Pancreatic cancer is a malignant tumor that is often characterized by highly aggressive and early metastasis, which brings a huge psychological and physical burden to patients and their families. For people whose family members have pancreatic cancer, many people will naturally think about whether they are at risk of genetic inheritance, and then have the idea of checking genes. So, do we really need to check genes?The theory of TCM gives us some new perspectives to think about here.
First of all, TCM theory attaches great importance to the holistic nature of disease, that is, it believes that the occurrence and development of disease is closely related to the overall condition of the human body. Just because a family member has pancreatic cancer does not mean that you will definitely suffer from it, because everyone's constitution and immunity are different, and genetic factors are only one of them. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the health of the human body and the occurrence of diseases are the result of the combined action of internal and external factors, the internal causes are mainly the imbalance of yin and yang balance in the human body, the lack of qi and blood, etc., and the external causes are mainly viral infections and environmental pollution. So, we need to look at disease from a holistic perspective, not just at the genes.
Secondly, TCM emphasizes individual differences. Even in the presence of a family history, the differences between individuals are still significant. The theory of traditional Chinese medicine believes that each person's constitution is unique, with an innate basic constitution and an acquired constitution. Genes may be some of the factors that affect physical fitness, but there are many other factors that can also affect an individual's physical constitution and health, including lifestyle, eating habits, environment, etc. Therefore, genetic-based judgments are not entirely certain whether an individual will develop pancreatic cancer.
Third, TCM emphasizes prevention. Traditional Chinese medicine focuses on prevention and conditioning, and advocates "preventing diseases before they occur, and treating them before they occur", which is different from the health concept of modern medicine. Therefore, for people whose family members have pancreatic cancer, they should pay more attention to the prevention of the disease. There are some methods of conditioning and health preservation in the famous prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine, such as "Four Seasons Health" and "Diet and Daily Life Conditioning" recorded in the "Yellow Emperor's Neijing", which can help us enhance the body's immunity and reduce the risk of disease.
To sum up, having pancreatic cancer in a family does not mean that we will definitely develop the disease, and genetic testing is not the only criterion for judging. TCM theories provide us with a new perspective of thinking, that is, starting from the whole and individual differences, emphasizing prevention first. Therefore, when we face the illness of our family members, we should pay more attention to comprehensive physical conditioning, including lifestyle, eating habits, environment and other factors, so as to prevent the occurrence of diseases.
Health References:
1."The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon".
2.Zhang Zhongjing. Treatise on Typhoid Fever and Miscellaneous Diseases[M].Kunshan Agricultural University Press, 2013
reference:
1. the yellow emperor's inner canon