In a three-hour symposium on Chinese medicine yesterday, Timothy Timmons and San Hong Hwang spoke about practices ranging from acupuncture to tongue diagnosis to a 50-person crowd in Loew Auditorium.
The two speakers, who are both doctors at the Samra University of Oriental Medicine in Los Angeles, Calif., focused on the difference between traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.
"The biggest difference ... is the fact that Western medicine is population based, and Chinese medicine focuses on individually-based therapy and ... is more focused on primary care," Timmons said.
Both doctors said Western practitioners are using more elements of Chinese medicine in everyday treatment and are adopting some of the basic philosophies of Eastern medicine. They pointed specifically to the growing tendency to treat mental aspects of physical illnesses and the emphasis on preventative medicine rather than high-tech treatments.
Hwang and Timmons spoke about the benefits of acupuncture, a traditional Chinese practice that attempts to cure illness by puncturing specific areas of the skin with needles.
Timmons said there are many possible applications of acupuncture beyond arthritis cases and other muscle problems.
"I have come across cases of chemical dependency that have been cured by acupuncture," Timmons said. "There was a study done on the relationship between cocaine addiction and acupuncture at Yale Medical School a few years ago."
"In other cases, psychological and emotional stresses come out as physical pain, and acupuncture can help relieve both the physical and mental pain," he said.
Timmons also suggested acupuncture as a method to reduce the cases of homelessness by fighting drug addiction.
"As a number of homeless people are suffering from drug dependency, if they went in for acupuncture, it would be a simple, low-cost way to stop their dependence and get them off the streets," he said.
Hwang said tongue diagnosis is another traditional Chinese practice that merits more widespread consideration in the medical field.
"The tongue is a very important muscle and shows when something in the body is abnormal," Hwang said. "When something is wrong in the body, the tongue will also look abnormal."
Hwang used slides to support his argument, showing a pale tongue, which indicates anemia, and a swollen tongue, which is an indicator of kidney disease.
Hwang also spoke about the wide variety of ailments, from gastrointestinal problems to urinary tract infections, in which Chinese medicine can be helpful.
The symposium was organized by the Dartmouth China Society.
