TCM treatment for Macroglobulinemia
Herbal Prescription:
Carapax Trionycis (Biejia) 15g,
Radix Astragali (Huangqi) 25g,
Radix Angelicae Sinensis (Danggui) 10g,
Radix Rehmanniae (Shengdihuang) 15g,
Rhizoma Polygonati (Huangjing) 10g,
Semen Cuscutae (Tusizi) 10g, pulp of dogwood fruit 10g,
Herba Dendrobii (Shihu) 10g,
Radix Sanguisorbae (Diyu) 15g,
Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (Nuzhenzi) 10g,
Herba Ecliptae (Hanliancao), 10g,
Caulis Spatholobi (Jixueteng) 20g,
Fructus Lycii (Gouqizi) 10g,
Cortex L ycii Radicis (Digupi) 12g,
Radix Glycyrrhizae (Gancao) 5g,
Rhodiola rosea (Hongjingtian) 10g,
Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi), 5g, stir-baked squama manitis 5g, Agastache rugosus 10g, herba eupatorii 10g
Dosage: Decocted in water for oral taking. 28 doses altogether, one dose a day.
Western treatmentThere is currently no cure for waldenstroms macroglobulinemia prognosis is varied. Because of the rarity of the disease there has not been a large amount of research on effective treatments for waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. The current treatment of waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia is primarily intended to treat symptoms and help prevent complications rather than treat the disease. Due to the lack of studies comparing different treatment options there is not a single treatment waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.
Patients who do not show symptoms of waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia are often monitored without being treated. These patients can live for years without requiring treatment. Chemotherapy is a usual treatment of waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia. Chemotherapy can be used both to thin the blood in cases of hyper-viscosity as well as to fight the lymphoma cells. Another treatment for waldenstroms macroglobulinemia is biological therapy which is a treatment that stimulates the immune system so that it fights the cancer. Recent reports show that a combination treatment of chemotherapy and biological therapy has had fairly promising results although more research needs to be done to properly evaluate the effectiveness of this treatment.
If a patient with waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia has high levels of IgM and experiences hyper-viscosity then one of the main treatments is plasmapherisis. Plasmapherisis is a process where blood is removed from the patient and put into a machine which separates other blood cells from the plasma which contains IgM. The blood cells have a substitute plasma added and are pumped back into th patient. This process effectively thins the blood and reduces the negative effects of hyper-viscosity, this means symptoms of waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia are reduced.