...Differences and similarities between traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine Chinese traditional medicine has been practiced for around 5,000 years. Western medicine (at least the modern kind that is not based on shamans) is considerably younger, but since its inception, there has been a debate about the relative effectiveness of Western versus Chinese medicine (which in the U.S. is usually referred to as Oriental medicine). Chinese medicine is based on natural plants and herbs for the most part, and is keyed on establishing the vital energy of the body or Qi (pronounced 'chi'), as compared to western medicine which focuses on control or elimination of symptoms. From a philosophical viewpoint the two schools are poles apart. The differences begin with their main philosophies of health. Chinese medicine, as previously stated, thinks of Qi as life and that life and medicine are one. Western medicine believes that humans can control nature, and has its focus on external causes of maladies. In Chinese medicine, health is a state of well-being where the body is in balance with and adaptive to the environment. Western doctors consider health to be the absence of disease, pain or defect. To the Chinese practitioner, disease is caused by an imbalance of the vital force of the body and stems from multiple causes, while westerners think of it as a difect of tissue or structure of the organism with a single cause. Symptoms, in the Asian view are messages from the body about...
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...For Hmong who maintain their traditional beliefs in America, the scientific worldview and Western medicine, have challenged their entire means of understanding the world. Likewise, Hmong beliefs have done the same to Western medical practice. The coexistence of sacred space and medical space has created a need for mutual understanding of worldviews. Through stories drawn from Symonds and Fadiman, it is possible to see how Hmong practice has created a therapeutic myth that closely resembles American medical practice of sickness and health. Through analysis of these two worldviews, I will demonstrate how Hmong cosmology and American medical practice are closely related in the story of Lia Lee. For the Hmong, the shaman plays a crucial role in...
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...spiritual health, and any imbalances can be restored with traditional healing (Moghaddam, Momper, & Fong, 2015). The purpose of this paper is to describe how culture, traditions, and beliefs impact the AI/AN population, describe how awareness of complementary and alternative practices in the AI/AN population can improve health care, and explain the benefits of addressing cultural and linguistic competence and practices to address the health care needs of the AI/AN population. Peer reviewed articles were searched using Summon and CINAHL databases, limiting the search to within five years and using...
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...http://www.stresssolutions.info/vrs.htm Eastern versus Western Medicine Key Difference Awareness and use of bio-energy or Qi (chi, prana, life force) in the East, unawareness of it in the West. From this flow all the remaining differences: definitions of health, illness, and symptoms, the model of medicine, methods of diagnosis, role of physician and patient and the patient's psyche, prevention and responsibility for health, strengths and limitations. | Eastern Medicine | Western Medicine | Key Beliefs | Qi is life. Qi is heart of medicine. Life and Medicine are one. | Humans can control nature. Foreign invader causes illness. Control of symptoms » cure of disease. | Health | A state of well being in which the body is vital, balanced & adaptive to its environment. | Absence of disease, pain, defect, or symptoms of illness (no theory of health). | Illness, Sickness, Disease | * Disharmony/imbalance and loss of adaptability (a defect of function/energy). * Any deviation of the body from its normal or healthy state (1st dictionary definition). | * A defect of tissue or structure. * A destructive process with a specific cause and characteristic symptoms, a particular disorder(2nd dictionary definition). | Symptoms | Manifestation of the body's attempt to heal itself, therefore, messages, signals of unattended, underlying issues; or signs that something needs balancing. | Manifestation of the disease, therefore, they are disagreeable phenomena to be...
