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Foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine

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Foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine Foundations Of Traditional Chinese Medicine i ii Foundations Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Michael ChingKwei Kang iii Foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine Copyright © 2010 by Michael ChingKwei Kang All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the author or the publisher. The information, ideas, and suggestions in this book are not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Before following any suggestions contained in this book, you should consult your personal physician. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising as a consequence of your use or application of any information or suggestions in this book. A link to eStore page of “Foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine” is http://www.createspace.com/3447540 Essentials of this book can be downloaded freely at http://www.magiherbs.com ISBN: 1452814082 EAN-13: 978-1452814087 Printed in the United States of America iv Dedication This book is dedicated to the memory of my father Mr. Peter T. K. Kang, on the eve of his 101st birthday. Michael ChingKwei Kang May 2010 v Preface All living organisms are comprised of two fundamental elements: material elements and spiritual elements. Material elements are structural components possessing Yin (阴) properties; spiritual elements encompass all intangible electrical and neurological activity typically associated with the Western concept of a “life-force” or “anima.” These spiritual elements possess Yang (阳) properties. In humans, the material elements are the body’s structural components such as organs, bones, muscles, nerves, body fluids, etc. The body’s spiritual elements include life functions, internal energy, brain waves (thoughts) and nervous system signals (i.e., electrical impulses). These spiritual elements are all named as Qi in Traditional Chinese Medicine (“TCM”). In fact, there are four different Chinese characters for Qi: 器, 汽, 气, 炁, representing functional/energy, steam, air/gas, electrical (brain waves and nervous system) signals, respectively; all are associated with a living (i.e., not dead) body. Any structural or electrical abnormality may result in disorders, diseases, and symptoms of malfunction. Early primitive methods of healing utilized by all peoples were based on altering functional ( 器) and electrical ( 炁) Qi; for instance, prayer was once used among all humans as treatment for disorders. Prayer, meditation, and hypnotism do in fact work for some, giving rise to the inference that adjusting or normalizing the body’s electrical signals ( 炁, Qi-signal) may cure bodily disorders. In medical history, the technique of manipulating the body’s electrical signals to cure diseases was further developed through acupuncture in TCM, and has recently been re- explored by Western medicine with the use of electromagnetic devices for treating disorders of the brain, heart, and nervous system. Another ancient method of healing, present in both Western medicine and TCM, is the use of herbs. Early healers accumulated empirical data which indicated that specific herbs could cure specific diseases of the body. Because of advances in modern chemistry, Western medicine employs more and more synthetic chemicals to replace natural herbs; dissimilarly, TCM does not use synthetic drugs or chemicals, but tries instead to identify more and more herbs (including natural minerals, animal parts, etc.) for different disorders. With advances in anatomy and pasteurization, Western medicine has increasingly focused on microscopically combating germs and/or viruses and structurally correcting defects in the body, relying upon the vi development more synthetic drugs to fight viral infection and more surgical methods to remove abnormal structures. Additionally, with advances in technology, Western medicine employed more advanced scientific instruments in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders. These aspects are more advanced than those used in TCM. However, there are several limits in these approaches, specifically: • The exact causes of a disease cannot be identified; e.g., some autoimmune disorders. • No drugs are available for the identified causes; e.g., AIDS, SARS, some influenza. • Disorders without structural changes (e.g., epilepsy, or psychological problems) are not readily detectable. • Western medicine, including instrumented diagnosis, laboratory examinations, pathogen cultures, etc. is often more resource intensive than TCM diagnostics. Such exams may be time- consuming (taking days, if not weeks) to identify the real causes of disease. Furthermore, it is generally expensive and the delay may result in prolonged patient discomfort, since drugs cannot be administered without proper diagnosis. In these cases, Western medicine can only relieve symptoms or use vaccines to promote the body’s self-defense functions; these means are also employed in TCM. Additionally, the synthetic drug and surgical approaches have several drawbacks such as: side effects of synthetic drugs, tissue damage resulting from invasive surgical methods, and pathogenic viral mutations rendering synthetic drugs obsolete. TCM methods focus on macroscopic symptoms of disorders, i.e., the body’s own alarms or reactions to malfunctions. Through the use of acupuncture and natural herbs derived from empirical data, disorders are often cured when all of the patient’s symptoms have abated, even without knowing the precise causes of the disorder. This indicates that the self- healing capability of any living organism can be activated via the normalization and balance of body functions and central nervous system. However, the TCM macroscopic approach is less effective if the true causes are well understood, and antigens, drugs, or surgical methods have already been developed in Western medicine; or for health problems with hidden or no apparent symptoms. However, TCM is based upon more than just empirical data. Theoretical schemes, explaining the Qi-flow, functional and symptomatic aspects of the body’s systems, and their relationship to the natural world were vii developed over time, based on the fundamental axioms of Yin-Yang ( 阴 阳) and 5-Xing (五行) for all natural phenomena. These are pseudo- mathematical models of human physiology and pathology, which are still not available in Western medicine. However, up to now, the merits and correctness of these models can only be demonstrated through TCM prescriptions, for both acupuncture and internal medicine. Like any theoretical model, correctness can only be proved or disproved in practice. Acupuncture is a special branch of TCM, which must be extensively studied from practitioners and specialized institutions, and is beyond the scope of this book. However, the foundations of acupuncture and internal medicine are the same as are given in this book. Western medicine emphasizes the method of deductive or microscopic reasoning, in the search for root causes (e.g., pathogens) through research, analyses, refinement, and derivation, which often leads to endless details; whereas TCM emphasizes the method of statistical induction, which often describes the overall status (e.g., reactions) of the body’s systems via some simple functional models. Therefore, compared with TCM, Western drugs (e.g., antibiotics) are more effective when causes are identified (such as in bacterial infections), but less effective when overall problems exist after pathogens are gone (such as in problematic endocrine, metabolic, autoimmune, or nervous system functions). But why do simple models encompass the complex phenomena of human disorders? There are things in the world better represented by overall pictures rather than the infinite details and derivatives; or, sometimes, the details contain no more information than the overall pictures, e.g., fractals (Benoît B. Mandelbrot The Fractal Geometry of Nature . New York: W. H. Freeman and Co., 1982.). Proven acupuncture techniques such as foot-reflexology, ear or nose acupuncture schemes, etc., indicate that the electrical aspect of a living body may possess some self-organizing properties (i.e., infinitely- dense and self-similarity). Therefore, detailed component analysis, for many systemic health problems, and could even miss the real causes of the disorder if the functional relationship is destroyed during deductive reasoning. This may explain why TCM organ-functional models are more effective for some systemic disorders than the detailed Western diagnoses and treatment methods. The future of medicine lay in a combined-approach of both Western medicine and TCM methods. Although most TCM practitioners have now adopted this approach, it has yet to be accepted by the Western medical viii establishment. I hope, through its understanding of TCM, Western society may one day reap the benefits of utilizing TCM, and can contribute to the expansion of medical development for the entire world. This book is a result of 30 years of study and 10 years of TCM formulation practice for MagiHerbs/MytiHerbs. No book, including this one, can claim to be a comprehensive TCM reference; in fact, even exhaustively covering TCM internal medicine is a challenge. On the other hand, repetition of certain issues is unavoidable in order to clarify those concepts or methods. This book is written in English to help beginners (Ch 1-5), practitioners (Ch 1-9), as well as truth seekers (Ch 10), who are not versed in Chinese written language. I have recorded significant portion of the useful
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