Oriental concepts of acupuncture.

This chapter introduces veterinarians to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). TCM has its own unique approach to describing medical conditions. The Chinese have been able to describe naturally occurring medical phenomena accurately for thousands of years. Ancient theories and concepts allowed them to treat conditions without the knowledge we currently have of neurophysiology. The terminology used in the study of TCM will help show the difference between TCM and medicine as it is practiced in the west. TCM encompasses Qi and its functions, the Meridians, and the Five Phases. It will be shown how knowledge and application of these concepts can be used to diagnose and treat disease.