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Fearing Integrative Medicine? -Why? It might just save your tradition!

Chinese Medicine is a medical system that prides 15 centuries of continuous development. And it has not only managed to remain relevant and current, but has also successfully acculturated itself in the mainstream healthcare, becoming a global phenomenon.  

Yet, there is a misconception among some acupuncturists, that other modalities are now aggressively appropriating parts of their practices (i.e., "scope creep"). I think that this viewpoint, although sometimes valid, should become an opportunity for reflecting back on the reasons why this is happening. 

 

But let’s start with a true story: 

In 2017, an amateur MMA fighter in China, knocked out a famous Taiji master in 30 secs. All sentiments aside, in recent decades Taiji stopped being a martial art (for the most part), and has reached a point where it is now taught as a dance routine with health benefits. As such it has lost its original scope, purpose and application.

 

Chinese medicine in recent years is following a similar trajectory. But let’s examine this more closely: 

 

·      Many voices even within China are currently asking to preserve TCM as is, so that it doesn’t lose its Chinese characteristics. Yet, by denying modern development and integration, TCM gets progressively downgraded from being a legitimate “medical practice” to becoming a "health preservation” practice. 

 

·      In the west, the often “traditionalized” training has also created a similar type of mental stagnation. "Traditionalists" believe that all the answers to medicine are found in obscure archaic texts that should be accepted as gospel truth. 

 

·      Yet, the outcome remains the same in both China and the West. TCM is somehow lagging behind, when it should be at the forefront of medicine.

 

It is not the Integrative Medicine, the ND, the Chiro etc., that appropriate parts of Chinese medicine. It’s the inability of the TCM practitioners to outline and define why and how their system works in a way that makes sense to students, health professionals and legislators. 

 

By promoting strong definitions about theory and practice, TCM should establish boundaries, allowing it to safeguard its integrity and prevent “scope creep”. 

 

Instead, many acupuncturists still choose to speak in archaic terminology and traditional principles, refusing to allow modernity and development. 

 

And of course, when other health specialties discover something that works in Chinese medicine, and are able to explain it in allopathic terms, they do adopt. ---Who can blame them? 

 

I believe that in the 21st century, the TCM community has a historic opportunity to set itself apart through re-defining and re-branding itself in a fast-changing modern world. I understand the importance of preserving classical theories but nobody should fear progress, development, research and integration. 

 

Note 1: Dr. Solos is a PhD in Chinese and Western Integrative Medicine. 

Note 2: This article was first published in Dr. Solos's LinkedIn, here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ioannis-solos-phd_chinese-medicine-is-a-medical-system-that-activity-7168775093408423936-20tj

 

Illustration: 

1. Alladin U. Gone in 30 seconds: tai chi master Ma Baoguo knocked out cold by amateur martial arts fighter 20 years his junior. South China Morning Post. May 19, 2020. Online here: https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3085102/gone-30-seconds-tai-chi-master-ma-baoguo

2. Daly T. The Extractive Nature of Integrative Medicine. JCM. February 2024




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