Let's understand and learn Traditional Chinese Medicine

P H W Chan 陳鴻偉

Dear Editor,

Our College launched a series of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) seminars to promote and facilitate members' understanding of TCM. The first seminar was held on the 24th of August, 2003. In the welcoming speech, Dr Stephen Foo pointed out that in the past, the main provision of medical service in Hong Kong was Western (orthodox) medicine. With implementation of registration of TCM practitioners after 1997, practitioners of both disciplines enjoy equal legal status. As primary care physicians, we should acknowledge the legalisation of TCM. In fact, both TCM and Western medicine have their own advantages. TCM takes a "whole-patient care" approach (整體觀). Western medicine takes more from a microscopic (cellular or genetic etc.) view, more objective (evidence-based), more reliable (because of objective laboratory findings) and therefore more persuasive. TCM uses the method of Four Examinations (四診) (inspection, listening and smelling, inquiring, and palpation) to understand the disharmony in a patient. The signs and symptoms are analysed and formulated into certain pattern. The pattern is further analysed by using different systems such as the Eight Principal Patterns (八綱辨証), Patterns of Organ Disharmony (臟腑辨証)¹ etc. In the end, clinical management in TCM essentially depends on the analysis of disease state (辨証) by means of the two systems as mentioned above and appropriate treatments (e.g. herbs, acupuncture etc.) are implemented (論治). The whole process of management in TCM involves understanding and analysis of the disease state (理), application of TCM theory (法) to explain the disharmonious state, selection of treatment(s) (方) to resolve the disharmony, and finally the use of herbs (藥). Please be reminded that the organs in TCM represent functional units rather than anatomical structures.² Dr Foo also emphasised that the TCM's concept of "whole-patient care" is in line with the teaching of Family Medicine. Both disciplines strive to promote and restore health.

Professor Cheung Tai Chiu, Chairman of Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board, Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong, has addressed the importance of learning TCM for family physicians at the seminar. In his view, most patients in Hong Kong are Chinese. Traditional Chinese Medicine affects them one way or another. Whenever a health problem arises, they would be concerned with their state of health and may ask their family physicians questions such as the state of hotness (熱氣) or state of coolness (寒涼). Family physicians may use this opportunity to communicate with and explain to them what their state of health is. Knowing TCM certainly helps in communication and patient's compliance. Professor Cheung obtained both degrees in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine in China and has over 40 years of experience of using integrated TCM and Western medicine in treating patients. He shared this experience with us that the outcome was better for the patients.

Finally, Dr Chau Tai Wai, a TCM practitioner and Assistant Professor at Kwong Wah Hospital, talked on the basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He emphasised the importance of Yin and Yang in making the final diagnosis and the importance of Qi (氣) in regulation of bodily functions.

In conclusion, I would like to quote what Dr Margaret A. Caudill, a Research Fellow in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, in the preface of a book "Chinese Medicine - the web that has no weaver" said: "In a time of increased awareness of environment, health, and the personal responsibility of mankind, it seems that an integration of East and West should be mutually beneficial".³ Perhaps this is a timely opportunity for those colleagues who wish to understand and learn the art of medicine from a different viewpoint.

* Editor's Note : The TCM lecture notes of the above mentioned seminar were inserted in this issue of the HK Pract.