Journal: Rural Doctor

I had a lot of trouble forcing down anything at breakfast or lunch today. In the afternoon, since my diarrhea had lasted 72 hours without any sign of improvement, I decided to go to the clinic. I'm not really in much pain, but I'm starting to worry that it won't clear up by itself. Jin Baoyan and Yang Ying went with me, since I was worried that I wouldn't be able to understand what the doctor said.

At the clinic, I had the choice between visiting the chinese medicine section or the western medicine section. Now, I really don't have anything against chinese medicine, but I long ago decided that it is one of the few aspects of chinese culture that I don't want to sample. I'm sure that it's effective in some cases, perhaps many cases, but its theoretical basis is not consistent with modern biology and I worry that the medicines might not have been thoroughly tested for side-effects. Mind you, it seems that western-style medicines in China aren't always up-to-date either: I once bought some painkillers with an active ingredient that, according to some information I found on the internet, is no longer used in the West because of minor long-term health risks.

Anyway, I chose the western medicine section. The doctor had a cigarette in his hand during the entire examination. He carefully checked my pulse on each wrist (this is a vital part of diagnosis in chinese medicine), looked at my tongue and behind my ears. He said that my diarrhea showed there was a problem with my digestion, and that I probably wasn't accustomed to the food and water here (which is what everybody has already told me). He said that drinking bottled water (as I've been doing since yesterday) would make the condition worse. He said that I should avoid "cool" foods (that's a category in chinese medicine—eating too much of such foods is thought to cause the runs) and have "warm" foods instead, for example dishes with pepper in them. He said I might have dannang to some extent, which is apparently some kind of sensitivity to eggs, oily foods, etc.

I checked the sign on the door on the way out to make sure that I hadn't accidently walked into the chinese medicine section by mistake, because none of what he said matched my lay understanding of diarrhea's causes and treatment. It seems like the only advice he didn't give was what almost all the guides to diarrhea that I've read are unanimous on: drink lots of fluids to avoid dehydration.

He said that he could either give me an injection, which would have a rapid effect, or prescribe medicine, which would take two or three days to work. I wasn't too impressed at this point, and didn't want him sticking needles into me, so I opted for medicine. He prescribed four drugs to be taken simultaneously.

But one of the medicines was not available at any of the pharmacies in the town, including the clinic's own pharmacy. So I think I'll just wait a few more days and hope that I get better. At least the consultation was free.

Health is Culture Health is a national preoccupation in China. It seems that a much larger proportion of television ads are for medicines, compared to Australia. Many foods are thought to have specific health benefits, for example chilli is good for the eyes and celery lowers blood pressure, and if you can learn some of them then it will serve as very welcome dinner-table conversation. Some more exotic foods are thought to be particularly potent. Dried sea slugs are widely available, sold by weight or in boxed gift sets, but are prohibitively expensive. And when my Qinghai guidebook lists the special products of the area, most of them are plants and animals with medicinal properties.

Hope you're feeling better soon, Todd. Be sure to post an update when you can. Take care!

Gaelyne [] [homepage] 03.08.2004 , 16:46

Drink water will help, but only boiled water. Eat only food thoroughly cooked, stay away from cold dish even it is cooked. Eat food that\'s easier to digest. that\'s what I can think of right now, and I am not a doctor.

Wang 03.08.2004 , 20:37

if it's any source of confidence, i have more faith in TCM than western medicine

anita 12.08.2004 , 02:36

Anita, faith is the major component of any type of medicine

dr nick 06.09.2004 , 20:06

chinese medicine is gay though

josh 22.08.2005 , 12:48

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