Chinese Medicine: How it works

By Rachael Gill

At a time when Western medical research is unlocking the secrets of the body as never before, and devising futuristic new cures for ailments, many people are turning to medical treatments which have existed almost unchanged for more than two thousand years.

It is probable to argue that we are becoming a little more spiritual, that numerous of us see our minds and bodies as part of a universe controlled by natural forces conceivably better understood previously in the history of mankind, when one had additional time to study the cosmos and our relationship to it.

There is undoubtedly a vast move towards a more natural way of living; it is only a few years since those who lived on an organic diet, exercised regularly, and expressed concern over environmental matters was considered a bit cranky. So perchance this interest in Chinese medicine and other Eastern concepts such as yoga and meditation is simply a logical development.

Chinese medicine is an absolute medical system that its practitioners say can not only remedy ailments and alter states of mind but also enhance recuperative power, immunity, and the capacity for pleasure, work and creativity.

Within Chinese cosmology, all of creation is born from the marriage of two polar principles, yin and yang: Earth and Heaven, winter and summer, night and day, cold and hot, wet and dry, inner and outer, body and mind. Synchronization of this union means health, good weather, and fortune, whereas dissonance leads to disease, disaster, and bad luck. The strategy of Chinese medicine is in restoring harmony.

Just as nature contains air, sea and land, the human body is comprised of qi, (pronounced chee), moisture and blood. Qi is the animating force that gives us our capacity to move, think, feel and work. Moisture is the liquid medium which protects, nurtures and lubricates tissue. Blood is the material foundation out of which we create bones, nerves, skin, muscles, and organs. Human beings combine psyche and soma, spirit (shen) and essence (jing); shen is the immaterial expression of the individual; and jing represents the body's reproductive and regenerative substance.

Once the Chinese concept of the body is understood, the method of caring for ailments becomes clearer. For instance, the kidneys do more than the job of managing fluid metabolism which Western physicians ordinarily associate with them. The kidney stores the jing responsible for reproduction, growth and regeneration. It controls the teeth, bones, marrow, brain, inner ear, pupil of the eye and lumbar region, associated with the emotion of fear, the will, and the faculty of sharp thinking and perception. Therefore, problems such as retarded growth, ringing in the ears, infertility, lower back pain, paranoia, fuzzy thinking, weak vision, apathy, or despair are viewed as dysfunctions of the kidney network. The heart not only propels blood through the vessels but harbors the shen and governs the mind. Symptoms as varied as anxiety, restlessness, angina, and palpitations occur when the heart is agitated and so on.

The general statement from practitioners of Chinese medicine is that Western drugs often control symptoms, but do not alter the disease process. For instance, antibiotics eliminate a bacterium that does not improve a person's resistance to infection. Chinese herbs, on the other hand, treat the underlying condition as defined by traditional diagnosis, and rarely cause unwanted side-effects.

If you visit a practitioner of Chinese medicine, he will diagnose the disorder based on traditional theories and come to a decision on a treatment principle. He will then select appropriate herbs and combinations of herbs that will have the desired effects.

The most common way in which herbs are used is in the form of an herbal decoction boiled up from dried herbs. The benefit of this method is that the practitioner can choose the kind of herbs and quantity required by the specific patient. The disadvantage of this is the inconvenience of boiling the herbs daily, and several patients are not used to the smell and taste of the preparation. Pills are ready-made and have the advantage of being easier to use than dried herbs. Their drawback, however, is that they do not cover every probable condition a patient may have and therefore are not suitable in all circumstances.

Not all of the treatments are herbal, of course. Countless remedies come from extracts of rhino horn, deer antler, and bear gallbladder; to name a few. To those unfamiliar to such exotic remedies this seems very strange indeed, but again, when the Chinese theories of the body as a self-contained eco-system are considered, the logic can more readily be noticed.

Does it all really work?

Well, that really is the big question. But modern pharmaceutical drugs have been produced, tested, and put into use following lengthy experiences with sourcing materials as herbal remedies in China. The best known examples are modern drugs ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine from the herb ma-haung. These drugs have been prescribed to treat asthma and sinus congestion, and modern studies show that ephedrine enhances metabolic rate and thus might be useful in a weight loss program.

An active component of licorice has been made into a drug approved in Europe for treating gastric ulcers. Polysaccharides from the Chinese herbs astragalus and ganoderma have been made into drugs to enhance immune functions. Furthermore, an active component of the Chinese herb schizandra has been chemically altered to yield a highly effective treatment for hepatitis. The yew tree, which is now used as the source of a drug called taxol to treat ovarian cancer, has been used in China for several decades as an anti-cancer plant. A species of Artemisia widely used in Chinese medicine has yielded a drug that cures malaria and is now used in Southeast Asia; the list goes on.

It is doable to make arguments for and against Chinese medicine, but it comes down to the fact that we don't really know. Given the extended history of Chinese medicinal practice, it cannot be ignored. However, one thing is sure, that we are going to hear a lot more about this form of medicine in years to come due to its continual growth in popularity.