Latest issue
The latest issue is number 93 published in June 2010
NURTURING LIFE IN CLASSICAL CHINESE MEDICINE: SUN SIMIAO ON HEALING WITHOUT DRUGS, TRANSFORMING BODIES AND CULTIVATING LIFE
Author: Sabine Wilms
What is the goal of Chinese medicine? One obvious answer is to heal suffering bodies, but what does that entail? How do we define 'healing' and 'bodies'? What is the role of the practitioner and the patient in this process? What is 'Chinese' and what is 'traditional' about 'traditional Chinese medicine' and does that matter? These are the questions that we as teachers, practitioners, students and patients need to ask again and again. Answers will vary greatly, depending on financial status, level of education, personal life history, patients' needs, institutional requirements, cultural background and daily mood. As a historian and translator of Chinese medicine texts, medical anthropologist, and farmer involved in sustainable agriculture, these are questions I have been asking myself continuously over the past few years. In the following pages, I offer one possible perspective by introducing you to the lofty ideals expressed by the seventh-century hermit Sun Simiao 孫思邈 in terms of 'nurturing life' (yang sheng 養生). I hope that the sentiments expressed below will inspire you to pursue a vision of Chinese medicine and of healing that at least acknowledges, and perhaps even aspires to, the depth, wisdom and healing potential reflected in the classical writings. Believing that it is best to let Sun Simiao speak for himself, I have selected a handful of examples from one of the most important classics in Chinese medicine, an enormous and comprehensive encyclopaedia titled Essential Prescriptions for Every Emergency worth a Thousand in Gold (Bei Ji Qian Jin Yao Fang 備急千金要方, abbreviated below as Essential Prescriptions), which was completed by Sun Simiao around 652 CE. After a historical introduction to Sun Simiao's life and his perspective on ethics and the professional training of the 'great physician', I have selected three examples with brief representative quotations from the topics of physical cultivation, sexual cultivation and dietetics, in order to illustrate what Sun Simiao meant when he spoke of the 'great physician' (da yi 大醫) and of 'nurturing life' (yang sheng 養生).
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THE CONNECTIVE TISSUE HYPOTHESIS FOR ACUPUNCTURE MECHANISMS
Author: Duncan McGechie
This article examines whether there is evidence to support the idea that acupuncture channels have an anatomical reality as fascia or connective tissue planes. An examination of what is meant by 'acupuncture channel' and to what the terms 'fascia' and 'connective tissue plane' refer is followed by an analysis of evidence published over the last ten years; the article concludes with a summary of what can be said to be proven, and the implications of such proof for acupuncture research and practice. The paper finds that there is little good quality conclusive evidence available; what little there is, however, is compelling and suggests that there is much more to find out - information that could potentially explain more about acupuncture's physiological mechanisms. Two case studies are included to illustrate how knowledge of connective tissue planes can be integrated into acupuncture practice.
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TUINA: EAST AND WEST
Authors: Zarig Cooper
Tuina is a therapy that is growing in the West and which has great potential for further expansion and acceptance. In the UK, however, it is often practised and taught quite differently from in modern China, which has resulted in varying standards of practice and major divisions in style and approach – indeed, tuina in the UK seems to have changed significantly in transit. This situation may be replicated in other countries, and there is a risk that the quality of tuina in the West is becoming diluted due to students qualifying with widely variable skills and inaccurate views regarding the nature of authentic tuina. This article contrasts the training and practice of tuina in China and the UK and discusses what can be learnt from its inseparable links with qigong and tai chi.
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RESEARCHING CHINESE MEDICINE’S EXPLANATORY MODELS DO ANCIENT MEDICAL NOTIONS HAVE A PLACE IN A MODERN WORLD?
Author: Charles Buck
Many clinical studies have evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, and numerous research papers have been published on their physiological and pharmacological mechanisms. However, critical appraisal of Chinese medicine's explanatory and diagnostic models has been neglected in the literature. Ancient explanatory models are often uncritically accepted as fact by traditionalists, whilst being rejected as speculative oriental metaphysical nonsense by staunch biomedicalists. This paper examines this problem, focusing particularly on research that has explored Chinese medical theory using biomedical methods. It is argued that both credulous acceptance and uninformed rejection of the tradition represent flawed positions, and that rational investigation of the fundamental ideas of Chinese medicine is important if this holistic medical tradition is to claim validity in the future practice of medicine.
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ELECTRO-ACUPUNCTURE FOR PAIN RELIEF AND RELAXATION DURING OOCYTE RETRIEVAL: A CASE STUDY
Author: Erin Flynn
During in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment a woman's eggs are surgically removed from her ovaries, enabling fertilisation to occur outside of the body. Known as 'oocyte retrieval', this process uses a needle that passes through the vaginal wall into the ovarian follicles, guided by ultrasound, to aspirate the eggs. Women are usually given intravenous anaesthetic because of the painful nature of this procedure. This case study describes how electro-acupuncture was used to provide pain relief when intravenous anaesthetic was contraindicated.
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ARE MODERN PREPARATION METHODS COMPROMISING THE EFFICACY OF CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINES? AN INVESTIGATION USING GUAN YE LIAN QIAO (HYPERICUM PERFORATUM L.)
