Traditional Chinese Medicine for Prevention and Treatment - Essay Example

Traditional Chinese Medicine] [Name] [Course] [Lecturer] [Date] Most of the burden of diseases is due to chronic diseases and its prevalence is increasing day in day out. For instance in Australia, chronic disease is responsible for around 80% of the total burden of decease, mental problems and injury as it is measured in terms of disability adjusted life years. There is an urgent need to respond to this health challenges so that the quality of life and well being of the society to be addressed and ensure that the health system is able to meet the demands it is subjected to by these conditions (Lopez et al 2006). The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) defines chronic diseases as having complex and multiple causes, having gradual onset, although they are said to have sudden onset and acute stages, occurs across the life cycle although their impact is much felt at older age, are long term and persistent, leading to deterioration of health with time and finally life threatening and causing premature mortality. Chronic diseases are associated with high health care expenditure. They account for nearly 70% of allocated health expenditure (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2006). This means that the social economic status of the community is the most determinant of their access to the health care. There is therefore a need of the implementation of the Traditional Chinese medicines so as to remove the economic strain on the health sector as well as making the service available to all. It is a fact that chronic diseases place a lot of burden to the individuals, communities and health services but they are highly preventable so if actions are taken, it can be taken at bay (Sochalski, Jaarsma & Krumholz 2009). Chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancers are a major concern for they are preventable and are associated with risk factors such as tobacco use, alcohol intake, poor nutrition and physical inactivity. The cost burden of chronic diseases is continuing to bite throughout the world and the public health approach of prevention is the most cost effective, affordable and sustainable course of action to contain the epidemic. The cost of treating this disease requires costly medical interventions (Ernst 2002). Chronically ill workers take sick days, and therefore reduce the supply of labor and in the process the GDP. When they report to work places to avoid losing them, they perform far below par, presenteeism as it is referred to in contrast to absenteeism. Avoidable illnesses divert the productive capacity of caregivers adding to the reduction in labor supply for other uses. People with serious chronic diseases have poor quality of life and are less likely to secure jobs as compared to the others (Walker 2007). Chronic diseases are more prevalent in the marginalized and less advantaged communities, in particular the elderly, indigenous Australians, those who are socially and economically disadvantaged and people with physical and intellectual disabilities. In this case, those who are not capable of raising the cost of having their sicknesses treated end up suffering and incapable to work for their families and hence poverty brings this families down. Chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes, arthritis and respiratory diseases are the major killers in the world today and the major causes of illness, hospitalization, healthcare costs and long term disability (Schaefer & Davis 2004). The ever increasing use of health services and prices, other factors contribute to soaring healthcare costs. The minority groups continue to experience disparities in health care access, coverage and care. Prescription drugs are often very expensive and patients of osteoporosis, hypertension, diabetes and depression may not have access to the medications. This in most cases results to premature mortality and in the long run minimizes the labor force affecting the economy. Chronic illness are very expensive, they require much money to contain which will continue incapacitating the social economic status of the poor communities (Pratt, Macera & Wang 2000). In china, Traditional Chinese medicine is a major system of contemporary medicine practice. The numerous prescriptions of the Chinese material medica are tied around a philosophical background and therefore that theory and practice forms a holistic system of medicine. The theory has been influential in maintaining the identity of the Chinese medicine from days in memorial up to date (Traditional Chinese medicine 2008). Due to the staunch experience in treating deceases using the natural materials, TCM is still very important in the Chinese health care system today and it is officially recognized in china, Japan and some parts of eastern and southern Asia countries (Yach, Hawkes & Gould 2004). The medicinal substances which are used as ingredients for this medicine are gathered under the name of Chinese herbal medicines. However, they not only come from plants but also from animals and minerals. These kinds of medicine have gained popularity due to its effectiveness and manageable cost. In the recent past, a diversity of healthcare traditions has evolved independently over thousands of years and has partially replaced the prevailing, western paradigm (Chen et al 2007). The use of new to nature therapeutic agents has become more dominant means of chronic diseases management. The western medical model solely relied on evidence. This concept of evidence based medicine (EBM) was advocated by Sackett and others in 1992 (Jia 2005) which used analytical approach to medicine by which results of clinical and basic research, clinical experience, observation and empathy with the patient are used to provide the most appropriate treatment to ailing persons. However, some years later, the same people complained of misinterpretation of this concept due to its exclusive reliance on evidence from randomized clinical trials for determining the treatment and care regimens ((Yach, Hawkes & Gould 2004).). It’s a fact