Treasures of traditional Chinese medicine reward open minds

Many Chinese cancer patients are living comparatively fulfilling lives after TCM treatment, despite being declared terminally ill by Western-style hospitals. And the saying, "treat not the tumor after seeing a tumor”, reflects the holistic perception of TCM which upholds the principle of diagnosis and treatment on the basis of differentiating symptoms from a person’s overall condition.

What is common sense for ordinary Chinese is not excluded from the acceptance of experts and professionals in the West as long as they free their minds of skepticism and prejudice.

The differences in approaches are fundamental. In the West, the term health often means bodily statistics within a normal range, but in TCM it means the sustainable condition of a healthy human body.

Western medicine believes in using surgery and chemical or biological compounds to remove and eliminate abnormal symptoms, the very target of its approach.

TCM takes the healthy body as a balanced and well-coordinated whole, not only among its own parts but also with the living environment. In this sense the human body may be seen as a supercomputer with the body parts as the hardware and the jingluo cycles as its operational software, all powered and orchestrated by the circulation of blood and qi (life energy force) through the body. In treating sickness, TCM tends to cultivate and stimulate the circulations of blood and qi, so that the body revives its own energy for the inner physic systems to self-repair and recuperate.

When the gums flare up, Western-style dentists usually diagnose and handle it as gingivitis or periodontitis. Yet a TCM doctor may see it as related to a problem with the large intestine, and further with the poor circulation of the body’s blood and qi.

It is common to see elderly patients take home dozens of kinds of medicine for multiple diseases from several hospital divisions after a Western-style check-up and treatment. Yet a TCM doctor will likely prescribe a certain compound of herbs for all the symptoms with minor adjustments later depending on the changes in a patient’s condition.

The approaches and methods of TCM may seem strange to many in the Western world; but the de facto primer of TCM, The Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi Neijing), was written thousands of years ago, long before the establishment of many fields of Western medicine. The TCM methods thus derived have proven feasible and effective and deserve global reflections on their more widespread use.

Once checked closely without distorted lenses, TCM is easily accessible, ready to welcome outsiders, pleasant to apply and generous in its rewards to both health and the industry.

The author is a writer with China Daily. wenzongduo@163.com