Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Elizabeth, UK on October 22, 2007:

I'm glad your wife is feeling better and you are having an incredible trip. I went to China in February and found the worst air quality in Shanghai. I did not really notice the problems in Wuhan or Beijing. In case no one else has mentioned it, there is a very nice little park along the river very close to the Holiday Inn in Wuhan. Well worth a visit in the evening as they have all the statues and carvings lit up.

Posted by Belinda, Sydney on October 23, 2007:

I'm sorry...what part of Randy's story said that it was the traditional (or "non western") medicine that had any effect for Kit? O2, an IV and a wide variety of drugs were used which means crediting any particular portion of the treatment for her recovery is dubious at best, either post hoc ergo propter hoc or the fallacy of tradition.

Randy I'm glad Kit is feeling better now and I hope that the rest of the trip continues with everybody in good health.

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Indeed, I don't know what the drugs were, let alone whether they were "traditional" or "Western", which is why I didn't even want to imply what had helped her. I've always thought that the best approach is to study all treatments, and choose which ones work best -- regardless of the "source". -rc

Posted by Mekhong Kurt, Bangkok, Thailand on January 22, 2009:

When I first went to mainland China in the late summer of 1985, a few months later I got a nasty case of flu, aggravated by the terrible air pollution. I went to the clinic at the university where I was teaching, and got a great doctor, a Chinese lady trained in China in traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, *and* in Western medicine in a U.S. medical school. She also was board-certified in one of the New England states.

She asked which I preferred, and I left it to her to decide. She gave me a combination of oral medications from both traditions, and added a large bag of the worst tea imaginable, warning me to let it steep with a lid on, to contain the smell, then to drink it down quickly, assuring me it tastes as bad as it smells. She was right -- but she was also right that the tea made me feel markedly better in under an hour.

I was impressed, to say the least.