Frontier science promotes exploration of principles and methodologies of acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a theoretical medical system founded about three thousand years ago, originated from the richness of Chinese culture with the support and development of ancient astronomy and the Taoist philosophy of heaven and man. It has revealed many mysteries and illuminated interactions between nature and human beings. Those mysteries have not been easily understood by the public because TCM's conceptual system differs in form and essence from modern sciences. In modern times, some of the mysterious processes have been gradually discovered or confirmed by an advanced science: quantum physics. Quantum science is considered to break through basic concepts of mechanistic science, thus providing an entry to understanding of Chinese culture and TCM theories. Some experimental results of contemporary quantum physics shake the foundations of conventional scientific concepts. For example, quantum mechanics theory helps expand the limits of three-dimensional observations. It helps explain the phenomena that the consciousness with certain human functions interfere some experimental results. Viewing new things in a high-dimensional time-space framework helps people understand the real and virtual characteristics and their interaction; this leads to understanding the function of advanced human wisdom and intelligence in dealing with more complex objects (systems) such as the universe, the human body, life itself and consciousness. It may help people in developing simple models of the complex world and is believed more conducive to grasping the essence of human life and gradually removing the veil over many wonderful phenomena of Chinese culture and TCM. For example, TCM's 'Imagery Analogism' is attained in the quiet state of well-trained meditation practitioners. Their intuition and inspiration have significant advantages in understanding complexity of objects such as the universe, human body, life, and consciousness. The methodology of thinking helps to derive simple models so as to better grasp the essence of complex objects. Many phenomena of Chinese culture and TCM acupuncture remain incompletely understood. This paper selects a few examples to discuss, including human consciousness and sub-consciousness, human body's energy system, invisible qi, functional phenomena as well as special functions of the heart and Triple Energizer (Three Jiao) in six Fu organs. The 'new finding of an unrecognized interstitium in human tissues' as declared by a group of Western scholars is actually referring to Triple Energizer that had already been revealed and written in Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine) three thousand years ago. Both the concept and functions of Triple Energizer have been utilized throughout TCM clinical practices. Through the discussion, the authors attempt to explain the superiority of TCM theories, to strengthen the confidence for TCM innovation and Chinese culture because they believe that offering an integration of TCM practice into the public health and life science would advance human wellbeing and pave a right path for TCM mission and development.

Modern quantum theories and experimental achievements motivate new exploration of acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM),a theoretical medical system founded about three thousand years ago,originated from the richness of Chinese culture with the support and development of ancient astronomy and philosophy.It has illuminated many mysteries of nature and the human body.This has not always been easy for the layperson to understand.In modern times,some of these processes have been gradually discovered or confirmed by frontier science.The experiments of quantum physics have shaken the fundamental concepts of conventional science,refuting criticism of Chinese culture and TCM theories.The new discoveries have triggered a new understanding of TCM theories.For example,the theory of quantum mechanics interfering with certain human functions helps explain a series of phenomena that were previously difficult to understand.The veil of many wonderful phenomena of Chinese culture and TCM acupuncture has not yet been fully pierced.For example,the body's energy system,the invisible qi,and the phenomenon of consciousness and subconscious function remain mysterious.However,quantum theory and numerous scientific experiments can lead to the explanations of difficult problems which were not understood in the past.For example,the nature of the changes in yin and yang,and associated principles;the five-element principles;consciousness and sub-consciousness which might affect scientific experiments and treatment outcomes;the objective existence of qi and qi field;and the essence of the meridian system in the human body and the principles of acupuncture.This article explores the scientific principles of TCM and acupuncture.The unique characteristics of TCM and acupuncture position themselves as Eastern cultural treasures.The authors endeavor to strengthen readers' confidence in theoretical TCM and believe that it is a major step in integrating TCM acupuncture into modern science and medicine.

Case studies of Chinese acupuncture's comprehensive effectiveness on knee pain / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Conventional Western medicine (CWM) and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have different approaches and lead to different practices in experimental design, research methodology, regulation, and standards. TCM emphasizes on the optimal or holistic health. In contrast, CWM is an allopathic medicine primarily based on anatomy, biology, biochemistry, molecular biology and modern technology, and rejects the concept of invisible substances and quantum entanglement. Consequently, CWM emphasizes on abnormal lab tests or obvious diseases. In the early 1970s, TCM and acupuncture quickly emerged as an alternative to CWM as Westerners explored new TCM concepts while questioning the side effects of CWM. Many countries accept traditional acupuncture as a legal alternative medical practice. Some CWM physicians nowadays are more enthusiastic and are receptive to learning and practicing acupuncture. The common goal of CWM and TCM is to enhance human health, but problems arise over differences in approach. As a response to some Western journal papers that failed to validate the real acupuncture effect because of their incorrect methodologies and their ignorance of the holistic acupuncture approaches, the authors hereby present a group of case studies to demonstrate the real and unique effects of genuine acupuncture. The objective was to explore the clinical effects of acupuncture for knee pain. Thirty-six patients with knee pain were divided into five groups based on age. Holistic TCM diagnosis was performed at the beginning of each case and then made a personalized acupuncture treatment prescription according to the root of illness found by the diagnosis. The symptoms and signs were recorded before and after every treatment, and the treatment effects were assessed based upon the self-reported feeling and the observed changes of the patient following the numeric rating scale (NRS). The results were summarized after the completion of the minimal 5 acupuncture treatments or the standard 10 acupuncture treatments. Among the 36 patients who participated in the cases studies, 17 patients reported a complete healing for knee pain (47.2%). About 60 kinds of illness other than knee pain were improved (98.9%) and the complete healing rate was about 44.2%. This leads to the conclusion that TCM acupuncture is remarkably effective in treating knee pain. TCM and CWM share a common goal in promoting the health of human being. The efficacy of TCM acupuncture in treating knee pain shouldn't be denied or distorted.

