I am pleased that more funding is becoming available to research acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and other complementary treatments.  Funding allows for increased exposure to a population of people who might not try these effective treatments without evidence based research.  My whole reason for being is to relive human suffering and if research opens the door for some people I AM ALL FOR IT.  With that said, I cannot say there haven’t been problems attempting to adapt a TCM healthcare model to the double blind placebo “gold standard” of research.

In the first blog of this series, I will only address the problem of the narrow focus of the research involving acupuncture and TCM.  Research focusing on one problem, misses the larger benefits of a system of medicine that is focused on treating the whole person.  For example, a research project that only focuses on acupuncture for pain management may fail to note other quality of life improvements such as improved sleep, better digestion, or playing soccer with the kids.  Conversely, a study that focuses only on improved sleep will miss other positive associated factors like increased energy, reduced headaches or feeling more productive at work.

I admit. It is easier to study one symptom in isolation.  Unfortunately, this isolation encourages a misunderstanding of what TCM has to offer.  The TCM model treats people as an entire unit rather than a collection of parts or symptoms to be separately analyzed and treated.  It doesn’t offer a get healthy quick scheme, but rather a comprehensive plan for improved quality of life.  These modalities can offer total wellness to people who want to experience a richer, healthier lifestyle in a society that is increasingly more demanding and unhealthy.

Moreover, TCM is a health system that also includes prevention as a tenant.  The US health care model has early detection, not prevention. This nation’s healthcare model is in critical condition.  It can ill afford to delete the prevention component of any modality that incorporates prevention as part of its model if it ever hopes to remove life support.

Research does provide great strides in offering “proof.” If you have lower back pain does research show acupuncture can help you? YES.  If you have migraines, does research show acupuncture as effective if not more effective than pharmaceutical drugs (without the side-effects I might add)? YES.   If all you want is pain relief and you have no desire to sleep better or have improved energy, does research show acupuncture can help you? YES.  But acupuncture and TCM can offer so much more.  And it would be a great loss, if after all the research is done, this modality and others like it are completely absorbed into a western pathological system of symptom relief only.

If you would like to view some research article available on this site, check out the resources tab.