Chinese Medicine: A Cognitive and Epistemological Review

Abstract

In spite of the common belief that Chinese natural philosophy and medicine have a unique frame of reference completely foreign to the West, this article argues that they in fact have significant cognitive and epistemic similarities with certain esoteric health beliefs of pre-Christian Europe. From the standpoint of Cognitive Science, Chinese Medicine appears as a proto-scientific system of health observances and practices based on a symptomological classification of disease using two elementary dynamical-processes pattern categorization schemas: a hierarchical and combinatorial inhibiting–activating model (Yin-Yang), and a non-hierarchical and associative five-parameter semantic network (5-Elements/Agents). The concept-map of the five-parameter model amounts to a pentagram, a commonly found geomantic and spell casting sigil in a number of pre-Christian health and safety beliefs in Europe, to include the Pythagorean cult of Hygieia, and the Old Religion of Northern Europe. This non-hierarchical pattern-recognition archetype/prototype was hypothetically added to the pre-existing hierarchical one to form a hybrid nosology that can accommodate for a change in disease perceptions. The selection of five parameters rather than another number might be due to a numerological association between the integer five, the golden ratio, the geometry of the pentagram and the belief in health and wholeness arising from cosmic or divine harmony. In any case, this body of purely empirical knowledge is nowadays widely flourishing in the US and in Europe as an alternative to Western Medicine and with the claim of being a unique, independent and comprehensive medical system, when in reality it is structurally—and perhaps historically—related to the health and safety beliefs of pre-Christian Europe; and without the prospect for an epistemological rupture, it will remain built upon rudimentary cognitive modalities, ancient metaphysics, and a symptomological view of disease.

The Butanol Fraction of Guava (Psidium cattleianumSabine) Leaf Extract Suppresses MMP-2 and MMP-9 Expression and Activity Through the Suppression of the ERK1/2 MAPK Signaling Pathway

“…Our results indicated that GBF suppresses cancer cell attachment to ECM components in a non-toxic concentration. The suppression of tumor cell migration in human lung cancer H1299 cells by guava leaves reported previously (21) is in agreement with some of our results. Several studies indicated that MAPKs including ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, and SAPK/JNK play a critical role in regulating the expression of MMPs (4).…”

“…We further found that GBF reduced the constitutive expression of both MMP-9 and MMP-2 mRNAs and proteins. Our results are in agreement with a previous report that the aqueous extract of Psidium guajava budding leaves can downregulate MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions (21). In addition, we found that GBF failed to suppress the expression of the CXCR4, which has been implicated in the metastasis of non-small cell lung carcinoma (22), suggesting GBF exerts antimetastatic potential by blocking MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions and activities.…”

The Wakan-yaku Universe: A Useful Authorized Traditional Concept for Developing Novel Therapeutic Categories and Medicinal Drugs

“…The combination is termed 'herb pairs' just like parents for the effective action. 4) When a crude drug effective for a certain condition is discovered, it is scientifically analyzed to identify the active ingredient from which the effect is derived in pharmacognosy. The isolated ingredient may be used as a new drug or serve…”

“…In addition, the combination of 2 crude drugs ( , herb pairs) can also form the basic structure of prescriptions as described above, referred to as family. 4) Furthermore, the effective direction of the original fundamental prescriptions, which has the basal effect of the family, is emphasized or changed by adding a new crude drug ( ). For example, 'Keishito' combined with pueraria root (kakkon) and ephedra herb becomes Kakkonto, and its body-warming activity is strengthened.…”

Sleep Ameliorating Effects of Acupuncture in a Psychiatric Population

“…Acupuncture is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which in itself is a form of CAM that is based on thousands of years of practice [21]. One of the features of the TCM approach is the individualization of treatment, which relies on a symptom-based diagnostic process [22].…”