Traditional Medicine in Asia

and rhizome of Salvia miltiorrhiza) for oral
or sublingual administration to relieve
angina pectoris. These can be easily used
by Western-trained medical professionals,
and have become a part of the routine
treatment prescribed by them. As for the
traditional practitioners, they were
unfamiliar with most of the diseases listed
above, at least in terms of the Western views
on the pathogenesis and diagnostic
criteria. Research has inspired them to keep
abreast of the relevant information
uncovered by modern Western medicine.
It is difficult to classify the intravenous
drip of ligustrazine for ischaemic cerebrovascular
disease and the sublingual
administration of compound danshen pills
for angina pectoris as either traditional
Chinese therapies or modern Western
therapies. However, doctors of both
systems are now using these as routine
treatment. They are often called “integrated
therapies” since they have originated from
traditional medicine and been modified by
the modern approach.
The successful application of
acupuncture for anaesthetic purposes in
surgery shook not only China but the entire
world. Needless to say, it aroused the keen
interest of researchers everywhere.
Research was carried out on two main
aspects: (i) The clinical aspect, including
evaluation of the efficacy of the technique,
its improvement, and determination of the
indications, and (ii) The laboratory aspect,
including the mechanisms by which
acupuncture provides relief from pain. The
latter stimulated the study of pain and painrelief,
particularly among the modern
medical community of China, as well as in
some other countries. These studies
resulted in the discovery of endorphins and
related substances, the release of which
during the process of acupuncture relieves
pain. However, the studies have not been
Harmonization of traditional and modern medicine
able to answer the basic question as to why
these pain-killing substances are produced
in the body.
Acupuncture is effective in the
treatment of a number of disorders other
than pain, particularly functional disorders
marked either by hyperfunction or
hypofunction. For example, it helps in
lowering the blood pressure in hypertension
and elevates it in hypotension. It is useful
in relieving retention and helps in
incontinence of urine. Acupuncture is also
beneficial for patients with muscle spasm
and nerve paralysis. Clinical observations
and experimental studies have revealed the
regulatory mechanism of acupuncture
treatment. In fact, its analgesic effect can
be attributed to its regulatory mechanism.
Yet another category of disease that can
be treated by acupuncture is infections.
Although acupuncture is seldom used for
this purpose now, the results it can achieve
are of great academic significance. Clinical
and experimental studies have confirmed
the therapeutic effect of acupuncture in the
treatment of bacillary dysentery and
malaria. Controlled clinical trials have
repeatedly shown that the effect of
acupuncture in bacillary dysentery is
comparable to that of furazolidine, and that
the mechanism involved is the enhancement
of the patients’ immune function.
Another example is the research on
“tonification”. One of the characteristic
features of traditional diagnosis is to
determine the confrontation between the
antipathogenic capability of the human
body and pathogenic factors. The former
includes all kinds of functional activities and
the substances required for fighting these
pathogenic factors, as well as for
maintaining good health. Whenever the
antipathogenic capability is insufficient to
overcome the pathogenic factor, illness
ensues. Therefore, all illnesses can be
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