Definition
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a branch of traditional medicine that encompasses a vast array of folk medical practices. It is a form of complementary and alternative medicine in the contemporary world. It mainly includes forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, Taichi (Taiji), and dietary therapy (Eigenschink et al. 2020; National Institute of Health 2019). For diagnoses, TCM traces the root causes of a disease symptom by measuring pulse frequency, observing the shape, texture, size, and color of the tongue, inspecting the color of the face, skin, and eyes, and looking at the eating and sleeping patterns of a person, together with other information. The philosophy of TCM is that the world is made up of two opposing qualities, Yin and Yang as well as the Five Essential Substances (metal, wood, water, fire, earth); and within the human body, Qiflows as vital energy, one of the...
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Feng, Q., Xin, B., Gu, D. (2021). Traditional Chinese Medicine. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22009-9_924
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