Traditional Chinese Medicine: Beyond the Theory
Traditional Chinese medicine has been practiced as far back as 1200 BC, and today it has become a topic of great interest in the medical and scientific world as researchers study the analgesic effects of acupuncture, the benefits of cupping, the anti-tumour properties of Chinese herbs, and the benefits of various other methods considered a part of traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM.
Much of TCM’s philosophy reflects the classical Chinese belief that the essence of human life, a human being’s internal processes and activities are intimately connected to the environment. Derived in great part from the same philosophy that informs Buddhist, Taoist, and Neoconfucist thought, traditional Chinese medicine is becoming more widely studied, and some results look very promising. This article will take a look at acupuncture, cupping, qigong, and Chinese herbalogy, and go so far as to mention some of the promising new research results from advanced medical studies and clinical trials.
Acupuncture
A great attribute of acupuncture is that it contains no form of drugs and is considered very safe if done by a properly trained practitioner. With sterile, disposable needles with each treatment, the light incision of these fine needles into the patient’s skin is intended to increase circulation, balance energy (Qi) within the body, and will in certain cases relieve muscle issues. Acupuncture has been used to treat a broad range of ailments, such as back pain, depression, stress, arthritis, insomnia, digestive disorders, whiplash, fatigue, and even asthma. More studies are being done to investigate acupuncture’s analgesic-qualities. Many people use medication with pain relievers for muscle pain, ones that can be harmful to the system in other ways.
Acupuncture may be a good way to alleviate some muscle pain without the use of drugs. Unfortunately, available experimental evidence does not consistently support acupuncture as a method for pain relief due to several factors like using different acupuncture techniques (e.g., electrical vs. manual), controls (comparison groups), and measuring scales of outcome, but there are various other instances where acupuncture deserves recognition and where further study has been inspired and will be inspired in future. Results of a small study in 2008 by the Department of Clinical Acupuncture and Moxibustion, and the Meiji University of Integrative Medicine show that tender point acupuncture has analgesic effects. One conducted pragmatic trial with twenty-six patients showed that tender point acupuncture actually “relieve[d] the symptoms of DOMS”, delayed onset muscle soreness that occurs in people after they have exercised and lactic acid has built up. Acupuncture has been used for years in China and is being used worldwide now. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a special analysis of acupuncture data from a National Health Interview Survey done some time before 2007 found that pain or musculoskeletal complaints accounted for “7 of the top 10 conditions for which people use acupuncture. Back pain was the most common, followed by joint pain, neck pain, severe headache/migraine, and recurring pain.”
Cupping
At first glance, a back laden with several cups suctioned to the skin looks quite outrageous. What seems even more outrageous to some is any claim that cupping has medical or even stress-relieving benefits. One of the most disregarded methods in TCM by the common observer, cupping is a type of massage that involves putting several open glass spheres, called “cups”, on the patient’s body. When a match is lit and placed inside the cup, the air inside is heated. Once it expands, the match is removed and the cup placed on the skin. Once it cools down, the created lower pressure inside the cup creates a suction effect that keeps it stuck to the skin. A sort of reverse-pressure massage can be done by practitioners when the cups are combined with massage oil and then slid around the back. The Britannica Encyclopaedia notes that Cupping Therapy can be divided into two broad categories: Dry Cupping and Wet Cupping. “Dry Cupping Therapy tends to be practiced more commonly in the Far-East whereas Wet Cupping [Therapy] is favoured in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.” Wet Cupping Therapy involves the letting of blood, while Dry Cupping Therapy refers to the described heat method above. A 2007 study found in the Internet Journal of Alternative Medicine even showed a “significant difference” between the level of pain, well-being and the range of motion for patients with anterior knee pain pre and post cupping.
