After taking a full history, pulses are read (Figure 6.4). Chinese medicine
recognises up to 28 pulses, which are palpable on the right and left wrists.
The right-hand pulses represent conditions of the lung, spleen and kidney
yang, whereas the left-hand pulses represent conditions of the heart, liver
and kidney yin. The pulse is assessed in seven criteria: depth, fluency,
rhythm, size/shape, speed, strength and tension. The experienced practi-
tioner can deduce much information on the patient’s past and present health
status from reading the pulses and palpating the body.
The aim is to determine which organ(s) might be out of balance by
considering all the elements outlined above, and to take appropriate action
to rectify the problem according to the various principles outlined above. It
appears to be a daunting task to the western healthcare professional, who is
more used to making a decision on appropriate medication based on
symptoms determined within a 3- to 5-min consultation.
Treatment
Treatment is by a range of different therapies; each is described below under
the appropriate section headings.
Evidence
Many randomised controlled trials have been conducted in China to evaluate
the effectiveness of TCM, but much of the information is either inaccessible
to Western practitioners and/or may be flawed.
Tang et al. identified 2938 RCTs in 28 journals randomly selected from
a total of 100 Chinese journals of TCM (4 national, 10 university, 10
130 | Traditional medicine
Figure 6.4 Reading the pulse.