183 – Seminar

Li Yun introduced himself to the little thirteen years old girl sitting in the bed. Feila couldn’t help but fawn over the new handsome doctor.

“Dr. Li! You’re probably almost as handsome as an actor!” Feila couldn’t help but fawn.

“You brat! Why are you always obsessed with looks!?” Dr. Mo chided her.

"But she said almost," Dr. Li jokingly replied. He agreed, his frame and stature were more suited for an action movie than a romantic hero.

“Dr. Li is a new doctor here?” Feila asked.

Dr. Li smiled and shook his head. “I’m just here for today.”

“No wonder, there’s no one here except for the old guys,” Feila complained.

Academician Tan was rather offended. “There are many good looking residents.”

Feila and Dr. Mo both disagreed with a snort.

“Little Fei, you’re also a fan?” Li Yun asked, looking at the sheep head pillow, one of the many fluffy merchandises that filled his room after Rouxi's birthday.  “My girlfriend likes them too, but why the sheep?”

"It's an alpaca, and your girlfriend has wonderful taste!" Feila continued chatting about everything she loved about her favorite boy band.

She was quite optimistic despite her poor prospect. It was important to keep her mentality, as it was one of the driving forces that improve surgical outcomes.

It was why doctors hesitated to talk with the patients directly about their chances and survival rates. Doctors didn’t want to give the patients too much hope in case of failure, but they also didn’t want to demoralize the patient. Unlike other countries, much of the important medical decisions fell on the closest kin, not the individual.

After seeing Feila, Li Yun entered the auditorium to prepare his presentation. They were going to record and live stream the lecture, both on his channel and on the Magic City Cancer Center webpage. Yi Ansha was helping him film from her seat near the first row, next to her was grandpa Master Yi Bao.

As the lecture began, Li Yun explained the different classifications TCM practitioners used for pulse diagnosis. Although it seemed complex, the idea was actually quite simple once it was compared to modern-day EKG. 

“Let’s look for example, the so-called pregnancy pulse,” Li Yun displayed a chart of a typical frequency of a person. “Now, bear in mind, every person has a different set of natural frequencies. This is the EKG of a patient A at the beginning of the year. Without the EKG, you can hear that the heart rate is 15 beats per minute more than usual. Pregnancy also affects the QRS axis, Q wave and T-wave.”

It was difficult for practitioners back then, but hearing the rhythm and flow of the heart was the only option. Even with the EKG, it wasn't easy for people outside the field to understand the waves chart without a specialist providing a report.

“But in a lot of TV shows, the TCM doctors can diagnose a random patient that comes in, how is that possible?” asked someone from the audience.

"Many TV shows are based on the miracle doctors of the past, who just happens to be very good at their job," said Li Yun. "Bian Que, for example, was so good at diagnosing patients that people believed he had x-ray vision. The doctor was simply more astute than other doctors, and knew the importance of looking, listening, inquiring, and taking the pulse, all important steps in modern diagnostic techniques."

"So is it possible to tell if someone is pregnant?" asked another spectator.

“The pregnancy pulse is quite similar to someone with heart disease. TCM practitioners, especially the good ones, are often employed by the elite or noble families,” Li Yun explained. “If a wealthy young woman experienced symptoms, recently married, and have an unusual rapid pulse, it was likely a sign of pregnancy.”

"Dr. Ang from Imperial City has this pregnancy pulse challenge, are you going to take up the challenge?"

Dr. Ang was a doctor in Imperial City that made headlines by challenging TCM doctors to diagnose whether a woman was pregnant. If the doctor passes with more than 80% accuracy, they would be awarded with 100,000 yuan. After three years, no one had taken on the challenge and won.

Li Yun shook his head. "A pregnancy test costs 30 yuan and takes 5 minutes. Whereas, going to a doctor like me takes weeks to schedule an appointment and cost at least 100 yuan. By the time it takes me to confirm the pregnancy, the woman would have given birth already."

Everyone in the audience laughed.

“TCM is really just talk, if there is scientific proof, it would be accepted by now,” Dr. Mo murmured to the other doctors.

At the podium, Li Yun could hear much of the dissent. A healthy dose of skepticism was needed in science, so he wasn't ruffled. TCM was a field that was extremely difficult to prove, which made it easy for scammers to intermix with real practitioners.

“How about a little live experiment?” Li Yun asked the audience. “I’m sure there are many skeptics. Many of you have likely heard of my ability to induce anesthesia with acupuncture. Although it can’t be replicated by others, I can replicate the experiment on anyone.”

The audience’s interest peaked.

Li Yun pointed to a Dr. Mo. “Dr. Mo, would you like to volunteer?”

