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LIFE •ENTERT ~NTMondaJ,DecemfMWS, 1994 SectIon E Entertainment, Page E~

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SPECIAL TREATMENT: Dr.Fred Hui combines Eastern and Western medical techniques in treating one of his patients.

Patients are liningup for a taste ofDr. Fred Hui'smedicine whichblends the best ofChinese andWestern therapies

By JANICE DINEENSTAFF REPORTER

\Physician Fred Hui listens care-fully to his Ll-year-old patient'ssymptoms, then checks the boy'sthroat, tongue, ears and the glandsin his neck. He notes fever, swollenand discolored tonsils, swollenglands, a cough and a hoarse voice.

Hui gives the boy a prescriptionfor an antibiotic, some tablets tocontrol the fever ... and two boxesof Chinese herbs to mixwith waterand take three times a day to helprebuild his body's defences.

Hui's practice is an unorthodoxconcert of Eastern and :westernmedicine.He does a lot of acupunc-ture. He often writes prescriptions,or refers a patient to a specialist.He uses his hands to manipulatethe energy around a patient's body,a process that looks something likeTherapeutic Touch.

His patients express great enthu-siasm for the United Nations brandof medicine he practises.

"When 1 first came to Dr. Hui, 1was a mess," says Joe Marrin. "Ididn't have a life. 1 had no move-ment in my neck and if anyonetouched my back I would scream inpain. My headaches were so bad 1would literally roll on the floor inpain. Now the pain is manageable.I'm a happy guy."

Marrin was in bed for fourmonths after an automobile acci-dent near his home north of PanySound, then went to a Sudburyclinic daily for two months withoutany change in his condition.

.Becauseof a fear of needles, hehad to be dragged to Hui's officebya friend who had found the acu-puncture and herbs effective instaving off some of the elements ofher own multiple sclerosis.

Marrin walked into the doctor'soffice the first time with no use ofhis left arm. By the end of his firstacupuncture treatment, he couldlift that arm up over his head. Mar-rin has rented an apartment nearHui's office so he can have treat-ment on weekdays, then drives sixhours each way to spend weekendsat home with his family. _

;J'oanXepappas says Hui's acu-puncture saved her from having aspinal fusion. "Dr. Huijust sparkleswhen he relieves your pain," shesays. "He really gets excited aboutgetting you well."

Hui, 42, says he tries to treat ev-ery patient as a relative. "I think,how would 1handle this case if thiswere my sister or my nephew?"

He believes he is the only li-

censed Canadian physician east ofEdmonton applying an integratedapproach of Chinese and Westernmedicine which, he says, is the ac-cepted approach for all doctors inChina today. Hui makes daily useof a huge reference book put to-gether by Chinese medical expertsin both traditions for doctors usingan integrated practice.

When he was a small boy inHong Kong, the second of sevenchildren in his family, he was afrail, sickly, asthmatic child in andout of hospitals all the time. Whilehis sisters and brothers fought overthe comics pages, he went off byhimself,to read the medical news.

Young Fred missed the entireschool year in Grade 4 because ofillness. Constant weakness andsickness were so depressing thateven at age 9 he felt an understand-ing of how people occasionallycon-sider suicide as an escape from dis-ease. That was the year he decidedhe was going to grow up to seemedicine from the other side of thefence: he would become a doctor.

Growing up in Hong Kong, hewas taken both to doctors whopractised Chinese medicine anddoctors who practised westernmedicine. After he graduated fromthe University of Toronto medicalschool and set up a practice in To-ronto in 1980,he decided to blendthe two.

His familypractice grew so over-whelminglythrough word of mouththat it is 120 per cent full and he

(fir Please see Doctor's, E3

COMBINED KNOWLEI)GE: Dr. Fred Hilluses this textbook combiningEastern and Western medical tra-ditions in his unorthodox practice.

C 7Hc"'( SIDE ~

Doctor's success blends bestof Chinese.Western medicine(JF Continued from Elhas had to stop taking new familypractice patients. Many of his long-time patients now see one of his col-leagues for routine Western medicalprocedures, and see Hui only for con-ditions that need a ·combinationEast/West approach.

Every Wednesday and Friday after-noons, he goes out to some comer ofthe health care community to learnfrom the expertise of others. For exam-ple, he spent many afternoons observ-ing an ear, nose and throat specialisttreating patients. He has studied theway psychiatrists deal with patients.He has spent time observing herbal-ists, homeopaths, naturopaths and chi-ropractors.

"I tIy to learn from them an." hesays. "I may go to a Chinese herbalstore and find the man who has ownedit for 30 years. I will question himabout what things work well and whatthings don't work."

Hui has brought Professor Zeng Ilu,62, physician-in-chief for 35 years atBeijing Hospital of Traditional ChineseMedi~e, to Toronto as an adviser inhis practice. Zeng Uu's knowledge ofChinese medicine is eIiq..uopedic. -.-''I see myself as a bridge," Hui says.

"I was born Chinese and planted inCanada. I would like to be a resourcefor other physicians. And I would liketo ,tree young,gradtl~ting physicians

develop an interest in this combinationof Chinese and Western medicine.

"My dream is a centre where wecould bring in visiting experts from all .different cultures to treat problemsthat can't be solved with the usualmethods," he says.

While many patients are helped byWestern medicine, Hui suggests, thereare some conditions that often respondbetter to Chinese medicine. These in-clude acute shingles, many kinds ofheadaches, musculo-skeleta1 disorderssuch • tendinitis or back and neckpain, PeriPhery nerve disorders suchas weakness and numbness, abnormalmenstrual periods when the usualcauses have been ruled out. lack ofenergy or fatigue of unknown origin,lack of appetite, insomnia, and auto-nomic nervous system disorders suchas excessive sweating, dry mouth orirregularity.

Hui doesn't adhere to any organizedreligion but he relates strongly to Tao-ist philosophy, and believes that every.thing and everyone experiences cyclesthroughout life and beyond

He learned the key to keeping hisenergy at peak. and keeping his calm.and good cheer all day during the gru-elling training required in medicine.He used to duck into a vacant class-room and meditate for half an hourthen return to his work and studiesrefreshed while other students were

wilting under the pace and pressure.. These days he spends half of eachlunch hour in meditation.

In his private life, Hui enjoys gour-met restaurants, tennis, golf, ski week-ends all winter and resort weekends allsummer. "I love every bit of my life,"he says. "I work hard and I play hard."

He trave1sseveral times a year with. his wife Rebecca and their daughtersMelody, 10, and Vanessa, 6. They tooka Baltic cruise last year as well as visit-ing Mexico and England They plan togo to Hawaii at Christmas.

In a'typical day in his office, he givesacupuncture to several patients recov-ering from accidents and to one recov-ering from chronic fatigue. Using aGerman technique, he injects local an-esthetic at acupuncture points for a pa-tient with trigeminal neuralgia, a con-dition causing tics and severe shootingpain in the face. The technique makesit possible for the man to eat and talk,which the pain prevented before hestarted these treatments.

Georgina, 84, of Willowdale, is suf-fering aamping in her toe at nightHui tells her to put magnets in the bedwith her to prevent the cramps. Hegives her acupuncture for her arthritisand a Chinese syrup for her cough.

''He's my magician." Georgina de-clares. "I've gone to many doctors inmy 84 years but never one like Dr. Hui.He does wonders."

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