Chinese Medicine Focuses On Treating Environmental Balance

 The theories behind medical care in China are based on three distinct types of Chinese medicine, ancient Chinese, classic Chinese and Traditional Chinese medicine. Although during the nationalist government in China banned the use of classic medicine for about 30 years until Mao Zedong figured out the continued ban on this practice was not serving the people of China and in 1960 10 medical doctors were assigned the task of reviewing and standardizing the practices.

 For the most part Chinese medicine consists of the theories behind the cause, the diagnosis and treatment of any ailment, which can include herbal medicine, acupuncture and massages. The belief is that all of the different bodily functions are interrelated and they all work in harmony with the environment. It is through the interaction with the environment that causes one of more of the systems to malfunction.

 The approach of Chinese medicine could be confused with many holistic practices that believe that treating the whole body is the only way to heal what may be wrong with an individual. There is more that goes into diagnosing an illness in Chinese medicine than traditional western medical tests. Although some of the practitioners of traditional medicine in China are beginning to see the advantages of using some of the western technology.

·        Chinese Practices Believed Better Than Some Western Treatments

Tidbit #2: Throughout history, ancient civilizations in Egypt, India and China used herbal medicine for all illnesses as well as for taking care of their injured warriors. Over the years they perfected their practices but unfortunately, most of the botanicals that were compounded were not written down and subsequent generations had to rely on the memories of their elders to carry on the practice of herbal medicine in those cultures.

 While modern western medical care is slowly making inroads into Chinese medicine, many believe that many of the traditional methods offer more relief and better treatment than the practices used in the west. This is especially true of most of the typical, short-lived illnesses such as a clod or the flu. Herbal medications used to supplement other Chinese treatment methods have shown to be superior to the western medications.

 The spread of Chinese medicine throughout its population is thought to have been done to take medical care to the poorer members of its society who could not afford nor visit practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Additionally, traditional practices were embraced by many people who did not fully believe that illnesses were caused by evil or by other spirits. Possibly due to interpretational errors, some of the writings made other countries suspicious of the practice of medicine in China, thereby preventing its spread to other lands.

 Despite the fact that during the 1700’s acupuncture was widely accepted and used in England, the misunderstanding of the holistic approach of Chinese medicine and the beliefs that it focused on ridding the body of evil to effect a cure, made acceptance more difficult in western cultures.