Being diagnosed with cancer never sits well in a patient’s stomach, especially if they don’t have the money or the health insurance coverage to pay for it. Fortunately, there may be a cheaper alternative through traditional Chinese medicine. Researchers have shown that Realgar-Indigo naturalis formula (RIF) is effective for treating promyelocytic leukemia. Tetraarsenic tetrasulfide (A), indirubin (I), and tanshinone IIA (T) are active ingredients in the formula, and ATI is crucial in yielding synergy in the treatment of promyelocytic leukemia.

With traditional Chinese medicine slowly making its way into the research labs, perhaps the public will be more open to trying a natural alternative to battle an ailment. There are thousands of different formulas that help people with a plethora of different pathogens, and we can all live a much more healthy life if we can effectively incorporate traditional Chinese medicine into our world.

Scientific article link: http://www.pnas.org/content/105/12/4826.abstract?ck=nck

Discussion Question: Although modern day medicine for leukemia has proved to be very effective, would you try the indigo treatment if the normal treatment would put a hefty dent in your wallet?