| Objective: To find out the impact of the moxibustion treatment on the immunity function of oesophageal cancer patients while under radiation treatment.Method : Divide 59 patients pathological diagnosed with oesophageal cancer into 2 groups. Of which, 29 patients are categorized as the treatment group, undergoing radiation and moxibustion at acupunctural points Shenque (CV8), Zusanli (S56) and Zhongwan (CV12). The other 30 patients categorized under the control group will undergo radiation treatment without moxibustion. Observe and compare each group's Interleukin-2, White Cells and Red Cells before and after treatment. Results: After treatment for 6 weeks, the results before and after the treatment of the treatment group is P<0.01, which is of great value in statistics. It proved that moxibustion can obviously increase the Interleukin-2, enhance the immunity function of the tumor patient being treated with radiation and strengthen the resistant capability from diseases. On the other hand, the results before and after the treatment of the control group did not have any value in statistics and showed an obvious drop in Interleukin-2. After radiation treatment, the average figure for control group was (2.97±1.10), whereas before radiation treatment was (3.46±0.95). It is obvious that radiation is harmful to the immunity function. There was no difference in the amount of Interleukin-2 between the 2 groups of patients before treatment. However, the treatment group showed a significant rise of Interleukin-2 after receiving radiation and moxibustion treatment hand in hand.Although both groups experienced a drop in the amount of White Cells from the time of hospitalization to the end of the 6-week treatment, the treatment group's results dropped only by P>0.05, which is of minimal value in statistics. However, the control group experienced a significant drop of P<0.001. Before the treatment, both groups had a comparable amount of White Cells, with the treatment group at an average of 1330 more White Cells than the control group. At the 6th week, the treatment group had an average of 4100 White Cells, with 17 out of 29 cases above 5000; the control group only had an average of 2300 White Cells, with 8 out of 30 cases below 4000, 7 cases at 4000 and only 6 cases above 5000. 58.6% of the treatment group patients had more than 5000 White Cells whereas only 20% of the control group patients had above 5000 White Cells. Thus, it is proven that radiation treatment may cause a damage in White Cells but moxibustion is capable of minimizing this damage, hence boosting the patient's resistance against diseases and chances of survival.This research also proves that moxibustion can reduce the damage of Red Cells caused by radiation treatment and increase the patients' resistance against diseases. Although the difference in the amount of Red Cells was not significantly large, the treatment group still had a higher amount of Red Cells as compared to the control group at the end of the 6 weeks.Conclusion: The research shows that moxibustion can play a role of effective supplementary treatment while the oesophageal cancer patient is undergoing radiation treatment. It is essential that both treatment are carried out at the same period of time.The research also shows that moxibustion can increase the level of interleukin-2, White Cells and Red Cells, puts the tumor under control and prevents its relapse. At the same time, it minimizes the poisonous side effects of radiation. |
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