One of the leading academic and research hospitals in the country has just opened its first Chinese herbal therapy center, a breakthrough in the mainstream advancement of what is commonly referred to as “alternative,” or natural, medicine. The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, according to new reports, will now treat patients for pain, indigestion, inflammation and many other chronic health issues using traditional Chinese remedies, affirming the legacy of this holistic approach to healing.
The new center will rely on herbs and combinations of herbs rather than pharmaceuticals to provide long-term healing and relief. Patients who have found little success in Western medicine’s drugs and surgery approach will now have access to remedies that have been safely and effectively used for thousands of years in the Far East, but that are only just now catching on here in the West.
Having first opened its doors back in January, the center currently has one herbalist on staff who sees patients every Thursday. In order to access the center, patients have to be referred by their doctors and agree to be continually monitored for any interactions or complications that may arise, particularly if these patients are also taking pharmaceuticals in conjunction with the herbs.
“Western medicine does acute care phenomenally…. but we’re still struggling a bit with our chronic-care patients and this fills in that gap and can be used concurrently,” stated Melissa Young, an integrative medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic, to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Integrative medicine making huge inroads into Western medicine
The new center is part of the Cleveland Clinic’s larger Center for Integrative Medicine (CIM), which also offers acupuncture, holistic psychotherapy and massage therapy. These unconventional approaches to medicine are becoming increasingly popular even within the mainstream medical community. Many conventional doctors who have been unable to figure out what’s wrong with their patients are sending them over to places like CIM for integrative therapy.
“I’m getting more and more physician referrals [for herbal treatments], which to me is a sign of greater acceptance,” stated Leslie Mendoza Temple, medical director of the Integrative Medicine Program at NorthShore University HealthSystem. This hospital is one of just a few others in the country that has a Chinese herbal medicine clinic.
“When I first started here we were pounding on doors to prove we’re not crazy and we’re legitimate and safe.”
Synergistic herbalism breaking the restrictive confines of allopathic medicine
Still, Western medicine has a long way to go in fully accepting Chinese herbs as legitimate medicine. While some studies do exist showing their efficacy, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind studies involving many individual herbs are lacking. Besides the fact that funding for such studies is minimal, as Chinese herbs cannot be patented, the Chinese herbal protocol is built on the idea that herbs work synergistically with one another, an elusive concept in Western thinking.
“Traditional Chinese medicine is an experience-based medicine, which has existed for millennia,” explains a 2007 study on the synergistic effects of Chinese herbal remedies that was published in the Asian Journal of Chemistry. “[S]ome, particularly in the West, doubt the effect and synergy of traditional Chinese medicine as its mechanisms are less definitive than western-style scientific medicine.”
But the system works because it approaches health from a holistic perspective that addresses physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements. The goal of Chinese herbal medicine, in fact, is to restore balance within each of these unique states of being rather than just treat individual symptoms, something in which an increasing number of patients are eager to take part.
Monday, May 05, 2014 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Sources for this article include:
http://online.wsj.com
http://www.asianjournalofchemistry.co.in
http://science.naturalnews.com
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/044991_Cleveland_Clinic_Chinese_herbal_medicine_acupuncture.html#ixzz30tav0v5X
Traditional Chinese medicine, which encompasses many different practices, is rooted in the ancient philosophy of Taoism and dates back more than 5,000 years. Traditional Chinese medicine seems to contain many attributes. These attributes being Herbology , Massage, Diet, Exercise and Acupuncture. Within these attributes are many different criteria that make up Chinese medicine Brisbane.
Chinese medicine aims to balance the yin (water and earth) and yang (fire and air) of the body’s life force (Chi or Qi); and is a highly evolved medicine in that it approaches healthcare on the foundation of the meridian system (energy channels of the body). Unlike conventional medicine in the West, Chinese medicine places an emphasis on the body’s elements, and their interrelation with the body’s individual systems.
Enhance Your Health With Chinese medicine Brisbane
Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that employs the use of special ‘hair-thin’ needles that are inserted just below the skin at strategic points in the body known as “acupuncture points”. Brisbane Chinese medicine helps in regulating the flow of energy, stimulates the body’s healing mechanisms, mitigates pain and restores good health in myriad ways.
If you visit a Brisbane Chinese medicine practitioner, you will discover an entirely different form of diagnostics. In addition to observing a patient’s face, these holistic health practitioners perform a pulse diagnosis (palpation of the radial artery pulse), body palpation, and other unique non-invasive diagnostic measures.
Chinese medicine Brisbane
Acute lower back pain is caused by traumatic injury and low immunity which, from a Chinese perspective means that the body’s defensive energy is weak. External environmental factors invade the body, like Wind, Cold, Dampness and Heat. If acute lower back pain is not treated properly it can turn into chronic lower back pain. Chinese medicine Brisbane diagnoses this as “Bi syndrome” and includes disorders such as sciatica pain, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. When acute pain becomes chronic, the body is no longer able to heal itself, which affects the function of the Kidney, Liver and Spleen and vice versa.
Chinese medicine Brisbane is the best treatment for patients who feel trapped in this scenario. It works based on signs and symptoms and not the results of tests like blood tests. Chinese medicine can prevent things getting worse and can help you lead a truly healthy lifestyle.
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