ACUPUNCTURE IN THE WEST 

Acupuncture in the West: Keynote Debate
Stephen Birch, Peter Deadman and Felicity Moir
This is an extract of the keynote debate, which took place at the British Acupuncture Council’s Conference in October 2004, which was chaired by Mike O’Farrell, Chief Executive Officer Executive Officer of the BAcC. The three keynote speakers were Stephen Birch who has co-authored seven books on acupuncture and regularly contributes to the debate on the use of scientific methods in the integration of Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM) in the West, Peter Deadman who is Publisher and Editor of the Journal of Chinese Medicine and co-authored the major acupuncture textbook a manual of acupuncture, and Felicity Moir who is a Course Leader and Principal Lecturer at the University of Westminster, School of Integrated Health. Questions or comments follow the introductory views of the keynote speakers, together with the responses of the speakers.
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JR Worsley’s Legacy to the Practice of Acupuncture
Peter Mole
JR Worsley’s death on June 2nd, 2003 has inspired several obituaries and tributes in the pages of EJOM and elsewhere. He was an inspiring teacher and a remarkable practitioner, but what did he teach? And how does the Five Element style he taught fit into Chinese medicine theory? This article attempts to give a brief outline of this approach for those who were not taught by him. This interpretation of his teaching is solely that of the author and should in no way be construed as any form of authorised synopsis of his teachings. In his article, the author affirms that JR Worsley’s ‘greatest gift to the acupuncture community was in his understanding and teaching of how to use acupuncture to treat people rather than illnesses.’

Thorn in the Side or Needle in a Haystack? Acupuncture in the NHS
Arnold Desser
The author describes the work of the Marylebone Health Centre, an NHS primary health care centre. Originally started in 1987 as a GP surgery to NHS patients, the GPs now see the patients first and pass them on to the complementary practitioners as appropriate. The Centre Trust has pursued the idea of post-graduate inter-professional education via the Centre for Community Care and Primary Health (CCCPH) in collaboration with the nearby University of Westminster. Other private schools of complimentary therapy eventually became part of CCCPH and included The School of Acupuncture and TCM, and schools teaching homoeopathy, herbal medicine, nutritional therapy and chiropractic. Patient’s computer notes contain the GP’s referral sessions and space for complimentary therapists to add clinical information. The author argues that at its best, working in the NHS can be a transformative experience for patients and practitioners of whatever therapy.

JD van Buren in his Own Words
An Interview with Sandra Hill
This interview with van Buren was conducted in the summer of 1988 and published in the Review of Oriental Medicine that same year. It covers his early life in Java, his education in England and Holland, and later his experiences with Dutch forces in the war in Java and later as a prisoner of the Japanese for nearly four years. After the war, van Buren qualified first as an osteopath and naturopath before learning acupuncture, initially with Lavier in 1966. In 1968 he went to Taiwan to take a doctorate before returning to teach students in England, Holland and Scandinavia. Van Buren talks in a fascinating way about his perspective on Stems and Branches theory and his pioneering work developing the left-right law and the ten-day cycle.

Traditional Chinese Medicine and Reichian Theory
Leon Southgate
This article gives an outline of an MSc dissertation submitted to the Northern College of Acupuncture and University of Wales in May 2002. The dissertation investigated common ground and differences between the theories of Chinese medicine and Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957). Reich was an Austrian psychoanalyst who studied biological energy functions. Many previously undocumented parallels and differences were found between the theories. A double blind, placebo-controlled experimental study (N=72) was also reported. The experimental study investigated whether effects are produced when a device reported to collect life-energy by Reich’s theory, is attached via a connecting wire to an acupuncture point. Reich describes this life-energy as Orgone. The concept of Orgone is similar in its definition to that of qi. The study found an objective effect by Orgone on the acupuncture process (P<0.03).

Giovanni Maciocia
An Interview with Aruna Sahni
Probing questions by Aruna get Giovanni talking about his early life and training under JR Worsley and van Buren. He speaks of his studies in China and learning Chinese so that he could get a feel for Chinese thinking among other things. Giovanni talks about his writing and his introduction of Chinese herbal medicine to England through a course he organised with Ted Kaptchuk. He identifies areas of weaknesses in the teaching of Chinese medicine, the first being in pulse diagnosis and the second being an insufficient knowledge of the classics.

Postnatal Depression: A Case Study
Beverley A Lawton
This case study describes the treatment of a patient who suffered from increasing anxiety, depression and panic since the birth of her only child two years previously. She also experienced no desire for social interaction not for sexual contact with her partner, the child’s father, despite what appeared to be a long-term loving and supportive relationship. The diagnosis, pathology and aetiology are discussed, treatment principles are listed in a chart, and the treatment plan is described step by step. The author also deals with lifestyle guidance. By the end of a course of 10 treatments, the patient no longer suffered from postnatal depression, and no longer required Seroxat medication. She continues to have regular acupuncture in order to maintain the benefits of treatment.

Royston Low
An Interview with Alan Rouse
Royston Low was one of the founders of acupuncture in Britain and author of eight texts on the subject (one co-authored with Roger Newman Turner). Here he talks about the early days of acupuncture in the UK, going back to the 1960s, the origins of acupuncture education in the country, including the formation of the British College of Acupuncture, and the emergence of professional bodies which eventually gave rise to the British Acupuncture Council.

Chinese Medicine, Western Soul
Henry McGrath
This article argues that if we wish to treat at the level of the Soul, in other words metaphysically, both practitioner and patient must consciously be aware and involved in the process. We cannot just assume that our treatments are working on the level of the Soul because we are using herbs, or for that matter acupuncture. Similarly, ‘medical acupuncture’ proves that it is perfectly possible to use acupuncture on a purely physical level. Working at the level of the Soul is, of course, not for all patients, or even for all practitioners. Nor should it be. But many patients wish to go beyond merely getting rid of obvious signs of illness, and seek treatments that help them towards a fuller, richer life. For these people, true health is not defined merely as an absence of disease, but as a life of fulfilment, meaning and purpose. Chinese medicine has the potential to help them towards this fuller model of health.