In 2014, The Cleveland Clinic set up the first Chinese medicine program in a major US hospital. Katie Kouric, Time magazine, and The Wall Street Journal all reported on the developments. The news is extraordinary, because the Cleveland Clinic was ranked one of the top four hospitals in the United States, by US News and World Report, and it has an impeccable reputation. So how is it that such an esteemed hospital is opening its doors to the east and embracing the venerable tradition of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine?
In recent years, not only are informed citizens driving healthcare towards a more holistic approach of doing medicine, but also research is confirming in many cases, what indigenous populations have known for centuries. Herbal medicine is a case in point. While practitioners of Chinese medicine like to point out that herbal medicine in China is thousands of years old, and that stone acupuncture needles have been found dating more than ten thousand years back into prehistory, recent research is the more compelling narrative for hospital administrators that acupuncture and Chinese medicine are not passing fads.
In a pdf published by the Cleveland Clinic called “The Chinese Herbal Therapy Fact Sheet”, the authors explain that Chinese medicine and acupuncture, “helps you regain homeostasis, or balance, in your body, and helps you attain resistance to disease.” They go on to state that:
Chinese herbs may be used to:
- Decrease cold/flu symptoms
- Increase your energy
- Improve your breathing
- Improve digestion
- Improve your sleep
- decrease pain
- Improve menopausal symptoms
- Help regulate menstrual cycles if infertility is an issue
Major changes are happening in the US in regards to acupuncture and Chinese medicine, and it looks like The Cleveland Clinic and acupuncture, just like the west and east, are forging a new and exciting relationship for the 21st century.
To visit the Cleveland Clinic website, click here.
And to schedule your free consult for Acupuncture, or Chinese herbal medicine in Asheville, NC give us a call at 828-254-4405.
