Traditional Chinese Medicine

Most American citizens would agree that modern medicine has drastically changed American Society. The progression of medicine has impacted American lives in multiple ways. It has changed how the United States military uses medicine, how American scientists research medicine, and how everyday American citizens use medicine. Just 100 years ago, the people of the time period would not have been able to comprehend the medical advances that today’s society experiences, and what postmodern societies will continue to experience. Over time, the progression of medicine affected American soldiers during times of war, changed how diseases were discovered and treated, and impacted the way 21st century Americans view medicine and medical professionals.

The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted J. Kaptchuk is a non-fiction book describing the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine and how it compares to Western medicine. This book does not focus on a specific time period or regions where Chinese medicine is practiced. Rather, it centers on the logic behind Chinese medicine. After studying Chinese medicine in Macao, Ted Kaptchuk returned to America and realized that he could not abandon what he learned just because it was different from Western medicine. Chinese medicine is over two thousand years old and textbooks have dated back to the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E). These texts will continue to adapt, just as traditions adapt over time. Chinese medicine is still

It is a fact that we have a longer life expectancy than ever before. This has been achieved through years of thorough research, technological development, and most importantly resilient individuals. Doctors are constantly faced with different enigmas with no right or wrong answer. What first attracted me toward medicine was the desire to help and support, in particular, disadvantaged people. Coming from a country with an underdeveloped health care system has made me realised the impact it has on people’s life.

Diseases and their treatments changed and shaped the modern world. The Tang Dynasty of Ancient China had great value to the medicinal fields and led the way for medical technology and advancements that are used today by standardizing the supreme methods, procedures, and treatments during this time period; therefore, they made it less complicated for people to learn and teach how to practice medicine. Areas of medicine that were greatly improved and exceptionally recorded during the Tang Dynasty were symptomatology, etiology, surgery, orthopedics, and traumatology.

This is one area which contrasts greatly with the native cultures. The Indians of the Americas were far ahead of the Europeans of their time. Because of the closeness and respect for nature, many natural cures were used. The Aztecs had even gone as far as surgery to remove organs and even work on the brain. The Indians also took much better care of themselves pysically. This was done by a better diet and exercise. In some cultures a type of martial arts was taught beginning in adolesence, to keep in shape both mentally and pysically. Despite all of these advancements, they were powerless to the new and unfamilliar European diseases.

Low back pain (LBP) is an issue that affects patients, healthcare professionals, and society on a global scale. With advancements in allopathic medicine, LBP is better managed than ever before—however, its methodologies in diagnosing and treating LBP—and its results—are inconsistent. For this reason, many patients and healthcare professionals are turning to alternative treatments such as traditional Chinese medicine, which is now considered one of the leading treatments of LBP.

Medicine has been used since ancient times, but it has greatly developed through the centuries. Today, people have doctors, nurses, surgeons, therapists, and many other individuals in the health field. Society’s definition of a healthy lifestyle, and the way people live, has greatly changed, and it has given most people a new perspective on society 's health. Before medications and doctors, people often died, or had no way to recover from illnesses and disease, because there were no cures. Advances in medicine are made every day. These advances could be a new allergy medication, a new vaccine to prevent a deadly disease, or a new way of performing surgeries, but all of these advances have one thing in common: they can save lives and make a better America.

One of the most prominent themes occurring in these articles is how much remains to be learned about battling illness. There is not a question that our knowledge of medical treatment has advanced well beyond the Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic of 1793. This is illustrated by Williams (1997), who asserts that most of the life-threatening conditions in today’s developed societies target the elderly. This is because medical knowledge has improved so vastly. Countries with easily accessible health care do not risk children and young to middle aged adults dying from conditions that are easily treatable; however, once one gets to the end of their life, conditions such as cancer and cardiovascular challenges are no longer avoidable like the common cold is in youth. Thus, it is the most fortunate societies that are plagued with high rates of elderly illness because the population is living long enough to be considered elderly.

