ipl-logo

Summary: The Classic Of Herbal Medicine

1418 Words6 Pages

Coughs, sniffles, and sneezes surround a doctor’s office. When an individual contracts an illness, the body’s immune system kicks in to send antibodies and white blood cells to help fight the virus. The human body is a powerful self-healing machine, equipped with the proper physiological mechanisms. Although the human body possesses astonishing capabilities, interference is often needed to expedite and improve the healing process. Culture does not facilitate the body’s natural healing abilities, but it does influence the manner in which the healer intercedes (Wiley and John 2009). The notions of curing are molded by a culture’s dominant principles. Anthropology can be utilized to study how the methods of healing are formed from the beliefs …show more content…

The early period of TCM was heavily influenced by shamanism. Shamans would serve as doctors, and their sacred practices would be portrayed as a form of healing and medicine. This was a time before physicians were at the forefront of Chinese medicine. As the Qin and Han dynasty came, Taoism and Buddhism were introduced and gained a substantial number of followers. The establishment of these religions helped to modify and standardize TCM. As stated in Shennong Ben Cao Jing Shu (“The Classic of Herbal Medicine”), the reason people fall into sickness is due to their inauspicious engagements during their lifetime such as deprecating life and committing acts of evil (Shi and Zhang 2012). This notion reflects Buddhism’s teachings of karma and morals. While Taoism and Buddhism were focused on the senses and harmony, a medicine of techniques accentuated human anatomy. At the end of the Qing dynasty, TCM started to become modernized and continued to do so with the initiation of Western medicine. Despite this, TCM is still profoundly influenced by religion and spirituality and its origins (Shi and Zhang …show more content…

When that harmony is breached, the individual will fall victim to a form of illness or condition. These ideas are tied into the four main ancient beliefs embedded within TCM. The first principle originates from the beliefs of Taoism and considers the human body is as the universe. Tao is explained as, “the continuous whole entity of the universe”, in which humans and the environment interact and operate in coordination (McBurney 2012, para. 7). Humans and their environment are connected in an interdependent

Show More
Related

Tomas Smith Case Summary

112 Words | 1 Pages

This paper presents a 60 years old male of Native American descent named Tomas Smith, who goes to the emergency department in an attempt to find some resolutions for the medical complications his is experiencing. Prior to seeking medical attention, the patient sought physical and spiritual healing for the art of cupping done that was by his tribal leaders, when the patient did not achieve the results he was hoping for, he decides to use the help of modern medicine. The patient and wife are not enthusiastic about modern medicine because of cultural beliefs but Mrs. Smith was afraid that she would lose her husband and call the ambulance for medical

Read More

Summary Of A Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

162 Words | 1 Pages

In Anne Fadiman’s, A Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, there’s a conflicting battle going on between cultures. While it might never be specifically stated, Anne Fadiman attempts to convey a neutral understanding to her readers of the Hmong beliefs and culture alongside of the culture of biomedicine western society is mostly familiar with. While the Hmong beliefs and practices in medicine are taboo to western society, readers gradually see that Hmong medicine is just as equal or more powerful than biomedicine that we’re so familiar with. It’s an important concept to understand in this book is that the doctors are there to treat Lia’s disease, not precisely concerned with Lia as a person. Hmong medicine seems to be more related to in helping

Read More

Summary Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

1938 Words | 8 Pages

After reading “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman, is an interesting book because it talks about the Hmong culture and their believes in medicine. A lot of cultures have their own way with handling medical issues, whether it is with some sort of herbs or whatever that culture uses to help the sick. In the book it’s about a little girl that suffers from having seizures and how the family is trying to use their cultural believes but also uses Western medicine to stop the seizures. It’s really hard for different cultures to assimilate to the American way because they do not fully understand what they’re trying to do which is helping their daughter. They want the help of the doctors but not too much because they still have

Read More

Analysis Of The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

424 Words | 2 Pages

In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman made the point that a person's life can be ruined due to "cross cultural misunderstandings. " The text points out many issues between the patients and the doctors. It sheds light on many of the problems that the refugees faced after coming to America due to cultural displacement. From my understanding, the texts of Dettwyler and Fadiman show how medical limitations effects the health of the people whether they are in a foreign country or their own country and also the barriers they face due to lack of resources and knowledge.

Read More

Differences Between The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Ann Fadiman

471 Words | 2 Pages

Cultural competency can be described as the ability to interact with different cultures in a positive manner. Many cultural differences can become apparent in a number of situations. According to Fadiman, doctors have a moral duty to save lives even if they don’t agree with the values or beliefs of someone else’s culture (1997). This paper will address the topic of cultural competency, with a concentration on the importance of cultural competency in the medical field. It is hard to imagine how frustrating it may be to come across a patient that resists a professional’s opinion because they have solid beliefs or do not understand what doctors are attempting to convey.

Read More

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Themes

555 Words | 3 Pages

The biomedical worldview is based on the idea that the body is a machine, and illness is caused by a malfunction of that machine. Treatment is focused on fixing the malfunction, often through the use of drugs, surgery, or other medical interventions. In contrast, the Hmong worldview sees illness as a sign of a spiritual imbalance, and the cure is focused on restoring that

Read More

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down By Anne Fadiman

545 Words | 3 Pages

Although often used interchangeably, disease and illness differ fundamentally in their meanings and implications. Disease is the commonly thought of concept in which a person suffers due to a physiological or psychological ailment, while illness refers to a culmination of physical, emotional and social suffering of a person. Disease is perceived as the phenomena that affects an organism, while illness affects not only the patient but also their loved ones and community. This distinction is vividly apparent in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, in which Anne Fadiman relays the approaches to a Hmong child named Lia’s epilepsy by her family and her doctors as well as the tumultuous interaction between these caregivers. It is interesting to understand how Hmong culture and a doctor’s

Read More

The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down Analysis

918 Words | 4 Pages

Imagine a child has medical condition that doctors want to treat medically while the child’s parents see it as special, and something that could be healed spiritually. Conflict of care is bound to happen with the differing thought processes and lack of information from both sides. The importance of cultural competency and cross-cultural communication in the healthcare field is often undermined. It’s crucial that healthcare providers and patients or caregivers of patients are on the same page. In The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, a young girl with epilepsy undergoes devastating effects because of cultural incompetence within healthcare.

Read More

Ivan Illych Through The Healing Environment Analysis

815 Words | 4 Pages

Human Experience and Illness Introduction Throughout life, each person will experience illness in some form. During these times, the idea that the human body can be weak and defenseless becomes evident. Illness is an expected aspect of being human, offering personal and medical challenges along the way. Spiritual and bodily distress challenge each person’s interactive reality differently.

Read More

Arboreal Pond Experiment Lab Report

331 Words | 2 Pages

The Arboreal pond experiment gave us helpful insight into what microscopic creatures flourished or perished when dried out and put into cold conditions. To set up this lab, we first took a sample of the arboreal pond mixture and a plant stem. We then viewed through the microscope what what is in the mixture as well as the plant stem. We stored the solution and gave it a week’s time before coming back. When returning, we took a sample from our petri dish and observed it again under a microscope.

Read More

Similarities Between Ancient Egypt And Ancient China

995 Words | 4 Pages

In the olden ages, China had turned into a noteworthy focus of medicine research and the home of a portion of the world's best doctors. During the time of Shang, around thirty illnesses relating to diverse body parts were recorded,

Read More

Go Evans Faith Healing Essay

529 Words | 3 Pages

Some Christians are concerned that alternative medicine uses Eastern medicine with its religion, which is against the Judeo-Christian belief. The author quotes from various writers and their research on faith healing. This includes questions about a patient’s view of God, and their feelings of religious guilt and other spiritual issues. Because of the increase in a form of spirituality, healings using faith is making resurgence in the medical field. Evans quotes John Fitzpatrick who points out Kathryn Kuhlman as one who healed people based on faith

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Western Medicine

1383 Words | 6 Pages

Medicine has slowly evolved over the years each year coming up with new advancements. For many years eastern medicine strived, many cultures believed in many different things but all these beliefs

Read More

Taoism And Confucianism

1520 Words | 7 Pages

The key experience, which should be the main goal, in Taoism is the idea of tao "the way" and developing as a person to become more in touch and in control of one’s own emotions. Emotionally the beliefs in Taoism are strongly rooted in compassion, virtue and meditation to provide different emotions. The three jewels of Taoism are meant to be the virtues of Taoism; compassion, frugality, humility. Compassion is the feeling of great sympathy and sorrow for someone who is stricken by misfortune. Virtue in the other hand being the moral excellence, goodness and righteousness.

Read More

Theories Of Qi In Traditional Chinese Medicine

1739 Words | 7 Pages

Western medicine relies more on scientific proof “Western medicine places strong emphasis on the physical structures of the body, which are made up of different organic and inorganic substances, proteins, tissues and cells.” (Shen Lung Ltd, 2002) Unlike western medicine, TMC originates and relies very much on Chinese philosophical theories. And the theory of qi is one of them. This essay will be explaining what qi is in Chinese medicine, including its general concept, movement and flow in human body, functions, what would be

Read More

More about Summary: The Classic Of Herbal Medicine

Related Topics

Open Document