Principles of Chinese Medicine

As the world’s most comprehensive and deeply researched system of alternative and complementary medicine, Chinese medicine enjoys a large following in scientifically developed communities. Yet its concepts and principles have been shrouded in mystery and obscure language.
This path-breaking book by Hong Hai from the NTU in Singapore strips this ancient science of its mystique and metaphysical pretentions and interprets it to strike common ground with biomedical science. Concepts like qi and meridians are interpreted not as physical entities, but as constructs to facilitate diagnosis and therapy using heuristic models.
Written for medical professionals, philosophers of medicine and discerning readers interested in holistic therapies, the book offers a unique perspective of Chinese medicine in an advanced biomedical world. It has practical chapters on cardiovascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome and cancer, and a compilation of Chinese herbs.
This second edition of the acclaimed Theory of Chinese Medicine has new material on chronic diseases and the intriguing possible convergence of biomedicine and TCM.

Contents:
The Origins and Nature of Chinese Medicine
Chinese and Western Medicine: Never the Twain Shall Meet?
The Causes of Disease
The Fundamental Ingredients of Life
Organ and Meridian Systems
Methods of Diagnosis and Therapy
Treating Illness: Herbs and Other Therapies
Scientific Evidence for TCM
Cultural Factors in Placebo Effects
Treatment of Chronic Illnesses
Chinese Medicine: Reinterpretation and Future Direction

Readership:
Medical professionals, both Western medical doctors and TCM practitioners, librarians of TCM professional associations and teaching institutes, scholars interested in the theoretical basis for Chinese medicine and the informed general reader seeking to understand the rationale and applicability of Chinese medical therapies to enhance their health.