Acupuncture: Treating Disease From the Stone Age Through the New Age, and Into the Information Age

A feature article by an Alumbo member, Oct 02, 2006         

I have very little experience with acupuncture, at two different times I engaged acupuncturists to assist me with "quit smoking". The first experience was with a recent graduate of an acupuncture school, board certified, and licensed to practice . He strangley did not accept the theory, nor did he believe in the ide of "qi". Not only did I have not result, I was extremely alarmed when he inserted a needle into a nerve in my foot. The next try was with an experienced practitioner of more than 20 years. His purpose in learning was to manage his own pain, having suffered a tremendously painful hip injury in a car crash. I could feel the qi moving while being treated, and was comfortabel for hours after. The "not smoking" worked for several weeks but did not stick, and this humble practitioner advised me that he was not willing to continue treatment at about the same time I decided that I was wasting our time. I lacked commitment, and was looking for a miraculous cure. A word about this: in this five elements construct, both the healer and the suffer are participants in the process. The acupuncturist in this case was 100 % behind the process, and his treatment did eliminate the physical cravings for tobacco. The desire to smoke was stronger than the desire to not smoke. In all honesty, failing at quitting was about my mind process: I was not committed. My conclusion, based on these experiences is that commitment and trust are significant components of the therapy. On the other hand, my experience with acupressure point therapy for minor dis-ease has been positive, and what I learned about, and practice self- auricular acupressure brings me to the conclusion that I must extend my faith in this process to actual point needling. Who'd have thought rubbing you ears could relieve back and neck pain. My recommendation on this is that if you think it will help, try it with an approriate practitioner. Acupuncture Theory
The insertion of fine needles in specific qi ( energy) points along specific Qi lines (meridians)according to specific regimen, stimulates the flow of energy, breaking blockages, and restoring balance among the organs, resulting in relief of symptoms and cure of disease. These regimens rely on the five elements alchemy formulations of balance, based in the theory of Yin and Yang. Acupuncture Origins
Coming from a social order with a very brief history compared with the cultures of the east, observing how the persistance of an idea in cultural tradition defeats the concrete, imperical logic of upstart cultural constructs such as the AMA version of "curing", is amusing, if not entertaining. Not that I dispute the efficacy of modern medical science, nor the practice of modern medicine, my exploding appendix needed to be cut out to save my life. I am very happy with the fading fundamental notion of exclusivity in medicine here in the west. Necessity is the mother of invention and inclusion, as Chairman Mao Tse Dong discovered in desperately trying to deliver on the promise of universal health to a billion or so "subjects" of his communist regime. He simply could not muster enough trained western medicine cadre, and so he organised and trained a cadre of "barefoot doctors" with enough western and traditional technique to provide at least provide a degree of preventive and interventive care to the collectives. The problem of delivering healthcare in the west is also persistant and thorny. The politics of exclusivity is finaly breaking down under the extreme pressure of need for care as our populations refuse to die young, and require more care for longer periods of time. Failure in western medicine has driven the sick and suffering to seek alternatives which are recognised very widely in the "pop"ular cultural consciousness in the west. "Home remedy" and "tradtional" or "indigenous" are coming under regulatory scrutiny in the name of "safety", Doctors in training are coming out of a culture which is growing more and more accepting of "traditional" medicines, and are at least allowed an "awareness" of alternative approaches in their indoctination, Medical insurance is just coming around to recognize that some of these ancient cultural practices offer as much efficacy as western interventions, and pay for treatments. Money plays a huge role in the politics of medicine in the west. One story about the origin of acupuncture, coming out of the tradition of China's "wild history" period asserts that stone age physicians treating the wounds of warriors observed repeatedly that the treatment of the puncture wounds on parts of the body resulted in the abatement and cure of other diseases. Some believe that sharpened stone needles (called Bian Stones) found in ancient ruins, may have been used in "bloodletting", presaging an outcome similar to repeated treatment of warrior's wounds, in effect becoming the earliest "needles". Some hieroglyphics, from around 1000 BC, suggest the practice of acupuncture, but the earliest written document recognising, and describing acupuncture as a medical intervention practice, "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine", dates back to as far as 300 or so, BC. The classic is supposed to be a compilation of the medicines collected by the Yellow Emporer's ministers, who were sent out into the country, specificly to gather this "data". More likely, the "data" was collected and compiled over a period of time and published under the name of the revered ancient ancestor in order to give more gravity to the subject. Competing schools of acupuncture conflicted with each other, and so the "practice" of acupuncture lacked cohesion as a discipline, and was used according to local tradition. Acupuncture doctors practised and researched among confusing and incomplete theory lines, but the notion of acupuncture's efficacy as a medical intervention persisted. Moving ahead in time, the Song Dynasty of Emperors (960-1279 AD) was a period of great advance in all branches of the "arts", including medicine, possibly due to the state sponsorship of scholars and the wide spread and availability of "written" materials. It was an "enlightening" period. In recognition of the truth of Zhang, San-Feng's classic of T'ai Chi Chuan, an extravegant temple was built by the Emperor foster his school of thought. During this period, a doctor Wang Wei-Yi published the treatise "The Illustration of the Brass Man Acupunture and Moxi bustion", in 1026. Dr Wang had 2 brass man statues cast, with qi channels and puncture points engraved. The acceptance of his treatise and brass man mapping was "cast in stone" when in 1034, Dr Wang succesfully "cured" Emperor Ren Zong. Another extravegant temple built to foster the study and practice of acupuncture, an establish Wang's treatise as "the word",the official governing document of further practice and research. Later, Wang added to this body of knowledge by dissecting the bodies of prisoners of war. Moving ahead in China's history, acupuncture fell out of favor for a time with the rise in stature of herbal medicine as the discipline of choice, but the tradition persisted underground. Acupuncture made it's way west with the silk trade. Western medicine's introduction during the era of the Republic caused tradtional medicine to be suppressed again, dismissed as backward and supersticious. The "People's Army" marched against the Republic under Mao Tse Dong, and the army's resort to traditional medicine practices led Mao to hold them in high esteem, carrying his ideas with him into the early communist era. In time, the secular, "science based" communist culture criticised acupunture as backward, supertsticious, and irrational. The Mao's reversal on this outlook in 1950, embraced traditional medicine, and codified the practicies of traditional, western, and combined traditonal and western approaches as the official doctrine of China. His codificaion is known globally as "Traditional Chinese Medicine". China's great Uncle Mao caused hospitals to be built wherein the combined practices could be practiced and researched, and provide a larger volume of medical care to China's huge population. Soon after, Universitie's were established to train doctors in the formally recognised traditional practices. Although the practice of traditional acupuncture came to the United States with Chinese immigrants, it did not come into awareness in the general population until 1972. The year is when China "opened" to the west, and President Nixon made a visit there. James Reston, a New York Times reporter accompanying the visit was treated using acupuncture during his treatment and recovery from an attack of appendicitis. Reston reported this back to the United States, and some eyes were opened. Acupuncture awareness widened with the rise of popularity of Chinese "Kung Fu" movies in the popular culture, and even further with the American Corporate Media presentation of the idea in network programming. David Carradine's portrayal of Shaolin Monk, eurasion half-breed, "Kwai-Chang Cain"gently nudged these traditional Chinese concepts into the mainstream in the 1970's hugely popular televison series "Kung Fu". Accupunture gained "Official Federal Recognition" in the United States in 1997. Although the recognition was qualified with a delineation of specific health conditions, The National Institutes of Health, in a statement, endorsed acupuncture citing safety and efficacy of the practice.

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