About Chinese Medicine

The earliest books available today with established CM theory were dated back to more than two thousand years ago. However, this does not mean that CM practice began more than two thousand years ago. Therefore, it is wrong to conclude that CM has a history of two thousand years.

Because fighting diseases and promoting health were among the top priorities for Chinese ancestors to survive in the challenging, ancient, and primitive environment, the practice of CM could begin as early as the beginning of China's history. CM is actually an integral part of China's culture. CM has been playing very important roles in the promotion of health, prevention of illnesses, and treatment of diseases for Chinese people since the beginning of China's history.

Because ancient books earlier than several thousands years ago were unable to be preserved to today, there might be books earlier than two thousand years which contained established theory of Chinese Medicine.

Since CM was established through a long-term process of trial and error, it would take a very long time from the beginning of the CM practice to the establishment of a complete CM theory. In addition, there was no printing technology during that primitive era, the preservation of books at that time was very difficult. Books of that era could be easily lost. Because any knowledge developed at that time was recorded by hand writing and only one copy of a book was available each time, the knowledge could be easily lost out of the loss or damage of the single copy of the book. Once a book was lost, a whole new re-discovering and re-developing process had to be repeated in order to obtain the knowledge or technique.

Other factors slowing down the development process of knowledge at that era include the transportation and communication conditions. In that primitive era, there was no airplane, no car, no train, no ship, etc. The chief transportation means were walking or riding horse. In addition, there was no phone, no computer, no email, no complete mailing system, etc. The efficiency of exchanging information and sharing knowledge at that time was very low.

As a result, the accumulation and developmental process of CM knowledge at that era was much slower than the process in our contemporary era. Therefore, a very long period must have passed from the beginning of the practice of CM to the time when a complete theory of CM was established around more than two thousand years ago.

Due to above reasons, it is generally estimated that the practice of Chinese Medicine probably began hundreds of thousands or even million years ago.

Due to many reasons (see other ACMA Publications), we feel that the term Chinese Medicine best describe the profession of Chinese Medicine.

Chinese Medicine (CM) has several other names. Please see other ACMA publications for details on this issue.

Relationship Between Other Medicines and Chinese Medicine

Most traditional medicines in other Asian regions (e.g. Japan, Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, etc.) were directly branched from or influenced by the CM.

Through the Silk Road and other cultural exchanges, CM has been exported to Europe and other continents hundreds and thousands years ago, had been practiced in more than 100 countries, and had influenced the development of many other medicines around the world. The influence of Chinese Medicine on Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Immunology, Preventive Medicine, Psychology, etc. could be much more profound and significant than most people realize. (More studies on the history of these medicines need to be conducted.)

Therefore, CM is in a very unique position in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) family. Today CM together with the alternative medicines developed under its influence serve the largest CAM patient population in the world.

Components of Chinese Medicine

　Chinese Medicine (CM) is not one medicine. It is a huge medicinal system. It is composed of many medicinal areas. Chinese Medicine is one of the most comprehensive, systematic, and largest medicinal system in the world.

Generally speaking, Chinese Medicine includes:

Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM)
Acupuncture
Moxibustion
Cupping
Tui Na
An Mo
CM Massage
Zheng Gu Therapy
Acupressure
Gua Sha
Qi Gong
Tai Ji
CM Mind and Psychotherapy
Dao Yin
Auricular Therapy
Ocular Therapy
Hand Therapy
Foot Therapy
Eye Therapy
CM Preventive Medicine
Health Preserving
Rehabilitation Therapy
CM Exercise Medicine
CM Physical Therapy
Eugenics
Dietary Therapy
Medicated Food Therapy
External Therapy
CM Meteorology
CM Time Biology
CM Geography
CM Universe Medicine, etc.

Note: Because above medicinal areas were developed at different eras by different doctors and practitioners of Chinese Medicine, some of them overlap with others.

The diseases and illnesses treated by Chinese Medicine include all diseases and illnesses in Western Medicine. Because Chinese Medicine classifies diseases and illnesses into more detailed subcategories, it covers some diseases and illnesses which are not available in Western Medicine.

