1. A Human Body And Oriental
Medicine
2.
Seasons And Human Body
3.
Constitutions And Diseases
Oriental medicine explores life and tries
to find remedies so as to treat
diseases and maintain health. However,
the medical system depends on how to
perceive life and a disease. It could
differ relying on the view on nature and
values. Therefore, it is quite natural
that the East and West have developed
different medical sciences. Western
medicine puts emphasis on identifying the
cause of a disease while Oriental medicine
focuses on identifying and
systemizing the patterns of patients.
The former sees the influence from
external factors such as the nature
of diseases whereas the latter regards the
internal factors, that is, patterns
of patients, as the nature of diseases.
Oriental medicine assumes that a disease
originates from the abnormality of a
human body, which means a disease is
caused not by an abnormal body part but by
the disharmony of the whole body.
This perspective is called a view of
complete hole organism which is distinctive
of Oriental medicine. It also is characteristic
of Oriental philosophy of which
Oriental medicine is an application
and has materialized it. It applies to the
treatment and cure of diseases and is
reflected in the view on life and death as
well as ways of seeing the human body.
However, Western medicine and Oriental
medicine are not totally disparate but
have some similarities.
Currently therapeutic measures employed
by Oriental medicine are widely used in
Asian countries such as Korea, Japan
and China. Western medicine has introduced
some of these therapies including acupuncture.
The two different ways of
treating diseases have advantages and
disadvantages. However, what is important
is that Oriental medicine is closely
interwoven with our traditions. We should
develop Oriental medicine adjusting
to a modern society.
1. A Human Body And Oriental Medicine
Though human bodies are not identical
they have something in common. That is,
they are all alive. The same phenomenon
can be differently interpreted depending
upon how to perceive a human body. Oriental
medicine grasps the phenomena of the
human body in unique and natural manners.
It regards a human body as the
microcosm while nature and the celestial
sphere as the macrocosm.
The notion of considering a human body
as a microcosm means that the human body
is another cosmos within nature and
all phenomena can be understood in a way
that the natural phenomena are comprehended.
This view is the most distinctive
difference from Western medicine.
A human body is like a fish in a bowl
and thus its survival relies directly on
water temperature, turbidity, the amount
of planktons and sunlight. So, could it
be appropriate to observe the fish out
of water?
Since a human body is a microcosm Oriental
medicine should always pay attention
to the influences of the macrocosm on
the microcosm, that is to say, Oriental
medicine attaches importance to not
only a human body but also to the situation
and condition in which a body is placed.
Just as nature reiterates the changes
such as production, growth, harvesting and
keeping through the four seasons, of
spring, summer, fall and winter, a human
being also goes through these changes.
The change of Yang Qi in a body is similar
to the daily movement of the sun. As
the sun rises Yang Qi wakes up and reaches
the highest point when the sun is
right above the head. Then when the
sun sets Yang Qi decreases. Finally it
subsides when night falls and the temperature
goes down.
Oriental medicine analyzes the relationship
between natural phenomena and the
human body and organically combines
them to base pathology and physiology upon a
human body. Take two examples.
Normally the body temperature reaches
its highest point between 2 P.M. and 4
P.M. This is common in patients with
Tuberculosis or Malaria. The reason is that
the temperature records the highest
between 2 P.M. and 3 P.M. since Yang
flourishes in the same period. Therefore,
a body temperature goes up due to the
active Yang Qi of a body.
It implies that Yang Qi in a body aggressively
resists when a dormant disease
within a body becomes active. The fight
between Yang Qi and a disease manifests
itself as heat.
Daily temperature stands at the lowest
before the sun rises, which means Yin is
the most active. People with active
Yin often suffer from cold diarrhea right
before sunrise. When Yin is active,
Yang relatively diminishes, so the blood
does not circulate well. When the body
temperature is low, internal organs have
difficulty absorbing water, which leads
to diarrhea.
As for the treatment, in the former case
weak Yin should be reinforced and
flourishing Yang should be decreased.
