Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a key component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience because the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientific knowledge, and it has been characterized as quackery. There is a range of acupuncture variants which originated in different philosophies, and techniques vary depending on the country in which it is performed. It is most often used to attempt pain relief, though it is also recommended by acupuncturists for a wide range of other conditions. Acupuncture is generally used only in combination with other forms of treatment.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a branch of traditional medicine that is purported to be based on more than 3,500 years of Chinese medical practice that includes various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, cupping therapy, gua sha, massage, bonesetter (die-da), exercise (qigong), and dietary therapy, but recently also influenced by modern Western medicine. TCM is widely used in Sinosphere where it has a long history, and in later years it is also increasingly practiced across the globe. One of the basic tenets of TCM is that the body's vital energy, which is not a scientifically verified phenomenon, is supposedly circulating through channels, called meridians, that are claimed to have branches connected to bodily organs and functions." Concepts of the body and of disease used in TCM reflect its ancient origins and its emphasis on dynamic processes over material structure, similar to European humoral theory.
Chinese food therapy is a mode of dieting rooted in Chinese beliefs concerning the effects of food on the human organism, and centered on concepts such as eating in moderation. Its basic precepts are a mix of folk views and concepts drawn from traditional Chinese medicine.
Reiki is a form of alternative medicine called energy healing. Reiki practitioners use a technique called palm healing or hands-on healing through which a "universal energy" is said to be transferred through the palms of the practitioner to the patient in order to encourage emotional or physical healing.
Medical anthropology studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It views humans from multidimensional and ecological perspectives. It is one of the most highly developed areas of anthropology and applied anthropology, and is a subfield of social and cultural anthropology that examines the ways in which culture and society are organized around or influenced by issues of health, health care and related issues.
Arthur Michael Kleinman is an American psychiatrist and a professor of medical anthropology and cross-cultural psychiatry at Harvard University. He is well known for his work on mental illness in Chinese culture.
Susan Starr Sered is Professor of Sociology at Suffolk University and Senior Researcher at Suffolk University's Center for Women's Health and Human Rights, having previously been the director of the "Religion, Health and Healing Initiative" at the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, and a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Her interests include both research and advocacy / activism. Professor Sered is the author of seven books, nearly one hundred scholarly articles, and numerous op-eds and shorter articles focusing on women's health, mass incarceration, and a variety of religious issues, including:
Ethnomedicine is a study or comparison of the traditional medicine based on bioactive compounds in plants and animals and practiced by various ethnic groups, especially those with little access to western medicines, e.g., indigenous peoples. Often these traditions constitute significant interactions with insects as well, in Africa or around the globe. The word ethnomedicine is sometimes used as a synonym for traditional medicine.
Michael M. J. Fischer is Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Lecturer in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
A botánica is a retail store that sells folk medicine, religious candles and statuary, amulets, and other products regarded as magical or as alternative medicine. They also carry oils, incense, perfumes, scented sprays and various brand name health care products.
John M. Janzen is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kansas. He has been a leading figure on issues of health, illness, and healing in Southern and Central Africa since the 1960s and has dedicated much of his career to providing a better understanding of African society. Janzen’s knowledge of the Kikongo language and his intermittent visits to the lower Congo region between 1964 and 2013 have paved the way for a contextual understanding of the roots of Western Equatorial African approaches to sickness and healing, combining African and Western derived biomedical therapies. Janzen’s research has expanded to include other African countries such as Rwanda, Burundi, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Sudan. He is the former director of the Kansas African Studies Center at the University of Kansas..
The efficacy of prayer relates to the outcome of prayer requests. This topic concerns many fields such as theology, philosophy, history, medicine, and psychology. Numerous religious traditions have complex understandings of the nature, function and expectations of prayer. For instance, Judaic and Christian traditions have diverse interpretations of prayers as requests for miraculous outcomes and as requests for relatively mundane outcomes. Some religious communities question whether the efficacy of prayer can be reliably measured or be meaningful since sacred texts such as the Bible present diverse situations and teachings such as stating that God shall not be coerced, some prayers for healing have been purposely rejected by God before, or specific conditions would have to be met before prayers can be heard. Christianity emphasises the need for guidance from the Holy Spirit as to what one should pray for, and has taught that "God can not be coerced."
Ted Jack Kaptchuk is an American medical researcher who holds professorships in medicine and in global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School. He researches the placebo effect within the field of placebo studies.
Qigong, qi gong, chi kung, or chi gung is a centuries-old system of coordinated body-posture and movement, breathing, and meditation used for the purposes of health, spirituality, and martial-arts training. With roots in Chinese medicine, philosophy, and martial arts, qigong is traditionally viewed by the Chinese and throughout Asia as a practice to cultivate and balance qi, translated as "life energy".
C. Michael Smith is a clinical psychologist and scholar whose medical anthropological and theoretical work has focused on the study of healing systems across cultures. He holds that study of indigenous healing systems can help clarify the strengths and weaknesses of our own modern health care systems.
The German acupuncture trials were a series of nationwide acupuncture trials set up in 2001 and published in 2006 on behalf of several German statutory health insurance companies because of a dispute as to the usefulness of acupuncture. They consisted of one observational study on acupuncture side effects, and four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating acupuncture treatment for low back pain, knee osteoarthritis, migraine prophylaxis, and tension-type headache. The trials are considered to be one of the largest clinical studies in the field of acupuncture.
Charles Miller Leslie was an American medical anthropologist, who was an avid contributor of published works in his branch of anthropology. Leslie’s career was influential to the shaping of medical anthropology, as his works have inspired other medical anthropologists to further research and popularize anthropological concepts which includes medical pluralism, social relations of therapy management, the relationship between state and medical systems, and health discourse. Leslie’s main focus within medical anthropology has been the study of Asian medical systems, specifically Ayurvedic, Unani, and Chinese medicine.
Michael H. Cohen is an American attorney. He is the founder of the Michael H. Cohen Law Group, and a former professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. Cohen has authored books on health-care law and policy.
Chelsea Shields is a Bio-social Anthropologist, Placebo Studies expert, Human Evolution Expert, Strategic Consultant, Women’s Rights Activist, and TED Fellow Shields and her work have appeared on broadcasts and publications including TED, Infants on Thrones, and TechInsider.