that most decisions are made during a very limited consultation between the practitioner and patient, and this in most instances result in the prescription of pharmaceutical drugs, is a key factor that is affecting the quality of clinical practice and healthcare delivery. Another key issue that is affecting the prevention of preventable chronic diseases is the lack of sufficient graduate and postgraduate education in nutritional and lifestyle approaches despite the understanding that this is the only aetiology of these diseases (Burke & Wong 2003). Currently, mainstream health professionals such as doctors, nurses and pharmacists have limited formal training in either nutritional or lifestyle strategies and healthcare delivery is curative rather than preventive in nature. Chronic diseases including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, obesity, osteoporosis and diabetes are dependent on nutritional and lifestyle habits which one indulges in during childhood or adulthood and curative approaches to them are relatively ineffective and uneconomical as compared to preventive strategies applied during the earlier years (Chen et al 2007). Based on the above evidence, there is a need for new paradigm in healthcare and increasing interest in Traditional Chinese Medicine is just one an idea of holistic approach to healthcare that is completely adapted to the needs of people. There are many things that western medical paradigm lacks particularly due to it poor track record on disease prevention and its over reliance to new to nature pharmaceutical. This calls for the development of a more tenable and sustainable healthcare paradigm that can be effective in preventing the ever increasing bite of the chronic diseases (Yach, Hawkes & Gould 2004). Traditionally people managed their health largely through the use of specific foods, plants and earth derived products as well as physical and spiritual practices. For instance Traditional Chinese medicine have stood the test of time and are holistic in nature and involve consideration of the body as whole, interactions between mind and body or mind, body and spirit being mostly emphasized. However, they have been widely opposed by the mainstream, western system of healthcare and are therefore under threat from regulatory authorities in many countries (Chen et al 2007). Apparently, many elements of these traditions have been incorporated into large range of modalities which are under the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), which include nutritional and phytonutrient therapies, herbal medicine, homeopathy, bio-energy medicine, aromatherapy, meditation as well as massage traditions and manipulative therapies like the osteopathy and chiropractic just to mention but a few. These traditional systems involve the use of multiple modalities alongside each other with the requirements of a patient at the back of the mind (Jia 2005). Nutritional medicine or therapy is considered a CAM modality despite nutrition and dietetics being acknowledged branches of orthodox western medicine (Wilson, Oldenburg & Lopez 2003). The world seems to be losing the battle on problems of drug reactions for instance in Sweden drug reaction is the seventh most common cause of death in the country and a majority of drugs which is 90% and above only work for 30-50% of the people ((Ayanian 2009).). In other words, allopathic medicine has very limited success in dealing with chronic diseases. Finally, comparing western medicine and the traditional one the western places less emphasis on the psychological and emotional heath of individuals, mostly where physical symptoms are commonly presented. Such avoidance, plus the difficult of affording expensive medications by the socio economically disadvantaged means that the quality of life (QOL) is largely ignored (Yach, Hawkes & Gould 2004). For a total cost benefit perspective, where financial, environmental, emotional and other short and long term costs and benefits are the most important, the western medical model is inefficient and unsustainable. The ever increasing costs of drugs, the rise in ADRs and increasing patient resistance to using drugs as the primary therapeutic tool further shows the lack of sustainability of pharmaceutical based healthcare that is the western medical paradigm (Goldman & Sood 2006). The social, cultural and political values as well as the social economic factors influence the use of traditional medicine (Ayanian 2009). People who are economically struggling continue to use the traditional medicine for they cannot afford to pay the biomedical services. The affordability, availability and cultural familiarity of traditional medicine contribute to the use of traditional medical providers and medicine. If TCM is made available in the less advantaged populations then chronic illnesses can be managed and most importantly prevented. TCM emphasizes on individualized treatment. Traditionally, practitioners only used observation, especially using the tongue, hearing/smelling, interviewing and touching/palpating. They also used various therapies to promote health and treat diseases mostly by the use of Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture. When it comes to treatment, TCM has become the most effective means of handling chronic diseases even when research on how it works is rampant. However, it is a fact that over the counter prescriptions drugs can not be compared with dietary supplements which include herbal medicine (Wilson, Oldenburg & Lopez 2003). Some Chinese herbal treatments are safe as compared with the western medicines which are mostly associated with side effects which sometimes even result to deaths. TCM treatments emphases the relationships between one part of the body and the whole person, between treatment detoxification and the immediate treatment and long term ameliorating treatment; today, this treatment is handled with the combination of the western medicine strategy. In this case, the main purpose is not to treat the diseased part but also in stabilizing the internal milieu to reinstate good health (Xue & Brien 2003). The combinations