There is a need to bridge Chinese traditional medicine with Western medicine. The most significant development of Chinese medicine happened over 2000 years ago, and is much more scientific than most Westerners realize.
Acupuncture has a solid basis in neurophysiology and affecting pain and distant organs makes sense when one considers the reflex connections between the periphery and autonomic connections. (Referred pain, such as arm pain with angina, is evidence for this).
The balancing of yin and yang resonates with the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
Heart disease – the main killer
Consider as well the value of pulse diagnosis. In Western medicine, there is a long tradition of evaluating the different aspects of the pulse (speed, strength, rhythm, fullness, regularity, etc.). It can tell you a lot about the heart, factors that influence the heart and the health of the arteries. A skilled practitioner could discern cardiovascular conditions like stenosis or prolapse, the same way Western doctors interpret heart sounds through the stethoscope.
Since heart disease is overwhelmingly the major cause of death today, and so many diseases can develop from inadequate delivery of nutrition to the cells due to reduced vascular efficiency, paying close attention to cardiac health makes sense.
Terminology
Some of the terminology used in traditional Chinese medicine cause confusion for Western medical practitioners. Concepts like “meridians” and “chi” have been elusive to prove within a Western scientific framework. That may be because of bad translation. The original descriptions of Chinese medicine were made by Europeans who were not doctors and in any case lived hundreds of years ago when much of Western medicine was still very primitive and wrong.
Staying alive as you age
Natural selection, which is the mechanism of evolution which has created every one of us, works by selective reproduction. We are designed primarily to stay alive long enough to procreate. Nature needs you to mate. It does not need you to stick around much longer afterwards.
So after about age 40 (which is much longer than for most animals) we go into physical decline. There is less and less selective advantage for a society to keep its old people around. (There is some. Old people and elephants store collective knowledge that is useful to keeping the group alive. But this applied to the world in which we developed, not today.)
Indeed, things are changing too fast for evolution to keep up. To stay healthy, we have to maintain a microcosm around us that more closely resembles the ancient world before civilization. You should eat foods that have been processed as little as possible. You should get your bare skin out into the open air and keep your body used to regulating itself within a changing environment. You need a close circle of friends and family to stay happy and healthy.
As we age, waste elimination becomes a growing problem. A 7 day detox diet is probably something every aging person should try. It’s not just about regularity and eliminating waste housed in the colon. The interstitial spaces surrounding our cells and the cytoplasm of the cells themselves accumulate waste over the years. The clutter of metabolic waste products can only impede efficient metabolism. Browse edenb2b.com to know more about natural detox cleanse.
But after 40, Mother Nature is trying to kill you. You can only bargain with her to a limited degree. Your joints are not going to grow new cartilage. You won’t grow new teeth. Your skin will not get soft and pliable. To stay alive and enjoy more years, you are going to have to compromise. Consider a hip replacement. Brush and floss until you need caps and bridges. Use sunscreen.