Chinese Principles of Traditional Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture schools are opening all around the world at a rapid rate - India, England, America and Russia, just to name a few. Part of its popularity is the effectiveness of alternative medicines in treating things like sleep disorders, anxiety, cancer, osteoporosis, fertility disorders, anemia and other conditions. While many regard traditional Chinese medicines as “an outdated science,” the World Health Organization publicly acknowledge TCM as a legit practice in 1980 and now Western doctors are turning their heads, hoping to learn more about alternative, natural medicines that will serve as long-term treatments for their patients.
Many Americans don’t realize that traditional Chinese medicines date back nearly 5,000 years, passed down by oral tradition until about 3,000 years ago when people began writing down their findings in ancient texts like “Basic Questions of Internal Medicine” and “A Treatise On Cold Damage.Classic Chinese medicine was forbade in the 1930’s by the Nationalist government because it feared being left behind by scientific progress. However, thirty years later, Mao Zedong chose ten highly respected doctors to create a traditional but standardized practice called Traditional Chinese Medicine. Chinese schools today teach TCM and around the world schools are opening in England, Russia and the US.
“Yin” and “Yang” , from the Taoist ideas, are one of the basic principles of TCM.The school of Chinese medicine uses the term to describe series of opposites; for example, dark and light, movement and stillness, hot and cold. Just like the changing of the seasons or the fading of day into night, the body goes through constant motion as well. The body naturally breaks down if the cycle of equilibrium is disrupted by an excess or deficiency of something.
The Zang Fu Theory of traditional Chinese medicine describes the functions and interrelation of various organs within the body. For instance, a Yin organ like the lungs is required to disperse Qi (energy) throughout the body. The lungs govern skin, hair and thwarting external illnesses. If the lung is weakened by dryness or emotional grief, then the sufferer may show signs of eczema, coughing or may be prone to the flu.
Traditional Chinese medicine doctors can give you many surprising solutions to common ailments. For instance, women suffering premenstrual syndrome can be treated with herbal supplements like angelica to relieve cramping, buplerum to relieve irritability and irregularity with biota seed. The good news about Chinese herbal medicines is that they’re safer and less expensive than other drugs on the market.
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