CAPABILITIES OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a system of health care founded on oriental views of the universe and it’s models of existence such as Yin and Yang, Qi/energy, or the 5 Elements. The appropriate treatment method(s) for a specific patient are selected on the basis of information gathered by Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnostic techniques. This information is then interpreted according to Traditional Chinese Medicine principles about physiology, health and illness. The results guide the use of acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.

Oriental Medicine treats the entire range of human illness. It does not, however, cure the entire range of illness. Such a claim is inaccurate for any form of medicine. The following list gives a sample of the capabilities of the medicine. It is drawn from three major textbooks published and used in China’s traditional medical college system and in the American schools of Oriental Medicine.

Western Diseases Treated
by
Oriental Medicine in Present-day China

Note: In the source texts these diseases are differentiated according to TCM. For example, the single western disease asthma could be due to Lung Qi Deficiency, or Kidneys Not Grasping Qi, or Wind-Heat Invasion of the Lungs, or Phelgm-Damp Obstructing the Lungs

Syncope, sunstroke, common cold, asthma, vomiting, diarrhea, dysentery, jaundice, constipation, prolapse of rectum, edema, nocturnal enuresis, urinary disturbance, retention of urine, impotence, insomnia, palpitation, manic-depressive disorder, epilepsy, dizziness, headache, melancholia, deviation of eye and mouth, pain, irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, uterine bleeding, morbid leucorrhea, morning sickness, prolapse of uterus, urticaria, erysipelas, boil, breast abscess, intestinal abscess, goiter, sprain and contusion, deafness, tinnitus, epistaxis, toothache, sore throat, optic atrophy, tiredness, myalgic encephalomyelitis, allergic rhinitis, Parkinson’s disease, atrophy syndrome, multiple sclerosis, PMS, infectious hepatitis, bronchitis, frostbite, pulmonary tuberculosis, bronchial asthma, chronic heart failure, hypertension, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, hypothyroidism, arthritis, facial paralysis, paraplegia, cerebrovascular accident, hysteria, schizophrenia, mastitis, intestinal obstruction, hemorrhoids, urinary tract infection, prostatitis, spermatorrhea, carpal tunnel syndrome, myopia, malpositioned fetus, insufficient lactation, glaucoma, conjunctivitis, glomerulonephritis, urinary calculus, gastroduodenal ulcer, ulcerative colitis, neurodermatitis,

SOURCES:

Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion,
Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, China.

Acupuncture, A Comprehensive Text,
Shanghai College of Traditional Medicine,
Eastland Press, Seattle.

The Practice of Chinese Medicine - The Treatment of Disease with Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs,
Giovanni Maciocia,
Churchill Livingstone, London, England

The English-Chinese Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine Volume 10, Internal Medicine;
Higher Education Press, Beijing.