Kildonan
Premium Platinum
Acupuncture is an alternative medical practice that originates about 2200 years ago (2 thousand years prior to scientific medicine). Traditional Chinese Medicine attributes disease and pathology to perturbations in the metaphysical force known as qi (a word variously translated as "energy", "breath", or "vital energy"), and imbalance of yin and yang, and the Wu Xing (known as the five phases or elements, earth, water, fire, wood and metal). Qi is believed to flow in and around the body in channels called meridians. Acupuncturists attempt to treat patients by insertion and manipulation of needles in the body. They do this at particular sites along meridians. The locations of acupuncture points were originally based on Chinese astrological considerations. No research has established any consistent anatomical structure or function for either acupuncture points or meridians. The nervous system has been evaluated for a relationship to acupuncture points, but no structures have been clearly linked to them.
Acupuncture has been incorporated into Traditional Chinese Medicine for two millenia. During that time - life expectancy remained pretty much static (except during extreme situations like wars, famines, female infanticide etc.).
Fast forward to the middle of the twentieth century - enter Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward. China adopts western medicine as soon as the new techniques become available. With the adoption of western (science-based) medicine the life expectancy of Chinese nationals rises rapidly.
See Life Expectancy
At this time less than 2% of the population lived in the major cities, however most of the qualified medical doctors lived and worked in the cities (despite being encouraged to move to the country where they were most needed). Acupuncture was still used by these doctors but only for pain relief (in conjunction with conventional drugs). The number of qualified medical practitioners was ludicrously inadequate to deal with the sick and injured of the nation.
In 1968 Mao Zedong instituted a reform called the "Barefoot doctors". These were farmers who were given 3 - 6 months medical training and sent back to their home district to practice medicine part time (as long as they continued their farming duties). They were provided a manual (Barefoot Doctors Manual) which covered basic anatomy, birth control, hygiene as well as the symptoms of diseases they were likely to encounter, the conventional treatment (western medicine) and the traditional treatment for when the conventional medicine was unavailable (which was a lot of time).
English translations of "The Barefoot Doctors Manual" vary widely in page counts. One on-line publisher, The Running Press, provides a copy entitled "The Barefoot Doctor's Manual - A Concise Edition of the classic work of Eastern Herbal Medicine".
The concise edition has been edited to remove any mention of conventional medicine. This is the edition that most western countries use as the source of Eastern medicinal wisdom. Acupuncture comprises the lesser part of the text to herbal remedies. On its own, acupuncture offers very little therapeutic value - even according to the Chinese.
Not only doesn't acupuncture offer a valid mechanism of action, it has not been shown to work despite numerous trials*.
Pressing a pen lid against the skin in random spots as a method of faux acupuncture (used as a control in at least one study) has been shown to be as effective as "real acupuncture".
Acupuncture has been incorporated into Traditional Chinese Medicine for two millenia. During that time - life expectancy remained pretty much static (except during extreme situations like wars, famines, female infanticide etc.).
Fast forward to the middle of the twentieth century - enter Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward. China adopts western medicine as soon as the new techniques become available. With the adoption of western (science-based) medicine the life expectancy of Chinese nationals rises rapidly.
See Life Expectancy
At this time less than 2% of the population lived in the major cities, however most of the qualified medical doctors lived and worked in the cities (despite being encouraged to move to the country where they were most needed). Acupuncture was still used by these doctors but only for pain relief (in conjunction with conventional drugs). The number of qualified medical practitioners was ludicrously inadequate to deal with the sick and injured of the nation.
In 1968 Mao Zedong instituted a reform called the "Barefoot doctors". These were farmers who were given 3 - 6 months medical training and sent back to their home district to practice medicine part time (as long as they continued their farming duties). They were provided a manual (Barefoot Doctors Manual) which covered basic anatomy, birth control, hygiene as well as the symptoms of diseases they were likely to encounter, the conventional treatment (western medicine) and the traditional treatment for when the conventional medicine was unavailable (which was a lot of time).
English translations of "The Barefoot Doctors Manual" vary widely in page counts. One on-line publisher, The Running Press, provides a copy entitled "The Barefoot Doctor's Manual - A Concise Edition of the classic work of Eastern Herbal Medicine".
The concise edition has been edited to remove any mention of conventional medicine. This is the edition that most western countries use as the source of Eastern medicinal wisdom. Acupuncture comprises the lesser part of the text to herbal remedies. On its own, acupuncture offers very little therapeutic value - even according to the Chinese.
Not only doesn't acupuncture offer a valid mechanism of action, it has not been shown to work despite numerous trials*.
Pressing a pen lid against the skin in random spots as a method of faux acupuncture (used as a control in at least one study) has been shown to be as effective as "real acupuncture".