Traditional Medicine in the Shadow of Modern Virology

Many of you who have been treated for acute conditions in the clinic know that in our tradition of Chinese Medicine — Classical Method — it is not necessary to identify the specific biological pathogen (virus, bacteria, or heebee jeebee) to effectively treat even serious conditions. Many people are surprised to see how we may prescribe the same treatment regardless of how modern medicine would identify it. The reason for this is that the Classical Method of Chinese Medicine focuses on the terrain, not the invader. This may seem strange, but, if we look at it from the perspective of military strategy, it makes a great deal of sense. Look at it this way:

Think of military tactics where, if you can position the battle where the terrain is favorable to you, you can win against a much stronger, better-equipped force. If the troops have the high ground they can pin down the enemy and win.

Typically in modern medicine thinking and approach, the focus is on the particular pathogen and not on how to make the terrain as favorable as possible for human survival. As my colleagues and I look at the epidemiological data, as we do for every other outbreak, we notice that, while extremely contagious and risky to certain age groups, healthy people are doing just fine against this outbreak. Period, the end. So, let’s spend our time and efforts on getting us as keeping us as healthy as possible as this thing goes around. We just need to take the “high” ground in the fight.

Posted in Health Conditions