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...Anja Mirkovic 04/27/2010 Psychology 195 The spirit catches you and you fall down Introduction: “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down’’ by Anne Fadiman represents true story of the epileptic Hmong girl and her family displaced from China to the USA. She suffers severe grand mal seizures and eventually becomes vegetative for the rest of her life. Lia Lee’s story was a poignant example that emphasizes the cultural barriers between modern and traditional cultures through their approaches to the life, which results in complete destruction of her brain. The Lees favored traditional treatment that conflicted with the doctors’ treatment by medications. Through conscious ignorance of the proper combined treatment and so-called compliance, it becomes the basis of a tug-of-war for Lia’s life between her doctors and her parents resulting in Lia’s vegetative state. Fadiman uses this conflict as the reflection of the conflict between Western and Eastern medicine and inability to find a compromise in general due to the cultural differences. The author succeeded to represent colliding of the cultures through the characters such as Dang Moua and in the same time to represent primitive culture, unable to compromise, through Foua and Nao Kao. Lia’s condition signifies the result of the conflict and inability to fully understand different cultures and their customs and tradition. Topic #1: In this paper I will discuss the acculturation of Hmong people in United...
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...Acupuncture versus Acupressure For thousands of years, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been recognized as the primary medical care throughout East Asia. Today, much of the western world considers TCM an alternate medical system. Acu-Therapy is the most recognized of the TCM system. The system is based on acu points that may affect organ systems of the body. The benefits are of great reward, for pain and ill-health are treated using various treatments and procedures of Acu-Therapy. Acupuncture and Acupressure are the two major treatments of Acu-Therapy. Although the 2 therapies share the same benefits of TCM, they contrast in application, the advantages, and from whom the treatment is administered. Acupuncture employs the use of long thin needles that are inserted through the skin at specific acu-points. Acupressure is applied by the use of finger pressure. The skin is pressed at choreographed acu-points. Depending on treatment, Acupuncture needles may be inserted as superficial as the dermal layer of the skin or as deep as the muscle belly. Acupressure has a strict system of five grams of finger pressure. Acupuncture is an evasive treatment, leaving the patient’s skin exposed during treatment. Acupressure treatments are non evasive; clients may be fully clothed to receive treatment. Considering the application of Acupuncture and Acupressure, there are different advantages between the two modalities. Acupuncture provides immediate results in treatment. ...
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...World Religion and Healthcare Jane Smith Grand Canyon University Spirituality in Health Care HLT-310V No Name May 23, 2014 Abstract The goal of this paper is to educate healthcare providers on a few of the basic needs of patient’s practicing Hinduism, Shintoism, and Native American cultures. A theme develops as one expands their worldview and becomes competent at creating an open dialogue with patients. Learning to have respectful conversations regarding spiritual needs will prove fulfilling for the provider and patient. Once one understands needs and barriers to care we are able to provide a spiritual and holistic experience. Exploring spiritual needs such as prayer and meditation and giving patients the opportunity to practice those in a healthcare environment is respected. Exercising additional patience and being willing to think outside the box will be the difference between competent care and compassionate care. World Religion and Healthcare Throughout a career an American nurse will come across a diverse patient population. The Christian nurse will have opportunity to educate and be educated on many cultures and religions that exist in our country. Becoming culturally competent is not only encouraged but a necessity. A lack of understanding of one’s own and one’s clients’ world views results in frustration and anxiety for both the helper and the client (Richards & Bergin, 1997, p. 50). This paper will provide a comparison...
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...States by the Navajo to stretch as far back as 1400. Throughout history, the Navajo have expanded their territory through raiding and commerce, now are mostly confined to a small area that is called the “Four Corners”. This is the area of the southwest United States that is comprised of: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. The Navajo can best be described as seminomadic- they tend to move according to the seasons. Jett (1978) stated that the actual movement patterns can vary greatly from one place to the next, and even within a single community, because of regional and local environmental, cultural, and economic differences. There are two principal types of seasonal movements mainly based on differences in emphasis on herding versus farming. Where farming is deemed more important, the summer migratory camp is usually near the lowland farm, while the winter camp is at somewhat...
