CHAPTER 215: 215 MECHANICAL TRANSPLANTATION

Du Heng thought for a moment and once again reminded the patient, "When you go back and take the medicine, especially the morning dose, it’s best to take it after 10 a.m."

The couple nodded again, but they didn’t quite understand Du Heng’s meaning this time, though they had understood the previous five instructions.

"Doctor, why after ten o’clock? I have to go to work in the morning, so after ten isn’t very convenient," the patient asked, voicing his doubt directly. This wasn’t the time to beat around the bush.

At this moment, the sharp young man who had been listening intently suddenly spoke up, "Mr. Du, I know! May I explain?"

Tsk, tsk, what a good kid, and so smooth-tongued, Du Heng thought. This was the first time someone had called him ’teacher.’ The address made him feel quite pleased, a sense of pride swelling within him.

He glanced at the young doctor with a smile. "Go ahead, tell us."

"According to the theory of Stem and Branch Point Selection, the qi and blood in the human body circulate through different organs at specific times. At ten o’clock in the morning, qi and blood flow through the stomach. Therefore, taking the medicine at this time can enhance its efficacy."

"Well said, very correct." Du Heng’s eyes lit up as he looked at this doctor. "I’m surprised you’ve read so widely; you even know about this."

Du Heng himself had only recently found time to delve into such texts, thanks to the system’s support which spared him from poring over other specialized books. Others lacked Du Heng’s convenient advantage, so they might not even finish the books in their own specialty, let alone explore other subjects.

So, he genuinely admired this doctor’s breadth of knowledge; it truly was impressive. He just wondered if the doctor had mastered all the knowledge in his own field.

As the young doctor finished his explanation and received Du Heng’s affirmation, Xu Pinglin smiled for the first time that day.

Given the day’s circumstances—the family’s fuss, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department observing, and the need to call for external help—his Digestion Department 1 was losing face from every angle.

Now, this young man had finally regained some dignity for their department. It meant not everyone in his department was incompetent.

However, this doctor’s quick response broke the silence among the observing students and doctors from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department. In the short ten minutes of diagnosis and prescription based on syndrome differentiation, they had accumulated many questions.

Now that this young doctor had taken the lead, someone else couldn’t resist jumping in. "Doctor Du, hello. I have a question for you."

Du Heng turned to look at him. "Go ahead."

"The patient has atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia, which carries a risk of cancer. The main culprit is Helicobacter pylori. In this situation, shouldn’t the treatment focus on clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing inflammation, and eliminating bacteria?"

The moment this question was asked, Li Jianwei’s expression turned sour. He glared fiercely at the student. What a talent for hitting a sore spot!

Clearing heat and detoxifying was the treatment approach he had proposed for this patient. But the results were now obvious: it hadn’t achieved the expected effect. In other words, his treatment approach was wrong.

Although he too was puzzled by this, he had intended to discuss it with his team behind closed doors after seeing the patient off. He hadn’t expected this clueless student to blurt out the question so directly.

Du Heng also wanted to laugh.There weren’t many who would undermine their teacher so openly.Of course, such behavior, to put it nicely, was called being straightforward, not beating around the bush. To put it crudely, it was like having a screw loose, with rock-bottom emotional intelligence.

Du Heng didn’t rush to answer the student’s question. Instead, he looked at Li Jianwei with a slight smile, his eyes seeming to ask, Where did you find such a dunce?

Li Jianwei met Du Heng’s gaze and felt a little embarrassed. But since the question had been asked, it couldn’t be retracted. He could only manage an awkward smile and say, "Please explain it to this student."

Du Heng suppressed his smile and turned to the questioning student. "Are you studying Traditional Chinese Medicine or Western Internal Medicine?"

The student, momentarily stunned, replied, "I am Mr. Li’s graduate student. Of course, I am studying Traditional Chinese Medicine."

"Since you are studying Traditional Chinese Medicine, why are you attempting to apply Western Medicine’s treatment rationale to Traditional Chinese Medicine’s syndrome differentiation? Are they the same thing?" Du Heng spoke very seriously, and he couldn’t help but be serious. This was a fundamental issue of understanding theoretical systems.

To treat illnesses using traditional Chinese medicine methods without applying its theoretical framework for syndrome differentiation is to do harm—both to the patient and to oneself as a practitioner.

The student was startled by Du Heng’s grave expression, not understanding why this particular question elicited such seriousness.

Looking at the speechless student, Du Heng turned away from him. "Nowadays, diagnostic results from Western Medicine are indeed very helpful for us Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors, allowing us to better trace the cause of a disease. However, you cannot apply Western Medicine’s treatment strategies when prescribing Chinese herbal medicine.

"If you follow Western medical thinking to prescribe Chinese herbal medicine for a patient, would you call that Traditional Chinese Medicine or Western medicine?

"Rather than doing that, you might as well just use Western medicine directly; it would likely be more effective."

These words would undoubtedly cause Li Jianwei to lose some face. But one thing had led to another, and since matters had reached this point, what was said was said. Moreover, the student’s line of questioning was a classic case of trying to fit a square peg in a round hole—applying Western medical thought to the use of Chinese herbal medicine. If Li Jianwei was genuinely annoyed by this and no longer wished to cooperate, Du Heng would just let it be.

"Take this current condition, for example. Western Medicine believes that eradicating Helicobacter pylori is the top priority. The triple therapy commonly used also primarily focuses on anti-inflammatory and bactericidal effects.

"But the results are plain to see: after receiving treatment, the patient’s condition didn’t improve; it worsened. So, if you apply the same thinking to traditional Chinese medicine, do you expect it to work?"

Everyone listened quietly as Du Heng spoke. Even Xu Pinglin, a Western Medicine doctor, was listening intently.

As for the patient and his wife, watching Du Heng’s speech make all the other doctors present look apprehensive, they suddenly felt this doctor was very formidable, and their trust in him increased by several notches.

Meanwhile, the girl who was live streaming was ecstatic. The number of viewers in her live stream room had surged to 30,000 in just five minutes. Seeing the screen flooded with comments and the rapidly increasing viewer count, she had already forgotten why she was there and was already fantasizing about becoming a top streamer.

Li Jianwei’s face was indeed burning. He felt Du Heng’s words, though ostensibly aimed at the student, were like bricks being hurled at his own face, one after another.He was indeed angry, not at Du Heng, but at this student who had asked such an ill-considered question.

Fortunately, the other students weren’t like him. They all quietly took a step back, creating some distance from their peer, afraid that Li Jianwei might misdirect his anger and that the final blow would land on them.