Blue Poppy Book Review

The Treatment of Modern Western Medical Diseases with Chinese Medicine

There have been other books in English elaborating the Chinese medical pattern identification and treatment of biomedically-defined diseases, but none so meticulously researched and presented as this one. The writing is organized, logical, and exceptionally clear.

The introductory chapter contains one of the most lucid discussions of Li Dong-yuan's yin fire theory anywhere. This book is unique in its genre for including relevant points of yin fire theory in its discussion of the Chinese medical evaluation and treatment of more than 65 commonly-encountered biomedically-defined diseases. Practitioners and students alike will deeply appreciate its discussion of disease pathomechanisms, a subject typically glossed over by similar works.

The level of detail in both the Chinese medical and biomedical discussion of each disease is considerable, and the authors frequently make reference to recent research articles from China and from the English-speaking world.

The discussion of treatment is at a similarly high level, with a detailed prescription-modifying approach to each pattern for each disease. Both herbal medicine and acupuncture are covered, although the emphasis is clearly on herbal medicine.

One wishes that the index had received the same care and attention that was lavished on the manuscript; for example, there is an entire chapter on migraine headaches and no corresponding entry in the index. Readers may find the table of contents more useful in locating specific information.

This book should be considered a primary source for practitioners researching treatment for their patients, and a required textbook in courses on the differentiation of disease for students of Chinese medicine. It is the first English-language textbook to advance an evidence-based, yet individually responsive approach to those diseases most often encountered in outpatient clinical practice of Chinese medicine in North America. Essential reading.

Jeffrey Chapman, L.Ac.