From Book News, Inc.
This reference work is meant primarily for Western practitioners of Chinese medicine treating conditions isolated and named by Western medical diagnoses. Chinese medicine is here defined as standard, contemporary, professional Chinese medicine as taught at provincial Chinese medical schools using acupuncture-moxibustion and multi-ingredient Chinese medicinal formulas. Seventy-two disorders include acne vulgaris, celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, oral leukoplakia, osteoporosis, peptic ulcers, scleroderma, trigeminal neuralgia, and urolithiasis. Entries include introductions, Chinese disease categorization, disease causes and mechanisms, treatment based on pattern discrimination, a remarks section for miscellany and fleshier explanations, and finally endnotes. A nice feature includes disorders labeled by bodily region (endocrine and metabolic, musculoskeletal, neurologic, genitourinary, dental and oral, etc.) Appendices include Chinese, English, and French language bibliographies, and a formula index.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


New Zealand Register of Acupuncturists Newsletter
"An absolute must for your library......in the top 10 of books in Chinese Medicine."


Ray Knudsen Reviews
"This book will not be gathering dust on any practitioner's shelf."


Book Description
This book is a textbook and clinical manual on the treatment of modern Western medical diseases with Chinese medicine. By modern Western medical diseases, we mean all the disease categories of Western medicine excluding gynecology and pediatrics. By Chinese medicine, we mean standard contemporary professional Chinese medicine as taught at the two dozen provincial Chinese medical colleges in the People's Respublic of China. The two main therapeutic modalities used in the practice of this style of Chinese medicine are acupuncture-moxibustion and the internal administration of multi-ingredient Chinese medicinal formulas. Treatment plans for each disease discussed herein are given for each of these two main modalities.


From the Publisher
Since the middle of the 20th century at least, Chinese doctors in China have been working out the most commonly seen Chinese medical patterns of modern Western diseases. This book follows that tradition. We have taken this approach becuase this book is meant primarily for use by Western practitioners, and Western medicine's diagnostic nosology is the dominant one in the West. Most Western patients come to Western practitioners of Chinese medicine with a pre-established Western medical diagnosis. This is what they are seeking treatment for and this is what they feel most comfortable talking about. It is the lingua franca of the Western health care marketplace. It is our experience that, rightly or wrongly, even most Western Chinese medical practitioners themselves mainly think in terms of Western disease diagnoses. Thus the need for textbooks such as this.


About the Author
Some of Bob's other credits include being a Fellow and Governor of the National Academy of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, a founder, past President, and Lifetime Fellow of the Acupuncture Association of Colorado, a founding member of the National Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine Alliance, and a Fellow of the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine in the U.K. In addition, Bob has been the editor of the Colorado Acupuncturist and The Journal of the National Academy of Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine. He has written, edited, and translated more than 75 books and scores of articles which have been published in professional and popular journals and magazines all over the world. Bob has taught at dozens of American acupuncture schools and Chinese medicine colleges as well as at a number of national professional conventions and symposia. He regularly teaches throughout Europe and has taught in Australia, New Zealand, and Israel. Bob is coauthor of an NIH-funded acupuncture! research protocol on AIDS-related peripheral neuropathy, the report of which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In addition, Bob is a founder of the Council of Oriental Medical Publishers and is Colorado Commissioner of Clan Sinclair. Bob's hobbies include gardening, genealogy, reading historical fiction, walking/hiking, skiing, and sailing


Excerpted from The Treatment of Modern Western Diseases With Chinese Medicine : A Textbook & Clinical Manual by Bob Flaws, Philippe Sionneau. Copyright © 2001. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Difficult to Treat, Knotty Diseases In modern Chinese medicine, the kinds of Western diseases discussed in this book are mostly referred to as "difficult to treat, knotty diseases." This means they they are chronic, complex conditions commonly developed over decades due to faulty diet, lifestyle, and mental-emotional habits compounded by constitution and aging. These conditions are mostly not self-limiting, an they rarely present as a single, discrete pattern. In fact, based on our clinical experience treating Western patients with these kinds of diseases, we would say that most patients will display not less than three, often five, and sometimes eight or more patterns concomitantly. This means that one cannot rely on the simple formulas for simple patterns which tend to be the norm in textbooks such as this. However, that does not mean that such multipattern presentations are insoluble. Complex combinations are made up of nothing but simple aggregates. In order to treat such complex presentations, all one ever has to do is tease apart the individual patterns, state the treatment principles for each pattern, and insure that the treatment plan (whether acupuncture or Chinese medicinals) addresses each of these stated principles. According to Wan Wen-rong, there are five keys for improving one's treatment of difficult, knotty diseases: 1. Strenghtening one's proficient mastery of basic theory To us, this means memorizing verbatim the key statements of fact in Chinese medicine an understanding what those facts mean. The more of these facts one has memorized and understands, the easier it is to think in and problem solve with Chinese medicine. 2. Being flexible in one's application [of that theory] in clinical practice There is no unified ground theory in Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine has developed over not less than 2,500 years and a large land mass encompassing many different peoples. Each theory or statement of fact in Chinese medicine developed in a certain time and place due to particular factors. While many of these theories fit together to form a larger whole, not all do. In fact............ 3. Unceasingly exploring and refining pattern discrimination and treatment determination This means incessantly refreshing one' memory of the pathognomonic signs and symptoms, tongue and pulse signs of all the major patterns. It also means understanding the disease mechanisms which produce each sign or symptom as well as the most important signs and symptoms which are dependable markers in real-life patients. For instance, ............. 4. Looking for the essence of the pattern In Chinese medicine, it is said, "When treating disease, first seek [its] root." In most Western patients with chronic diseases, the root is a liver-spleen disharmony which is then complicated by any number of other disease mechanisms. For instance............. 5. Developing a high level of excellence in the prescription of Chinese medicinal formulas Developing a high degree of excellence in the prescription of Chinese medicinal formulas begins with thoroughly understanding the Chinese materia medica. The basic Repretoire of 270-350 Chinese medicinals is the ABCs of this art. One cannot create words or sentences if one doe snot have a firm grasp of the alphabet. Likewise, one cannot create and modify formulas if one does not have a firm grasp of the natures, flavors, channel entries, functions, indications, combinations, dosages, and contraindications of the basic Chinese materia medica. Armed with such a basic understanding,.......... There are simply no shortcuts to learning all the above information to the degree necessary to make it really work as a well-honed system. This is why great Chiense doctors are referred to as lao yi sheng, "old doctors." However, in terms of Wan's first key, there are some theories within Chines mediicne that are particularly helpful in explaining why certain patterns group together and how one pattern evolves into other patterns. If one understands these important theories, it is our experience both as teachers and clinicians that they can take years off one's process of maturation in Chinese medicine. As it so happens, a number of these theories stem from the Jin-Yuan dynasties and the four great masters of that time. Liu Wan-su's Theory of Similar Transformation Liu was, chronologically ............... Zhu Dan-xi's Theory of the Six Depressions Zhu is remembered today as the.......... Li Dong-yuan's Yin Fire Theory Li was arguably the greatest of the.............. Qing Dynasty Gu Worm Theory The concept of gu worms and gu poison..........

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