Since the medical field’s discovery, advances are a necessity to keep up with the ever growing knowledge of the human body and what affects it. Doctors and scientists have been able to prevent an illness or reduce the symptoms of most illnesses that were considered lethal, such as influenza, tuberculosis, AIDS/HIV, polio, and the common cold. By virtue of technology, life-saving discoveries found in one country can be spread worldwide. These discoveries have led the way to the practices doctors use today to give a patient the best chance at a healthy long life, and it shows; the life expectancy in North America during the 1800s was roughly forty years (Pinsker). Today the life expectancy has dramatically risen to roughly eighty years. The

Historically, their medical system was based on the Chinese medicine i.e. acupuncture and herbal remedies were the normal treatments. The Chinese model is not based on treating specific organs or symptoms directly but rather treating the whole body by balancing the energy flows of the body. While modern medical science still does not understand how the system works. It has been documented to be effective.

Today the average life expectancy of men and women worldwide is 71.0 years1, a number that surpasses any life expectancy of humans on record. Today people are living longer than ever because of advanced surgical procedures along with key innovations in medical technology. Over the past one hundred years, life expectancy of an average human has increased exponentially and the numbers show the numbers will only increase in the next one hundred years. However, before the privileges of advanced medicine were prevalent, humans would not live past their 50th or even 40th birthdays as there were no standard methods in treating sick patients. Women would die shortly after giving childbirth due complications, broken bones would be left untreated and unprotected cuts would lead to infections that eventually led to life-threatening illnesses, all due to the lack of proper healthcare and medical knowledge. Around the turn of the 1st millennium, however, the world saw an influx of new ideas in medicine, especially surgery and, unbeknownst to many, was due to the golden age of Islam, specifically the 9th 10th and 11th centuries which cleared the way for standard medical practices.

Having spent my early years in China, I grew up with both the Western medicine that my parents practiced and Traditional Chinese Medicine that has been passed down for thousands of years. When I got sick, I took painkillers and antibiotics as well as herbal medicine. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, diseases is thought to be due to imbalance of the life energy force qi. While I know about its curative treatments, such as herbal medicine, acupuncture, and cupping, I have always felt it has a greater emphasis on preventing disease from occurring in the first place. A vital part of Traditional Chinese medicine is eating a balanced diet as well as meditating and exercise. I can’t speak to the effective of Traditional Chinese Medicine in treating disease, but its doctrines promotes a healthy lifestyle with little reliance on actual medication. Medical care in China is also more hospital based than that in the US. There were very few primary care physicians in China, so people needed to go to the hospital if they wish to see a physician. With large population, wealth disparity between rural and urban area and the sheer expense of medical care, it made sense why some people continued relying on Traditional Medicine. My upbring meant that I was exposed to and more importantly can appreciate that there might different approaches to

Traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM, is one of the oldest systems of medicine to exist among humans, and it is extremely prominent to this day. According to legend, the system has been in use since the third millennium BCE. The views of such an old system differ greatly from those found in modern western medicine. Perhaps most prominent is the fact that TCM focuses more on the patient than the illness. The system considers the human to be a microcosm of the universe, implying that the body is affected by the traditional Taoist forces of yin and yang, the five elements, and Qi in the same way the cosmos are. Each of these forces act upon the “zang fu,” or organ system, directly influencing a patient’s health. Healers use qigong to assist in the restoration of stability in the body. Achieving balance, both internally and externally, is the most important aspect of healing in TCM.

TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, can be traced as far back as 1000 BC, where stone acupuncture needles were believed to be used. Texts from that period also talked of Yin and Yang and other concepts. The first written work on TCM is titled the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, Huangdi Newijing (Gascoigne 11). This book was written in 300 BC, but entries date back to the early 2700’s BC. The book is still used in universities of Chinese Medicine around the world and is often called the bible of TCM. Today, TCM is still thriving in China and all of Asia. In recent years, information on TCM has become available to people in the United States. The United States has several schools of TCM, and it is now much easier to buy the necessary

One important aspect of Chinese culture is Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM. Chinese medicine has been around for quite awhile, and is still around today. In the United States, we see it as acupuncture and massage. TCM is still widely popular in its home country where it is still practiced as it was a few centuries ago. Chinese medicine is evolving to our modern day times, but it is keeping close ties to its roots. Chinese medicine is also becoming more affluent in different parts of the globe. It is a major part of Chinese history and culture, and the people who participate in it do so with great respect. With Chinese medicine, there is great history, procedures, risks, and how it lives in the modern world.