Whereas conventional medicine concentrates on disease causing pathogens, nature and extent of injuries or the causes of ailments like migraines, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a very different and holistic approach. There are two main levels of the interconnection in TCM; the interconnection within the body and the interconnection between the body and nature in general and the seasons in particular (Chen, 2004). TCM brings together over two and a half millennia of traditions, beliefs and practice loosely combined with a little of the conventional medicine to create an industry that attracts over 50% of the American population and tens of thousands of duly registered, licensed and regulated professionals.
I have carefully analyzed the available information with regard to TCM. These range from the available translations of Huangdi Neijing better known as the Inner Canon of Huangdi or The Emperor's Inner Canon and the Shanghan Lun also known as the Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders or the Treatise on Cold Injury, to the contemporary publishing on the now established and regulated curriculum of TCM in the United States and it is still hard to tell if I am dealing with alternative religion or alternative medicine. This is my personal understanding of the concept of connectivity in TCM in contemporary parlance and current practice.
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The background of TCM and its concept of interconnection date back to antiquity when all things were considered from a spiritual perspective. Good health was attributed to God, bad health or sickness to evil spirits (Misha & Doner, 2006). Sickness and healing were a fight between good and evil or God and the devil or gods and demons depending on the religious affiliation. However, TCM created another suggestion that did not have a direct spiritual connotation but was premised on a force within the human body called Chi, a vital energy that flowed throughout the body through channels known as meridians and is connected to all the vital organs in the body.
It is impossible to understand this connectivity prior to evaluating the 8 principles in TCM. These form the totality of all the illnesses and their symptoms and as in all TCM principles are interconnected in sets of two opposing principles to create four sets of two principles each (Harriet & Korngold, 1992). They include cold & heat; when cold manifests, there is absence of thirst, slow heartbeat, lack of taste in the mouth and related symptoms while heat causes extreme thirst, red eyes, rapid pulse, reddening of the tongue, excess gas and constipation, and yellowing of urine. The other two principles are exterior & interior; exterior conditions mainly interfere with muscles, the outer skin and the channels for the flow of Chi resulting in flu, viruses and cold while the interior conditions occasioned by pathogens in the body affect the brain, nerves and other inner organs.
Deficiency & Excess; these refer to the capacity of the body to combat pathogens. Deficiency as the word refers to the absence of something necessary within the body occasioned by a weak constitution, low Chi flow or physical loss of body mass; this causes weakness, oversleeping, dull pains and kindred symptoms. The opposite of excess cause by Chi overflow in the body. A good example is when symptoms of an illness begin and become suddenly over powering, symptoms of excess include irritability, sporadic breathing, bloated stomach, chest and abdominal pain among others. Finally there is the Yang & the Yin, which can be defined as the parent principles of the other principles (Sionneau & Gang, 1998). The exterior, heat and excess are characterized under Yang which is masculine, active, dynamic and outgoing while interior, cold and deficiency are characterized under yin that is feminine, reserved, pretty, and quiet. There is no bad or good between these principles, the important thing is balance between them, any imbalance towards Yang or Yin causes illness.
The interconnection is premised on the ancient Chinese philosophy known as Taoism. In Taoism, man is closely knit with the universe and the universe is based on the laws of balance. Everything has to be in place and functioning perfectly for the entire system to work. The body is a reflection of the universe and there are five fundamental body organs which correspond with the five Taoist elements to wit the earth, fire, water, wood and metal. This interconnection creates a perfect harmony within the system and therefore good health. Illness results to a failure in one part of the interconnection chain which may create symptoms in another independent part of the body, the key in TCM is treating the problem, not the symptoms (Sionneau & Gang, 1998). These organs are the heart, which corresponds with fire, the liver which corresponds with wood, the spleen which corresponds with the earth, the lungs which corresponds with metal and the kidney which corresponds with water. All of them are interconnected and also connected to all the other vital organs within the body.
In the TCM sequence of interconnection within the body, the heart is paired with the small intestines; it also dominates the blood vessels, opens through the tongue and expresses itself through the face. The liver on the other hand is paired with the gal bladder, dominates the tendons, opens through the eyes and expresses itself though the nails. The spleen is paired with the stomach, dominates the limbs, opens through the mouth and expresses itself through the lips. The lungs are paired with the large intestines, dominate the skin, open through the nose and expresses itself through the body hair. Finally, the kidney is paired with the bladder, dominates the bones (bone marrow), opens through the ears and expresses itself through the hair on the head (Sionneau & Gang, 1998).
