The Acupuncturist's Guide to Conventional Medicine, Second Edition: A Systematic Comparative Approach to Western and Eastern Medicine

Offering a systematic comparative approach to Western and Eastern medicine, this unique textbook enables students and practitioners of Chinese medicine to develop a core understanding of conventional medical language and treatments. Acupuncture practitioners increasingly find themselves working alongside Western healthcare professionals. Now in its second edition, this book is a guide to conventional medical diagnoses, symptoms and treatments, and using examples drawn from the author's experience and knowledge of TCM it encourages reflection on how these diagnoses may be interpreted from a more holistic medical perspective. It includes introductory sections on physiology, pathology and pharmacology, chapters devoted to the physiological systems of the body and the conventional approach to the treatment of diseases that can affect them, and information on dealing with patients in practice. Accompanying online material, including self-testing questions and answers and checklists for revision, is available for those wishing to use the text for systematic study.

Table of Contents:
Foreword. Introduction. Note to the reader. Stage 1. 1.1. Introduction to medical sciences. 1.2. Conventional clinical practice. 1.3. Comparisons with alternative medical viewpoints. Stage 2. 2.1. Barriers to disease and susceptibility. 2.2. Processes of disease. 2.3. Cancer. 2.4. Infectious disease. Stage 3. 3.1. Gastrointestinal disease. 3.2. The Cardiovascular system. 3.3. The Respiratory system. 3.4. The blood. Stage 4. 4.1. Diseases of the nervous system. 4.2. The musculoskeletal system. 4.3. The urinary system. Stage 5. Diseases of the endocrine system. 5.2. Diseases of the reproductive system. 5.3. Pregnancy and childbirth. 5.4. Children's health. Stage 6. 6.1. Diseases of the skin, the eye and the ear. 6.2. Mental health disorders. 6.3. Conclusions. Appendix I. The functions of the organs: correspondence tables. Appendix II. Worked examples of the six-step method for interpreting the energetic action of drugs. Appendix III. Red flags: a guide for acupuncturists. Appendix IV. Tables showing categories of drugs for withdrawal from medication.

About the Author :
Dr Clare Stephenson is a qualified medical practitioner who worked in hospital medicine, general practice and public health medicine for a number of years before training in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture. Over the course of a decade she developed and taught an undergraduate course for students of Chinese medicine on Western medicine and how it relates to TCM. She divides her working time between the practice of palliative care medicine, acupuncture and lecturing acupuncture students and is based in Oxfordshire, UK.

Review :
Clare Stephenson has achieved what many others have failed to do in providing a thorough, but clear and accessible, description of aspects of Conventional Medicine which every acupuncture practitioner should know about. She has used her in-depth knowledge of both Conventional and Chinese Medicine, as well as years of clinical experience in both disciplines, to create an informative, fascinating and ultimately practical book. Clare Stephenson has achieved what many others have failed to do in providing a thorough, but clear and accessible, description of aspects of Conventional Medicine which every acupuncture practitioner should know about. She has used her in-depth knowledge of both Conventional and Chinese Medicine, as well as years of clinical experience in both disciplines, to create an informative, fascinating and ultimately practical book. Clare Stephenson has created a resource we have waited decades for; one that painstakingly and comprehensively straddles the different landscapes of western and Chinese medicine...This is an invaluable tool for practitioners and for students from the outset of their studies, both as an aid for learning and as a point of reference for assisting us and giving shape to how we might share information with our patients. Similarly, it offers an explanation of the pharmaceutical approach to disease and frames the clinical impact of medication through the lens of Chinese medicine. This offers the potential for a systematic course of learning as well as the text standing alone as a comprehensive body of knowledge...I think I'd have been much more enlightened and wakeful if I'd had it for guidance as an undergraduate. The online material is an excellent guide for the revision of essential knowledge of physiology and pathology...While this is a weight book, it is written with an elegant simplicity that illuminates the complex clinical language often used in scientific texts. It is accessible enough to be an absorbing and fascinating read. This book is insightful and yet methodical in layout, which makes extracting specific information straightforward and quick...With this book I believe she bridges the gap between our often incompatible ways of seeing and I applaud her great progress in doing this for our profession. This book is a phenomenal achievement and would make a valuable addition to the library of any acupuncture practitioner. This book is the main Conventional Medical Sciences textbook we use at the College of Integrated Medicine for our students. There is no other textbook to touch it in terms of its clarity. It offers a "translation" of Western medical disease descriptions into Chinese medical terms and also provides a summary of 'Red Flags' of diseases for use in the clinic situation. It is also relevant for any practitioner of complementary medicine as its layout and terminology makes it such an easy book to use in order to understand from a Western medicine point of view the problems one's patients encounter. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Clare Stephenson has created a resource we have waited decades for; one that painstakingly and comprehensively straddles the different landscapes of western and Chinese medicine...This is an invaluable tool for practitioners and for students from the outset of their studies, both as an aid for learning and as a point of reference for assisting us and giving shape to how we might share information with our patients. Similarly, it offers an explanation of the pharmaceutical approach to disease and frames the clinical impact of medication through the lens of Chinese medicine. This offers the potential for a systematic course of learning as well as the text standing alone as a comprehensive body of knowledge...I think I'd have been much more enlightened and wakeful if I'd had it for guidance as an undergraduate. The online material is an excellent guide for the revision of essential knowledge of physiology and pathology...While this is a weight book, it is written with an elegant simplicity that illuminates the complex clinical language often used in scientific texts. It is accessible enough to be an absorbing and fascinating read. This book is insightful and yet methodical in layout, which makes extracting specific information straightforward and quick...With this book I believe she bridges the gap between our often incompatible ways of seeing and I applaud her great progress in doing this for our profession. This book is a phenomenal achievement and would make a valuable addition to the library of any acupuncture practitioner. This book is the main Conventional Medical Sciences textbook we use at the College of Integrated Medicine for our students. There is no other textbook to touch it in terms of its clarity. It offers a "translation" of Western medical disease descriptions into Chinese medical terms and also provides a summary of 'Red Flags' of diseases for use in the clinic situation. It is also relevant for any practitioner of complementary medicine as its layout and terminology makes it such an easy book to use in order to understand from a Western medicine point of view the problems one's patients encounter. I cannot recommend it highly enough.