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TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

David Gordon
CMIR Chinese Medical Institute and Register (London)
MBRCP Member British Register of Complementary Practitioners (Amma Therapy)
DCHA Diploma Chinese Healthcare and Acupuncture (Acumedic Foundation, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine

and Pharmacology)

Diploma Tuina (Academy of Oriental Medicine)
Diploma Tao-Yin Oriental Corrective Medicine (Academy of Oriental Medicine)
Postgraduate Diploma Chinese (Thames Valley University)

O  Therapeutic Massage, Acupressure, Joint Mobilization (Tuina, Amma)
O  Acupuncture
O  Herbs
O  Cupping
O  Heat Therapy (Moxibustion)

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is an ancient system of medicine (several thousand years old) that can
strengthen and harmonize the body and assist the body's natural ability to heal itself. Throughout most of its
history it has combined ancient philosophy with a scientific approach and applied these to the problem of human
disease within the world's largest population base (currently 1.3 billion).

In recent years the Chinese communist government has assigned TCM a status close to that of primary healthcare
and it is now common in mainland China to see patients in hospital being treated with a composite of TCM and
modern biomedical interventions. TCM is now also being subjected to research using increasingly rigorous
statistical methods and single- and double-blind control groups.

Nonetheless, most of the research that has been done to date has been done in China and, unfortunately, most of
this is only available in the Chinese language and is therefore only accessible to the sinolinguist. However, some
aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine have been researched in the West, in particular acupuncture. The World
Health Organization (WHO) have performed their own review and analysis of controlled clinical trials in
acupuncture (published up to 1998/1999 throughout both China and the West) and have published their own list of
diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved - through controlled trials - to be an
effective treatment ("Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials", ISBN 92 4 154543
7, WHO Geneva, 2002):

Adverse reactions to radiotherapy &/or chemotherapy
Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
Biliary colic
Depression (including depressive neurosis & depression following stroke)
Dysentery, acute bacillary
Dysmenorrhoea, primary
Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute & chronic gastritis, & gastrospasm)
Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
Headache
Hypertension, essential
Hypotension, primary
Induction of labour
Knee pain
Leukopenia
Low back pain
Malposition of fetus, correction of
Morning sickness
Nausea & vomiting
Neck pain
Pain in dentistry (including dental pain & temporomandibular dysfunction)
Periarthritis of shoulder
Postoperative pain
Renal colic
Rheumatoid arthritis
Sciatica
Sprain
Stroke
Tennis elbow

The WHO report makes it clear that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list but only a list of therapies that
have hitherto been investigated: "such trials have only been performed for a limited number of diseases or
disorders. This should not be taken to mean, however, that acupuncture treatment of diseases or disorders not
mentioned is excluded." Actually, the clinical findings of several thousand years and the current experience of
practitioners worldwide show acupuncture to be effective for an extremely wide range of conditions.

When acupuncture is combined with therapeutic massage, acupressure, joint mobilization, Chinese herbal
medicine, cupping and heat therapy (moxibustion) the result is a formidable healing system, which can treat many
local and systemic diseases of both the musculoskeletal system and internal organs. This system's key features
are:

O  Enhancing the patient's immunity so the patient can overcome disease
O  Discerning extremely subtle changes in a patient's condition
O  Holistic medicine, which considers the body as a whole
O  Flexible prescription of herbs based on multi-component herbal formulae, which reduces side-effects
O  Highly developed use of alternatives to herbs such as therapeutic massage, acupressure, joint mobilization,

acupuncture, heat therapy (moxibustion) and cupping

O  Cost effectiveness
O  Emphasis on prevention

The WHO has recognised the importance of Traditional Chinese Medicine since the 1970s and has made great
efforts to develop it. At the 29th World Health Congress held in 1976 it was adopted in the working plan of the WHO
and in the following World Health Congress a series of resolutions were passed demanding member countries to
develop, utilize and study it (along with other complementary and alternative therapies) so as to reduce medical
expenses and realize 'health for all'.

The WHO has stressed the scientific content, and safe and effective application of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It
has published and distributed a series of booklets on the scientific, safe and effective use of herbs, acupuncture
and moxibustion. It has also greatly contributed to the international standardization of the terminology of these
systems and has run 27 collaborating centres around the world, which have trained acupuncturists and Traditional
Chinese Medicine practitioners.

The author of this site, who is one such practitioner, has confirmed from his own clinical experience over several
years that TCM is indeed effective at treating a wide range of conditions. He has found that it is notably
effective at treating skin conditions (including eczema, psoriasis, acne and many others), musculoskeletal pain,
digestive issues (such as IBS and diverticulitits), eye conditions, stress, and low energy. He has found
acupuncture, massage and herbs to all contribute (in varying degrees) to the therapeutic results. The herbs are
well tolerated by the human body because they are 'whole', that is to say they are, essentially, vegetable
products with primary, secondary and tertiary molecular structures that humans have 'learned' to metabolize
during several millions of years of evolution. A detailed analysis of the principles and practice of herbal treatment
(from the perspectives of both Chinese medicine and western herbal medicine) can be found on this
eczema support website. Eczema accounts for a large percentage of skin disease within modern western
cultures and the aforementioned website gives some insightful views on its etiology, pathophysiology and
treatment. Many of the principles described therein may usefully be applied to the whole range of human sickness.

Traditional Chinese Medicine is alive and growing every day. Research, both in the laboratory and in the clinic, is
producing remarkable results. It faces constant challenges from the modern scientific medical community, which
is largely controlled by the pharmaceutical industry. Nonetheless, it replies that its philosophy and methods
are akin to all 'true science'; but, more than that, TCM is a science that is intensely practical and
that, in the author's view, holds an important key to bringing real, affordable healthcare to the whole globe -
not just the rich, industrialized nations.