Practical Therapeutics of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Practical Therapeutics of Traditional Chinese Medicine introduces more than 100 illnesses from the fields of internal medicine, surgery, dermatology, gynecology, obstetrics, pediatrics, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, stomatology and emergentology in a clear and systematic manner. All the illnesses selected are commonly observed or frequently occurring conditions that definitely respond favorably to traditional Chinese medical techniques. For each condition, descriptions include etiology, pathogenesis and Chinese therapeutic techniques including herbal medicine, acupuncture, plum blossom needle therapy, electroacupuncture, fire cupping and auricular and scalp acupuncture, as well as various external therapies. All prescriptions cited (apart from commercially prepared formulas) include information on the addition and deletion of constituents according to symptom variations. To the end of increasing the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy, this work has set Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion in parallel as unified treatments following a single differential diagnosis and treatment plan. This unification of needles and medicinals, as well as the emphasis of differential diagnosis and selection of acupoints, maintains the distinctive characteristics of traditional Chinese medical therapeutics. The text also contains a glossary, bibliography, and indices of Chinese medicinals, herbal prescriptions, acupoints and Chinese and Western medical terms to assist the reader in further research. This work is the first treatise published in English on traditional Chinese medical therapeutics to use the teaching materials of the superior schools and colleges of the People's Republic of China as its foundation. These teaching materials are the product of the collective compilation, examination and approval of the special assembly of Chinese medical specialties organized by the Chinese government during the 1980's specifically for that purpose. These teaching materials are currently serving as the standard texts for the training of high-level traditional Chinese medical doctors and acupuncturists in the superior traditional Chinese medical schools and colleges in the People's Republic of China. This work therefore reflects the present academic standard of higher education in traditional Chinese medicine in mainland China.