What is Chinese traditional medicine?

What is Chinese traditional medicine?

Chinese traditional medicine ｈａs two components: herbal therapy and body therapy (acupuncture, cauterization, and acupressure). While some practitioners of Chinesese traditional medicine focus on herbal therapy, the combination of herb and body therapy is more effective than either therapy alone. Thanks to his training and experience, Dr. Higasa has been able to create unique new combination of these two therapies.

What substances are used in Chinese medicine?

Chinese medicine texts attribute various benefits to thousands of substances.  However only about 200-500 are used regularly in Chinese medical practice. Most of these are plant-derived such as the leaves of plants, roots of grasses, and barks of trees. These plant-derived herbs are dried or treated simply. For instance, some are steamed or dipped into alcohol before they are used. Some animal derived substances are also used as medicines, such as cattle gallstones, earthworm etc. Together, these plant and animal substances are generally called “herbs.”

A cattle gallstone Ancient Chinese doctors tested the medicial properties of many substances—including some odd ones. Cow gallstone is one such odd material that would found to make people more vigorous. This photo shows a high-quality gallstone that was imported from a mad cow disease-free country.

A Chinese medical doctor selects and mixes herb to treat each patient’s illness. While theoretically, there are thousands of combinations of herbs, many of the best combination are well established. For example, Kakkonto(葛根湯) is a prescription used to treat the common cold that contains seven herbs.

This Chinese medicine approach contrasts with most Western drug prescriptions, which contain only a single substance. When a Chinese medical doctor prescribe a medicine, he often adds or removes herbs, according to a patient’s body type and disease condition. This again is different from the Western approach, where all patients who receive a drug will get the same dosage.

What is body therapy?

Modern people tend to think that body therapy is a treatment only for muscle stiffness and joint pain. While it is true that body therapy is useful for treating joint disease, it can do more. In ancient times, body therapies were used widely to treat internal illnesses, gynecological disease, ophthalmological problems and so on. Under the pressure of Western medicine, many of these excellent therapies were gradually being lost. Dr. Higasa is making effort to revive the general use of body therapy and has proved these methods effective for stomach pain, arrhythmia, asthma and dizziness.

The Development of Chinese Medicine in Japan.

In 1883, Japanese government banned Chinese medical licenses and restricted doctor licenses only to Western medicine. A doctor of Western medicine could learn Chinese medicine, but during this time Chinese Medicine was considered superstitious, and few people wanted to learn it.
By the late 1960’s , fewer than 100 doctors in Japan could prescribe Chinese medicine and only 30 could also do body therapy too. There was no formal training available for Chinese medicine, in Japan. The remaining skills and knowledge has been passed down from doctor to doctor.
Dr. Higasa was fortunate to have the opportunity to learn Chinese medicine from Dr. Yamamoto. He had practiced Chinese medicine for many years and had become highly skilled in both herbal and body therapies. Dr. Yamamoto had also been trained in Western medicine, and had combined both disciplines in his practice.
 In late 1960s, the Japanese government began allowing insurance coverage of extracts of Chinese herb. Since then, Western medicine doctors have gradually begun using more of these extracts. By now, Japanese medical schools have begun teaching Chinese medicine.  However, their classes are short and they offer no opportunities for clinical practice. Therefore, even now, very few Japanese doctors fully understand how to practice Chinese medical therapy.
In China, the situation was different. After World WarⅡ, the Chinese Government established many Chinese medicine colleges and promoted the practice of Chinese medicine. Mao Tse_tung(毛沢東), the chairman of the Chinese government, supported combining Western and Chinese medical therapies.

Why did the Chinese government have positive attitude toward Chinese medicine? China adopted a closed-door policy to the West, following the War. As a result, they lacked access to Western medicines. China decided to use traditional Chinese medicine as a way to supplement the limited amount of Western medicine they had available. They issued two different doctor licenses, for Western and Chinese medicine.