lated to the larger ecosystem around us and governed by the same basic laws.As a form of primary care, Chinese medicine does well in certain acute conditions such as colds, flu, allergy and headache. It also had success in the treatment of many chronic illnesses with which modern medicine often does not deal with successfully. Conditions whose disease process is not clearly understood in allopathic terms are readily addressed by the Chinese tradition.An estimated nine to twelve million patient visits per yea are made to practitioners of Chinese medicine in the United States. Most of these patients are seeking acupuncture for treatment of pain symptoms after unsatisfactory results with western medicine. There are between nine and ten thousand practitioners of acupuncture including about three thousand physicians who have varying amounts of training in continuing education programs through American medical schools.The principal of Yin and Yang state that human health is a function of ever-changing patterns of energy constantly seeking harmony and balance. The common principle of Chi is that health is a function of a balanced, harmonious flow of chi or energy and illness results when there is a blockage or imbalance in the flow of chi. The human being has pathways called meridians through which the chi flows. The body has been mapped with these meridians, which pass through all of its organs. Specific meridians correspond with specific organs or organ systems. Health is an ongoing process of maintaining balance among all of the organs and systems of the body.The Chinese practitioner seeks to connect unrelated symptoms and come up with a unified explanation as to what is going on with the persons chi on a global basis. This is the opposite to the allopathic approach with its use of specialists for different symptoms and different parts of the body. Acupuncturist Harriet Beinfield said, What Chinese medicine can do is not necessarily attack ...