In America, the two well-known components of CM are Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. Acupuncture first drew American public's attention, partly attributed to the media, during President Nixon's visit to China in the early 70s. Chinese Herbal Medicine arrived in America more quietly than Acupuncture, and is not as well known as Acupuncture.

The less well known situation of Chinese Herbal Medicine in America is changing. In fact, in all CM hospitals in China, there is one Acupuncture Department and a dozen or more of Chinese Herbal Medicine Departments. This fact shows that Chinese Herbal Medicine is the major component of CM. American public will get more benefits once the major component of CM -- Chinese Herbal Medicine has obtained the status and recognition it deserves.

Safety of Chinese Medicine

Acupuncture falls into the category of external treatment in CM. There are some guidelines of safety precautions for acupuncturist to follow. Acupuncture usually is very safe as long as the acupuncturist follows the right procedures.

Chinese Herbal Medicine includes two therapeutic modes: internal treatment and external treatment. The external treatment mode usually is very safe. The internal treatment mode is also very safe if the herbs are applied appropriately. However, if the herbs are applied inappropriately, the internal herbal medicine treatment could be either ineffective, causing side effects, or very dangerous.

Efficacy of Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine can treat and cure many diseases and illnesses. CM is effective in treating not only the signs and symptoms, but also the root cause of a disease or illness. This is ensured by the philosophy and basic principles of CM.

Because CM addresses the root cause of a disease, it is very superior in treating chronic diseases when the CM diagnosis and treatment are implemented appropriately.

Chinese Medicine vs. Western Medicine

(1) Safety

In general, CM is much more safe than the treatment using chemical drugs. When applied appropriately, herbs do not have side effects on liver, kidney, bone marrow, blood system, nervous system, etc. that chemical drugs usually do.

When applied inappropriately, however, herbal side effects may occur. Usually, the herbal side effects are conditional: they exist only when the herbs are applied inappropriately.

(2) Efficacy

CM usually takes effects slower than chemical drugs. (There are, however, some cases in which CM works faster than chemical drugs.)

However, CM usually have longer therapeutic effects which could allow the patient to recover more completely.

Many diseases being declared incurable by Western Medicine are cured by Chinese Herbal Medicine. This is because CM covers all individual situations instead of averaging them out in a standardized protocol. When the treatment plan established by a Doctor of Chinese Medicine (C.M.D.) is appropriate, CM can work better than Western Medicine due to the following reasons:

(a) Chinese Medicine not only treats the signs and symptoms, but also addresses the original root cause of the disease rather than simply controls the signs and symptoms as chemical drugs do;

(b) Chinese Medicine has no or very little adverse side effect when applied appropriately.

Harvard Medical School, CAM, and Chinese Medicine

Harvard Medical School is the pioneer in introducing Chinese Medicine to the United States of America in late 1970s.

Harvard Medical School professors and researchers have conducted several influential national surveys on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the United States. Their 1997 survey [published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 1998; 280:1569-1575] indicates:
　
"The total visits to CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) providers, 629 million, exceeded total visits to all primary care physicians, 386 million, in 1997."
　
According to this survey, the CAM became the mainstream medicine in America in 1997.
　
Above achievement was made under the situation that most Complementary and Alternative Medicines are not covered by medical insurance (in contrast to Western medicine which is completely covered by insurance). This fact shows that Complementary and Alternative Medicines are very effective, safe, and popular among patients and the public. Therefore, even without insurance coverage, patients still choose the Complementary and Alternative Medicines as their primary care in treating diseases and curing illnesses.
　
As main stream medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine should be covered by medical insurance. This is only a matter of time. To accelerate the earlier coming of the insurance coverage for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, please visit the Letter to the Congress.: 　
Harvard Medical School related links on CAM:

http://www.harvard-magazine.com/on-line/030221.html

http://www.hms.harvard.edu/news/releases/0700compmed.html

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/280/18/1569


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