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... There are many other alternatives to modern methods of medical treatment. With modern medicine being the standard there must be unconventional routes that one can take to achieve the goal of good health. Those alternatives include acupuncture, herbal remedies and yoga. Though modern medicine can be diverse it also can be very complex and in contradiction with the human body. Most medicine is animal based and experimented on animals and sometimes even humans. But can our expectations be a little euphoric for positive results set on miraculous when using animal based medicines? Moreover we cannot negate the fact that modern medicine and medical treatment has helped people avoid and control diseases for several decades. Reports show that since 1970 the death rate has decreased on average of 60% and strokes and death are down 70%. Cancer has dropped 16% since 1990 and HIV/AIDS death rate has decreased more than 75% since its peak in 1995. Therefore we cannot attempt to discredit the breakthroughs and innovations of modern medicine. Some of the biggest problems we can find in the way Medicine is practiced today are: 1. Modern Western Medicine is based on a narrow “scientific” model, and arrogantly ignores and rejects therapies and entire medical systems that don’t fit this model. 2. Doctors are trained in hospitals in “crisis care” medicine, not to take care of the “walking wounded,” which is the majority of people. They need to be trained to take...
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...a dominance of ownership has been privatized to maximize in profits. Both quality and knitting were primary ways of creating and have existed outside copyright law perhaps because the romantic author and the desire for profit were not central to the process of creation. The knitting patterns were sold to make money and not to further the culture of knitting. •Discuss how and why this is changing. The change in the traditional way of quilting and knitting versus the copyright protection is the dominance of ownership. Everything now is being privatized while maximizing on the profits. A personal signature, individualizing the patterns, allows a financial gain for anyone wanting to ‘copy’ a pattern. •Explain why crafts like these do not fit inside the copyright paradigm. These crafts were known for completion amongst women enjoying the company of each other. The crafts don’t fit into copyright paradigm because it attempts to solidify connections between people and not divide people by property boundaries. •Discuss what values underlie authorship in the traditional literary context. The values that underlie authorship in knitting are in the individuals that make changes to the designs, picks, and colors of the yarn and invest unique motivation into the knitting process. In quilting, the sewn patterns portrays a women’s history because it tells a story of the women who made them and mark changes in the status of women over time....
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...Refer to: Tsuei JJ: Eastern and Western approaches to medicine. West J Med 128:551-557, Jun 1978 Special Article Eastern and Western Approaches to Medicine JULIA J. TSUEI, MD, Honolulu An objective comparison of Eastern and Western approaches to medicine is necessary to further evaluate the validity of Oriental medical techniques such as acupuncture. The development of medicine in Western nations follows the way of hypothetical deduction and the Eastern approach uses the inductive method. The Western approach clearly divides the health from the disease, yet the Eastern approach considers health as a balanced state versus disease as an unbalanced state. The Western approach tends to change the environment and the Eastern way is to prefer to adapt to the environment. There are numerous difficulties in comparing these two approaches. The same terminology may apply to entirely different facts, the teaching and learning methods are quite different, and the evaluation of the treatment is almost not comparable. In order to help understand the Eastern approach better, an understanding is needed of the basic Chinese concepts: the concept of a small universe living in a large universe; the duality concept of yin and yang; the concept of anatomy; the concept of physiology in Chinese medicine-the state of equilibrium expressed by the five elements; the concept of pathophysiology expressed by the external and internal insults; the concept of maintaining and promoting health expressed...
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...Medicinal Plants Medicinal Plants Medicinal Plants An Expanding Role in Development Jitendra Srivastava, John Lambert, and Noel Vietmeyer WORLD BANK TECHNICAL PAPER NUMBER 320 RECENT WORLD BANK TECHNICAL PAPERS No. 246 Plusquellec, Burt, and Wolter, Modern Water Control in Irrigation: Concepts, Issues, and Applications No. 247 Ameur, Agricultural Extension: A Step beyond the Next Step No. 248 Malhotra, Koenig, and Sinsukprasert, A Survey of Asia's Energy Prices No.249 Le Moigne, Easter, Ochs, and Giltner, Water Policy and Water Markets: Selected Papers and Proceedings from the World Bank's Annual Irrigation and Drainage Seminar, Annapolis, Maryland, December 8−10, 1992. No.250 Rangeley, Thiam, Andersen, and Lyle, International River Basin Organizations in Sub−Saharan Africa No.251 Sharma, Rietbergben, Heimo, and Patel, A Strategy for the Forest Sector in Sub−Saharan Africa No.252 The World Bank/FAO/UNIDO/Industry Fertilizer Working Group, World and Regional Supply and Demand Balances for Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potash, 1992/93−1998/99 No.253 Jensen and Malter, Protected Agriculture: A Global Review No.254 Frischtak, Governance Capacity and Economic Reform in Developing Countries No.255 Mohan, editor, Bibliography of Publications: Technical Department, Africa Region, July 1987 to April 1994 No.256 Campbell, Design and Operation of Smallholder Irrigation in South Asia No.258 De Geyndt,...
