Is traditional Chinese medicine theory based on supernatural ideas?
Are things like qi-gong and acupuncture considered supernatural?
Filed under: Traditional Chinese Medicine
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Natural and Alternative Treatments – A Holistic Approach In Medicine
Are things like qi-gong and acupuncture considered supernatural?
Filed under: Traditional Chinese Medicine
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
DISCLAIMER:
Any information found on this website is strictly for educational and informational use only and is not at all intended to recommend treatment or diagnose disease or medical conditions. If you have a medical issue, you should seek the counsel of a qualified medical practitioner, doctor or physician.
We do not advocate one treatment over another or recommend that you take health matters in your own hands by self-diagnosing any condition or treating yourself without the benefit of checking with a doctor first.
With that said, there are plenty of documented studies and plenty of scientific research pointing to the benefits of natural medicine and plant based or plant derived products that can help to alleviate or eliminate symptoms of certain conditions.
There are clinical studies that have been done throughout the world on such things as Vitamin C, Aloe Vera and dozens of other botanical products. The medicinal properties of raw Garlic have been known for centuries as well as the anti-bacterial properties of honey, which has been used in biblical times for a wound healing agent.
Western medicine has helped save lives and many traditional treatments are vital and necessary to a person's health. However, there may be limitations to conventional treatments for cancer like chemotherapy and radiation. While I do not say that there is a cure for certain types of cancers, there are those people who have used alternative treatments like hyperbaric oxygen chambers and ozone therapy to help rid themselves of cancer. Why some studies have shown that hyperbaric oxygen therapy has helped stroke victims and those suffering from multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.
Here are some sad facts of Alternative Medicine in the US:
The FDA promotes only pharmaceutical drugs and has a decades-long record of not approving, or even looking at, anything alternative. Again, this is the way of the world and you must face it.
In medical lawsuits, well-meaning but misinformed juries rule against doctors unless they've used conventional drugs, surgery and radiation.
Doctor's malpractice insurance won't cover them if they use "unapproved" alternatives.
Their state medical boards may fine them heavily, suspend their license to practice or even revoke it.
The FDA may do the same and confiscate patient records and medical equipment.
Doctors may lose their right to see their patients in hospitals.
Yet, to this day, thousands upon thousands of people stricken with all kinds of serious medical conditions have felt the inadequacy of traditional or conventional medicine and have sought out alternative treatments, whether they be approved by the AMA or FDA.
Whether it is Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic or Holistic Medicine, there are other therapies and natural approaches to diseases and many of them work better than the recommended protocols and without many of the harmful side effects.
This blog copyright © Natures Medicine Chest
no
It is hard for me to explain. For example, did you have a massage before? If you are very tired, you will feel the pain in your body when the therapist presses you. I am not a doctor, so there are some medical terms I don’t know how to express.
Nowadays, we will still use traditional Chinese medicine.
To put it simply, yes. The TCM explanations for how these methods work are basically supernatural, demanding nonexistant forms of amorphously defined ‘energy’.
However, some of the plants used in TCM are genuinely biologically active, including some that are quite poisonous.
yes and no.
Like all premodern systems of therapy, early practitioners had no basis and often little desire to distinguish natural and “supernatural” phenomena. All Chinese medicine refers to supernatural agencies to some degree in describing medical doctrine, however much of the practice is based on naturalistic observation and trial. Yet, even a naturalistic approach does not guarantee that any given therapeutic strategy is inherently effective.
To further complicate things, concepts like “qi” straddle the naturalistic/supernatural division. Compared to other medical ideas a few hundred years ago, “qi” is comparatively naturalistic as it calls attention to the various kinds of subtle movement that support biological life. However, in the modern scientific context, it is unlikely that “qi” will ever be discovered as a discreet energy. Many people hold beliefs about qi that definitely fall into the supernatural category whether they admit it or not. It might be more useful to regard it as a subjective experience of many different kinds of biological activity such as neuromuscular activity and the action of certain chemicals such as endorphins.
Still, there has been little success in completely “scientizing” Chinese Medicine, and good practitioners of the medicine aren’t always the most “rational” thinkers who eschew all supernatural thinking–they’re just good clinicians with both broad knowledge and good instincts (the same thing that makes any kind of doctor good).
“Qigong” is a trickier issue and many schools of qigong practice are highly “superstitious” or “spiritual”–take your pick on the term. Often martial arts traditions of qigong practice are more “naturalistic” but it varies greatly with the school.
hope that helps