Supportive care in oncology
What herbal medicine can and cannot do alongside cancer treatment, and the interactions that force you to say no.
How it starts
The other lessons in the course start with what you can do. This one starts with what you can't, because that is where the harm is.
The rest of the lesson opens with Chinese Herbal Medicine.
In this lesson you will learn
- Define precisely the role of Chinese herbal medicine in oncology: what it offers and what it does not.
- Explain its limits to a patient who is asking for an alternative, without abandoning them.
- Recognize the interactions and risks specific to the oncology patient.
- Manage the most common adverse effects of cancer treatment.
- Communicate with the treating team.
What is inside
- 1The difficult conversation
- 2The specific risks
- 3What you can do
- 4Palliative care
- 5Communicating with the team
One of the 33 lessons in
Chinese Herbal MedicineMateria Medica and Formulas
“The needle moves; the herb replenishes.”
The other half of Chinese medicine. How a plant is described in the language of Chinese medicine (the four Qi, the five flavors, channel tropism), the nine major categories of the materia medica, the Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi architecture of a formula, the twenty classical formulas that anchor practice, and real-world safety: interactions, hepatotoxicity, pregnancy, and product quality.
By the end of the course, you will know how to
- Read the profile of any Chinese herb and know what it does and where it acts.
- Recognize the nine categories of the materia medica and their leading herbs.
- Break down a classical formula into emperor, minister, assistant, and envoy.
- Modify a base formula to fit a specific patient.
- Spot the interactions and risks that mean you should not prescribe.
- Divide the work between needle and herb in the same case.
What you will study
Module 1 · 5 lessons
The language of herbs
Before the first herb: how Chinese medicine describes what a remedy does.
- What Chinese herbal medicine is (and what it isn't)
- The four Qi and the five flavors
- Channel tropism, direction, and tendency
- Toxicity, processing (Pao Zhi), and quality
- Dosage forms: from decoction to granules
Module 2 · 8 lessons
The materia medica
The nine major categories, with the key herbs of each and their full profile.
- Releasing the exterior (Jie Biao Yao)
- Clearing Heat (Qing Re Yao)
- Purging and warming the interior
- Dampness, water, and Bi pattern
- Phlegm, cough, and dyspnea
- Regulating Qi and resolving food stagnation
- Moving Blood and stopping bleeding
- Calming the Shen, pacifying the Liver, and opening the orifices
Module 3 · 3 lessons
The tonics
Bu Xu Yao: the star category of modern herbal medicine, and the one most often misprescribed.
- Tonifying Qi and Yang
- Nourishing Blood and Yin
- Astringents and antiparasitics
Module 4 · 5 lessons
Building a formula
From the single herb to the prescription: the part that truly sets Chinese herbal medicine apart.
- Jun, Chen, Zuo, and Shi: the architecture
- The classical formulas you need to know
- The practice formulary
- Modifying a formula
- Prescribing: dose, preparation, and regimen
Module 5 · 3 lessons
Beyond the decoction
The other three ways a plant enters treatment: the plate, the skin and the local herbalist.
- Chinese dietetics (Shi Liao)
- External use: washes, compresses, and plasters
- A bridge to Western herbalism
Module 6 · 9 lessons
Safety and clinical practice
The part that separates a professional from someone selling herbal teas.
- Interactions, liver, and kidney
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, childhood, and older adults
- Clinic I: digestive and respiratory
- Clinic II: gynecology, Shen, and pain
- Clinic III: dermatology
- Supportive care in oncologyYou are here
- Integrating needle and herb (and using Fitoki)
- Integrated clinical case
- Final exam · Chinese Herbal Medicine
Requirements
Acupuncture I, or equivalent knowledge of Yin-Yang, Wu Xing, the vital substances, and Zang-Fu.
How it works
Specialties
Save with a bundle
Complete Training
All five courses, saving you €180, plus five years of Atlas Pro and the game included.
You save $180 compared with buying the courses separately
5 years of Atlas Pro included
Valued at $395 free
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Read “Supportive care in oncology” today
This lesson and the rest of the course: 33 lessons, 10 hours, quizzes and exercises. You pay once and it is yours for life, with one year of Atlas Pro as a gift (if you already have it, it adds to the time you have left).
Chinese Herbal Medicine
One-time payment