Many of the schools in the United States follow Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a compilation of many Chinese traditions formed by Mao in 1956. TCM tries to reconcile the two separate branches of acupuncture and herbology in China. Western Medicine has been well entrenched in China since the turn of the century and TCM is very much aware of Western science. Although the TCM system has its limitations, it is a complete system that perhaps has the best chance of interfacing with Western Medicine.
Traditional Chinese Medicine comprises Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture and TuiNa Clinical Massage. It treats the broad range of human illnesses from acute to chronic, holistically, acknowledging both your constitution and the nature of your illness. You can also receive Chinese Medicine simply to maintain good health. Diagnosis according to Chinese Medicine Patterns is done by observation, explorative questions and skilfully examining your pulse and tongue. After diagnosis your practitioner methodically plans your treatment by Herbs, Acupuncture, TuiNa or a combination of these, and gives you appropriate advice on self-help including diet and exercise to restore or maintain your health.
In Asia it is considered immoral to withhold a treatment from a patient if it is believed it will help. For that reason there are few "control-group" studies in the 2000 years of Oriental medicine. The control-group is a mainstay of western scientific proof.
Oriental diagnosis does not neatly translate into western diagnosis. A disease category such as asthma has a dozen or more causes in Oriental Medicine. "Asthma" could be from Cold Excess, Heat Excess, Heat Deficiency, Excess Above-Deficiency Below, etc... Each of these has a completely different treatment strategy and uses different herb formulas and acupuncture points. The medicine itself demands that the treatment is modified according to each patient. In addition, the acupuncture or herbs change with the progression of the disease or cure. It would be bad medicine to prescribe the same herbs over a series of treatments when the patients conditions change.
The constituents of the herbs are so complex that it will take years to analyse them. Most herb formulas use from 1-20 different herbs. These are used in differing amounts according to the signs and symptoms of the patient at that time. (Formula writing is the real art and science of the superior Oriental doctor.) A single raw herb used in a formula may contain a dozen or more chemical constituents
