28-08-2013, 03:10 PM
The Chinese Medical Treatment of Lipomas
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Lipomas are soft, movable, subcutaneous nodules with
normal overlying skin. Patients may have one, several, or
many lipomas. These benign fatty tumors occur more
often in women than in men and appear most commonly
on the trunk, back of the neck, and forearms. Since these
tumors rarely become malignant, treatment is usually not
required. However, if bothersome to the patient, they may
be surgically excised or removed by liposuction. As it
happens, one of my first patients many years ago came to
me to try and treat a lipoma on their neck, and I failed to
make a change in this tumor even after many acupuncture
treatments. Therefore, the next year, I asked one of my
teachers in China if there were any Chinese medical treat-
ment for such fatty growths, and I remember being told
that their only treatment was surgical excision. Based on
this response, this is what I too have always said whenev-
er asked by students or patients about these benign fatty
growths. However, I recently came across an interesting
article by Fang Li in the August 2001 issue of Shan Xi
Zhong Yi (Shanxi Chinese Medicine) on page 26. Titled,
“The Treatment of 22 Cases of Multiple Lipomas Via the
Spleen,” this article describes the author’s internal medic-
inal treatment of lipomas using Chinese medicinals aimed
at primarily the spleen. If the results of this author are to
be believed, Dr. Fang has been able to achieve rather
remarkable results in the medicinal elimination of multi-
ple lipomas. While lipomas are not a serious medical con-
dition, they are commonly seen and may be cosmetically
disfiguring.
Cohort description:
All the patients in this study had multiple lipomas. Of
these 22, 12 were male and 10 were female. The youngest
was 16 and the oldest was 52 years old. The shortest
course of disease was one month and the longest was half
a year. Five cases had lipomas on their upper extremities,
three on their lower extremities, and 14 one their chest and
abdomen. The smallest number of lipomas on a particular
patient was five and the largest was 60. The diagnosis of
multiple lipomas was based on criteria appearing in Shi
Yong Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Zhen Duan Zhi Liao Xue (A Study
of Practical Integrated Chinese-Western Medical
Diagnosis & Treatment) published in Beijing in 1991 by
the Chinese National Medicine & Medicinal Publishing
Co. According to that source, the description or definition
of lipomas is basically the same as given above in the
introduction to this article.
Treatment outcomes:
Cure was defined as complete disappearance of the
tumors. Improvement was defined as partial receding or
shrinking of the tumors with disappearance of any accom-
panying symptoms. No effect meant that there was no
improvement in the tumors. Based on these criteria, 20
cases were cured. Ten of these were cured in one course of
treatment, six were treated in two courses, and four were
treated in three courses. The other two cases which were
not cured were judged improved. Thus the cure rate was
90.9% and the total amelioration rate was 100%.
Discussion:
According to Dr. Fang, lipomas are categorized as rou liu,
“meaty tumors,” in Chinese medicine and are mostly due
to spleen vacuity losing control over movement and trans-
formation. Hence phlegm and dampness are engendered
internally which then lead to qi stagnation and blood sta-
sis locally. Although Dr. Fang does not say so, it is prob-
ably useful to remember, “The spleen is the root of
phlegm engenderment.” Therefore, Dr. Fang believes that
this condition should mainly be treated via the spleen,
assisted by rectifying the qi and loosening the center,
opening depression and transforming phlegm.