Chinese Medicine - An Alternative For Your Health

For thousands of years Chinese medicine has been the primary medical system in China, but outside of the Far East it is still conceived as alternative medicine. Because Chinese medicine relies on natural healing rather than synthetically produced drugs, more and more people in the Western world are turning to this branch of medicine.

Thought to date back for 5,000 years, Chinese medicine history is far from clear. Hung-Di Nei-Jing (Cannon of Internal Medicine) is thought to be the first written document concerning Chinese medicine and it is considered to be 2,000 years old and was supposedly commissioned by the Yellow Emperor.

Most people are familiar with the primary methods of healing within Chinese medicine, which are herbal medicine and acupuncture with other methods such as massage, qi gong, or food therapy playing a secondary role. The aim of Chinese medicine is restore harmony and balance to the system and is not so much concerned with the illness or disease.

A lack of harmony is seen as the main cause of any illness. A well-balanced body can resist most everyday illness and disease and this is the philosophy of Chinese medicine, whereas modern medicine treats bacteria and viruses directly by the use of antibiotics or vaccines.

While more and more medical schools are including classes on alternative medicine in their syllabuses, the relationship between Chinese medicine and Western medicine is still contentious. Modern medical practitioners in China are far more likely to have a favourable view of Chinese medicine than older Western doctors.

Even though, the techniques are of value in the west. In fact, pharmaceutical companies have recognised the value of traditional medicines and teams of scientists in many parts of the world are engaged to collect knowledge from traditional Chinese medical practitioners. Furthermore, T'ai Chi Ch'uan or qigong, amongst other methods, are being included in classes of hospitals and clinics as part of their inpatient and health programmes.

Excelling in the physical and mental illnesses and within the areas of prevention, Chinese medicine is not considered as an alternative medicine to over three quarters of the world's population. For centuries it has been regarded as form of non-intrusive, remedial, risk free treatment.

Attitudes towards Chinese medicine are changing by the day and an increasing number of people are finding relief in this form of alternative medicine after failing with modern medicine and prescription drugs. Increasingly people are maintaining their health at optimum levels by having regular treatments and are applying Chinese medicine as a first option instead of a last resort.

John Philips is the author of Chinese Healing an informational website with various articles about Chinese Medicine. To read more articles from various sources on Chinese Medicine visit www.chinese-healing.info

Article Source: http://www.wellnessarticlelibrary.com

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated