Some Western scientists (and the media) failed to get excited about the role of acupuncture in reducing the presence of certain molecules in the brains of people with fibromyalgia, and the reduction of fibromyalgia-related pain which followed. These folks preferred instead to get all excited about the biochemical possibilities which researchers would explore for creating the same effect with pharmaceuticals. I, on the other hand, got very excited to learn that acupuncture had an immediate and measurable effect on both brain and pain. To me, it was an example of how we are skirting on the edges of a natural convergence between Western science and acupuncture. I wrote a somewhat hot-headed post about this subject, which you can read here.
I probably shouldn’t have been so hot-headed. After all, the researchers plan to investigate drugs rather than the signal system of acupuncture reflects the dominant paradigm of western medicine–a deep and abiding love affair with pharmaceutical answers to biochemical problems. But in my mind–the mind of someone who navigates along the acupuncture meridians of the body with the attentiveness of a physically blind sculptor–their lack of enthusiasm pointed to a general malaise in western science–a sad lack of curiosity. Albert Einstein reportedly once said,
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
The good news is that (the above-mentioned researchers aside) passionate curiosity is alive and well among other western scientists and practitioners of Chinese medicine. I’m not talking about the largely misguided attempts to reduce acupuncture or herbal medicine to technical protocols to treat western diagnoses, and verifications of these standardized protocols with randomized controlled trials. Such scientific inquiries are misguided because acupuncture and herbal medicine are not protocol-driven. The kind of curiosity I’m talking about is different. It’s more fundamental. The fundamental question is not how can Chinese medicine fit into the evidence-based protocols of Western medicine, but rather what don’t we understand about how people heal, and what can we learn in this regard from Chinese medicine?
I am not a scholar, or a scientist, just a passionately curious acupuncturist who has a decidedly intuitive appreciation for bridge-building. The reason I love Chinese medicine (because it’s all about making connections, understanding connections, and being in dialog with active processes) is the same reason I am attracted intellectually and spiritually to quantum physics and biological research about information transfer through connective tissue. But since I am not a scholar, and much of what I feel intuitively must be true I do not understand well enough to write about with any degree of authenticity, I won’t attempt to summarize this vast subject. There are some great books out there which I am reading or rereading, all of which provide clues to the intelligence of healing, the brilliance of western science, the need for Western medicine to progress from it’s mechanistic, Newtonian practices and to embrace the new frontier where biological regulatory systems meet Quantum physics, acupuncture meridians, and the X-signal system talked about by a brilliant Japanese acupuncturist of the 20th Century, Yoshia Manaka.
Without further ado, here is my reading list. Enjoy.
Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance, by James Oschman.
Chasing the Dragon’s Tail by Yoshio Manaka, MD with Kazuko Itaya and Stephen Birch.
The Extracellular Matrix and Ground Regulation: Basis for a Holistic Biological Medicine by Alfred Pischinger, Edited by Hartmut Heine.
If you dig into any of these books, please post a comment and let me know what you’re reading. If anyone is up for an on-line book club, we could all read a chunk and chew the fat together.
April 18, 2008 at 12:41 am
When the ‘alternative’ starts to be taken seriously there are attempts to include it within the dominant system (rather than respond to the challenge to change the system).
This isn’t surprising those in the current system are acting in good faith and with what they see as sufficient reason. (One wishes they would extend the same understanding to alernative practitioners).
I am very excited that we are beginning to get some clues about how acupuncture works. I think this is the fundamental work that needs to be done to advance acupuncture by leaps and bounds. I just hope this important work doesn’t get diverted into just promoting yet more drugs.
April 18, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Hi Julie,
I discovered your blog while writing the Carnival of Healing issue #133 (was posted last week). I was happy to find your blog and quickly added it to my favorites. I like the way you present yourself through your writing and the topics you choose to write about.
As to research and studies, you know what- I sometimes think that they do more harm to CM than good. But I know that many don’t think the same as me, and I can understand where they’re coming from.
I liked the quote you used, and I share that feeling, but mostly, I think I’m curious about how the human spirit finds it’s best way to heal. And I think that CM offers a united way- if one can call it that- for “feeling better”- on the most superficial meaning of it and the deepest meaning of it.
Am I making any sense?….
Anyway- love your blog and would like to get in touch with you via e-mail, please mail me and I will write you back.
