Healing with Heart

By Zhu
Yafei
Interview with Dr. Ling Feng
(neurosurgeon, Xuanwu
Hospital)
April 12, 2012 – Beijing

Dr. Ling Feng is a world-renowned
neurosurgeon with an impressive resumé. She is executive director of the China
International Neuroscience Institute, Honorary Life President of the
Asia-Pacific region Interventional Neuroradiology and Treatment Federation,
senior member of the World Interventional Neuroradiology Federation, and the
list goes on.

She is one of the pioneers of the
discipline of interventional neuroradiology. Under her leadership, Chinese
medicine has made rapid advancements in this field. She is an international leader
in the study of spinal vascular malformations. Her achievements have been
recognized by many from the international medical community.

Dr. Ling’s office wall has a plaque
displaying the word “With heart.” Despite her popularity, Dr. Ling is
very down to earth. She said, “If your stride is longer than your legs,
you’ll always be shaky on your feet. Men strive while heaven watches. I’ve
always valued peace above fame and fortune.”

In these times where people consider
many things meaningless, Dr. Ling continues doing her work with integrity, with
heart.

Prevention:
the epitome of healthcare

Stroke has become the most common
health condition in China.
Each year, new patients alone number more than 2.5 million. The high mortality
rate and the 70% risk of disability has made stroke the number one health threat
to people’s lives. Moreover, this traditionally “geriatric” disease has grown
more common in younger populations.

Prominent historical figures such as
Lenin, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin all died of cerebrovascular diseases.
People who are most susceptible to the disease tend to suffer from high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and unhealthy lifestyle habits, including
obesity, heavy smoking and over-eating.

How do you know if you’re at risk
for cerebrovascular disease? Dr. Ling says that if you experience weakness in
your limbs or face, difficulty expressing and understanding language, blurred
vision, difficulty walking, loss of balance, severe and unexplained headaches, you
are in need of immediate medical attention. For the prevention and treatment of
stroke, Dr. Ling suggests eating less and walking more. She said we should
until we are 80% full and strive to walk about 10,000 steps per day.

Dr. Ling has more than 30 years of
experience in neurosurgery. In 2002, she presided over the rescue and treatment
of Phoenix TV’s anchorwoman Liu Hai-juo after a serious car accident. Her
treatment became a classic neurosurgical case and has been studied around the
world.

Regarding cerebrovascular diseases, Dr.
Ling says, “Prevention is the epitome of healthcare. Cures are less than ideal.
Contracting a disease that does not get cured is the greatest sadness.”
Precisely because she values prevention, Dr. Ling launched the “Cerebrovascular
Disease Public Education Campaign” in 2006. Over the past six years, she
personally visited over 100 cities to teach millions of people about cerebrovascular
diseases and the crucial role that prevention plays in cerebrovascular health.

Beginning in May 2012, Dr. Ling Feng
extended her consultation circuit to Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU) to
further promote awareness about cerebrovascular disease control and prevention.
Patients and their loved ones who have experience or are experiencing
cerebrovascular symptoms or distress are welcome to contact BJU to make an
appointment with Dr. Ling, China’s
top neurosurgery expert..

Background

“Stroke” is a general term for a
range of conditions that are result in neurological problems. The term covers hemorrhage
strokes (burst blood vessels, cerebral hemorrhage) and ischemic stroke
(cerebral clot). Cold winter weather increases the incidence of stroke. A
scientific understanding of what strokes are can help you prevent them.

A Philosophy
of Medicine

Some people feel that doctors who
aren’t serious about their practice rationalize their behavior by waxing
philosophical. Dr. Ling enjoys being philosophical, but she uses the philosophy
to help promote integrity in her practice and open her mind to new paths.

In her 30 years of medical practice,
Dr. Ling has developed a “holistic harmony” medical philosophy. Her “holistic
harmony” philosophy is divided into two parts: the whole and the haromony. The “whole”
describes one large system comprising many smaller systems, all interdependent.
The treatment of any subsystem should take the overall system into account, but
the interrelated nature of the subsystems must also be considered.