of the two have led to some good results in treating certain chronic. Chinese research shows that an appropriate combination of TCM herbs minimizes the side effects and reactions that occur with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. They also increase the cellular immunity and hence they are effective in fighting against cancerous cells. TCM is also effective when used in compound prescriptions. This being the case, it is effective in prevention of cancer as a chronic disease (Ho 2001). One type of Chinese herb has direct cell kill effects on cancer cells and suppressing DNA synthesis, arresting the cancer cell cycle and preventing certain genes from ganging up and thereby causing the cell to die. Diseases contain two parts of appearances. One is the specificity to realities of mobility like the pathological change and the non specificity that refers to the reactions caused by interactions between personal physique and environments such as heterogeneous manifestations (Wilson, Oldenburg & Lopez 2003). Modern medicine is aimed at exploring the specifity of mobility while TCM is aimed at exploring the reality of the mobility by checking the external appearance. Non specificity could change the mobility and therefore targeting the specificity is not enough to stop the continuation of mobility. Western medicine deals with curing diseases with clear cause and pathology and is not very good in handling diseases due to multiple factors in the pathogenesis. There is a need to manage the budget of the chronic diseases using the traditional Chinese medicine which is said to be effective in all ways including the cost. the cost of healthcare continues to increase and chronic conditions like such as hypertension and diabetes contribute significantly on the high cost of health care. It is worth noting that, most chronic conditions are preventable or even reversible but people are ignoring the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices and instead they are turning to pharmaceuticals in order to manage their conditions without necessarily making any changes (Shankar & Liao 2004). Moreover, access to quality medical care is sabotaged by a decrease in qualified medical doctor’s graduates. The quality of medical care offered result to product overuse, overdose and misuse of medical services while the amount of money spent here is tremendously increasing. Introduction of complementary and alternative medicine is the only solution for it has demonstrated that it is not only cost effective but also mitigates claims costs. In order to make true impact on the escalating cost of healthcare, there must be a change of focus to prevention and wellness. TCM model take this approach to deliver medical care (Seymour 2007). This is because; there is no transformation of the health system that can happen unless people change their lifestyle to avoid diseases like diabetes, heart diseases as well as physical fitness. The recent evidence in chronic diseases reversals as well as a concentration in prevention of illness and wellness is effective to bend the cost curve. It goes without saying that, its focus on prevention and wellness, its success in treating chronic conditions successfully, and proven cost containment capabilities make TCM better positioned to mitigate health care costs and increase the quality of health care (Wilson, Oldenburg & Lopez 2003,). TCM are based on cultural and political aspects of the society surrounding them. Changing the community to start indulging in traditional medicine can prove somehow hard and therefore, so as to incorporate TCM in the mainstream, the only way is merging it with the western medicine. In this case, treatments are administered using the modern and the traditional models and in the long run, people will end up being healthy and thereby prevent the ever increasing chronic illnesses (Owen & Lewith 2004). Conclusion Despite a lot of money being spent on health care, it has proved not to be very effective and sufficient. The ideas of Newtonian physics and Descartes’ beliefs in separation of body and mind have tremendous effect on the approach to illnesses. Biomedical model concentrates on objectivity and reductionism and conceptualized human body as a machine, components which can be separately analyzed and repaired. The role of medicine however is reduced to identifying a marker of disease and then eradicating it this makes it not entirely sufficient. TCM on the other hand has led to stunning success in treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer and stroke. This is attributed to its reductionist approach which is focused on the physical and objective bases of the disease. Its component of complementary medicine has an emphasis on wellness, individuality, self healing and mind-body interactions. Since they are low tech methods, they tend to be low cost interventions that in the long run get the job done. Compared to western medicine, TCM are significantly less invasive and therefore avoid much medical and personal cost secondary to iatrogenesis. Traditional Chinese medicine focuses in cultivating health by maintaining homeostatic reserve and minimizing factors that lead to deregulation and encompasses all degrees of prevention. This model is well positioned to complement the crisis intervention model of biomedicine and most importantly, it is affordable to all. Finally incorporation of TCM in the mainstream will many benefits like increasing efficacy for some conditions, reduce excessive diagnostic and treatment interventions and the cost associated with all this, decrease overall cost of illness for patient, the insurers and the society and most importantly improve the patients quality of life. References Ayanian J., Z., 2009, “The Elusive Quest for Quality and Cost Savings in the Medicare Program,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 301(6):668–70. 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Yach, D., Hawkes, C., Gould, C., L., 2004 ‘The global burden of chronic diseases: overcoming impediments to prevention and control’, JAMA 2004, Vol. 291, No. 21, pp.2616–2622. Read More