There’s exciting news from the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences, where researchers have been working on something that could help colorectal cancer patients—particularly those interested in incorporating Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into their treatment journey. This study detailed the development of a unique scale, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Kidney Deficiency Pattern (TCM-KDP) scale. It’s designed to capture patient-reported symptoms associated with kidney deficiency patterns in TCM, which is a concept rooted deeply in Chinese medicine traditions.
A little background first: in TCM, the idea of kidney deficiency is critical. It doesn’t mean just the kidneys as we know them, but a larger concept that affects overall vitality and well-being. Particularly in the context of cancer, identifying these patterns might give insights into how patients are feeling beyond the typical symptoms reported in Western medicine.
The researchers focused their efforts on developing a scale that could reliably assess these patterns among colorectal cancer patients. They crafted an eight-item questionnaire. These questions are not your standard queries, but they focus on TCM-specific symptoms and are scored using what is called a five-point Likert scale, which basically means patients rate their experience with each symptom from minimal to severe.
Here’s how they did it: the study was conducted over several years within a group of patients who had undergone surgery for stage II and III colorectal cancer. By administering this questionnaire, researchers were able to gather data that would help them ensure the tool was both reliable and valid. They used standard measures like Cronbach’s α, a statistic used to assess internal consistency, which turned out to be solid at 0.734—essentially indicating that the questions are doing a good job at measuring the same concept.
They also looked at test-retest reliability, which was 0.745, ensuring that the tool was reliable over time. Once they had these reliability measures, they went further to compare different clinical aspects between groups of patients with higher or lower TCM-KDP scores. Interestingly, they found that those with higher scores (indicating more severe symptoms) also had a more advanced stage of cancer.
Perhaps more fascinating was the preliminary connection they identified between TCM-KDP scores and certain cytokine levels—specifically interleukin-1β, which is a substance in the body that can influence inflammation and might be linked to cancer progression.
This scale could be a helpful tool for considering how TCM can play a role in cancer care alongside conventional treatments. For patients or caregivers interested in exploring complementary therapies, this might be a pointer towards how TCM can tailor approaches to individual symptoms or experiences in cancer recovery, especially given the personal nature of the questions in the TCM-KDP scale.
It is also worth noting how such developments can lead us to think about improved ways to manage treatment side effects, considering methods beyond the standard scope, perhaps even extending into diet and lifestyle changes often recommended in TCM, like foods to prevent cancer growth.
In conclusion, the traditional meets the modern in this study’s innovative approach, suggesting a meaningful blend of TCM insights with scientific rigor. This could provide patients with a broadened toolkit in managing their health, opening doors for holistic approaches in treating not only colorectal cancer but potentially a spectrum of other ailments. So, whether you’re someone dealing with cancer or simply interested in diverse healthcare approaches, these findings are certainly worth keeping an eye on for the future.
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medical Sciences
10.1016/j.jtcms.2025.04.003
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