Introduction to TCM

This introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is intended as a first step for those embarking on the use of TCM herbal supplements for the first time.  The introduction is not exhaustive, nor does come close to fully representing several thousand years of TCM history.  As always, it should not replace a consultation with and advice from your health practitioner.

Every culture around the world has its own form of traditional or herbal medicine. The practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) began thousands of years ago. Some medical texts still exist that date from 220 BCE (Before the Common Era).

Pharmacy

Visiting a TCM pharmacy is similar to being inside a miniature museum of natural science. Tucked away, in row after row of tidy drawers are literally hundreds of items including plant and mineral products, each with a particular purpose. Among the assortment of curiosities are cinnabar and amber, to relax the nerves; peach pits and safflower, to improve blood circulation; wines to relieve pain and roots to tranquilize; Chinese Ginseng to induce perspiration; and Tienchi to strengthen cardiac function. Herb combinations are intended reflect each individuals symptoms, signs and situation. Combining herbs and Acupuncture often enhances the overall treatment effect

The filling of a prescription by a health practitioner is a fascinating process to watch. The pharmacist selects specific ingredients from the hundreds available on the shelf.   In China and much of Asia, these are taken home by the patient, boiled into a ‘soup', and consumed.  More recently the same ingredients have been made into capsules, pills and tonic liquids.  These new products include Chinese Patent Formulas and individual Chinese Herbs, and their appearance is similar to many supplements such as Vitamins commonly used in the West.  These new products are produced in modern plant to exacting standards.  They enable ease of use of ancient traditional formulas while maintaining the effectiveness of their ancestors.

History

The theoretical framework of Chinese medicine was established over three thousand years sago. A great deal of ancient medical knowledge was preserved in the pre-Chin period (221-207 BCE) Inner Cannon (Nei Ching), in a comprehensive record of Chinese medical theories at that time. The Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE.) produced an authoritative and valuable practical guide-even to the treatment of the present day-to illness.  The Treatise on Diseases Caused by Cold Factors (Shang Han Lun) by Chang Chung-Ching. One of the best-known  medical works is the Chinese Materia Medica (Pen Tsþao Kang Mu), compiled in the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 CE.) by Li Shih-Chen. This encyclopedic work heralded a new era in the world history of pharmacology; it includes descriptions of 1,892 different kinds of medicines. These works have all been translated into several foreign languages, and have exercised a profound influence on East Asian and European countries. .

East and West…

Generally speaking, in Western medicine the physician treats the presenting symptoms, not necessarily, the underlying cause. The primary method of treatment and diagnosis in TCM is ‘pattern differentiation' (Bian Zhen), while western medicine relies on disease differentiation (Bian Bing).  The TCM pattern diagnosis is a unique collection of signs and symptoms of the body-mind relationship and the responses to challenges placed upon it. 

A Western physician given these indicators will try to give a ‘disease name' to this collection of signs and symptoms.  If the physician has difficulty giving a name to these signs and symptoms, or if they are not obvious, one or more medical tests will normally be carried out.  If the test(s) come out negative, the patient is pronounced free of any medically perceived ‘disease'. A TCM health practitioner, however, considers all patterns, with or without a Western diagnosis, as potential signs of a health imbalance that require attention. That is why TCM is particularly useful with those persons with symptoms defined as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME), Fybromyalgia or long-lasting lack of energy or other difficulties that western medicine has no useful response to. TCM is often used as an adjunct to Western treatments in cases such as TCM products of offset the effects of radiation treatment or some of the secondary effects of HIV and AIDS including

Current TCM Practice

In present day China, most practitioners of TCM use both methods of pattern and disease differentiation to treat and diagnose individual - with a strong emphasis placed on the tried and tested pattern diagnosis. Many TCM practitioners, (inside and outside China), treat and diagnose people solely based on pattern differentiation. The classical training of older practitioners neither exposed them to the technological wonder of modern medical equipment, nor required them to memorize disease names. TCM practitioners are trained, among other things, to develop their sensory experiences, to recognize good quality herbs, to talk in a unique manner to patients who are suffering and in pain, to have a settled disposition in their own life, and cultivate foresight on health care hoping to prevent a well as cure.

Objective

The objective of TCM is not just treating the symptoms of the illness, but its underlying cause. In Traditional Chinese Medical, this holistic approach considers an illness to be only one manifestation of an imbalance that exists in the entire person that needs to be corrected. The underlying reason for success is the treatment of the cause in addition to symptoms.

Results

Millions of people use TCM successfully to treat a wide variety of problems ranging from diarrhea, aging problems including AIDS related dementia, localized and general pain, nausea, chronic pain, rheumatism, withdrawal from substance abuse, reducing bad cholesterol, skin care, stimulating the appetite and s a compromised immune system. Often people find that where other treatments have failed, TCM can help. By understanding the source of the problem, and viewing the body as a whole, TCM can provide long-term benefits as well as immediate symptomatic relief.

Improvements

Patients can experience the most dramatic results in the first treatment. Some patients experience an immediate partial or total relief of their pain or other symptoms. This relief may last or some pain may return. In a few cases, there may be no immediate relief but the condition improves over the next couple of days or weeks. Some preparations require a course of treatment lasting several weeks.  Other tonics are taken on an ongoing basis for an indefinite period of time.  Every person is different and their reactions to treatment varies Chinese medicine recognizes understands and welcomes this.  Generally, you should expect to feel better.

For a full list of supplements products, information and advice offered by TCM Alternatives™ on our site please click here. 

For our Special Offers please click here.  Thanks again for your interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine and TCM Alternatives - your store for alternative medicines and supplements on the Internet.