus, needling Qiuxu (GB 40) with reducing method for sprain of dorsal carpus, and needling Tiaokou (ST 38) for lateral shoulder pain. The therapeutic effect given by this point selection method is often superior to that given by the conventional needling method. In clinical practice, the author has found some typical cases, which respond well to this method, and reports them below.

Large and small doses of drugs for improving blood circulation and removing blood stasis were used in model rats to treat mild chronic hepatic damage induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). The results show that large dose of Dang Gui (当归 Radix Angelicae Sinensis) and Dan Shen (丹参 Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae) (drugs for regulating blood flow) and small dose of Yu Jin (郁金 Radix Curcumae) and Niu Xi (牛膝 Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae) (drugs for activating blood flow) can significantly elevate the activity of SOD (P<0.05) and/or lower the T/K ratio, markedly reduce the MDA content (P<0.05 or P<0.01) and significantly decrease the activities of ALT and AST (P<0.05 or P<0.01), demonstrating that these drugs are effective in combating oxygen free radicals (OFR) in chronic liver damage. On the contrary, large dose of Tu Bie Chong (土鳖虫 Eupolyphaga seu Steleophaga) and E Zhu (莪术 Rhizoma Curcumae) (drugs for removing blood stasis) tend to increase the ALT and AST (P<0.05) activities. The results suggest that the synergism of elevation of the SOD activity and reduction of T/K ratio contributes to the action of drugs for improving blood circulation and removing blood stasis in combating the liver damage induced by CCl4.

Effects of acupuncture on the spontaneous discharge of nerve cells and levels of monoamine neurotransmitters in ventromedial nucleus of hypothalamus (VMH) of the obese rats were investigated. Results indicated that the levels of tyrosine (Tyr) and dopamine (DA) were lowered, the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and 5-hydoxyindole acetic acid (5-HIAA) increased, and the frequency of the spontaneous discharge of nerve cells in VMH lowered in the obese rat group as compared with the normal group. When acupuncture obtained the effect of weight reduction, the frequency of spontaneous discharges of nerve cells in VMH were markedly increased, and the levels of Tyr, DA and tryptamine (Typ) and 5-HT/5-HIAA ratio elevated, and the 5-HT level lowered. It is suggested that the virtuous regulative action of acupuncture on VMH might be one of the key factors in acupuncture for weight reduction.

The changes in density of M-cholinergic receptors in different areas of senile rats and the regulatory action of Huang Qi (黄芪Radix Astragali, a drug for warming yang and replenishing qi) were observed by autoradiography. The results showed that the gray scale displayed in brain sections was clear and mainly distributed in the cortex, hippocampus and striate body, while that due to nonspecific combination was negligible. The gray scale in the cortex, hippocampus and striate body of the experimental group was markedly lower than that in the young control rats, decreased respectively by 24.87%, 14.12% and 12.76% (all P<0.05); but it was obviously higher than those in the senile control rats, increased respectively by 24.15%, 14.38% and 13.47% (P<0.05). The data indicate that Huang Qi (黄芪Radix Astragali) may up-regulate the decreased density of M-cholinergic receptors in the brain of senile rats.

Batroxobin,the thrombin-like enzyme,is used for therapeutic defibrination. We have found that batroxobin has good therapeutic effect in ischemic reperfusion rats and clinical practices in vivo. But we have not studied the neuroprotective effect of batroxobin on anoxic hippocampal neurons in vitro. The purpose of this study was to obtain further information on the mechanism of the batroxobin-induced neuroprotection and examine the neuroprotective effect on neurons exposed to anoxia. The effect of batroxobin on anoxic damages in cultured hippocampal neurons of neonatal rats was investigated by using morphological changes and heat shock protein 70Kd (Hsp70) immunoreactive expression as indicators. The results indicate that batroxobin, besides its defibrination, may have a direct neuroprotective effect on anoxic damage of hippocampal neurons.

Malignant tumors are caused by multiple carcinogenic factors undergoing several stages. The occurrence and development of tumors may be prevented and blocked if some effective interference factors are brought into play.1 At present, there are two main subjects for the researches, that is, blocking the precancerous lesions and blocking the develop-ment of tumors. The former focuses on the removing of carcinogenic factors and on the chemoprophylaxis of cancer, while the latter on the inhibition of cancer cell infiltration and cancerometastasis. These are summarized as follows.