acupuncture and phytotherapy |

Here is an article that has nothing to do with TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). In the video that follows three couples are dancing kizomba that in this blog can entitle african qi gong. See if you can recognize someone you know in the second pair of dancers. I will give some clues: he is male sex, called nuno and has an acupuncture blog.

What can we learn from history and current situation
Song Dynasty (960-1200) was a golden period for TCM (Tradicional Chinese Medicine), but only began 1000 years ago and after the belle epoch came other dark times. Until the Song most of the classics had only been read by half a dozen people, most of the classics available were of poor quality with huge errors and many of the theories used today or ways of thinking about the treatments had not yet been fully defined. The lack of technical quality of the works led the secretary of the palace, Han Qi, writing about the emperor’s expectations regarding the medical literature:

“The current editions of the Divine Pivot , Grand Basis , “A–B” Canon of the Yellow Emperor, [Formulas of ] Guang ji , Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand, andArcane Essentials from the Imperial Library, contain many errors. Although theDivine Husbandmen’s Materia Medica was once revised during the Kaibao reign period (968–975), the published edition still contains omissions. We invite selected officials knowledgeable in medical texts and officials of the Palace Physician to prepare a definitive edition of these books and issue them to make up for this lack.”[i]
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Antiquity as historical argument
Using Antiquity to support in history the validity of a given treatment can hardly be regarded as valid. Not least because Chinese medicine practiced today has nothing to do with Chinese medicine practiced 5000 years ago.
In fact 5000 years ago there was not Chinese medicine. It would be more correct to speak of Chinese shamanism. There were no concepts of disease or clinical patterns and the external pathogenic factors were understood as spiritual entities.
The wind was the basis of Chinese demonology, the shen’s represented spirits that roamed the world, the cures were made based on songs and many of the theories in use today had not even been created.
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I have written about the argument of antiquity, often used by acupuncture professionals. ”Acupuncture has 5000 years. This means something”. ”5000 years ago that TCM has been successfully treating 1/3 of world population.” ”It’s 5000 years of successful experiences.” ”antiquity is synonymous with valid practice”, etc …
Recently, in a discussion on facebook I read the argument: “In Chinese medicine we agree, there is no room for beliefs and mysticism, but you can not blame a range of disciplines in a condensed medicine just because there appeared no illuminated person to prove scientifically the analytical finding of a multitude of experimental results.”

As a student I grew up listening to this argument. As a teacher, professional heard my colleagues systematically using and abusing this argument.
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Recently a Portuguese blogger, Luis Graves Rodrigues, was sued by homeopathic pharmacy Santa Justa. The pharmacy will not have liked to be mentioned in the article he wrote [i] which showed the scam that is homeopathy and complacency of the authorities with the sale of homeopathic medicine (water).
In his blog, Random Precision, the blogger wrote:
“The next picture here depicts the facade of a shop installed in Rua de Santa Justa, in downtown Lisbon, and that presents the public with this fantastic business name:
“Homeopathic Pharmacy of Santa Justa.”
In this shop are sold freely and with impunity, or better, “purported” to the public, mysterious preparations at astronomical prices, although they are mixtures composed almost entirely of water and nobody has been able to demonstrate its effectiveness or even its purpose.
So much so that all these preparations must contain a label with the following inscription:

‘Homeopathic pharmaceutical product without proven therapeutic indications. “[Ii]”
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There is something for which I have not the slightest patience: qi gong.

Fortunately I discovered that all people have invented various forms of qi gong but with other rhythms and other movement sequences. Thus in Africa I found that qi gong is called Kizomba. And that’s something that, for one year, I have dedicated a few minutes a week.

While dancing (more scratching than dancing…) Kizomba I only saw  myself dancing recently. These are just a few seconds but for those who like African qi gong here goes.
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Every now and then find some acupuncturist who lives entranced by the beauty and complexity of Chinese medicine. Generally they expressed their astonishment at something as grand as Chinese medicine with questions like: “how can the Chinese have found acupuncture points?”, “How can a medical system so developed has come from nowhere and so soon?”, “how is it possible that the Chinese have developed something so complex and brilliant?”.
When I try to draw attention to areas of human knowledge such as history, trying to appeal to a modicum of common sense and some facts almost always hear the answer: “It has to be something more.”
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Great australian TV show that shows the fraud homeopathy really is. Check it out and comennte the show.

In the blog I had published two articles about the power balance bracelets (power balance bracelets, test your power balance bracelets). In these papers I presented videos of television programs showing the falsity of the allegations of the sellers of these bracelets.

Two factors explain the success of such bracelets. Firstly we have the public use of bracelets by important personalities like Cristiano Ronaldo, and then have a brutal scientific ignorance on the part of the whole population.

Only with this explenations we can understand that people with no ethics have been talking about scientific concepts without any connection in order to give credibility to their claims. Unbelief and ignorance help sellers of snake oil. Quantum ions interacting with the magnetic balance of the body, magnetic fields that interact with the body’s energy, etc…
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To the blog readers and not readers. To those who like what they read and those who do not like. Those who visit the blog every day and those who almost never come here. Those who participate with comments and those who never participated. The curious whoclose the browser window in 10 seconds and the curious who just love to see the photos. Lay people seeking information and to lay that find information. Patients who seek understanding, to patients who seek treatment for patients who find treatment and patients who find no treatment.
To all I would like to wish a MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A GREAT NEW YEAR

Nuno Lemos
Acupuncture Blog  Founder