Med Hypotheses. 1997 Oct; 49(4): 327-35.

A theoretical analysis of oriental medicine, 1: Acupuncture.

Ishida Y.

In spite of its long history, oriental medicine has been little understood, and therefore poorly accepted, by the Western mind. In order to penetrate beyond the veil of its jargon, a theoretical analysis of the fundamental tenets of acupuncture is given here, using concepts and symbols of modern science to elucidate phenomena of everyday practice. Thus, when Chi, Yang, and Ying are regarded as 'phased flows of bio-electromagnetic energy', intuitive comprehension should be facilitated. This novel approach has not, to the author's knowledge, been applied previously to any aspect of the medicine of the 'mysterious East'. A similar approach will be used to explore Kampo diagnosis/therapeutics and other selected topics in later papers.