Japanese Acupuncture: A Review of Four Styles Marian Fixler and Oran Kivity In modern day China it is apparent that there is one unifying and distinctive style of acupuncture, familiar to us all in the West as TCM. Japanese acupuncture is more pluralistic, and embraces many different styles and schools. In this article the authors give an overview of a number of Japanese acupuncture systems. The four systems reviewed are: Dr. Manaka’s Yin Yang Channel Balancing Therapy; Keiraku Chiryo Meridian therapy; Toyohari Meridan Therapy; and Kiiko Matsumoto’s Integrated Approach. The authors convey the characteristics of each system and contrast them within the wide spectrum of Japanese acupuncture styles. Becoming open to these contrasting systems, which have demonstrably powerful effects, can challenge our conceptions and add new meaning to the concept of 'maximum benefit from minimum intervention.'
Inflammation: Treating Acute Prostatitis Qing Zhang Acute prostatitis is inflammation of the prostate gland, usually affecting men between the ages of 30 and 50. Traditional Chinese medical theory sees prostatitis as Lin Syndrome, with the urinary tract symptoms being due to dampness and heat accumulating in the lower jiao, causing disturbance to water circulation and distribution. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine treatment for this condition are outlined and a case study is presented in which successful resolution of acute protatitis was achieved in three treatments.
Male Uro-Genital Diseases: Prostatitis, Testicular Problems and Erectile Dysfunction Avi Magidoff In this article the reader is introduced to other forms of diagnosis and treatment of male uro-genital problems. The standard TCM concepts of kidney deficiency, yin fire, and damp heat, while often useful, do not always provide the best treatment strategies for all patients. With the ability to utilise other points of view, readers may be able to benefit patients with problems that have not responded to the standard TCM approaches. Read the whole article
Male Infertility: Clinical Treatments of 248 Cases Dr Zhang Jia Sheng This article (translated from Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion 1987 Vol. 7 No. 1) reports on the treatment with acupuncture and moxibustion of 248 cases of male infertility over the period 1981-1985. Treatment was deemed effective in 166 cases. Patients with impotence and ejaculatory dysfunction responded better than cases with sperm abnormalities. Translated by Xiao Y Zhang.
'Thief Wind': Treatment of Gout Pang Jun, Huang Bo-ling, Li Yu-shun, Zhou Yu-yan, Han Zhi-yong and Faye Richardson Gout is a systemic disease which involves the impediment of protein metabolism. Abnormal protein metabolism results in hyperuricemia with acute clinical manifestations of redness, swelling and hot pain of affected joints. Repeated bouts form gouty calculae in joints. Western medical treatment concentrates on managing symptoms. Traditional Chinese medicine, with its theory of differentiating diagnosis and treatment based on syndrome analysis, holds that gout is caused by the inability of the kidney to transform fluids and failure of the spleen to conduct normal transporting functions, and to distinguish between clearness and turbidness thus leading to the generation of internal heat and dampness. Principles of clinical treatment aim to clear heat and remove dampness, dredge collaterals to stop pain and regulate functions of the spleen and kidney. By utilising the main acupoints, St 36 zu san li, St 40 feng long, Sp 6 san yin jiao, the researchers achieved a 90% efficacy rate in treating patients with gout (improved visceral functions manifested by normal uric acid and ESR levels) and its symptoms (joint swelling and pain alleviated) without side effects, increasing their acceptance and satisfaction with acupuncture.
Grey Mist: A Patient Recovery Philip Dobell In this short article, an acupuncture patient in his 70s gives a personal account of his experiences of acupuncture treatment for the sequelae of a haemorrhagic stroke which left him temporarily paralised on the left side. Among the improvements reported from treatment over the course of two and a half years are better balance, increased stamina, mobility, and dexterity, improved eyesight and normalised blood pressure.
Is There a Place for Integrated Medicine in the Western World? Kwee Swan Hoo For Western MDs, Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is quite an alien paradigm. Acceptance is subjected to strict scientific rule. For this western scientific rule the 'context of justification' of western medicine is totally commensurable with the 'context of discovery' of western science, but it is not commensurable with the 'context of discovery' of Chinese science, for example with acupuncture (qi-paradigm), acupuncture anaesthesia, the compass and architecture. The 'context of discovery' and the 'context of justification' are the two main contexts in scientific enterprise. Incommensurability in philosophy of science means: two bodies of discourse - whether theories, worldviews, paradigms or what have you - are incommensurable, if the assertions made in one body are unintelligible to those utilising the other. The incommensurability of the two medicines is especially at the conceptual level and not within the empirical level. So Chinese medicine should also undergo testing in the same way as evidence based medicine and try to develop its own scientific base, which will facilitate the integration of Chinese and western medicines. Consideration must be given to any gains or losses resulting from this process. The incommensurability diagnosis and the suggested integration method are discussed.
Modern Silver: The Effect of Acupuncture on Chronic Soft Tissue Lesions in the Lower Back Yu Lehua This article reports on the effects of modern silver acupuncture (MSA) on chronic soft tissue lesions in the lower back. A study involving the treatment of 89 patients suffering from severe lower back pain is described. The techniques involved in carrying out the treatment are detailed. The results of the study are analysed. It is concluded that MSA is an effective treatment, especially for soft tissue lesions from conversion of acute injuries and chronic overuse injuries in the lower back.
The Assessment and Licensing of an Acupuncturist/Herbalist: A Comparison between California and the UK Alan Treharne This article outlines the assessment procedures used in the licensing of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine practitioners in the state of California. Examination is based entierely on multiple-choice papers where the emphasis is on memorisation and analytical deduction. The author argues that this learn-by-rote approach fails to take account of important aspects such as rapport, reflective practice and the ability to think and evaulate for oneself in a creative and informed way. It contrasts unfavourably with the approach taken by the British Acupuncture Accreditation Board (BAAB) which, by focusing its regulatory capacity on overseeing the college delivery of education as a whole, helps maintain the growth and diversity of acupuncture education in the UK, a diversity which reflects that found in the literature of oriental medicine.
Creative Interchange: Reflections on 'Medicine as Signification' Wainwright Churchill This article reflects on themes presented in Volker Scheid and Dan Bensky’s article ‘Medicine as Signification’ (published in EJOM Vol. 2 No. 6) and the subsequent exchange between these authors and Mike Fitter (in EJOM Vol. 3 No. 2). Wainwright Churchill gives a critical assessment of the three possible approaches to research into Chinese medicine and other complementary and alternative medicines, and their different outcomes. Warning that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) faces effective colonialisation by biomedicine, he contrasts the 'meditative thought' which characterises TCM and which allows for holism and flexibility, with what he calls the ‘calculative thought’ which informs biomedicine and which is essentially reductionist and mechanistic. He argues that Mike Fitter’s proposal for a ‘world medicine’, while making a great deal of sense at the level of the individual, is an unrealisable and even a dangerous ideal in that it inadvertently extends an invitation to biomedicine to increase its dominion by appropriating the diverse medical systems of the world.
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