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Introduction to the Eclectic Triphasic Medical System
Adapted by John G. Connor, M.Ac., L.Ac.
from various articles by Donald Yance
Oct. 20, 2010
Barbara and I first met Donald Yance at the Medicines from the Earth Herbal Symposium in June 2005 where we had the good fortune to attend his lectures. We were immediately struck by the amazing comprehensiveness and depth of his approach to health and healing. Barbara and I had succeeded very well at integrating acupuncture with craniosacral therapy and had always appreciated the importance of herbs, supplements and nutrition in our practice. But Donald Yance had taken herbs, botanicals and nutrition to an entirely different level that we had never seen before. Combined with his extensive clinical experience, exhaustive scientific research and his quest to uncover the healing qualities of every conceivable herb and nutrient and then on top of it to fully integrate it with modern conventional medicine we realized we had finally found someone who had succeeded in doing what we had only imagined as being possible.
Fortunately for us he formulated his vast knowledge and wisdom into what he calls the Eclectic Triphasic Medical System – or simply ETMS. The ETMS as envisioned by Donald Yance is a clinically validated system that is rooted in the American Eclectic and Physiomedical herbal traditions interwoven with Traditional Chinese Medicine theory and contemporary clinical nutrition. The three branches of the ETMS are 1) The Human Being, 2) The External Environment and 3) the Biological Environment.
ETMS protocols are designed to work synergistically with standard conventional medical treatment plans and emphasize the practice of healthy medicine aimed at the root source of ill-health. Its primary focus in the case of cancer treatment, for example, is to enhance the vitality of the person, to bring about harmony and balance throughout the body, together with target-specific, non-toxic, or low-toxicity cancer-suppressing agents. This is achieved through the application of synergistic multi-targeting herbal and nutritional formulations, dietary therapeutics, and specific cancer-targeting therapies as indicated.
Barbara and I have been working closely with Donald Yance since March 2009 as practitioners of the Integrative Healthcare Consulting Program he has established and we find it has helped our patients immensely. We have completed both the Level One and Level Two Professional Clinical Training programs with Donald Yance in Ashland, Oregon from April 26 - May 1, 2010 and from Sept. 27 - Oct. 2, 2010. The beauty of his system is that it is all-inclusive and not only includes herbal medicine but it includes acupuncture, nutritional medicine, dietetics, exercise, prayer, Qi gong, music, art, etc. as well as working co-operatively with conventional medical doctors and continuously delving into the latest scientific research at the molecular, cellular and genomic levels in order to extract from these studies anything and everything that can be beneficial for our patients.
Fundamentally cancer occurs due to errors of DNA replication. In a normal person it happens several thousands times a day. But protective mechanisms within the cell cause apoptosis (programmed cell death). If this first line of defense fails there are extracellular ways in which the body recognizes and neutralizes the aberrant cells. These are the familiar leukocytes and lymphocytes. If an aberrant cell manages to elude this second line of defense and begins to perpetuate itself into daughter cells, and if the gene error codes for resistance to apoptosis, then a cancer is born. Left to develop, the cancer will soon start to put out stimulatory signals, growth factors that influence both its own behavior and that of neighboring cells. Now the cancer is influencing its environment and changing it to better suit its own needs. No wonder people feel invaded or taken over by some alien energy.
A number of molecular and cellular changes associated with the spread of cancer have been identified. For example, the cancer energy can alter the immune response by weakening it and protecting itself from it. It can up-regulate various cytokines that enable the growth and spread of cancer while down-regulating the immune system's cytokines, natural killer cells and cytotoxic T-cells. The cancer energy can and will increase the production of glucose and insulin -- even in an anaerobic state. Cancer cells are rapidly dividing and therefore require more glucose. Copper and iron are also up-regulated by the cancer energy for the purpose of mitosis and angiogenesis. Several natural compounds can effectively normalize many of the changes that have been hijacked by the cancer energy.
Investigative diagnostic work can help to assess and target predisposed individuals who are at risk for developing certain cancers by implementing nutritional, botanical, dietary and lifestyle changes that can prevent and/or retard the development of cancer, or reduce the cancer from becoming aggressive, metastatic and life-threatening.
Modern technologies which are used for identifying the cancer energy include gene expression profiles using microarray techniques. Identifying oncogene and/or tumor suppressor gene mutations (including up-regulated growth factors, receptor sites, transcription pathways, environmental alterations within the tumor and polymorphisms) often give clues for differentiating what chemotherapeutic drugs may be most effective from those that will not be very effective, as well as which drugs potentially may cause increased toxicity to low toxicity. Essentially we are trying to identify what tools in the modern medical toolbox can have the greatest impact on the cancer and at the same time have the least negative impact on the health of the person.
The potential roles of numerous genetic changes have been studied in the malignant progression of cancer, including oncogene activation and tumor-suppressor gene loss. Some common proteins, oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that have been altered by the cancer energy include the Ki-67, p53, p21, p27, Bcl-2, PTEN and nm23 genes. Identifying which of the genes may be mutated can both help to understand the cancer intelligence and also understand when to use botanicals and certain botanical-compounds that can repair the damaged gene. Also identifying these proteins and genes may help to guide target-specific therapies in patients with high-risk cancer.
For a more detailed description of the Eclectic Triphasic Medical System please click on the following link: http://www.mederifoundation.org/ETMS_Intro_Overview.pdf
Please refer to our Comprehensive Cancer Care Consulting Program article to find out more about how we work with cancer.
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Compassionate Acupuncture & Healing Arts, 4501 Valley Forge Rd., Durham, NC 27705 Tel. 919-309-7753 Email: compassionateacu@nc.rr.com
Copyright © 2010 John G. Connor