Doctor Mo didn’t think Li Yun would ask her to assist, but since all eyes were focused on him, she stood up and thought it would be amusing to see what the guest lecturer had in store.

“Doctor Mo is a very vocal critic of TCM, I’m sure everyone in the audience already knows,” said Li Yun explained.

Doctor Mo nodded. Her mouth almost curved into a smile as she felt like a participant on a psychic show.

“Doctor Mo is relatively healthy, but you often skip meals and sleep to review medical reports,” Li Yun could guess by the rhythm of the heart beat. “Your heart pumps more blood to your brain, but not to the rest of your body, so you have a relatively sedentary lifestyle. It’s not particularly bad now, but 10 years down the road, the arteries in your body will thin out and the arteries in your brain will thicken to adapt to your current lifestyle. You may want to balance out your routine.”

Doctor Mo smiled, unfazed by Li Yun’s rather accurate assessment of her health. But what Li Yun had said could easily be discerned by anyone. There were TV psychics who could have made the same type of conclusion. Doctor Mo was skinny and her glasses indicated that she was the intellectual type and not the physical type.

“Dr. Li is an astute person, and very knowledgeable about a person's physical and mental well being,” she replied. “Unlike me, you probably regularly exercise, eat just enough calories to get through the day, and sleep only as much to restore your energy.”

“Then it looks like I have chosen the correct person.” Li Yun also smiled and looked at the audience. “In the audience, you can select three people. Using only acupuncture, I can put anyone to sleep. You may prepare the needles yourself to prevent any foul play?”

Li Yun had decided against diagnosing people in front of the audience. He believed a person's medical condition was tied to their mental health. If he showcased someone's medical condition in front of an audience, and on a live video feed, then he wasn't fit to be a doctor.

Doctor Mo accepted the challenge. She wanted to see for herself if it was really possible to put people to sleep. After securing three gurneys and doctors that Dr. Mo knew personality, they were placed on the stage for Li Yun to perform the acupuncture.

“Dr. Li, you may begin,” Dr. Mo instructed. “May the audience know how long to wait before the effect works? We can’t sit here for an hour to watch to see if it works or not.”

“Not too long,” Li Yun said as he worked on inserting the acupuncture on the first patient.

He used to be slow because he wasn’t sure if he had chosen the correct acupuncture points. Not everyone responded to the same points, and it was dependent on the current state of the patients. However, he had been using acupuncture for so long that it had become second nature.

In less than ten minutes, he performed acupuncture on all three patients. In front of the stage with hundreds of people watching from the audience and thousands more online, all three patients were slowly falling asleep. Everyone was amazed. Some were still in disbelief, but for the people who knew the three volunteers, it was very convincing.

“How is that possible?” Dr. Mo herself couldn’t believe her eyes. It wasn’t like the auditorium was quiet or dark. She knew all three of them would never pretend to sleep. Was it possible that this doctor could really perform acupuncture?

Aceboy: Wow! This is freaky. I randomly entered this livestream. Thought it would be boring, but is this some TV show?

Dr.Xu: It’s a medical lecture at Magic City Cancer Center…

Dr.SS: I knew this would happen.

Huasu: This is unexpected! I knew Dr. Li was amazing, but not to this extent.

Xihi: Maybe I should plan a visit to the Dong Xuan clinic. Is Dr. Li still seeing patients there?

Miu: I think once in a while. He has been so busy lately.

Dr.Chang: There are many talks in the TCM world, but only Dr. Li can walk that path.

During the lecture, Li Yun also advertised his research on Huifu and Yunli pills. Much of the data he presented on animal testing was faked. He himself was the lab rat, but it wasn’t like there was anyone in the research lab other than him.

Some of the professors at MCUH were already aware of the effectiveness of Huifu. Many inflammation-type illnesses could be treated, and without many side effects.

“Is the Yunli pill planned for over-the-counter application?” asked the doctors.

“Yes, it’s less effective than Huifu, but has wider usage to relieve chronic pain,” Li Yun explained. "It will likely take years before it enters the market."

“A Class 1 drug? You’re quite ambitious. Has it been approved?” Class 1 drug meant it was an innovative drug or compound that has not been marketed in China or overseas.

“Next week will mark the 60th day in the review process.” A drug was considered approved for clinical trial if there was no response from the review committee. The Shennong factory had already started production for clinical applications.

There was a reason why Li Yun wanted to mention Yunli first before it was officially approved. It was likely that the Xia family would push through clinical trials before his product. If Li Yun could get the name of the product out to the public prior to Berne’s and make them know that he had submitted his applications before Berne pushed through their product, it would be less troublesome in the future. Although Li Yun was not allowed to advertise his product, releasing the research reports during a seminar wasn’t completely against regulations.