In the latter case, thriving Yin should be
suppressed while the weakened Yang should
be invigorated.
As Oriental medicine perceives a disease
and finds its treatment in terms of the
interaction between microcosm and macrocosm
the treatment is regarded as primary
and fundamental.
Meanwhile, we can understand the rules
of health in the natural system. An adult
has a total of 32 permanent teeth ;
eight front teeth, four Cuspids and twenty
Molar teeth. Why does the human have
this proportion of teeth?
Front teeth are needed to eat vegetables
and fruits. Cuspids are necessary to
tear meat apart and Molar teeth to grind
grains. Like the ratio of teeth, humans
eat this ratio of food(vegetables 8:
meat 4: grains 20) This ratio is said to be
a balanced diet.
Among all the creatures on earth, a human
being is the only animal which stands
upright. Therefore, his head and chest
take on the nature of Yang while his
abdomen and legs are Yin. We can find
ways of keeping balance between the upper
body and the lower body through the
relationship between water and fire.
Water, which is Yin, tends to flow downward
while fire which takes on the nature
of Yang tends to rise upward. That is
why water flows downward and fire blazes
up.
But water doesn't stay still. When it
is heated by fire water turns into steam
which goes up. Fire does not stay high,
but it descends and causes a
convectional flow. Without convection
there would be no life on earth.
The same goes for a human body. If Yang
in the upper body does not interact with
Yin in the lower body the human body
can not keep healthy. As mentioned above,
rising body temperatures and cold diarrhea
before sunrise are the results of
poor interaction between Yang and Yin.
Oriental medicine perceives the very
foundation of good health as the harmony
and balance of nature and of the human
body. Therefore, from the perspective of
Oriental medicine, an ideal doctor is
a sage who knows well about how the
universe works. He does not ascribe
an absolute cause to a disease but considers
the mental and physical state and the
relationship with the natural and social
environments. In a narrow sense, the
view of a completew hole organism indicates
all the body parts are intertwined and
interactive. In broad sense, an
individual is a small part which is
incorporated into the larger organization
through the continuous interactions
with its environment. The individual never
fails to be influenced and to adapt
to its surroundings. It keeps changing
itself. The human body is not a machine
but a living organism. All the
physiologic phenomena are not isolated
ones but they are all interdependent.
That is, a human lives under the influence
of nature and has great influence on
it. After all, the presence of the environment
must not be ignored in dealing
with human health and diseases since
the environment is inseparably related with
human beings. This has been the main
idea of Oriental medicine for ages.
Just as there are no identical people,
so everyone shows a different physiology
because the strength of internal organs
called five jang and six bu
organs, are different. Oriental medicine
calls it constitution. Because of the
uniqueness of a constitution, people
have different characters, tastes and even
diseases that they are susceptible to.
Therefore, Oriental medicine attaches
more importance to constitutions in
terms of preventive medicine than to
treatments and cures. In this context,
we can find unique points in each of us.
Even when we share food in the same dish
some of us have food poisoning and
throw up while others have no problems
at all. This is true of drugs as well.
Even the same drug sometimes shows different
results. By taking the drug some
people get better while others get worse.
For example, some people overcome cold
by sweating while others don't. And
some gain weight when they are under stress
while others lose weight. Some feel
weary in time of seasonal changes from
spring to summer and gain energy when
autumn comes around. Some experience
rising blood pressures in the fall.
The study on the rules of health and on
treatments in consideration of constitutional
traits is called constitutional
medicine. Lee Je Ma was a forerunner
of constitutional medicine.
Sa Sang medicine assumes that depending
on what constitution a human is born
with, he has his own deficiency and
excessiveness in internal organs and is
susceptible to different diseases. In
light of respiratory diseases, liver and
Kidney troubles and digestive problems
there are four types of constitutions :
Taeyin, Soyin, Taeyang and Soyang.
This page is edited by WebMaster of AKOM Web Services on Jul. 20 1996.