Offering a systematic comparative approach to Western and Eastern medicine, this unique textbook enables students and practitioners of Chinese Medicine to develop a core understanding of conventional medical language and treatments.
Acupuncture practitioners increasingly find themselves working alongside Western healthcare professionals. Now in its second edition, this book is a guide to conventional medical diagnoses, symptoms and treatments, and using examples drawn from the author's experience and knowledge of TCM it encourages reflection on how these diagnoses may be interpreted from a more holistic medical perspective. It includes introductory sections on physiology, pathology and pharmacology, chapters devoted to the physiological systems of the body and the conventional approach to the treatment of diseases that can affect them, and information on dealing with patients in practice.
Accompanying online material, including self-testing questions and answers and checklists for revision, is available for those wishing to use the text for systematic study.
Foreword.
Introduction.
Note to the reader.
Stage 1. 1.1. Introduction to medical sciences.
1.2. Conventional clinical practice.
1.3. Comparisons with alternative medical viewpoints.
Stage 2. 2.1. Barriers to disease and susceptibility.
2.2. Processes of disease.
2.3. Cancer.
2.4. Infectious disease.
Stage 3. 3.1. Gastrointestinal disease.
3.2. The Cardiovascular system.
3.3. The Respiratory system.
3.4. The blood. Stage
4. 4.1. Diseases of the nervous system.
4.2. The musculoskeletal system.
4.3. The urinary system.
Stage 5. Diseases of the endocrine system.
5.2. Diseases of the reproductive system.
5.3. Pregnancy and childbirth.
5.4. Children's health.
Stage 6. 6.1. Diseases of the skin, the eye and the ear.
6.2. Mental health disorders.
6.3. Conclusions.
Appendix I. The functions of the organs: correspondence tables.
Appendix II. Worked examples of the six-step method for interpreting the energetic action of drugs.
Appendix III. Red flags: a guide for acupuncturists.
Appendix IV. Tables showing categories of drugs for withdrawal from medication.
Clare Stephenson has created a resource we have waited decades for; one that painstakingly and comprehensively straddles the different landscapes of western and Chinese medicine...This is an invaluable tool for practitioners and for students from the outset of their studies, both as an aid for learning and as a point of reference for assisting us and giving shape to how we might share information with our patients. Similarly, it offers an explanation of the pharmaceutical approach to disease and frames the clinical impact of medication through the lens of Chinese medicine. This offers the potential for a systematic course of learning as well as the text standing alone as a comprehensive body of knowledge...I think I'd have been much more enlightened and wakeful if I'd had it for guidance as an undergraduate. The online material is an excellent guide for the revision of essential knowledge of physiology and pathology...While this is a weight book, it is written with an elegant simplicity that illuminates the complex clinical language often used in scientific texts. It is accessible enough to be an absorbing and fascinating read. This book is insightful and yet methodical in layout, which makes extracting specific information straightforward and quick...With this book I believe she bridges the gap between our often incompatible ways of seeing and I applaud her great progress in doing this for our profession. This book is a phenomenal achievement and would make a valuable addition to the library of any acupuncture practitioner.
