What is Chinese Medicine?
Developed in China around two millennia ago, traditional Chinese medicine is an
alternative medical system that seeks to heal the body using herbal medicines and
mind-body practices such as acupuncture theworldagenda. It has been practised by more than 300
000 practitioners worldwide and is now an accepted part of health-care provision in
many countries.
Herbal medicines (or “pharmaceuticals”) comprise an integral part of chinese
medicine and are prescribed by Chinese healers to balance the body’s energy,
known as qi theworldagenda.com. Herbal remedies are prescribed to treat a wide variety of illnesses, from
digestive problems and headaches to rheumatoid arthritis and menstrual pain.
The underlying theory of TCM is that illness and disease arise from the imbalance of
yin and yang. These forces are thought to run through invisible’meridians’ in the
body and can be restored through acupuncture, massage, exercise and herbal
remedies.
There are a large number of medicinal herbs in the Chinese pharmaceutical
armamentarium, and some of them have positive anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
properties that can help reduce the risk of disease. However, like all medications,
herbs should be taken responsibly and only under the supervision of a qualified
practitioner.
Dietary therapy is also an important aspect of TCM, based on the idea that food and
drink have energetic properties. These are based on their taste and nature, and
influence the qi of the body.
Acupuncture, moxibustion and cupping are all used to restore harmony to the body’s
energy. These are used in combination with other TCM therapies to help improve a
patient’s overall health.
Historically, the development of acupuncture and other Chinese therapies began in
China about two millennia ago when scholars realized that they could correlate the
natural world with human anatomy and physiology. They developed a correlation
between the cosmos and the human body and were able to link these concepts with
the five elements and the principles of yin and yang.
The five elements theory, for example, explains that the human body is a blend of
wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and that each organ has an individual ‘element’
to which it responds. The ‘element’ can be a type of organ, for example, the kidney
or bladder is considered to have the element of metal.
This theory is used to help the healer create a treatment plan for each patient. This
can include acupuncture, diet and lifestyle changes and herbs to treat the specific
problem.
Another concept in chinese medicine is that the body is a complex system of organs
and endocrine glands which control each other’s functions. These can be influenced
by emotional states, such as stress or anger.
There are a number of other principles in chinese medicine that have been shown to
be useful, such as the theory of the body’s internal and external environment and
the idea that diseases develop as a result of disruption to the flow of qi. These are
important for the medical profession to understand as they can help explain how
different treatments can work in conjunction with each other and make sense of a
patient’s symptoms.