Brief Summary: Professor Debra suffers from lupus for 30 years. During her 70 days of the TCM treatment in our hospital, she composes the academic report as follows about our hospital and TCM. Also her condition has been improved quite a lot. Her sleeping hours each day improve from 16 hours to 7 hours. Better spirit and energy. Less chances to catch common cold. Less pains all over the body and kidneys. Improved appetite and kidney function. She took Chinese medicine for dozens years in America since she is allergic to any western medications. So she said that TCM makes her survive. Her programs of TCM treatment and research here in our hospital are supported by North Central College, USA, and Medical Anthropology Society Association and other world organizations.
When I learned of the Huai Hua Red Cross Hospital for Difficult and Chronic Conditions and read the case studies posted on the website, it piqued my curiosity. As a Traditional Chinese Medicine student, patient advocate, teacher and researcher, I understand how chronic illness has become a global problem, particularly, in modern societies. In fact, the 2005 World Health Organization conference in Thailand made chronic illness its focus. Since I have lived with SLE (lupus and accompanying chronic conditions) for more than 30 years, experienced and learned Chinese medicine for more than 8 years, I felt it was my duty to navigate waters most persons find overwhelming. Therefore, I secured a small grant from the North Central College Richter Foundation to investigate, learn and explore. I also wanted to discover why people from more than 200 countries endure the arduous journey from their homes to mid-south China and make sacrifices to do so.
During the two and a half months I spent in Huai Hua, I met people from Kenya, the U.S., the Czech Republic, Sweden, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Germany, Portugal, and England. I soon discovered that all persons, regardless of homeland, linguistic background, and/or religious beliefs valued health and life, above all. They also valued the breath of knowledge Chinese medicine offers, its flexibility and its longevity. They all sought a better quality of life. Many, regardless of condition, or Western diagnosis, found it here. Some found cures. However, many conditions, which Western medicine deemed beyond hope, were “miraculously” lessened in severity.
Within the walls of this hospital, I studied TCM, experienced their treatments, helped patients understand the philosophy of Chinese Medicine and watched “miracles” take place. It has been my greatest honor to live with these patients and work alongside the experienced doctors, interns, and translators. I have watched and admired the sincere and tireless dedication of the doctors and staff. They work with each patient individually, as the philosophy of Chinese medicine prescribes. Flexibility is key!
I have thoroughly investigated and explored Chinese medicine for the last nine years, Native American medicine prior to that and other traditional healing methods. It has been my passion for many years. Consequently, many patients here know that the use of traditional medicine is not a phenomenon. Many patients and students who came here embraced it! According to the World Health Organization 2002 Policy Perspectives Publication:
Populations throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America use traditional medicine (TM) to help meet their primary health care needs. As well as being accessible and affordable, TCM is also often part of a wider belief system, and considered integral to everyday life and well-being. Meanwhile, in Australia, Europe and North America, "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) is increasingly used in parallel to allopathic medicine, particularly for treating and managing chronic disease. Concern about the adverse effects of chemical medicines, a desire for more personalized health care and greater public access to health information, fuel this increased use .
Midst globalization, the pressures of modernity, and life midst chemicals, many people throughout the world experience chronic and difficult conditions. I am one of them. Yet, I, like these patients have been afforded a greatly enhanced quality of life here. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to experience life, study, treatment and research here. Consequently, it has afforded me the opportunity to share my research, hopefully help others discover the value of Chinese medicine and express my gratitude for this invaluable experience.
Debra A. Hayes
North Central College Research Richter Foundation Grant recipient
American Anthropology Association member
Medical Anthropology Society Association member
U.S. China Friendship Association member
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Based upon our very successful help to many lupus patients, lupus is now one of the significant focuses of our hospital.
Another successful case report about lupus that we helped well
Another article from Professor Debra
Conditions That Compel People to Explore Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment at the Huai Hua Red Cross Hospital for Difficult and Chronic Conditions in Southwestern China
Purpose: To discover the physical and psychological motivations that compel patients and loved ones to explore and use Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Red Cross Hospital for Chronic and Difficult Conditions, the sacrifices each patient and family makes to do so and whether it is effective in a transnational, culturally and linguistically diverse social setting.
According to the World Health Organization 2002 Policy Perspectives Publication:
Populations throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America use traditional medicine (TM) to help meet their primary health care needs. As well as being accessible and affordable, TM is also often part of a wider belief system, and considered integral to everyday life and well-being. Meanwhile, in Australia, Europe and North America, “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) is increasingly used in parallel to allopathic medicine, particularly for treating and managing chronic disease. Concern about the adverse effects of chemical medicines, a desire for more personalized health care and greater public access to health information, fuel this increased use [Appendix A]
For the past six years, persons from over two hundred countries with difficult and chronic conditions, i.e., diverticulitis, cancer, and incurable autoimmune diseases such as Systemic Lupus Erythematosis (SLE), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Lou Gherig’s Disease (ALS), have been motivated to explore the options Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers them at Huai Hua Red Cross Hospital (Ming, 2006). Since these conditions are chronic and often times incurable, they have led many patients and/or their family members to seek and decipher complex, baffling, and, obscure medical information and to explore options encountered beyond the diagnostic and treatment scope generally available to them. Despite their diverse cultural backgrounds, many persons reach this intersecting destination at the time-honored tradition of TCM and the Huai Hua Red Cross Hospital for Difficult and Chronic conditions. Due to a rare invitation from Dr. Ming, the International outpatient director and Vice President of this hospital, I have been granted an eight to ten-week opportunity to research and experience its methods.
According to Dr. Ming (2005), patient testimony, and case studies posted on the hospital site, many of these patients have never experienced these methods. They complete the online consultation questionnaire and, admittedly, anxiously await the herbal prescription and treatments suggested by Dr Ming and his staff. Since many of these patients have complex, and/or advanced conditions, intensive, comprehensive Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment (WHO, (Jia), 2005:23) at the hospital offers what it argues is the 'last and/or best hope for recovery or symptomatic relief (Dr. Ming, 2006). Although the journey to this hospital in Southwestern China poses many obstacles and necessitates many sacrifices, patients and their family members cast aside geographic, linguistic, and cultural displacement and endure a rather arduous journey.
Methods: I plan to discover the patents' motivations and sacrifices through three avenues: experiencing treatments, which I have used for 8 years, patient interviews, and quantitative data. I believe my onsite experience will provide both a unique vantage point and the best opportunity to discover the motivations for patients and family members to endure the arduous and intensely personal journey to this Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in China and the sacrifices they made. This location and intermediary placement will yield access to patients, families, and professionals. Therefore, I can also discover whether the 5,000-year-old methods employed by the TCM professionals are effective from the doctors’ and patients’ perspectives and how these methods are viewed by the patients. This will also allow me to learn how patients view health and illness from a cultural perspective. According to Penn et. al.:
An individual's belief about the cause of illness could determine who is to conduct the diagnostic interview, what expected treatment modalities might entail, efficacy of treatment for diagnosis and treatment and whether the victim is stigmatized by the illness.
To gather this information, I will employ a variety of traditional anthropological methods. I both experience treatment methods and observe them. To supplement participant observation, I will conduct formal and informal interviews and evaluate case studies. Those interviewed will include the International Outpatient Director, Dr. Ming, his assistants and staff, TCM students, approximately 20 patients, and their family members. Since I a