“Harmony” implies that the
overall system is self-organizing and can be independent. Specifically, this
refers to the body’s ability to self-repair. Medical intervention should not
interfere with this self-healing but should play a supplementary role in helping
the system stay on the right track. Interference with natural self-healing is
over-treatment.

Explaining this philosophy to every patient
is impossible, but Dr. Ling uses her theory to guide the daily work of her team.
Every morning meeting to discuss the surgical plans of the day is set against
the backdrop of the “holistic harmony” theory. For example, if a stent needs to
be placed in a patient who also has heart and digestive problems, the team has
to carefully consider where to put the stent. Additionally, the surgery itself will
have a significant overall impact on the patient’s body. The anesthesia and
other medications will impact the heart, lungs and digestive system. If the stent
is placed but turns out to be incompatible, the situation could be life-threatening.
Doctors need to weigh the consequences by grasping the essence of the “holistic
harmony” theory to identify appropriate treatment options.

Children’s
Hour

In addition to being a doctor, Dr. Ling
is also the director of the Ethnic Orphans Foundation. On June 1 of this year, Dr.
Ling led a group to Lijiang, to visit the Yunnan Ethnic
Orphanage School
to see the children receiving the fund’s sponsorship.

About 12 years ago in Beijing, Dr. Ling received
a patient from Lijiang named Hu Manli. She was the principal of the ethnic
orphanage school. Though her health was declining, she was more concerned about
the orphans who needed her care and teaching than about dying. The operation
proceeded very smoothly, and Hu Manli was eventually discharged, healthy and happy
to rejoin the kids. However, her life ambitions made a deep impression on Dr.
Ling.

In 2000, Dr. Ling went to Lijiang to
visit the children. She saw the poor living and educational conditions they had
to endure because of a lack of funds. Back in Beijing, Dr. Ling approached a lot of people
to help the orphanage school. Slowly, she collected scattered contributions,
but they weren’t consistent enough be a stable resource for the children. In 2005,
with a friend’s recommendation, Dr. Ling started the Ethnic Orphans Foundation as
director but also as a major fundraiser.

As the school developed, annual
demand for capital went from two million to six million. This heavy
responsibility to maintain operations fell on Dr. Ling’s shoulders. To continue
providing for the children, Dr. Ling opened a charity clinic, using her free
time to continue consultations to raise money. “My time belongs to the
children, to get them better resources. The only thing I’m good at is medicine.
And patients have a lot of needs. My scheduling fees have risen to 8,000 RMB,
so my lunch break is being used to see more patients. For the sake of a
classroom, I’m willing to go outside of Beijing
to provide more consultations. This is my window for giving charitable
donations.”

In May 2012, Dr. Ling started a
charity clinic at Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU). “The reason I’m
doing this at BJU is to raise more money for the children. Roberta Lipson (CEO of United Family Healthcare) and
I have been friends for 30 years, and United Family as their own children’s
foundation. We’ve worked together for a long time. Ms. Lipson is very sincere
about philanthropy. We share similar views, and that is why I chose to open
this clinic at BJU.”

In June of this year, Dr. Ling will
visit the orphanage school to see the children and bring them sporting goods,
oral health screenings and additional funds. “When you visit kids, you
have to bring presents. I only hope they can become happy, good people.”

The Ethnic
Orphans Foundation

The Ethnic Orphans Foundation was
established by world-renowned neurosurgeon and Chief of Neurosurgery at Xuanwu
Hospital Dr. Ling Feng. In December 2005, the China Children and Teenagers’ Foundation
and the Yunnan Ethnic Orphanage
School set up a special
fund to be used to provide a good education to orphans from ethnic minority
areas.

United
Foundation for Children’s Health

The United Foundation for Children’s Health (UFCH) is
heavily sponsored by United Family Healthcare (UFH). Each year, UFH contributes
medical services worth about 1% of its annual income to UFCH to restore health
to orphans and children from poor families. The ultimate goal is to help these
children become eligible for adoption by loving families.