Thank you,
Yael (female)
April 20, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Evan, For me, ‘how acupuncture works’ is really a secondary question. The more important question is how do people heal. If we ask that question with ‘passionate curiosity’, then the paradigms of East and West could become less of a box from which we look out at the world (and at healing). Like the wave/particle “dichotomy” of physics (it’s only a dichotomy if you are looking for one or the other) healing has elements best expressed by Western medicine and elements best expressed by Chinese medicine– depending on your point of view. Medicine could potentially evolve into a wave(energetic)/particle(matter) paradigm that expresses a more complete understanding of how we heal. I believe acupuncture will be an integral part of the path towards that more complete understanding.
Thanks. Julie
April 20, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Hi Yael, Thanks for the kind words. I agree that many of the studies utilizing Western medical standards can be harmful–primarily because they are “protocol” driven. The belief that protocols make for better medicine than individualized treatments creates an insidious pressure on all of us in our field. As a westerner, born and raised in the US, I know how “natural” the desire is in all of us to find a pill or a treatment protocol to alleviate suffering–I feel it too. But the elegance and beauty and profundity of our medicine lies in its responsiveness to changes that are subtle and sometimes quick–right in the moment. One needle inserted in the right upper body, may suddenly make an acupuncture point in the left lower body open and receptive in a way that it had not been. In protocol-driven studies the acupuncturist is not able to respond with the patient in that moment and adjust the treatment accordingly.
The studies that I find most exciting are the brain studies, because they haven’t been testing protocols, they are merely demonstrating that an acupuncture point can cause precise, repeatable changes in the brain,in a manner that cannot be explained by the nervous system. That sort of study shows us the gap in our understanding of how people heal.
I’ll email you as well, and will enjoy being in touch. Thanks, Julie
April 20, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Enjoying your writings. Is there a reference for the acupuncture and fibromyalgia i.e. acupuncture effects on neurochemicals?
April 21, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Hi Don, Yes, sorry about the missing reference. I cited the article in my first post on the subject which can be found at https://fiveminds.wordpress.com/2008/03/16/what-are-we-looking-for-new-pharmaceuticals-or-acupunctures-unknown-signal-system/
But I neglected to site it in this post. The article I reference can be found at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080310112658.htm. Thanks for reading.
May 8, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[…] align acupuncture to medical models such as the Randomized Controlled Trial (written about here and here), are bound to fail not because we haven’t yet figured out the right study design to accommodate […]
November 29, 2011 at 11:14 pm
ultrasound training schools…
[…]Chinese Medicine and Western Science: Passionate Curiosity Lives « Five Minds[…]…
April 15, 2012 at 5:59 pm
Collagen Lotion Australia…
[…]Chinese Medicine and Western Science: Passionate Curiosity Lives « Five Minds[…]…
January 29, 2013 at 5:05 am
Thankfulness to my father who informed me on the topic of
this webpage, this webpage is truly amazing.
April 10, 2013 at 12:08 am
Hopefully these tips and tricks from a “seasoned” Tetris player like me will serve to
help your game. Many variations of the original have been created such as
adding multiplayer option, special items and bonuses.
For more great tips and information on our services visit us at and be sure to
follow us on Twitter @organizenow. If the blocks reach the top of the
screen, then the game will be over. Additionally, most gaming sites add several features that encourage interaction between gamers including
forums, chats, multiplayer games and tournaments,
etc.
April 19, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Hello friends, its fantastic paragraph on the topic of teachingand completely defined,
keep it up all the time.
May 2, 2013 at 4:51 pm
Currently it seems like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform available right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
May 11, 2013 at 10:03 pm
What’s up, I want to subscribe for this website to obtain most recent updates, so where can i do it please assist.
July 7, 2013 at 11:12 am
My brother recommended I might like this website.
He was entirely right. This post truly made my day.
You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this
information! Thanks!
July 12, 2013 at 4:04 pm
Hmm is anyone else having problems with the images
on this blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
September 29, 2013 at 10:17 pm
It Is economically fulfilling and gives a lot of progress prospective.
Sonography can be an superior healthcare diagnostic method that can help to look for the condition regarding internal areas
of the body. About the Author:- I am Mike Nielsn having 8 years of experience for writing articles on different themes like on Laboratory Equipment,
Home and Garden, Posters and Prints, Law and more.
January 26, 2014 at 11:49 am
Pretty component to content. I just stumbled
upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts.
Any way I’ll be subscribing for your augment and even I success you
get right of entry to consistently fast.
September 18, 2018 at 1:17 am
Elevators outkast mp3
Chinese Medicine and Western Science: Passionate Curiosity Lives | Five Minds