Insights into Studying Traditional Chinese Medicine

Column Introduction: This is a new section in our magazine, aiming to introduce the experiences and clinical insights gained from studying traditional Chinese medicine. The articles are contributed by students from international schools of traditional Chinese medicine, clinical doctors in traditional Chinese medicine, and various individuals with experiences and stories related to traditional Chinese medicine. It serves as a platform for communication among readers, doctors, and students who are interested in Chinese medicine.

Jeffrey T. McKean, Bing Yang

Traditional Chinese medicine has been in use for thousands of years and is comprised of a variety of manual therapies and herbal formulations, the uses of which are guided and supported by an astonishingly complex and thorough theoretical framework. One of the strengths of this framework lies in its holistic view of the human body and the ways in which optimal health and wellness are intimately connected to, interwoven with, and affected by not just our physical world, but our spiritual and emotional worlds as well. But what does current research have to say about this aspect of Chinese medical philosophy? With the benefit of sophisticated study designs and the modern scientific method, does this view of “emotion as pathogen or therapeutic force” hold up to scrutiny? These questions are considered below.

Unlike Western allopathic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine has from its earliest beginnings considered emotions to have a profound effect on health, either in a supportive or detrimental way depending on the particular emotions experienced and with what frequency they are felt. The earliest reference to a link between emotional wellbeing and overall health is found in The Huang Di Neijing, which represents the first compilation of medical knowledge within China and the start of traditional Chinese medicine’s canon of classic texts. In chapter two it is advised that in the summer “it is important to be happy and easygoing and not hold grudges, so that the energy can flow freely and communicate between the external and the internal. In this way illness may be averted in the fall” (Ni, 1995, p. 5). Furthermore, later in this same chapter it’s stated that “just as the weather in autumn turns harsh, so does the emotional climate. It is therefore important to remain calm and peaceful, refraining from depression so that one can make the transition to winter smoothly…Also, one should refrain from both smoking and grief, the emotion of the lung. This will prevent kidney or digestive problems in the winter” (Ni, 1995, p. 6). These two passages make it clear that from the traditional Chinese medicine point of view, positive emotions can help maintain health while negative emotions put one at risk of developing illness. Not only does this medical philosophy see a link between emotions and health, but it also sees a link between health and the seasons, suggesting that certain emotions are more appropriate for certain seasons. Amazingly, though these concepts were conceived of by the Chinese several thousand years ago, modern research does in fact seem to support these notions. One study conducted by researchers at the University of Cambridge compared study cohorts based in the United Kingdom and Oceania and found that genetic changes occurred within immune cells in response to the season and climate (Dopico et al., 2015). This suggests that our natural immunity does indeed respond to the changing of seasons, ensuring that our bodies are best prepared to fend off illnesses which may be more prevalent at one time of year than another.

In chapter thirteen of The Huang Di Neijing, it also states that, historically, people had lived in such a way so that “their emotions were calm and peaceful, and they were without excessive desires…they maintained jing shen nei suo, or inner peace and concentration of the mind and spirit. This prevented the pathogens from invading” (Ni, 1995, p. 50). Here again we see a reference to the healthpromoting and illnessprevention qualities of positive emotions and mental stability, and again there does seem to be support for these ideas. One systematic review of RCTs looking into the efficacy of meditation and mindfulness as therapeutic tools did, in fact, find some evidence that these practices are associated with changes in certain biomarkers of immune system activity and could potentially have positive effects on health (Black & Slavich, 2016).

In contrast to what appears to be a wealth of scientific literature supporting the connection between emotions and health, the opposite seems to be true with respect to reliable peer reviewed sources providing evidence to the contrary. However, despite this overall dearth of academic literature, one study titled The Psychological Health Benefits of Accepting Negative Emotions and Thoughts: Laboratory, Diary, and Longitudinal Evidence did provide at least some support for the opposing view. In general, the study found that those who accepted their negative thoughts and emotions, instead of judging or attempting to avoid them, may enjoy better psychological health in the long run. Likewise, there was evidence suggesting that individuals who practice acceptance of negative thoughts and emotions might actually end up experiencing less of these as a result. And finally, study participants who practiced acceptance were found to respond to stressful situations in ways that did not exacerbate negative thoughts or emotions associated with the stressor(s) when compared to participants who did not practice acceptance (Ford et al., 2017). All these findings suggest that quite the opposite of traditional Chinese medicine’s view of the connection between health and emotions is true. Whereas, in traditional Chinese medicine, experiencing stress will lead to Liver Qi stagnation and the negative symptoms associated with it, and grief and sorrow will lead to symptoms of Lung Qi deficiency, the view supported by the above study would say that experiencing these emotions, in fact, will actually increase overall health and wellness.

Though there is evidence to argue both in favor of and against the theories found in traditional Chinese medicine regarding the emotions and their effect on health and wellbeing, the difference between amount of evidence supporting each view is drastic. To that end, it makes its quite hard to conclude anything other than that the ancient Chinese were able to recognize the connection between health and the emotions, as well as its importance, thousands of years before Western allopathic medicine began to even wonder at whether a connection existed at all. Even in the absence of any supportive scientific literature, in the end, perhaps the best indicator that such a connection exists are the voluminous number of practitioner case reports dating to antiquity which indicate it does, as well as many century’s worth of patient experiences.

About the author:

Jeffrey T. McKean is a recent graduate of the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA) where he received his Master of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. He previously received a Bachelor of Music in Songwriting with a minor in Drama from Berklee College of Music and is currently a candidate for Doctor of Acupuncture at NESA.

Bing Yang is an acupuncturist in Massachusetts. She received her bachelors and Master’s degrees in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in the 1990s and her Doctoral degree from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). Currently she is the associate professor and Director of Chinese Herbal Programs of New England School of Acupuncture, MCPHS. She also maintains a private practice in Boston.

Resources

Black, D. S., & Slavich, G. M. (2016). Mindfulness meditation and the immune system: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1373(1), 1324. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.12998

Dopico, X. C., Evangelou, M., Ferreira, R. C., Guo, H., Pekalski, M. L., Smyth, D. J., Cooper, N., Burren, O. S., Fulford, A. J., Hennig, B. J., Prentice, A. M., Ziegler, AnetteG., Bonifacio, E., Wallace, C., & Todd, J. A. (2015). Widespread seasonal gene expression reveals annual differences in human immunity and physiology. Nature Communications, 6(1), 7000. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8000

Ford, B. Q., Lam, P., John, O. P., & Mauss, I. B. (2018). The psychological health benefits of accepting negative emotions and thoughts: Laboratory, diary, and longitudinal evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(6), 1075–1092. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000157

Maoshing Ni. (1995). The yellow emperor’s classic of medicine : a new transl. of the Neijing Suwen with commentary. Shambhala.