Traditional Chinese Medicine: TCM Practice — What Is It?
Chinese researcher Youyou Tu won the Nobel Prize in Medicine on October 5, 2015. In fact she received the award for her innovative work using a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approach. Since then, interest in TCM practice, including functional herbal remedies, has skyrocketed. As a complementary or alternate approach, TCM techniques overall may offer benefits in managing a variety of symptoms.
History and Objectives of TCM
Historically TCM practice has encompassed a broad range of techniques and approaches. These methods share common concepts which were developed in China. For the most part they are based on ancient Taoist philosophy dating back more than 2000 years.
Included in the discipline are combinations of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (Tui na), exercise (qi gong) and dietary therapy. The system aims to identify functional entities which regulate digestion, breathing, aging, etc. TCM practitioners perceive health as harmonious interaction among these entities and with the outside world. In like manner they interpret disease as a disharmony in interaction.
To diagnose, TCM practice aims to trace symptoms linked to patterns of an underlying disharmony. Consequently it uses techniques such as measuring the pulse, inspecting the tongue, skin and eyes and looking at the eating and sleeping habits of the individual.
Holistic Principles of TCM Practice
In summary, then, holistic beliefs of TCM include the following principles:
- The human body is a miniature version of the larger, surrounding universe.
- Harmony between two opposing yet complementary forces, called yin and yang, supports health. Disease results from an imbalance between these forces.
- Five elements symbolically represent all phenomena including the stages of human life. These elements are thought to explain the functioning of the body and how it changes during disease.
- fire
- earth
- wood
- metal
- water
- fire
- Qi is a vital energy that flows through the body. It performs multiple functions in maintaining health.
Preparation and Action of Traditional Herbal Remedies
In TCM practice the medicinal or herbal remedy is typically prepared as a decoction. In the first place practitioners blend together different parts of plants — leaves, roots, stems, flowers and seeds. Formulas are then administered as teas, capsules, liquid extracts, granules or powders. According to Xingwu Liu, Ph.D., an expert who specializes in traditional herbology from his headquarters in Chicago, the formula components interact synergistically to potentiate the overall effect. Collectively they nourish and activate the mind, the ears and the eyes. Additionally each individual constituent also is thought to exert its own unique effect in managing symptoms.
Authority: China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences
The premier authority on TCM practice is the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (CACMS). Located in Beijing, it is at the forefront combining ancient herbal traditions with cutting-edge scientific research today. CACMS was established in 1955. In effect it functions as a comprehensive institution for technical research, clinical medicine and medical education. Today CACMS links to and cooperates with the medical circles, research institutions, universities, pharmaceutical companies and non-governmental societies of more than 100 different foreign countries and regions.
Experts from a specialty board within CACMS sometimes oversee cultivation and local harvesting of raw herbs. As a result, this oversight assures the purity and effectiveness of top-quality functional herbal remedies.