Qigong
Qigong, Qi which can mean breath or energy, and Gong which can mean exercise or work, is a form of a “breath exercise” or a type of “energy work”. According to Garri Garripoli in his book Qigong: essence of the healing dance, “Qigong uses deep, diaphragmatic breathing in conjunction with slow, synchronous, Tai Chi-like movements to bring [the] body, mind, and spirit into alignment and balance” (5). Stress has often been related to cancer, and deep breathing and meditation are considered as stress relievers for the body and mind. Some doctors have therefore agreed that qigong may help in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Books like the Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Woman's Guide to Healing from Breast Cancer by Dr. Nan Lu, O.M.D., M.S., L.Ac., with Ellen Schaplowsky take a look at qigong’s cancer benefits. A review of clinical studies by the Qigong Institute illustrates how qigong can improve the health of persons suffering from some chronic medical problems that accelerate the aging process. It illustrates how qigong helps to improve health, various functions of the body, and reverse aging. As in the cases of hypertension and cancer, “clinical studies suggest that a combination therapy of qigong and drugs is superior to drug therapy alone,” notes the institute in its abstract about the review. It is now believed that Qigong therapy can complement Western medicine to improve overall healthcare.
Chinese herbal medicine
People have known for thousands of years that certain herbs and flora contain healing properties. Chinese herbal medicine takes advantage of those properties. “The benefits of Chinese herbal medicine most frequently result from the combination of herbs”, notes C.P. Li MD, so single herbs are combined into a formula that will meet the specific needs of an individual patient to restore harmony to the internal processes (5). Because Chinese herbal medicine has many recorded observations, experiments, clinical trials, and so too a body of theory that has evolved from the findings, it should not so readily by some be classified as the insufficiently-studied “folk medicine”, recommends Li. Chinese herbal medicine is the treatment of choice for many patients and has garnered a lot of Western study.
Some of the common Chinese herbs used are reishi and shiitake, which have and are still being studied for immune system enhancement (Yance & Valentine, 155-156). Elsholtzia rugulosa, or ye ba zi is widely used for the treatment of colds and fever. According to Chinese Medicine News, a recent study by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, as well as University of Macau recently discovered that the plant possessed high anti-influenza virus activity through its various flavonoids that battle the flu virus. One very promising agent that is being more widely studied is shikonin, which is a natural naphthoquinone isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Zi Cao, or gromwell. Results determined as recent as 2008 indicate that one of the cellular targets of shikonin is the tumour proteasome essential for tumour growth and development. In a clinical study using a shikonin-containing mixture, shikonin demonstrated safe, promising results for the treatment of late-stage lung cancer. Without any adverse effects on the peripheral system, heart, kidney, and liver, and a shown increase in weight and appetite, a clinical trial using shikonin in 19 cases of late-stage lung cancer revealed that use of a shikonin-containing mixture reduced lung cancer growth with the effective rate of 63.3%, remission rate of 36.9% and 1-year survival rate of 47.3% (Huanjie Yang, et al 2450). Shikonin treatment even significantly prolonged the survival period of mice bearing P388 leukemia. For naturopaths and herbalists, Chinese herbal medicine has already earned favour and appreciation. With more scientific research, Chinese herbal medicine may win the favour of more sceptics in the medical world.
But even with the results that are found, many Western and European doctors will still question the efficacy and validity of Chinese traditional medicine and its findings. To conclude this look, one might consider Chinese medical theory in a different context. In 1974, Porkert, a Western medical doctor, placed Chinese medical theory in this context:
Chinese medicine, like many other Chinese sciences, defines data on the basis of the inductive and synthetic mode of cognition. Inductivity corresponds to a logical link between two effective positions existing at the same time in different places in space. (Conversely, causality is the logical link between two effective positions given at different times at the same place in space.) In other words, effects based on positions that are separate in space yet simultaneous in time are mutually inductive and thus are called inductive effects. In Western science prior to the development of electrodynamics and nuclear physics (which are founded essentially on inductivity), the inductive nexus was limited to subordinate uses in protosciences such as astrology. Now Western man, as a consequence of two thousand years of intellectual tradition, persists in the habit of making causal connections first and inductive links, if at all, only as an afterthought. This habit must still be considered the biggest obstacle to an adequate appreciation of Chinese science in general and Chinese medicine in particular.
Hopefully, even more clinical tests and trials will be done to determine the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine. What will be even more promising is the improvement and advancement of already existing methods. Many doctors and medical practitioners worldwide have already started using traditional Chinese medicine alongside their particular recommended regimes.
To schedule an acupuncture or cupping session in Dallas, TX., visit Holistic Healing.
Author SynLee JM
Andie Ibarra, D.C.