Symposium 2

Symposium 2: Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine in Medical Disorders

Date: 12 July 2025, Sunday | Time: 1330 - 1515 | Venue: The NAK Auditorium, Academia

Co-Chairs: TCMP William Peh (ACMS & SCHMI) & Dr Loo Chian Min (SGH)

TOPIC 1:

The treatment of Female infertility using Chinese medicine

There are multiple reasons for female infertility. The incidence of female infertility has significantly increased due to various factors such as social pressure, late marriage, and deciding to postpone having a child later in life. This has resulted in financial and physiological problems and even marriage failure. Conventional solutions, such as hormone therapy, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and embryo transfer, has had some success. Currently, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been increasingly used by infertile women with the hope of getting pregnant. TCM treatment including acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbal medicines offer a holistic approach to achieve a better therapeutic effect. My talk will introduce several randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that has shown effectiveness and safety of TCM for the treatment of infertility.

TOPIC 2:

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Type 2 Diabetes

Speaker: Dr (TCM) LIM Yi Chuan (ACMS)

To be updated

TOPIC 3:

Use of Acupuncture for Weight Management

Speaker: TCMP Jeraldine SEAH (SGH)

To be updated

TOPIC 4:

Acupuncture in Cancer Care: A Medical Oncologist’s Perspective

Speaker: Asst Prof CHONG Wan Qin (NUH)

Advances in cancer treatment have improved survival, but many patients experience persistent treatment-related toxicities that significantly affect quality of life. Symptoms such as chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, radiation-induced xerostomia, cancer-related fatigue, and aromatase inhibitor–associated musculoskeletal symptoms remain difficult to manage with conventional therapies alone, highlighting an unmet need for supportive care strategies.

Acupuncture, a key component of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is increasingly used by cancer patients and has accumulated a growing body of evidence demonstrating benefits in symptom reduction and quality-of-life improvement. However, despite this emerging evidence, integration of acupuncture into routine oncology practice remains limited.

Key challenges include developing appropriate clinical workflows, fostering collaboration between oncologists and TCM practitioners, and generating further high-quality clinical data to support wider adoption.

This presentation will review the current evidence supporting acupuncture in oncology supportive care and discuss practical considerations for integrating acupuncture with conventional Oncology care, with the aim of improving symptom management and enhancing the overall quality of life for cancer patients.