|
Preface
As with other Blue Poppy Press publications, the Chinese medical terminology used in this book is based on Nigel Wiseman and Feng Ye’s A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine, Paradigm Publications, Brookline, MA, 1999. Deviations from that norm are noted in the text or by endnotes the first time such deviations occur. Chinese medicinals are identified first by Latin pharmacological nomenclature followed by Pinyin romanization of their standard Chinese name in parentheses the first time they are introduced in a given section. In subsequent discussions in the same section, those medicinals are only identified by their Chinese names. Chinese formulas are identified by their Chinese names in Pinyin romanization followed by our denotative translation of those names in parentheses. Acupuncture points are identified first by their standard Chinese names in Pinyin romanization followed by standard channel abbreviation and number notation. In terms of acupuncture channel abbreviations, Blue Poppy Press uses Lu for lung, LI for large intestine, St for stomach, Sp for spleen, Ht for heart, SI for small intestine, Bl for bladder, Ki for kidney, Per for pericardium, TB for triple burner, GB for gallbladder, Liv for liver, CV for conception vessel, and GV for governing vessel, and we use O’Connor and Bensky’s numbering system as it appears in Acupuncture: A Comprehensive Text, Eastland Press, Seattle, 1995, for the alpha-numerical identification of extra-channel points. We hope this book will be of great benefit to English-speaking practitioners of Chinese medicine and all their patients suffering from diabetes and its myriad complications. In order to continually expand, refine, and advance the materials included herein, Blue Poppy Press has created a companion web site located at www.chinesemedicaldiabetes.com. Laypersons suffering from diabetes who wish to learn more about Chinese medicine and what it may offer them should see Lynn Kuchinski’s Controlling Diabetes Naturally with Chinese Medicine, also available from Blue Poppy Press. The authors would sincerely appreciate any feedback on or amendments and corrections to this work. Bob Flaws Dec. 6, 2001 |
This
book is a clinical manual on the Chinese medical treatment of diabetesmellitus
(DM) and its many complications. The Chinese medical materials have
been compiled by myself and Lynn Kuchinski. The Western medicine
materials have been written, checked, and/or edited by Robert Casañas,
MD. This book has been patterned after Blue Poppy Press’s critically
acclaimed Chinese Medical Psychiatry. Each Western medical
condition contained herein is discussed in terms of its Western
medical definition, epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis,
current standards of care, and prognosis. These Western medical
sections are then followed by Chinese medical sections describing
disease categorization, disease causes and mechanisms, treatment
based on pattern discrimination (both acupuncture and Chinese medicinal),
abstracts of representative Chinese research, representative Chinese
case histories, and a concluding “Remarks” section discussing clinical
tips and concerns. Other sections in this book describe the history
of diabetes in both Western and Chinese medicines, Chinese materia
medica and DM, Chinese formulas and DM, acupuncture, tuina, and
Chinese foot reflexology and DM, exercise and qigong and DM, and
Western and Chinese dietary therapies and DM as well as discussions
on the integration of Chinese and Western medicines, syndrome X,
and dealing with such issues as patient adherence and denial. At
the back of this book, the reader will find a glossary of Western
medical terms pertaining to diabetes and its Western medical diagnosis
and treatment. The reader will also find the most extensive Chinese
medical bibliography on DM of which we are aware. However, even
this extensive bibliography is only a fraction of what exists on
the Chinese medical treatment of DM within the Chinese language
literature. The books and articles in this bibliography only represent
those which reside in my and Lynn Kuchinski’s personal libraries
and, as such, are random in their representation. By this I mean
that they are only those articles which happened to appear in the
handful of Chinese medical journals to which we both subscribe.
Nevertheless, as the reader hopefully will see through the copious
reports of Chinese research and case histories included herein,
Chinese medicine can be an effective complement and alternative
to modern Western medicine in the prevention and treatment of this
increasingly prevalent disease.