Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) may be one of the world’s oldest medical systems. It was developed over 2500 years ago and has only recently become popular in western cultures. One of the key concepts in TCM is the notion of qi(energy/blood flow) or life-force. In some ways this notion of a life-force is somewhat similar to the notion of the vital force in homeopathy but they are understood and treated differently. There is no doubt that TCM is fundamentally different from western medicine in many essential ways. TCM As well, even with a small similarity to homeopathy, it is also distinctly different from any other form of medical treatment. It’s important to take into account that TCM is a reflection of a specific culture, like Ayurvedic medicine which was developed in India. In the past 50 years the Western world has accepted this medicine and started using it in their healthcare systems.
Some of the components that are essential to TCM include: personal observations of the physician, a subjective basis for diagnosis, healing as a way to balance the body’s processes, measuring the outcomes of treatment qualitatively (versus quantitatively) and gearing the treatment to the individual and not the condition (Shea, 2006).
It’s true that TCM is one of the oldest healing systems on the planet. It has actually been in continuous practice for thousands of years. How can something so old still work for people living today—and that is really what makes this medicine unique and the right choice for any disease.
TCM can be effectively applied to help heal anyone and any health issue no matter what year it is because it’s rooted in unchanging natural law, which has its source beyond time. This unique paradigm of medicine grew out of penetrating observation of how everything in our reality functions at the deepest, invisible levels and interacts with the surface or visible physical levels. It’s a medicine of extraordinary relationships. Every TCM principle, theory, and healing practice reflects and harmonizes with the relationships that exist within natural law.
