Comparing Chinese and Western Medicine - Essay Example

Comparison between the Practices of Chinese and Western Medicine al Affiliation Comparison between the Practices of Chinese and Western Medicine Introduction Traditional Chinese medicine has been practiced for many years. Traditional Chinese medicine majorly relies on administration of a collection of herbs to patients in order to cure several illnesses. Western medicine practices involve thorough scientific research and knowledge. This involves extracting medicinal products from the herbs as well as other medicinal plants. Western medicines have been used for several decades. In addition, the use of Western medicine has gained international acceptance and nearly all the countries globally have at one time or in most occasions used western medicine in treatments. This paper is going to explore the similarities and differences that exist between the practices of Chinese medicine and Western Medicine. The Similarities and Differences between practices of Chinese and Western Medicine The similarities between the practices of Chinese medicine and Western medicine are not very many. The first similarity is that both practices aim at treating and curing diseases (Taylor, 2005). In addition, both Chinese medicine and Western medicine employ the use of medicinal products from herbs and other sources (Purnell, 2013). The other similarity evident in both the practices of Chinese medicine and Western medicine is that both practices categorize and classify the drugs based on their properties (Becker et al, 2005). These include classification based on the functionality of the drugs, their actions as well as the modes of application. In this regard, it is true to note that some of the Chinese herbs can be taken orally or massaged on the parts affected. On the same note, some of the Western medicine can be taken orally, massaged or injected into the body of the patient. In spite of the similarities, several differences exist between the practices of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. It is of crucial significance to note that the practices of Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine have several distinct differences as well as similarities. In the Chinese history, majority of people rely on the Chinese herbs for treatment of myriad forms of illnesses (Malerba, 2014). This is opposed to the Western practices that majorly focus on medicinal products extracted and processed from such herbs and other sources. It is important to note that the traditional Chinese medicine consists of total of 5767 elements obtained from plants, animals as well as other mineral sources (In Yan, 2014). These are the products used by the Chinese community to treat several ailments. This practice has been carried out for several decades in the Chinese society. However, this is different from the Western practices of medicine. The western medicine has a range of products specifically designed to treat specific ailments (Leung, 2007). The other difference that exists between the Western practice of medicine and the Chinese practice is in the approach given towards the administration of the drugs. In the Western society, symptoms of the ailment being treated always offer the best approach to take in administration of the drugs. In this sense, Western medicine always ensures that one or two herbs are used to treat the ailment (Wood, 2004). As such, it is prudent to note that in the Western society, individual herbs can be prescribed alone in order to deal with the sickness, disease or the ailment. In most instances, this prescription always works and gives better results (Zhang, 2007). This is different from the Chinese perspective in administration of the medicine. In the Chinese society, individual herbs are not prescribed alone. In Chinese medicine, healing herbs are given to patients as a formula (Grana, 2012). This consists of a balanced recipe of a mixture of herbs. This can range from 15 to 20 different herbs tailored to function in synergy in order to address the unique condition that the individual is facing. Despite the above, Chinese medicine practices differs from that of Western society relevant to their classification. It is important to note that the classification of the medicines is always done on the basis of their properties (Watson & Preedy, 2008). This is common to both the Chinese medicine as well as the Western medicine. The Chinese medicine employs such properties as the temperature and taste of the medicine in order to assign it its category. Moreover, the Chinese society depends on the direction of the medicine as well as the function of the medicine in order to categorize it (Wallner, 2010). Furthermore, Chinese medicine depends on the action of the medicine as well as the organ channel that the medicine affects in order to fully categorize it. This is however opposed to the Western medicine. In Western medicine, herbs are always classified or categorized on the basis of their medicinal properties. Moreover, the Western medicine depends on the function as well as the action of the herbs in the body of an organism (Noll & Williams, 2010). This is important in administering disease specific drugs that would work on the specific disease diagnosed from the patient. It is of crucial significance to note that due to centuries of research, Chinese medicine presents less risk to the patients as opposed to the Western medicine. Western medicines have been associated with lots of risks to patients. Some of these may include severe side effects including irritation, nausea as well as allergy (Hicks & Hicks, 2013). This is because several people may have certain elements within their bodies that react with the elements within the pharmaceutical products introduced within the body. The introduction of such pharmaceutical products may lead to such reactions in the body resulting to irritation as well as other side effects (Zhu et al, 2010). However, this is different from the Chinese medicine that has undergone centuries of research, development as well as application. It is important to note that Western medicine differs from Chinese medicine in many ways. Western medicine is based on scientific research as well as scientific knowledge. In this regard, it is of crucial significance to note that Western medicine depends on several scientific procedures as well as tests that had been conducted and developed over a long period (Wang et al, 2010). Western medicine is highly analytical. Moreover, it is a biomedical approach that heavily depends on the detailed information about the chemical as well as biological components within the body (Lahans, 2007). This is opposed to the practices of Chinese medicine that is only based on observation and experience gained from years of practice. Chinese medicine does not depend on the diagnosis of the symptoms of the diseases that the patients suffer from, but from the observations and experience of the herbalists (Cochran, 2006). In conclusion, it is important to note that both Chinese medicine practices and Western medicine practices share several similarities and differences. It is common to both Chinese and Western medicine practices that both practices aim at treating and curing diseases. In addition, both Chinese medicine practices and Western medicine practices categorize and classify the drugs based on their properties. The classification is based on the functionality of the drugs, their actions as well as the modes of application. However, several differences exist between the two practices. Western medicine practices involve thorough scientific research and knowledge whereas Chinese medicine practices depend on experience and traditional knowledge. Chinese medicine practices involve holistic approaches in treating the ailments whereas the Western medical practices involve proper diagnosis of the diseases. The treatment is disease specific in Western medicine practices. References Andrews, B. (2013). The making of modern Chinese medicine, 1850-1960. Becker, S., Flaws, B., & Casañas, R. (2005). The treatment of cardiovascular diseases with Chinese medicine. Boulder, CO: Blue Poppy Press. Cochran, S. (2006). Chinese medicine men: Consumer culture in China and Southeast Asia. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.: Harvard Univ. Press. Garran, T. A. 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(2010).Diagnostics of traditional Chinese medicine. London: Singing Dragon. Read More