What is Chinese medicine?

Chinese Medicine (CM) is a highly effective method of health care that has successfully treated billions of people over the past 2,500 years.  In fact,currently one-quarter of the world’s population makes use of CM!  Chinese Medicine is the world’s oldest, continually practiced, literate, professional medicine.  This system of healthcare was created by some of the best-educated and brightest scholars in Chinese history.  It is comprised of several major branches, including acupuncture, Chinese herbal therapy, dietary therapy, and medical massage (also called Tui Na).

Acupuncture is the branch of CM that is most popular in America today; in fact, it is the fastest growing health care method in this country.  Although acupuncture has only been available in the United States for about thirty years, millions of Americans have discovered its effectiveness and have come to rely on its ability to relieve pain, alleviate a wide variety of bothersome symptoms, increase emotional well-being, and enhance quality of life.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately 42% of all Americans are using some form of complementary medicine, spending more than $34 billion each year.  The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine states that one out of every ten adults has tried acupuncture. In 1991, Congress ordered the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to set up the Office of Alternative Medicine, which was later renamed the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) in 1998.  In 2004, the NCCAM was awarded a budget of $117.7 million.  Last year, half of the internationally coordinated medical research projects sponsored by the NIH were on Chinese medicine.