User:FeliceRCLi/Traditional Chinese medicine

For everything with a strikethrough, I pasted it from the existing wikipedia page for context. I did not write them.

Diagnostics

Pulse palpation involves measuring the pulse both at a superficial and at a deep level at three different locations on the radial artery (Cun, Guan, Chi, located two fingerbreadths from the wrist crease, one fingerbreadth from the wrist crease, and right at the wrist crease, respectively, usually palpated with the index, middle and ring finger) of each arm, for a total of twelve pulses, all of which are thought to correspond with certain zàng-fŭ. The pulse is examined for several characteristics including rhythm, strength and volume, and described with qualities like "floating, slippery, bolstering-like, feeble, thready and quick"; each of these qualities indicates certain disease patterns. For instance, if someone has a slippery pulse 滑脈, they must be pregnant. Learning TCM pulse diagnosis can take several years for practitioners. Pulse diagnosis results are hard to understand for those who are not Chinese medicine experts.

Pulse palpation gained its current reputation as a subtle and highly skilled practice no earlier than the Qing Dynasty. While it is some people’s first impression of Chinese medicine today, historical texts reveal that it was less preferred by physicians in the past because it was considered the least skilled among the four diagnostic methods. It is more desired that a skilled physician be able to identify issues through observation and communication, instead of relying on pulse-taking.

TCM and Mental Health

TCM views the mind, body, and spirit as inextricably intertwined. TCM also values the unity of Heaven and humanity 天人合一. This philosophy underscores the harmonious relationship between the individual and the universe, emphasizing the holistic nature of TCM's approach to health and wellness.

Five Spirits

First mentioned in Huangdi Neijing, the five spirits are Shen 神, Hun 魂, Po 魄, Zhi 志, and Yi 意. These five spirits are believed to be correlated with the five organs (Heart-Shen, Liver-Hun, Lung-Po, Spleen-Yi, Kidney-Zhi). The theory of the Five Spirits holds significant relevance to psychiatric disorders, guiding TCM practitioners in their approach to treatments.

Seven Emotions

TCM recognizes seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, thought, grief, fear, and surprise—as potent factors affecting bodily health. In classic medical texts such as Huangdi Neijing, writings mention that joy can be harmful to the heart, while anger can be harmful to the liver, illustrating a correspondence between emotional reactions and organs and addressing that emotional reactions can affect physical health.

Six Depression

Zhu Danxi, a Confucian physician in the Ming Dynasty, proposed the theory of the six depressions, which is now valued as the mainstay of TCM theory for understanding depression. Termed "liu yu" in Chinese, the six depressions are the stagnation of qi, blood, dampness, phlegm, food, and fire. In Zhu's theory, the accumulation of the Seven Emotions can lead to "yu," exacerbating both physical and mental ailments. This perspective underscores the holistic approach of ancient TCM practitioners, who recognized emotional imbalances as one of the fundamental factors in disease.

Effectiveness of TCM Treating Mental Health

The clinical effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of TCM in treating depression and anxiety have yet to be fully elucidated in research. Some studies have shown the promising potential of using some TCM approaches to manage psychiatric conditions and boost mental health, but many are shown to have low quality. TCM's holistic practice and individualized treatment (treatment based on syndrome pattern differentiation) may offer better alignment with some people's "values, worldview, spiritual/religious philosophy, or beliefs regarding the nature and meaning of health and illness". Approaches such as acupuncture, energy psychology, and spiritual approaches in TCM can provide relief for patients suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep disorders, etc. For example, a study produced statistically significant results supporting acupuncture’s positive effect on treating depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance related to cancer. Acupuncture treatment may be a promising nonpharmacologic alternative to deal with anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance related to cancer.

Gender in traditional medicine

Fuke (妇科; 婦科; Fùkē) is the traditional Chinese term for women's medicine (it means gynecology and obstetrics in modern medicine). However, there are few or no ancient works on it except for Fu Qingzhu's Fu Qingzhu Nu Ke (Fu Qingzhu's Gynecology). In traditional China, as in many other cultures, the health and medicine of female bodies was less understood than that of male bodies. Women's bodies were often secondary to male bodies, since women were thought of as the weaker, sicklier sex.

In TCM, women were believed to be more difficult to treat than male patients. As early as in the Tang Dynasty, in his foreword of Beiji Qianjin Yaofang, when Sun Simiao explains why he wrote a separate prescription for treating women: “The reason for the existence of separate prescriptions for women is that they are different because of pregnancy, childbirth, and metrorrhagia and metrostaxis. Therefore, women’s disorders are ten times more difficult to treat than men’s.” Many ancient Chinese medicine practitioners believed that women’s ability to give birth differentiated the female body and made it more vulnerable. "Ten times more difficult to treat" makes female patients less preferred patients to ancient TCM practitioners. This is illustrated in a Chinese Medicine proverb that more explicitly illustrates the extent to which female patients were disdained by Chinese medicine physicians: “Better to treat ten men, rather than treat one woman.” This proverb has been cited in numerous Chinese Medicine medical texts, such as Jingyue Quanshu and Xuanqi Jiuzheng Lun.

In clinical encounters, women and men were treated differently. Diagnosing women was not as simple as diagnosing men. First, when a woman fell ill, an appropriate adult man was to call the doctor and remain present during the examination, for the woman could not be left alone with the doctor. The physician would discuss the female's problems and diagnosis only through the male. However, in certain cases, when a woman dealt with complications of pregnancy or birth, older women assumed the role of the formal authority. Men in these situations would not have much power to is interfere. Second, women were often silent about their issues with doctors due to the societal expectation of female modesty when a male figure was in the room. Third, patriarchal society also caused doctors to call women and children patients "the anonymous category of family members (Jia Ren) or household (Ju Jia)" in their journals. This anonymity and lack of conversation between the doctor and woman patient led to the inquiry diagnosis of the Four Diagnostic Methods being the most challenging. Doctors used a medical doll known as a Doctor's lady, on which female patients could indicate the location of their symptoms.