Traditional Chinese Medicine

1
Traditional Chinese Medicine

• By
• Ashley Esten
• Sabrina Surdoval

2
Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)

• Derived from Taoist philosophy
• Has been around since BC / early AD
• Classical Chinese Medicine was standardized to
  what we now call TCM
• Taught in nearly all medical schools in China
• TCM accounts for 40 of care (higher in rural
  areas)

3
Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Based on concept of balanced qi (chee), or vital
  energy that flows throughout the body.
• Qi regulates spiritual, emotional, mental, and
  physical balance.
• Influenced by yin (negative energy) and yang
  (positive energy).
• Disease is a result of the qi being disrupted and
  yin/yang being imbalanced.

4
Elements and Principles of TCM

• Five Elements
• Water, wood, fire, earth, metal.
• Describe interactions and relationships between
  phenomena.
• Each organ is associated with one of the Five
  Elements. More effective to treat an organ during
  a particular time period.
• Eight Guiding Principles
• Cold/heat, deficiency/excess, internal/external,
  yin/yang.
• Analyze and differentiate the energetic
  imbalances in the body or the nature of a
  patients condition.

5
How to Choose Among Healers?

• In China, Western medicine and TCM are considered
  by the government to be of equal importance.
• Choice of combined care is widespread.
• Choose TCM/Western depending on illness.
• TCM effective for immune conditions, chronic
  illness, or where the etiology is unknown
• Western effective in acute situations or where
  the etiology is known
• A study showed during a most recent illness
• 73 consulted Western doctors, 17 self-medicated
  while 9 consulted herbalists (Note age and
  education were important determinants of their
  health care choice).
• The most common reason given for their choice was
  faith in the practitioners they consulted.
• When further consultation was needed for the same
  illness, 42 consulted herbalists, herbalists
  play an important complementary role when Western
  medicine fails to provide relief.

6
Diagnostic Tools The Tongue

• Has been an important diagnostic tool in TCM
• Simple, non-invasive and inexpensive
• To determine a patients condition and diseases,
  doctors use information on the color, degree of
  wetness and coarseness, and shape of the tongue.
• A healthy tongue will be pink and moist with a
  thin clear or white coat.
• Some signs of imbalance or pathology are red
  body, yellow coat, thick coat like mozzarella
  cheese, very dry body or cracks in the coat or
  body itself.

The diagram on the top represents the internal
organs. The center diagram represents the body as
having three parts - upper burner, middle burner,
and lower burner. The diagram on the bottom
represents the body as having two parts -
interior and exterior.
7
Diagnostic Tools 12 Pulses

• A practitioner of TCM feels for six pulses in
  each wrist.
• Three superficial and three deep at specific
  points along the radial artery.
• The quality of the pulse is looked at in terms of
  frequency, rhythm, and volume
• These 12 pulses correspond to the internal
  organs.
• There are different pulse types
• Scattered, intermittent, swift, hollow, faint,
  surging (to name a few) all associated with
  different things
• Diagnostic Clip

8
Acupuncture

• A practice of piercing (with fine needles)
  specific areas of the body (acupoints) to relieve
  pain, induce surgical anesthesia, and for
  therapeutic purposes.
• Used typically as a last resort or for
  preventative measures (tune ups or balancing)

9
Acupuncture cont.

• Acupuncture has been proven effective in
  relieving postoperative pain, nausea during
  pregnancy, nausea and vomiting resulting from
  chemotherapy, and dental pain with extremely low
  side effects. It can also alleviate anxiety,
  panic disorders and insomnia (WHO 2003).
• Acupuncture Clip

10
Moxibustion

• A form of heat therapy where a moxa stick (made
  of dried leaves of artemesia vulgaris) is burned
  and used to indirectly heat specific acupuncture
  points or regions of the body.
• It is usually used to relieve pain and congestion
  and to provide an anesthetic effect.
• Acupuncture and moxibustion are considered
  complementary forms of treatment and are commonly
  used together.
• Moxa sticks heat the needles which send heat down
  to the point in which the needle is inserted
  (usually a muscle) or the moxibustion is done
  around the areas of the needles.

11
Qigong (chi kung)Pronounced cheegong

• Chinese system of physical training, philosophy,
  and preventive and therapeutic health care.
• Combines aerobic conditioning, isometrics,
  isotonics, meditation, and relaxation.
• Improves delivery of oxygen to the bodys cells,
  reduces stress, increases strength, lowers blood
  pressure, and improves resistance to infectious
  diseases.
• Qigong is a soft form of a related set of
  disciplines that includes Taijj (Tai Chi Quan)
  and the hard form of Kung Fu.

12
Qigong cont.

• Qigong can help one fight virtually any disease
  and helps prevent the onset of diseases .
• Chinese doctors have applied qigong in hospitals
  and clinics to treat individuals suffering from a
  variety of ailments. These include
• allergies, arthritis, asthma, bowel problems,
  constipation, diabetes, gastritis, gout,
  headaches, heart disease and hypertension,
  chronic kidney disease, liver disease, lower back
  pain, etc.
• Qigong Clip

13
Massage

• The Chinese call this therapeutic bodywork tui
  na, which means "push" and "pull".
• Works with the qi in the body along the same
  meridians as acupuncture
• Two popular styles of tui na practiced today are
  the rolling and one-finger methods.
• Rolling Method used for joint and soft tissue
  problems, as well as insomnia, migraines, and
  high blood pressure. 
• One-Finger Method similar to shiatsu,
  (practitioners push points along the meridians
  with the tip of the thumb or finger). used for
  chronic and internal problems, pediatrics and
  gynecological problems.

14
Herbs

• Herbal remedies are used as often as acupuncture
  to treat energy imbalances and illness.
• In China, traditional herbal preparations account
  for 30-50 of total medicinal consumption.
• Derived from plant, animal, and mineral
  substances, though plants are the most common.
• Herbs have four basic qualities and properties
• Nature, Taste, Affinity, and Primary Action
• When looking for the appropriate remedy, TCM
  practitioners apply medical theory - the Five
  Elements and Eight Guiding Principles - along
  with tongue and pulse diagnosis.

15
TCM Herbs in Practice

• The herb Ma Huang (Ephedra) is traditionally
  used in China to treat respiratory congestion. In
  the United States, the herb was marketed as a
  dietary aid, whose over dosage led to at least a
  dozen deaths, heart attacks and strokes (WHO,
  2003).
• Chinese herbal remedy Artemisia Annua, used in
  China for almost 2000 years has been found to be
  effective against resistant malaria and could
  create a breakthrough in preventing almost one
  million deaths annually, most of them children,
  from severe malaria (WHO, 2003).

Artemisia Annua
16
Chinese Herb Example

• SAN AO TANG
• Functions Disperses Lung Qi, Releases the
  Exterior
• Indications Wind Cold Invasion, mild chills and
  fever, common cold, influenza, headache, body
  aches, cough, shortness of breath, profuse clear
  sputum
• Contra-Indications Hypertension, spontaneous
  sweating, cardiac arrhythmia
• King Herb Ma huang (Ephedra) Disperse the Lung
  Qi, Release the Exterior (causes sweating)
• Minister Herb Xing ren (Apricot seed) relieve
  shortness of breath, relieve cough
• Assistant Herb Gan cao (Licorice root)
  harmonize all herbs

Ma huang (Ephedra)
Xing ren (Apricot seed)
Gan coa (Licorice Root)