Author: Rebecca Clarke
Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and coupled techniques a comparison was made of the compounds found in Guan Ye Lian Qiao (Hypericum perforatum L.) when prepared as a raw herb decoction, tincture and concentrated powder tea.
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THE TREATMENT OF PELVIC PAIN WITH ACUPUNCTURE: PART TWO
Author: Jennie Longbottom
Part One of this article appeared in issue 91 of the Journal of Chinese Medicine. It focused on the use of trigger point needling and manual myofascial techniques in the management of chronic myofascial pelvic pain, and offered a mechanistic approach to pain presentation. Part Two incorporates the use of Western acupuncture analgesia for the management of chronic pelvic pain, through the use of segmental pain gate inhibitory mechanisms combined with supraspinal descending inhibitory pathways. The use of traditional Chinese acupuncture in the management of the biopsychosocial and emotional aspects of chronic pelvic pain is also explored, including discussion of channel palpation, the use of the extraordinary vessels and recent neurophysiological research. The theoretical discussion is supported by a case study. The purpose of this paper is to integrate and learn from the different theoretical models, rather than favour one model over another.
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THE ACUPUNCTURE TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA: A REVIEW WITH CASE STUDIES
Authors: Boaz Bloch, Shay Ravid, Limor Vadas, Alon Reshef, Elad Schiff, Ilana Kremer and Iris Haimov
Schizophrenia is a complex, multifactorial mental disorder with unknown aetiology and a heterogeneous presentation. Because of its complexity, in order to be effective the treatment approach should be individualised, integrative and multidisciplinary and include the necessary biopsychosocial components. The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the treatment of mental disorders is increasing, especially acupuncture, which constitutes a safe and effective treatment modality. This article reviews schizophrenia from the perspective of both Western and traditional Chinese medicine and includes two case studies of patients with chronic schizophrenia who were successfully treated as part of a larger clinical trial that investigated the effectiveness of the acupuncture treatment of schizophrenia.
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BOOK REVIEWS JCM 93
CLINICAL HANDBOOK OF INTERNAL MEDICINE: Volume 3 Qi, Blood, Fluid, Channels (purchase this book)
by Will Maclean & Jane Lyttleton
ACUPUNCTURE IN THE TREATMENT OF MUSCULOSKELETAL AND NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDERS
by Lu Shaojie (purchase this book)
AN EXPOSITION ON THE EIGHT EXTRAORDINARY VESSELS: ACUPUNCTURE, ALCHEMY & HERBAL MEDICINE (purchase this book) by Li Shizhen (introduced and translated by Charles Chace & Miki Shima
CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINES: COMPARISONS AND CHARACTERISTICS
(purchase this book) by Yifan Yang
CHINESE HERBAL FORMULAS: TREATMENT PRINCIPLES AND COMPOSITION STRATEGIES
(purchase this book) by Yifan Yang
NEWS, NEWS, NEWS 93
NEWS from The Journal of Chinese Medicine summarises recent research in acupuncture and Chinese medicine, as well as diet, lifestyle, exercise, relaxation and meditation and other miscellaneous subjects. Much of this information will help practitioners to accurately inform patients of the benefits or risks of lifestyle choices and give informed answers to patients’ questions, aid in the practice of preventive medicine and help practitioners take care of their own health.
NEWS comes free with a subscription to the journal. However if you are not a subscriber you can just subscribe to NEWS by clicking here.
THE JOURNAL OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE ABSTRACTS SEPTEMBER 2009
Author: Various
• Acupuncture combined with music therapy for treatment of 30 cases of cerebral palsy, by Yu Hai-bo et al
• Clinical research on abdominal acupuncture plus conventional acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis, by Meng Chang-rong et al
• Thirty-two cases of vascular headache treated by acupuncture combined with Chinese herbal decoction, by He Qing-yong et al
• Clinical application of quick cupping on Shenque REN-8, by Wu Fei et al.
• Blood-letting puncture and cupping therapies combined with acupuncture for treatment of 140 cases of fibrositis, by Zhang Hong-liang
• Observations on after-effect duration of Kidney-nourishing and marrow-replenishing therapy on 58 cases of Mediterranean anaemia, by Wang Wen-juan et al
• Treatment with yiqi bushen koufuye combined with chemotherapy for preventing postoperative metastasis of stomach cancer – a clinical observation of 28 cases, by Liu Yun-xia et al
• Prof. Zhang Zhi-jun’s experience in the combined treatment with acupuncture and Chinese herbs – a report of three illustrative cases, by Zhang Li-ling et al.
• Prof. Liu Bi-chen’s clinical experience in the use of si ni san, by Hao Hong-wen
• Dietotherapy for Hyperlipidemia, by Deng Zi
• Eighty cases of chronic cholecystitis treated by oral administration of dan an tang, by Qi Yu-zhen et al.
• Study on the mechanism of compound mistletoe fluid extract in relieving hypertension, by Ye Fang et al.
• Effects of blood-activating and stasis-resolving drugs on tumour formation and metastasis, by Qian Yan-fang et al
• Effect of yikun neiyi wan on the expression of aromatase P450, COX-2 and ER related receptor in endometrial cells in vitro from patients with endometriosis, by Wang Qing et al
