western view on chinese meridians, etc.

[drhess]

Can anybody point to a good textbook, in english, that covers the eastern (usually viewed as chinese) view on meridians in the context of the modern western medical tradition?

Presumably, there’s been some work on this and I assume there’s some medical books that are considered reputable from an experimental science and neural-anatomy point of view. Any suggestions on good reads?

(Journal articles or thorough websites are ok, too.)

Thanks.

[DrFidelius]

As the current Western standard use of meridians are derived (I believe) from Mercator, there doesn’t seem to be any Asian input.

[green_dragon_1]

Try this…“The ancient art of life and death, the book of Dim-Mak”
by A. Flane Walker and Richard C. Bauer…covers the meridians from eastern and western medical viewpoints, very on depth, very good.

[commasense]

From the Skeptic’s Dictionary:

Traditional Chinese medicine is not based on knowledge of modern physiology, biochemistry, nutrition, anatomy, or any of the known mechanisms of healing. Nor is it based on knowledge of cell chemistry, blood circulation, nerve function, or the existence of hormones or other biochemical substances. There is no correlation between the meridians used in traditional Chinese medicine and the actual layout of the organs and nerves in the human body. The National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF) claims that of the 46 medical journals published by the Chinese Medical Association, not one is devoted to acupuncture or other traditional Chinese medical practices.

[Blake]

As a starting point I can suggest Lee, TN., Thalamic neuron theory: theoretical basis for the role played by the central nervous system (CNS) in the causes and cures of all diseases; Med Hypotheses 1994 Nov;43(5):285-302

The Thalamic Neuron Theory (TNT) postulates that the central nervous system (CNS) is involved in all disease processes, as the CNS not only processes incoming physical and chemical information from the periphery, it also sends out physiological commands to the periphery in order to maintain homeostasis for the entire body. Inherent in its capacity to learn and adapt (i.e. to habituate) is the CNS’ ability to learn to be sick (pathological habituation) by looking in certain deranged central neural circuitries, leading to chronic disease states. These pathologically habituated states can be reversed by dehabituation through manipulation or modulation of the abnormal neural circuits by physical means (physical neuromodulation) like acupuncture, or chemical means (chemoneuromodulation) such as Chinese medicine, homeopathy or other modern medical techniques in a repetitious manner to mimic the habituation process.

[drhess]

Thanks, Blake. Is the article just theory or includes studies from field work and experiments?

[drhess]

This link points to some doctors doing research on accupuncture at least:

http://www.pbs.org/saf/1210/video/watchonline.htm