Traditional Chinese Medicine¹

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a complete system of healing that dates back in written form to 200 B.C.  Korea, Japan, and Vietnam have all developed their own unique versions of traditional medicine based on practices originating in China. According to traditional Chinese medicine, the body is a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: yin and yang. Yin represents the cold, slow, or passive principle, while yang represents the hot, excited, or active principle. Among the major assumptions in TCM are that health is achieved by maintaining the body in a "balanced state".  In contrast, disease results from an internal imbalance of yin and yang. This imbalance leads to blockage in the flow of qi (or vital energy) and of blood along pathways known as meridians. TCM practitioners typically use herbs, acupuncture, and massage to help unblock qi and blood in patients in an attempt to bring the body back into harmony and wellness.

Treatments in traditional Chinese Medicine are tailored to the subtle patterns of disharmony in each patient and are based on an individualized diagnosis. The diagnostic tools of TCM differ from those of conventional medicine. There are three main therapeutic modalities:

1. Acupuncture and moxibustion (moxibustion is the application of heat from the burning of the herb moxa at the acupuncture point)

2. Chinese Materia Medica (the catalogue of natural products used in TCM)

3. Massage and manipulation

Although traditional Chinese medicine proposes that natural products catalogued in Chinese Materia Medica or acupuncture can be used alone to treat virtually any illness, quite often they are used together and sometimes in combination with other modalities (e.g., massage, moxibustion, diet changes, or exercise). The scientific evidence on selected modalities from TCM is discussed below.

Acupuncture

Acupunture is widely used for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.  It is particularly useful for the treatment of nausea/vomiting and dental pain.  While the effect of acupuncture is well documented, it is difficult to explain exactly how acupuncture works within the framework of the Western system of medicine.

It has been proposed that acupuncture produces its effects by the conduction of electromagnetic signals at a greater-than-normal rate, thus aiding the activity of pain-killing biochemicals, such as endorphins and immune system cells at specific sites in the body. In addition, studies have shown that acupuncture may alter brain chemistry by changing the release of neurotransmitters and neurohormones and affecting the parts of the central nervous system related to sensation and involuntary body functions, such as immune reactions and processes whereby a person's blood pressure, blood flow, and body temperature are regulated.

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Chinese Materia Medica

Chinese Materia Medica is a standard reference book of information on medicinal substances that are used in Chinese herbal medicine. Herbs or botanicals usually contain dozens of bioactive compounds. Many factors--such as geographic location, harvest season, post-harvest processing, and storage--could have a significant impact on the concentration of bioactive compounds. In many cases, it is not clear which of these compounds underlie an herb's medical use. Moreover, multiple herbs are usually used in combinations called formulas in traditional Chinese medicine, which makes the standardization of herbal preparations very difficult. Further complicating research on TCM herbs, herbal compositions and the quantity of individual herbs in a classic formula are usually adjusted in TCM practice according to individualized diagnoses.

In the past decades, major efforts have been made to study the effects and effectiveness of single herbs and of combinations of herbs used in classic TCM formulas. The following are examples of such work:

Artemisia annua. Ancient Chinese physicians identified that this herb controls fevers. In the 1970s, scientists extracted the chemical artemisinin from Artemisia annua. Artemisinin is the starting material for the semi-synthetic artemisinins that are proven to treat malaria and are widely used.

Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F (Chinese Thunder God vine). Thunder God vine has been used in TCM for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The first small randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a Thunder God vine extract in the United States showed a significant dose-dependent response in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

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1. Information on this page has been adapted from source material on the website of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.