in support of creative thought in TCM and the dangers of medical elitism

[Guest guest]

Jason said, " Yes maybe Maciocia was just riffing.. Has anyone seen this

statement made in

Chinese? " All the yin in from the Stomach? "

 

I share your curiosity as to whether anyone else has heard of this. All I

can say is that both my wife and I took notes with his having said that.

Even in the event that we misunderstood him, I think insight can come from

misunderstanding or any other ways. What difference does it make? It

certainly doesn't only come from reciting the classics every day, speaking

and reading medical Chinese or even seeing 100 to 200 patients a day as

happens in China. What I've seen in many of those situations are somewhat

bored practitioners prescribing by rote with little personal interaction --

that's not Traditional so far as I am concerned. Even if

Maciocia were riffing what's wrong with that? Of should we suspect him of

" Msuing? " Who ever came up with that acronym that seems to reflect a kind of

arrogance that none of us would want to identify with?

 

Can't we allow anyone with level of expertise the possibility that they may

a unique and useful idea? I know when we heard Maciocia say that the " yin

for the body originates in the stomach " we connected strongly because it put

a lot of things together all at once. Li dong yuan's theory of nourishing

yin through the Spleen which I would include as the Stomach, observing

patients with the malar flushing as a sign of yin deficiency generally, then

the profound connection of the effect of worry and stress on the stomach

which I have seen lead to spleen-liver qi stagnation and then yin

deficiency, the basic understanding at the root of all systems of natural

medicine that the vast majority of diseases begin in the stomach.

 

If you study the history of medicine be it Eastern or Western, you can't

help but see how in all cultures medicine limits itself when it panders and

s to medical elitism. Usually it was male dominated (were their no

great Chinese women doctors?), information and ideas were conveyed in a

specialized language or jargon reserved for that purpose. It was precisely

this problem that inspired Li Shizhen to take to the hills and collect

1000's of local healing practices with herbs, animal and minerals. The kind

of TCM that we have learned was practiced by the elite on the elite and

common folk had little access to it just as today, most people are unable to

afford the highest standards of health care. The same thing happened around

the same time in England when Nicholas Culpepper violated all professional

standards and translated herbal textbooks used in universities from Latin to

vernacular English thus Culpepper's Herbal came into being.

 

You can see how the emperor's new clothes phenomenon rampant in TCM

classrooms hardly allows students and practitioners to question what

constitutes the rate of speed for a fast pulse. There are tons of those

kinds of gaps that Chinese orthodoxy does not address and students and

western practitioners seem shy to ask those kinds of questions perhaps

because they might be insulted, told that they are not qualified to have

their own opinions which by implication leads them to not ask questions.

 

So for the sake of the advancement of our profession I lobby for more

humility and openness.

So we learn with humility and we continue to PRACTICE medicine.

 

Reviewing Li ShiZhen's Ben Cao via the Stewart books you might take note of

the large number of herbs used by the Chinese, many classified according to

their natures and properties that are common to both the West and in China.

 

A few are: Fumitory (Fumaria officinalis (Tzu-hua-ti-ting) commonly known as

Fumitory used identically for the same purpose in both cultures, for the

liver and jaundice; Malva including various species used as a vegetable as

well as a medicinal herb in the same way for its high mucilage, soothing the

stomach and intestines, ulcers, relieving thirst, and as a pot herb; Alfalfa

(Medicago sativa) (Mu su); the most famous medicinal tree of India called

Neem (Melia azederach) -- again used for parasites, skin diseases, fevers,

inflammation, etc; Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) has its counterparts with a

number of elm species cited in Li Shizhen's great materia medica as Ulmus

Campestris (YU) or Ling-yu) with the inner bark used in precisely the same

way native Americans used the North American species, as a meal, for its

high mucilage and demulcent properties, etc. Violet (Viola species)

(Hu-chin-ts'ao) used in both Europe and China as a pot herb, also for blood

purification, even for cancer;; Castor bean (Ricinus communis) (Pei-ma);

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) called Mi Tieh Hsiang), Wild lettuce

(Lactuca) called Pai Chu), St Johnswort (Hypericum chinense) (Chin

ssu-ts'ao); Gotu kola (Hydrocotyle asiatica) Commonly used both in India and

China, hops (Humulus japonicus) (lu ts'ao) medicinally used in the same way

in the West and by the Chinese and many more.

 

It is hard to remember everything about an herb that one has to cram to pass

board tests. For most of us with normal to impaired memories, it is a

lifetime commitment to review this information. My former student and

Colleague studied with the greatest Nepalese Ayurvedic practitioner of the

20th century, Dr. Mana (Vaidya Mana Bajra Bajracharya). He said Dr. Mana

would spend a couple hours every morning in study before a busy clinic day.

I've concluded that Materia medica review is to the dedicated herbalist what

prayer beads are to an Asian monk.

 

Personally I think herbalists miss a large part of the fun of the profession

by not being able to grow, identify, harvest living medicinal plants. Just

developing a personal relationship with some plants that are used in the

clinic. There just seems to be no time for such training in most acupuncture

schools where the emphasis is on passing the board exams. There used to be.

In my experience all the older generation Chinese herbalists I've met, could

recognize growing living plants. While we all have our tried and true group

of herbs and formulas I encourage my students to remain curious, allow for a

certain percentage of their medicinal plants to include indigenous herbs

that may not be part of the standard materia medica also to be open to

including ideas and methods from other cultures.

 

No matter how hard we try, ultimately the majority or us will remain Western

or North American Herbalists practicing Chinese medicine so relax, it is our

destiny for better or worse to change things a bit.

 

Michael Tierra

 

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