Can Chinese and Western Medicine Be Combined?

How Can Chinese and Western Medicine Work Together? ☯

Idiom of the week: 取长补短 (qǔ cháng bǔ duǎn)

Meaning: to use strengths to make up for weaknesses

基于肾病各病病理及所用西药，如何选用与之取长补短的中药是值得探索的课题

Based on the pathology of kidney diseases and the Western medicines used, how to select complementary Chinese herbs to take advantage of their strengths and make up for the weaknesses is a topic worth exploring.

Have you tried Chinese medicine yet? For many Westerners, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) might seem like magic. Instead of relying solely on a scientific approach, it emphasizes balance, energy, and harmony. However, TCM has been scientifically proven to be a safe and often highly effective form of treatment. It can truly feel magical!

What is more, TCM and Western medicine can be combined and provide a holistic form of treatment: let’s read how those two different medical schools can work together.

Prepare for a whole new batch of medical vocabulary!

首先我要来阐明一下中西医结合本是将中医中药的知识和方法与西医西药的知识和方法结合起来，他们两是互帮互助朋友，可以有效地提高临床的效益。 而不是你所说的两位大夫轮流一起看一个病人，或者是病人看完中医再看西医。 首先作为一位中西医结合科的医生要对中医和西医的临床病症病学，病理，药理等等的中医和西医的专业知识都要掌握的。

• 阐明 (chǎn míng): to clarify

• 中西医结合 (zhōng xī yī jié hé): integrative medicine (combining Chinese and Western medicine)

• 结合 (jié hé): to integrate, combine

• 互帮互助 (hù bāng hù zhù): mutual help and support

• 临床 (lín chuáng): clinical

• 效益 (xiào yì): effectiveness, benefit

• 大夫 (dài fu): doctor, physician

• 轮流 (lún liú): to take turns

• 病症 (bìng zhèng): symptoms of illness

• 病学 (bìng xué): pathology

• 病理 (bìng lǐ): pathogenesis

• 药理 (yào lǐ): pharmacology

• 专业知识 (zhuān yè zhī shì): specialized knowledge

• 掌握 (zhǎng wò): to master, to grasp

First, let me clarify that the integration of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine involves combining the knowledge and methods of both TCM and Western medicine, with the two acting as mutually supportive partners to effectively enhance clinical outcomes. It is not, as you suggested, about two doctors taking turns treating the same patient, or the patient consulting a TCM practitioner and then a Western medicine doctor separately. To begin with, a doctor specializing in integrative medicine must have a thorough understanding of both TCM and Western medicine, including their clinical symptoms, pathology, and pharmacology, as well as other specialized knowledge from both fields.

Photo: acupuncturehealth

中医的检查是方法是望、闻、问、切，这四种中医的辩证方法；中医的第一个优势是在于针对病根，比如肾病的治疗，西医的理念就是抑制，有蛋白尿就用激素、水肿了就用利尿剂、有潜血了就消炎、肌酐升高就透析、透析不行局换肾。

中医呢？其实中医没那么多的讲究，就是一条：活血化瘀、疏通经络。这就往往会受人诟病，疏什么经？通什么络？经络都是不可见的，子虚乌有的。 但是恰恰是针对这些子虚有的东西进行用药调理，还真的见效了。

• 望、闻、问、切 (wàng, wén, wèn, qiè): observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and pulse-taking, the four fundamental techniques of Chinese medicine

• 辩证 (biàn zhèng): differentiation of symptoms

• 优势 (yōu shì): advantage

• 病根 (bìng gēn): root cause of the disease

• 肾病 (shèn bìng): kidney disease

• 理念 (lǐ niàn): concept, philosophy

• 抑制 (yì zhì): suppression

• 蛋白尿 (dàn bái niào): proteinuria

• 激素 (jī sù): hormones

• 水肿 (shuǐ zhǒng): edema

• 利尿剂 (lì niào jì): diuretics

• 潜血 (qián xuè): occult blood (in urine)

• 消炎 (xiāo yán): to reduce inflammation

• 肌酐 (jī gān): creatinine

• 透析 (tòu xī): dialysis

• 换肾 (huàn shèn): kidney transplant

• 活血化瘀 (huó xuè huà yū): activate blood circulation and remove stasis

• 疏通经络 (shū tōng jīng luò): unblock meridians

• 诟病 (gòu bìng): to criticize

• 子虚乌有 (zǐ xū wū yǒu): baseless, purely imaginary

• 调理 (tiáo lǐ): conditioning, regulation

• 见效 (jiàn xiào): to show effectiveness

In Chinese medicine, meridians (经络) are a circulatory system of energy, much like the circulatory system of blood. Meridians allow the flow of a vital energy called qi (气). Photo: posters.pl

The diagnostic methods in TCM are observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, and pulse-taking—the four fundamental techniques of TCM differentiation. One of TCM's key strengths lies in addressing the root cause of diseases. Take kidney disease as an example: the approach of Western medicine focuses on suppression. For instance, proteinuria is treated with steroids, edema with diuretics, hematuria with anti-inflammatory drugs, and elevated creatinine with dialysis, and if dialysis fails, kidney transplantation becomes the next step.

