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submissions to | Home > Reviews > Oriental Medicine: A Modern Interpretation |
Oriental Medicine: A Modern Interpretation |
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By Hun Young Cho; translated and revised by Kihyon Kim, OMD, Ph.D. $29.95; Yuin University Press; Reviewed by Karin Hilsdale, Ph.D., L.Ac. "Modern" readers of this book are in for a pleasant surprise from the outset -- its very title turns out to be a play on words. Dr. Kim, the able translator and reviser, points out in the preface and again in the first of a series of useful footnotes, that the book was originally written in 1934. Its author was a public official in Korea who sketched out important basic constructs of acupuncture and Oriental medicine at that time, against a social background of decline of the traditional medicine versus increased popularity of Western medicine. Moreover, Cho appears to be far ahead of his time in bringing the ancient concepts into the "modern" realm of discussion and explanation via western biomedical terminology (most notably endocrine mechanisms). As Dr. Kim explains, Cho used the "language of western anatomy and physiology to provide a rational and scientific explanation of the Five Element Theory, allowing the layman to easily understand this important Oriental medical theory." Cho presented the two medical approaches as "complementary healing methods much like the two wings of a bird" that need to co-exist and support one another. The Introduction provides a clear map for this prescient approach to Oriental medicine theory and practice. At the outset, he summarizes its main approaches as follows:
Overall, the book meets these goals, and more. Its structure follows familiar thinking from practitioners' first days in training (a beginning chapter on Yin and Yang, followed by chapters on Zang-fu organs, syndromes, channels, pulse, and nuances of herbal prescription). However, each chapter contains useful information not easily found elsewhere in English, and it is always aimed at clinical usefulness. The chapter on channels yields fascinating, detailed thinking about the etiology and treatment of several conditions related to channel problems (both regular channels and the eight extraordinary ones). For example, there is full consideration of Yangming channel headache, believed by the author to constitute the chronic type, caused by poor digestion. Again, he discussed intercostal neuralgia as a phlegm phenomenon, differentiated by channel segments. Finally, he presented a case study of mental illness that may motivate readers to "think channels" more creatively with any given patient: A distant relative of the author was manifesting what would surely today be diagnosed as psychotic behavior and treated with heavy psychotropic medication or worse -- "... the only thing she was doing was putting anything she could get her hands on like socks, pieces of newspaper, towels, rags, etc. on top of her foot and wrapping it a foot high. Sometimes she rubbed her nostrils and areas around the mouth with two fingers and touched the area in front of her ears." After observing her for 20 to 30 minutes he came to the conclusion that her bizarre behavior stemmed from a breakdown in her digestive system (for one, the areas she self-stimulated were lower and upper branches of the Stomach channel). He treated her, and her "breakdown" completely remitted by the following morning, with no recurrence. The other chapters offer not only the traditional parameters of organ functioning and syndrome differentiation, but consistently bring in ideas from Western anatomy and physiology which raise interesting clinical questions. Clearly, biomedicine has advanced since 1934. Nevertheless, the directions of Cho's thinking have distinct heuristic value to traditional Oriental medicine practitioners in the 1990s -- his examples and comparisons stimulate thought and encourage us to look deeper into the realm that encompass both medical approaches. Dr. Kim provides useful structures at the end of the book: Appendices in tabular form (over 40 pages) of the herbs and formulas mentioned in the text; a short bibliography citing works in English, Chinese and Korean; and a comprehensive index. Notice should be made of the outstanding production values of the book. It appears to be twelfth in a series published by Yuin University of Los Angeles. The beautiful cover design and the clear, user-friendly internal design of the paperback book itself is credited to Choong Chan Lee.
All in all, this book will be a useful and stimulating addition to the libraries of traditional Oriental medicine practitioners (and also for adventurous members of the lay public who have familiarized themselves with Kaptchuk's The Web That Has No Weaver and wish to enlarge their view of the field). Its "modern" ideas of 1934 take on special meaning in these waning days of the twentieth century as traditional Asian medical thinking and practice increasingly influence Western health care. Available at the bookstores of acupuncture and chiropractic colleges; at UCLA and USC Health Sciences Bookstores; at Sam Tuh Books in Los Angeles Koreatown; and at Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 8585 Melrose Avenue, West Hollywood CA 90069. About the translator: A third-generation doctor of traditional Oriental medicine, Kihyon Kim, OMD., Ph.D., L.Ac., is on the faculty of Emperor's College and Yuin University. With a B.A. degree in psychology from UCLA, he received his formal Asian medical education from those schools; in advanced training in China and Korea; as well as from his father, also a Western medical doctor. He serves as Vice President of the Korean Acupouncture and Oriental Medicine Association in California and maintains a private practice in Encino, California. |
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