The interconnection, unity and harmony of the entire body is directed and ensured by the continued flow of the Chi, the blood and other body fluids. The five elements, being connected as shown above are also interconnected with each other in a complex interdependence web that creates oneness in the body. Just as the universe in Taoism, there is an intricate system on interdependence within the body, each organ performs its fundamental obligations as well as complementing the other organs in their duties. One fail in the system will interfere with the entire body.
The first component was the eight principles, the second is the five organs that relate with the elements; the final step in the interconnectivity is the seasons. There are four main seasons, the summer, winter autumn and spring. However, to understand the interconnectivity, we need first understand that seasons regard change in climatic conditions that create 6 main climatic influences in TCM. These are wind found in spring, cold in winter, summer-heat, dampness in late summer, dryness in autumn and fire-heat during winter (Fruehauf & Medicine, 2010). They are the external pathogens that occasion disease and are termed as the six evils in TCM.
One TCM perspective is that they interfere with the internal fire inside the human body creating an imbalance which will by extension cause disease. From a Taoist perspective, spring relates to wood, which corresponds with the liver; however, wood eats earth which corresponds with the spleen, therefore, spring is good for the liver and bad for the spleen. Summer favors fire (the heart) but fire consumes metal (lungs). Therefore, summer is good for the heart but the lungs are susceptible. Autumn favors metal (lungs) but metal cuts wood (liver): the autumn season is good for the lungs but liver problems are more probable. Finally winter favors water (kidneys) but water kills fire (the heart); winter is good for the kidneys but maybe dangerous for the heart (Reichstein, 1998).
This is the totality of the principle of interconnection in TCM and is the basis for diagnosis and treatment. For example, the same symptoms that may be considered as a liver problem in autumn may be considered a heart problem in winter. However, due to the interconnectivity principle, the liver problem could be masquerading as a heart problem and this creates such a wide discretion that the TCM practitioner is never wrong, the wrong answer is simply right in another dimension. This is as opposed to conventional medicine which is a pure science and a wrong diagnosis could lead to litigation.
TCM employs a 5 pronged diagnostic system with the first and most important step involving the tongue and the pulse. The practitioner will check its tongue size, shape, tension, color and coating, and the absence or presence of teeth marks around the edge. From the nature of the tongue, the practitioner can discover wide-ranging illnesses. I recently had a cold and really took time looking at and feeling my tongue, the cold developed into tonsillitis and as luck would have it I also had a bout of indigestion during that fateful week. I carefully and consistently checked my tongue and was disappointed not to find any fundamental changes to show my illness. At the same time, I closely monitored my pulse and was again disappointed to note that it remained normal and only changed when I exercised on the treadmill. It therefore beat logic how the TCM practitioners are able to utilize these two aspects as fundamentals of diagnosis.
My findings, however, seemed to correspond with the findings of a research set to confirm the accuracy of TCM diagnosis. Several licensed TCM practitioners inspected the same set of tongues and their diagnosis were juxtaposed against one another with a yardstick of 80% set as the confirmation for accuracy, the research showed less than 19% consensus between the licensed TCM practitioners. Whereas I may not have had a personal experience being treated with TCM, my careful study and analysis clearly shows that TCM is a pseudoscience laced with guesswork both in philosophy and in diagnosis. Although most people who have been completely healed by using TCM have been an indication that it works, the involved guesswork leads to its treatment to wit dietary therapy, herbal medicine, massage, acupuncture and exercises; procedures known for their panacea effect rather that scientific efficiency. Some people may find it effective and gets convinced that it is the best medication option but more research may be needed to proof the argument. It is from this informed position that I brand TCM as having no clinical value as a form of treatment as variously alleged or at all.
References
Chen, P. (2004). Diagnosis in traditional Chinese medicine . Brookline, MA: Paradigm Publications
Fruehauf, H., & Medicine, T. (2010). Promoting health during the four seasons . Retrieved May 29, 2016, from http://www.itmonline.org/articles/four_seasons/four_seasons.htm
Harriet, B. & Korngold, E. (1992). Between heaven and earth: A Guide to Chinese medicine. New York: Ballantine Books.
Misha, R. C. & Doner, K. (2006). The Chinese way to healing: Many paths to wholeness . Indiana: iUniverse publishers.
Reichstein, G. (1998). Wood becomes water. Chinese medicine in everyday life. Tokyo: Kodansha International
Sionneau, P., & Gang, L. (1998). The treatment of disease in TCM: Diseases of the Neck, Shoulders, Back & Limbs. Boulder, Colo: Blue Poppy Press.
