Acupuncture and the scientific method

Acupuncture and the scientific method
Cody Dodo, MS, L.Ac.
11/6/2013
Updated:
4/24/2016

Many Western scientists try to prove or disprove the power and effectiveness of Chinese medical modalities. There’s a lot of doubt and skepticism specifically around Acupuncture. Many people who have heard of it would never try it due to skepticism. Results from various acupuncture studies done by Western scientists are inconsistent. Therefore, the medical establishment remains doubtful.

It is impossible to test the effectiveness of acupuncture using the Western scientific method. The scientific method seeks to isolate a cause by eliminating any subjective influence that may steer a phenomenon from its objective nature. In the study of disease, this translates into isolating an organism and seeing how a potential cure-agent affects it. Once the organism is destroyed – the “cure” is found - no matter which side effects the “cure” may cause to the human body.

The philosophy and core understanding of Chinese medicine, does not agree with this approach. At the heart of Chinese medicine, there’s an understanding that nothing in nature is isolated. All things are part of a dynamic. Life is about relationships. Our body is designed to interact with the environment. It has an innate ability to take in what we need, and to fight what is harmful to us.

Our body is an essential part of the dynamic with a disease agent. Therefore, isolating a microbe in a lab, where there is no interaction with a living body, is useless.

 

In addition, each individual is different. You are unique.

Your parents, time of birth, physical and emotional strength and weaknesses impact the person you are. This uniqueness also determines how you react to your environment. No two people react to a pathogen in the same way.

An elaborate web of almost 70 meridians is constantly passing information and communication between organs throughout our bodies. This information is unconscious. It is the type of information that tells the body to send killer cells to an invasion site in order to kill possible bacteria. It’s the information that starts producing acids in the stomach upon the sight of food. In Chinese Medicine, this information is called Qi. When the system is out of balance, and the information does not flow properly, pathogens can invade from the outside or generate from the inside.

Every individual has a unique system of information. Each person is a variable in the equation for their own healing. Acupuncture cannot be tested using the Western scientific method because an essential piece of information is missing - YOU.

Despite having a similar Western diagnosis, people receive a unique treatment that is specifically designed for them. No two people have the same amount of blood, energy, fluids, outlook on life, or diet – all of which affect the outcome of the healing process.

Founder of Internal Alchemy Acupuncture, Cody is devoted to providing natural solutions in facilitating health and healing to patients. Cody combines the best of Eastern techniques with a Western sensibility. A graduate from the Acupuncture program at Swedish Institute, Cody studied Classical Acupuncture under Taoist Master Dr. Jeffrey Yuen. Much of this remarkable course of study was taught as it was in Classical China; handed down as an oral tradition.
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