Part 5: Integrating Western Physiology with Traditional Chinese Medicine Philosophies With its 5,000 year old history Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been widely recognised for its knowledge and therapeutic approach. Although, still not fully understood there is every reason to be able to impact on the future and development of modern medicine. Admittedly researchers have …
Part 4: Chinese Medicine Diagnosis: A Balancing Act Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis constitutes the four basic methods of; inspection (of the physical body or coating on the tongue), auscultation (listening to speech, breathing or coughing) and olfaction (of mouth or body odour), inquiry (of symptoms) and palpation (of pulse or abdomen), very much similar …
Part 3: Five Element Theory Following the Yin and Yang theory, in the 3rd century the Five Element theory was introduced which helped to understand the body as an interlinking system, where body functions are controlled through the actions of stimulation and inhibition. As with other Chinese philosophies this system is also based on observations …
Part 2: Qi: Vital Energy, Life Force In Chinese philosophy Yin and Yang are created by Tao (nature’s creative force). Within this also originates the flow of life force called ‘Qi’ (pronounced Chi). Qi is described as vital energy or life force that exists in nature and all life, in the form of movement and …
In this new 8 part series we attempt to understand the science of acupuncture and how it links to western medicine. Each week we will be exploring the philosophies and concepts on which acupuncture is based, which expands into how they could be linked into the physiology of medicine. To receive updates on this series …
0Smoking is a significant risk factor for many diseases including cancer, cardiovascular, chronic lung diseases and gastric ulcers. According to statistics smoking kills nearly 6 million people each year i.e. approximately one death every six seconds. 5 million of these results directly from smoking, while more than 600,000 are due to passive smoking. Due to …
E-cigarettes are high on the media agenda at the moment. I have never been a fan of smoking, so the introduction of e-cigarettes already had my alarm bells ringing. In the UK sales have soared by 340% in one year, with the industry worth rising from an estimated £44 million (2012) to £193 million (2013). …
Low incidence of bowel disease in rural Africans is because they consume around 55 gm of dietary fiber daily, which is more than 2 ½ times the UK average. Fiber cannot be broken down by the body. It comes in two forms; soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber helps to bulk the food up and …
A review study published in May 2013 conducted by the Cochrane Group on the usefulness of acupuncture for fibromyalgia found that “Acupuncture is probably better than non-acupuncture treatment in reducing pain and stiffness and improving overall well-being and fatigue”. Fibromyalgia sufferers experience a range of symptoms including joint stiffness, sleep disturbances, fatigue and mood disorders. Together …
Alopecia is a medical term used to describe loss of hair from some or all parts of the body. The psychological stress of hair loss is complex, as hair forms a large part of our identity and appearance and is at its highest at the onset stages. In women particularly hair represents femininity and attractiveness. …
