World Medical Systems

• Chinese medicinals are natural vegetable, animal, or mineral products, combined with several others to make a formula
• Most medicinals are prepared to produce a decoction, boiled in water and drank as a tea
• Acupuncture involves the insertion of metal needles into the flesh to influence the flow of qi in the body
• Needle stimulation at each point in acupuncture is known to produce certain therapeutic effects
• Acupuncture effects may be local, such as relieving pain or swelling, or at a distant location
• Chinese culture places great emphasis on prevention as well as cure, preserving health by obtaining and maintaining internal balance and external harmony
• In Chinese medicine, the treatment of disease includes therapies like medicinal therapy, acupuncture, cupping, massage, and dietary therapy
• Yin and yang are applied to medicine in numerous ways, classifying parts of the body where the upper body is yang and the lower body is yin
• In Chinese medicine, qi is an everyday word meaning gas, vapor, steam, or intangible force
• Chinese medicine and Western medicine share similarities in explaining health and sickness by natural laws, with both recognizing the importance of organ functions for health
• The idea of explaining health and sickness by natural laws arose in ancient Greece at roughly the same time as in China
• In Chinese medicine, each organ performed different functions to ensure health, and disease was seen as a breakdown of these functions
• Many aspects of Chinese medicine are very similar to Western medicine, but premodern Chinese physicians did not understand the role of bacteria and viruses as causes of disease due to lack of technology to observe microorganisms
• Traditional Chinese medicine attributed illness to evil spirits or angry ancestors initially, but later evolved to view the body as composed of different organs with specific functions