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Medicine in Modern China *
Author(s) -
CHENG TSUNG O.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1973.tb01227.x
Subject(s) - medicine , china , life expectancy , incidence (geometry) , disease , isolation (microbiology) , cancer , traditional chinese medicine , family medicine , alternative medicine , pediatrics , intensive care medicine , pathology , environmental health , law , population , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , optics , political science , biology
The Chinese‐born author gives an illustrated account of his visit to China in 1972, twenty‐two years after he left that country in 1950. For the first time in her history China appears to be self‐sufficient in taking care of the medical needs of her people. Among the many medical developments are the revitalization of traditional medicine, the emergence of “barefoot” doctors, the synthesis of insulin, the successful rejoining of severed limbs and fingers, family planning, the management of extensive burns, the successful treatment of choriocarcinoma by chemotherapy, and acupunctural anesthesia. Of great significance is the apparent increase of coronary artery disease among the Chinese. Whether the increased incidence is relative due to more accurate diagnosis and longer life expectancy, or absolute due to better nutrition and perhaps over‐eating, is not yet certain. In contrast, the incidence of lung cancer has not shown an increase despite the prevalence of cigarette smoking among the Chinese. Cancer is one of the major killers; a constant campaign is waged for the early discovery of malignant tumors. Despite the twenty‐three years of isolation, medicine in China is as modern as that in the United States, and physicians still speak the same language.