New Development in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Symbolism-Digit Therapy as a Special Naturopathic Treatment.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) grew out of traditional Chinese culture. For example, the eight-diagram symbol is composed of the Yang and the Yin. According to oriental philosophy, everything in the universe has a two-sided property, namely an image (or symbol) and a number (or digit). This paper introduces the new concept and historical background of symbolism-digit therapy (SDT), which is a natural therapy for the treatment of various kinds of diseases. SDT is of TCM heritage, which can be traced back to the ancient publications such as Yi Jing, and this heritage has been incorporated into modern development and practices. The successful treatments using SDT presented in this paper use formulas and/or prescriptions in accordance with TCM. All materials presented in this paper come from first-hand clinical observations, which are supported by TCM theories. Effects of SDT treatments are straightforward and worthy of broader and deeper investigation. SDT and other relevant therapies motivate the further exploration of the essence of TCM to improve the understanding of TCM principles.

Comprehension of the unique characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has made great contributions to human history, especially in China, as has been recorded for thousands of years. The characteristics of TCM in both theory and practice make it different from Conventional Western Medicine (CWM). The characteristics of TCM include phenomenological, philosophical, and methodological aspects. This paper briefly discusses some historical turning points and innovations in TCM development in China, explores human body enigmas such as the heart, compares different aspects of TCM and CWM, and identifies the unique characteristics of TCM treatment, as compared to other medical systems.

New exploration and understanding of traditional Chinese medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), originating from oriental philosophy and culture, has been developing through a series of special research and experiments with meditation, accumulation of experiences, and a complete comprehension of ancient theories and methods. However, compared with Conventional Western Medicine (CWM), the theory of TCM is complicated and not easily accepted by Westerners. It is important to explore TCM by using modern scientific techniques and theories. Utilizing his frontier experience and up-to-date scientific knowledge, Dr. Qian Xuesen has been trying to incorporate some key principles with the comprehensive understanding of TCM and clarify difficult but important concepts and principles. Some examples are the existence of invisible matter; 'Qi' and 'Qi monism'; the Heart representing the 'whole will' of human beings; the water environment functioning as a fundamental condition of life; the human body being united with nature and universe as one; the spirit and physical body always being considered unified and connected with the five viscera, especially with the Heart; and the Chinese herbal formula working with different principles than CWM drugs. These works are important for understanding the essence of TCM, the promoting of the modernization of TCM theories by means of the latest of achievements in scientific developments, establishing the direction for future medicines with TCM characteristics, uniting Chinese and Western medicines, and exploiting a bright future for the health of mankind.

Effect of needle puncture and electro-acupuncture on mucociliary clearance in anesthetized quails.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture therapy for obstructive respiratory diseases has been effectively used in clinical practice and the acupuncture points or acupoints of Zhongfu and Tiantu are commonly-used acupoints to treat patients with the diseases. Since the impaired mucociliary clearance is among the most important features of airway inflammation in most obstructive respiratory diseases, the effect of needle puncture and electro-acupuncture at the specific acupoints on tracheal mucociliary clearance was investigated in anesthetized quails. METHODS: Mucociliary transport velocity on tracheal mucosa was measured through observing the optimal pathway, and fucose and protein contents in tracheal lavages were determined with biochemical methods. In the therapeutic group, needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to the acupoints was applied without or with constant current output in 2 mA and at frequency of 100 Hz for 60 minutes. In the sham group, electro-acupuncture stimulation to Liangmen was applied. RESULTS: Our present experiments demonstrated that the electro-acupuncture stimulation to Zhongfu and Tiantu significantly increased tracheal mucociliary transport velocity and decreased the content of protein in the tracheal lavage, compared with the control group. Moreover, either needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to Zhongfu and Tiantu significantly reverted the human neutrophil elastase-induced decrease in tracheal mucociliary transport velocity and human neutrophil elastase -induced increase in the contents of fucose and protein in the tracheal lavage, compared with the control group. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that either needle puncture or electro-acupuncture stimulation to the effective acupoints significantly improves both airway mucociliary clearance and the airway surface liquid and that the improvements maybe ascribed to both the special function of the points and the substantial stimulation of electricity.