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Traditional Chinese Medicine:
A Unified Medical System -- not Just a Technique
by Yubin Lu
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) -- including acupuncture, herbal medicine, Tui Na, dietary therapy, Tai Chi and Qigong -- are more strongly recognized as powerful medicine that can greatly benefit the public in the United States. I am convinced from my clinical practice, as well as from a career as a TCM teacher in the United States, that the beneficial potential from this time-tested healing system will be realized by both the public and professionals.
In our faculty clinic, patients are astonished at the questions asked during the diagnostic procedure. They are interested in how the doctor seems to already know what their signs and symptoms are. Patients often say, "How do you know I have these symptoms?"
Helen is a 43-year-old woman who came to our clinic with a complaint of irritability. After she presented her main complaints, she was asked the following questions:
Do you have a bitter taste in your mouth?
Do you have abdominal cramps just before or the first few days of your period?
Do you have a burning sensation in your stomach with acid reflux?
Do you occasionally have migraine headaches?
Do you have alternate constipation and diarrhea?
She answered yes to each of these questions, and her condition was diagnosed as Liver Qi Stagnation with Heat. When the diagnosis was explained to her, she was surprised that all her symptoms were caused by the same factor. "I never thought there was a unified explanation to my condition."
Acupuncture treatment
Lisa is a 62-year-old patient who came for acupuncture treatment with a complaint of lowered immune system. She often suffered from bacterial infection and had been treated with antibiotics in the past several years. In the beginning, the antibiotics were effective, but they were no longer. She had an earache, some pain in the left side of the jaw with enlarged lymph nodes, sore throat, and a sore in the side of the lower leg that had existed for over one year. She also had occasional palpitations with a poor sleep.
The gallbladder meridian goes around the ear and travels along the side of the leg, and when there is phlegm in the gallbladder, it can easily turn into heat. This will cause heart palpitations and poor sleep. We made a diagnosis of Phlegm Heat in the Gallbladder Disturbing the Heart Spirit. After several visits, the earache disappeared, the sore healed and her sleep improved. Her symptoms improved significantly.
These are only two examples of cases we see every day. Under the guidance of TCM theory, one can diagnose a condition with a unified explanation, which is almost impossible in other medicinal systems.
Complete medical system
Many have been mistaking Chinese medicine simply as acupuncture or the use of needles. TCM is a complete medical system with entirely different philosophies, theories, treatment principles and treatment approaches than Western medicine.
Unlike Western medicine, Chinese medicine is a medicine based on qi, yin, yang and the five-element theory. It treats the human body as result of movement of qi. Health is a sign of harmonious flow of qi, while disease is the result of disharmony of qi movement. Qi is a substance that cannot be separated and exists in the whole body. When the movement of qi is disturbed, it may affect many different parts of the body, and by observing these changes, you can make a diagnosis and give treatment. Emotions and mental activities also are the result of abnormal movement of qi, so different emotional troubles can be summarized as a dysfunction of qi.
In the United States, Chinese medicine is defined as alternative medicine or complementary medicine, and it is treated the same as many other therapies. This is a misunderstanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Medicine is a science. As an independent science, it must have its own theory. Although there are more than 200 alternative "medicines" in the United States, not all of them are medicine. The majority of them are therapies or techniques, because the theories guiding their practice cannot be separated from Western medicine or Chinese medicine.
Popular treatments
Shiatsu is becoming a very popular treatment, but it is not a medicine. It is a technique rooted in Chinese medicine. It takes Chinese medicine theory as the basis, and it works on points of the meridians. When the practitioner explains the patients' condition, they depend on Chinese medicine theory.
Chiropractic is another very popular treatment technique. But when a chiropractic doctor makes an assessment and gives treatment, the anatomical structure of the spine and its surrounding tissues in Western medicine should be the basis for this. Strictly speaking, chiropractic is a therapy in Western medicine.
Qigong is a treatment of Chinese medicine, because it is an exercise based on Chinese medicine theories. Tuina is also a Chinese medicine treatment, because it works on points of the body and takes Chinese medicine theory as the basis of the practice. Chinese medicine also has a complete explanation of different foods based on its own theory. Food can be used as an herb or as part of the complete dietary treatment system.
Thousands of years
Chinese medicine has been practiced in the world's most populous country for thousands of years. As long as a therapy is based on Chinese medicine theory, it should be a part of Chinese medicine. In the same way, if a treatment or a therapy is based on Western medicine for assessment of patient's conditions and evaluation of the therapeutic effect, it should be a therapy in Western medicine.
Chinese medicine is almost the only medicine in the world that can be said to be a medical science besides Western medicine. It is independent, because it has totally different views of the human body. Because of this, it can reveal something of the human body that may be neglected in Western medicine. Therefore, for the health of people, it is important to have a good understanding of what Chinese medicine is. It is a medical science, not just a simple therapy.
The American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, now located at 1925 W. County Road B2 in Roseville, Minn., will host an open house in December for prospective students and those interested in learning more about the school or Chinese Medicine: from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15. The Masters-level program in acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine offered at AAAOM starts three times a year at the beginning of the Winter, Summer and Fall Trimesters. Applications are now being accepted for the Winter 2002 trimester, which will begin January 2. For more information, call (651) 631-0204 or go to www.aaaom.org.
Yubin Lu, Ph. D, TCMD, is the academic dean of the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He teaches Chinese herbal medicine and Chinese medicine theory and sees patient at the AAAOM Faculty Clinic. He is one of the most productive scholar-doctors in the world, with more than 70 publications on traditional Chinese medicine. He can be reached at (651) 631-0204.
Copyright © 2001 Yubin Lu |
