Chinese Medicine Vs Traditional Medicine

There is an ever-growing number of people following traditional medicine. According to Kooreman (2007) 4 out of 10 Americans resorted to alternative medicine in 2007. Alternative medicine it is way of treatment diseases, which includes wide range of practices such as herbal therapies, massage, spiritual healing and many more. A good example of alternative medicine can be provided by traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine is renowned for its effective healing power and is considered to be better than Western medicine, particularly in treatment of chronic diseases, diseases of skin, liver, kidneys and such conditions as stroke, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, migraine, etc. (Lu,2005). However, most people still do not believe

It does not just cure a particular disease, but also focuses on the physical and mental wholeness in order to improve a person’s health overall. One of the most important concepts in Chinese medicine is the harmony of Yin and Yang which is essential to health. Yin and Yang represents two opposing, but complementary aspects in medicine and in other fields. For example in body structure, the upper body is yang and the lower body yin. Describing the internal organs, yin is connected to five organs: heart, liver, kidneys and lungs, while yang is connected to stomach, intestine, colon, gall bladder and urinary bladder. These organs are linked with a set of meridians. Therefore disharmony in yin-yang results in illness. For instance, if there is too much food to deal with, that means that there is too much yin or if the digestive function is not working there is too little yang ( Wong, 2002). That is why Yin and Yang theory plays an important role in making diagnosis and in choosing a proper way of treatment. Yin and yang is also associated with people’s emotions. From ancient times Chinese have known about the significance of emotional factors, so they had a deep knowledge in treatment of psychiatric diseases (Wong, 2002). However, Chinese medicine is not specialized in psychiatry, because Chinese believe in inseparability of physical and mental characteristics. For example, too much of rage has a harmful effect on liver, as liver is responsible for blood regulation, consequently this will affect resistance which blood gives against diseases. Natural resistance is associated with yin. As a result excessive anger has a negative influence on yin defense that leads to yin-yang disharmony (Wong, 2002). This process is connected with five element theory, which is based on the interdependency of five organs and five emotions. According to this theory excess of