Doctor to speak about integrative East-West medicine

Integrative East-West medicine can optimize the quality of life for patients with cancer, according to Dr. Malcolm Taw, assistant clinical professor of medicine at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine.

The techniques can treat symptoms or side effects commonly associated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, he said. These side effects can include pain, nausea, fatigue, insomnia, peripheral neuropathy, vasomotor hot flashes, lymphedema, chemo brain and anxiety, he said.

On Monday, Taw will present Cancer Care and Wellness through Integrative East-West Medicine at the Cancer Support Community, 530 Hampshire Road, Westlake.

Integrative East-West medicine is a health care paradigm that brings together the best of both conventional western biomedicine with traditional Chinese medicine to optimize patient care and outcomes, Taw said.

Perhaps the biggest myth about integrative East-West medicine is that there is no evidence in the medical literature for the treatments that we offer for our patients.

This may stem from the lack of understanding and experience about these therapies, such as acupuncture, he said.

However, there is actually an extensive amount of research about acupuncture describing its physiological mechanisms within the human body and demonstrating its benefit for various symptoms and conditions, Taw said.

Board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture and Chinese Herbology, Taw has treated patients with cancer, usually in collaboration with their oncologists and other health care providers, during different stages of the cancer process.

He has completed fellowships in integrative medicine at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine and through the Bravewell Collaborative/University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Taw also has a Master of Science in Oriental Medicine and postdoctoral training through the National Institutes of Health-supported K30 Program in Translational Investigation at UCLA.

Dr. Taw is unique in his experience of both east and west medicine, said Tricia Lethcoe, a marriage and family therapist intern and program associate with the Cancer Support Community. With this background, Dr. Taw is able to provide information to participants about traditional Chinese medicine and how it can work with the treatments that someone may currently be undergoing.

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Doctor to speak about integrative East-West medicine

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