• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1242-1253
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• 2004

Leukemia is a blood disease that occurs in the abnormal process of leukocyte maturation. Its main medical treatment is chemical therapy and bone medical transplant. But its treatments give rise to ill effects and sequela. At present, the cause of leukemia is not fully understood. But oriental concept of curing leukemia is the holistic thinking that emphasizes the unity, wholeness, and the relationship between the human organs, including western medical concept of blood cause. So it is estimated that holistic medical treatment in oriental medicine could present new medical way of curing leukemia. I read over the diary on struggles against leukemia, survey on the leukemia patients, and, medical charts in the oriental clinics that treated in the holistic way, and I interviewed the leukemia patients. With these materials, I classified the early main attacking symptoms according to the chief complaints of one hundred leukemia patients. With these results collected, I present new alternative treatment by oriental medical diagnosis. The chief early complaints that leukemia patients give are fatigue, enervation, cold, contusion, fever, high fever, sweating at sleep, myalgia, arthralgia, and dizziness, in order of main symptoms. Fatigue occurs mainly by spleen and stomach weakness and marrow shortage. So it is estimated that It is important to treat the spleen that is responsible for supplementing the marrow. Because the leukemia patients have anemia and hemorrhage, to treat the spleen is important for hematopoiesis and controlling blood. In case of cold, it penetrates into the body when the body is weak. So its treatment is to increase body's health. But the cause of fever is difficult to classify into outer cause and inner cause. But in case of children under 14 years old, fever is the main sypmptom. I think this is because children have the body with pure vital energy. Hemorrhage is thought to be the result of yin-lack and heat-miasma of spleen and stomach channels. Contusion occurs from the qi-weakness and the not-controlling-blood. Sweating at sleep is from the yin-weakness. It is found with all weak symptoms. Dizziness is from the yin-blood impairment. Weight-loss is from the marrow shortage. Myalgia and arthralgia is mainly from inner weakness, not outer maisma. Most leukemia patients have the idea that holistic treatment of leukemia could be of assistance and give help to the low immunity. So it is expected that holistic medical treatment could contribute to knowing the cause and treatment of leukemia, and give people reliability on oriental medical treatment, through the profound diagnosis of leukemia.