TCM, on the other hand, operates on a simpler principle: activating blood circulation, removing blood stasis, and unblocking the meridians. However, this often invites skepticism—what meridians are being unblocked? What stasis is being removed? Meridians are invisible and are dismissed as baseless by some. Yet, it is precisely by addressing these so-called "imaginary" aspects with medicinal treatments that TCM often delivers tangible results.

Photo: Treatwiser

中医也有不足点，这时候就要用西医来填补，比如有些急性病需要做手术才能解决到病根，而中医是没有手术的，而这时就要用到西医的手术才能解决，术后可以用中医，副作用会少一些，对于术后调理也是比较好的这就无需多言了。

• 不足点 (bù zú diǎn): shortcomings, weaknesses

• 填补 (tián bǔ): to fill in, to make up for

• 急性病 (jí xìng bìng): acute illness

• 手术 (shǒu shù): surgery

• 解决 (jiě jué): to solve, to resolve

• 术后 (shù hòu): post-surgery

• 副作用 (fù zuò yòng): side effects

• 调理 (tiáo lǐ): recuperation, regulation

• 无需多言 (wú xū duō yán): needless to say

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) also has its limitations, and this is where Western medicine can complement it. For example, certain acute conditions require surgical intervention to address the root cause of the disease—something TCM cannot offer, as it does not involve surgical procedures.

In such cases, Western surgical methods are indispensable. Post-surgery, however, TCM can play a significant role in reducing side effects and aiding recovery. Its effectiveness in post-operative care and rehabilitation needs no further elaboration.

同时有些疾病的康复，西医的治疗是没有中医治疗效果好的。 就比如一些骨折，在西医学上最开始是要做手术才行，中医上只要老中医的理疗手法再结合中医就能复原。这也是西医不具备的。

• 康复 (kāng fù): recovery

• 骨折 (gǔ zhé): fracture

• 手术 (shǒu shù): surgery

• 理疗 (lǐ liáo): physical therapy

• 复原 (fù yuán): to recover, to heal

• 具备 (jù bèi): to possess, to have (the ability to)

That said, for certain conditions, the recovery process is where TCM can outperform Western medicine.

For example, in the case of fractures, Western medicine often recommends surgery as the initial approach. However, TCM practitioners may achieve recovery through skilled manual therapy combined with traditional treatments—a strength that Western medicine lacks.

其实目前很多病的治疗方式都开始是中西医结合治疗了，就比如肾病，肾病的治疗已经属于中西医治疗了。 肾病属中医水肿范畴，有治肺、治脾、治肾之说。但仅满足中医证型几乎难以提高疗效。

因此，基于肾病各病病理及所用西药，如何选用与之取长补短的中药是值得探索的课题，如急性肾小球肾炎系链球菌引发，常用青霉素及对症处理，加用清肺利水中药后，效果有所提高。

• 范畴 (fàn chóu): category, scope

• 脾 (pí): spleen (in TCM, the spleen is associated with digestion, energy production, and immune function)

• 证型 (zhèng xíng): syndrome differentiation

• 提高疗效 (tí gāo liáo xiào): improve therapeutic effect

• 取长补短 (qǔ cháng bǔ duǎn): to use strengths to make up for weaknesses

• 中药 (zhōng yào): traditional Chinese medicine

• 急性 (jí xìng): acute

• 肾小球肾炎 (shèn xiǎo qiú shèn yán): acute glomerulonephritis

• 链球菌 (liàn qiú jūn): streptococcus

• 青霉素 (qīng méi sù): penicillin

• 对症处理 (duì zhèng chǔ lǐ): symptomatic treatment

• 清肺利水 (qīng fèi lì shuǐ): clear the lungs and promote diuresis

In fact, many diseases are now treated through a combination of TCM and Western medicine. Take kidney disease, for example—it has already become a field of integrated treatment.

In TCM, kidney disease falls under the category of "edema," with approaches that involve treating the lungs, spleen, or kidneys. However, relying solely on TCM syndrome differentiation often fails to significantly enhance therapeutic outcomes.

Therefore, exploring how to combine the strengths of TCM and Western medicine, based on the pathological features of kidney diseases and the Western drugs used, is a valuable area of study. For instance, acute glomerulonephritis, which is caused by streptococcal infection, is typically treated with penicillin and symptomatic management in Western medicine. However, adding TCM remedies such as herbs that clear the lungs and promote diuresis can improve the overall therapeutic effect.

Have a healthy year 2025!

Antoine & Dorota

Referenced author: 中医肾内科郭大夫