Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an ancient form of healthcare that dates back over 2,500 years, which aims to prevent or cure disease by maintaining or restoring yinyang balance. Fundamentally, TCM seeks to restore a dynamic balance between two complementary forces, yin (passive) and yang (active). According to the yinyang theory, a person is healthy when harmony exists between these two forces; illness, on the other hand, results from a breakdown in the balance.
TCM practitioners (从业者)look to treat the root cause of disease and take a holistic approach to helping people experience complete recovery without the use of conventional drugs. TCM is "holistic”' because it takes into account all aspects of a patient's life, rather than just several obvious symptoms. TCM practitioners view the body as a complex system, rather than separate organs. They use smell, hearing, touch, and pulse diagnosis (诊断)to discover the source of an unbalanced health condition. In addition, the practitioner typically makes use of what is known as five phases (wuxing). Using the five-phase theory, the practitioner can create a plan for treatment that might contain such components as herbs, lifestyle changes, and foods for recovery.
Over the past several decades, TCM has been going global. It is now practiced in 183 countries and regions with 86 of them signing agreements with China to promote it. More and more medical schools are now recognizing the importance of training students and staff in "mind-body" practices that emphasize disease prevention and holistic treatments. A study of 3,200 physicians, conducted by Health Products Research, indicates that more than 50 percent of physicians in the U.S. planned to begin or increase use of TCM.