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...health, well-being, medicine and their effect on ourselves and others. Health and healing are always evolving. The 19th century’s use of toxic mercury to treat most ailments, and surgery and medication used almost exclusively to treat the sick was what was known to practioners as best practice at that time. Today there are more methods to treat, heal and improve health than I can name. Some of these merge faith and wellness, others deal solely with the mind to heal the body others deal strictly with the body and there are infinite combinations between them. There are three models of health and healing. They are categorized by Dr. Larry Dossey as Era I, Era II and Era III. Era I began in the 1860s, and is described as plain old mechanical medicine. It sees the body as a machine and the doctor as a mechanic or technician. The technician uses whatever tools available to fix the problem the machine is having. In Era II or “Mind-Body Medicine, we recognize that thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and feelings can be used to make people healthy. So Era II recognizes the impact of thought, feeling and belief within an individual. Era III adds the psyche. The consciousness plays a role over and above the brain and body (DiCarlo 1996). Era I and Era III are the most different. Era 1 sees medicine emerging, crawling from infancy into the next early adulthood. Era I is the time from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s and was an important time for the development of medicine. Medical schools...
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...Heritage Assessment Grand Canyon University: NRS-429V United States is a melting pot of diverse cultures and people from all ethnics around the world live in this country. The impact of the multicultural societies has tremendously affected the health care industry and evoked the great challenges to the professionals in this career. Heritage Assessment which was developed by Rachel Spector in 2000 provides a comprehensive analysis tool to identify patients and their ancestors’ cultural values, religious beliefs, ethnic background and etc. nurses are able to utilize this tool to improve the health care quality for the patients from diverse ethnics. This paper focuses on the usefulness of Heritage Assessment in evaluating the needs of patients and families, the traditions and practices from three different families in health maintenance, health protection and health restoration based on culture heritage through the interviews. This paper also addresses the diversity and similarity of the three ethnic groups: Hispanic, Chinese and Filipino. Heritage Assessment encompasses twenty nine questions including where the ancestors of the individual are from, information about the parents, siblings and relatives, relationship between the family members, religion beliefs, life styles and language preferences and etc. By studying this assessment along with further communication, nurses are able to develop a detailed and customized care plan for the individual. Heritage Assessment...
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...Although all people die, everyone's dying process is unique. Many people think of dying as merely a physical process, but dying is an experience of the whole person and is influenced by a combination of physical, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual factors. There are as many ways to die as there are to live, so in order to better understand how people who are dying experience the process, researchers and clinicians have developed different models or theories that attempt to account for how people cope with dying. THEORIES/MODELS OF DYING Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's Stage Theory of Dying The general public is most likely to be familiar with Kubler-Ross's theory of dying. In 1969, she published a book titled On Death and Dying, which was based on interviews collected from 200 dying patients. In the book, Kubler-Ross discerned five stages that dying people experience. The five stages, which reflect different reactions to dying, are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Denial is the "No, not me!" stage where the person is in shock or denial and cannot believe that they are going to die. Denial is self-protective and gives the person time to adjust psychologically to the news that he or she is going to die. Anger is the "Why me?" stage and may involve, in addition to anger, resentment, rage, and envy at God, doctors, nurses, family members, or anyone who is not dying. Bargaining is the "Yes me, but. . ." stage and often involves bargaining with God...
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