Qigong and the paradigm of integrative medicine

[Guest guest]

Hi All, & Hi Steve,

 

I searched Medline today. The search profiles, below, and their

numbers of hits, were:

 

(meditat* OR yoga OR hypnosis) = 11789 hits

(bio-feed* OR biofeed*) = 5177 hits

(qi-gong OR qigong OR chi-kung OR chikung) = 1676 hits

(taichi OR tai-chi OR taiqi OR tai-qi) = 157 hits

 

ALL, i.e. (meditat* OR yoga OR hypnosis) OR (bio-feed* OR

biofeed*) OR (qi-gong OR qigong OR chi-kung OR chikung) OR

(taichi OR tai-chi OR taiqi OR tai-qi) = 18220 hits

 

A separate search for (acupun* OR acupoi*) gave 9430 hits

 

Try those searches at

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

 

Steve Brinkop wrote:

> There are many weird people doing all kinds of weird stuff. In

> some hospitals doctors have no idea what they are doing.

 

There are wierd people (in the positive and negative sense) in all

professions.

 

In the negative sense, were your examples any wierder than

conventional surgeons who make fortunes by unnecessary removal

of organs, or unnecessary " cosmetic surgery " ? Were they any

wierder than conventional doctors prescribing particular branded

medicines for kickbacks from the companies involved?

 

In the positive sense, a " wierd person " is one who uses occult

methods, i.e. methods that most people do not understand. In that

sense, mystics, Seers, Shamans, homeopaths, practitioners who

use kinaesiology, dowsing, the Omura Bidigital O-Ring Test, etc

are wierd. But in some cases, these wierd methods " can elicit

remarkably good clinical results.

 

> ... the situation is getting more and more difficult.

 

Agreed.

 

> And there are many efforts to cut down all alternative treatment

> methods once and for all...

 

Agreed. WM (incl conventional MD-GPs, the hospital industry,

diagnostic test industry, Big Pharma, etc) has realised how much

money is being diverted to practitioners of unconventional methods

by the explosion of uptake by the public in holistic medicine.

 

I, and many others on these Lists, have argued that there is NO

ALTERNATIVE (even in China) to WM. We have argued that we

need a new paradigm - that of holistic (integrative) medicine. That

medicine will integrate the best of all systems.

 

IMO, we MUST accept that WM is (and will remain for decades)

the main medical paradigm. For the moment, there is NO

PRACTICAL ALTERNATIVE (or substitute) to its vast infrastructure

of hospitals, teaching establishments, clinics, etc.

 

Before we can foster an integrative medicine, we need to establish

the strengths and weaknesses of each modality, and, especially to

shortlist the clinical conditions that respond best to each modality.

 

If we can upgrade the education of practitioners in each modaliy,

and foster respect for the strengths of each modality, we may be

able to foster more cross-referrals between the different modalities.

 

Just as MD-GPs now refer some stressed patients to counsellors,

psychologists, pstchoanalysts, etc, we may hope for the day when

MDs (and other therapists) will refer patients to Qigong

practitioners if they feel that Qigong may help.

 

But, first, Qigong practitioners will need to boost their output of

high-quality clinical- or research- studies that comfirm its benefit in

specified conditions.

 

I have no doubt that Qigong (if used by en expert) can be powerful

therapy, but there is little evidence for this from high-class studies

published in conventional peer-reviewed medical journals.

 

" Publish or perish " is the motto in many academic institutions; it is

equally mportant for the complementary / holistic professions!

 

Best regards,

 

Email: <

 

WORK : Teagasc Research Management, Sandymount Ave., Dublin 4, Ireland

Mobile: 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

 

HOME : 1 Esker Lawns, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland

Tel : 353-; [in the Republic: 0]

WWW : http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/searchap.htm

 

Chinese Proverb: " Man who says it can't be done, should not interrupt man doing

it "