This invaluable book is aimed at those who are concerned about Chinese medicine — how it works, what its current state is and, most important, how to make full use of it. The audience therefore includes clinicians who want to serve their patients better and patients who are eager to supplement their own conventional treatment.

The authors of the book belong to three different fields, viz. clinical and basic sciences, Chinese medicine and pharmacology. They provide information from their areas of expertise and concern, attempting to make it comprehensive for users. The approach is macroscopic and philosophical; readers convinced of the philosophy are to seek specific assistance.

Contents:

• Intelligent Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (P-C Leung)
• Modalities of Chinese Medicine (C C-L Xue & K A O'Brien)
• The Theoretical Framework of Chinese Medicine (K A O'Brien & C C-L Xue)
• Problems and Challenges of Chinese Herbal Medicine (C G Li et al.)
• Biochemistry and Herbs (S M Y Lee)
• How Does Acupuncture Work? (Z Zheng)
• More Theories About Acupuncture (B-Y Xin)
• The State of Chinese Medicine in China Today (P-C Leung)
• Globalisation of Chinese Medicine (Y-C Cheng)
• Practice and Research on Chinese Medicine Outside of China (Q-H Zhang)
• Clinical Trials Using Chinese Medicine (Ping-Chung Leung)
• Modernisation of Chinese Medicine: An Anthropologist's View (H Ting)
• Information Systems in Chinese Medicine (P K Hui & E Ma)
• The Future (P-C Leung & C C-Li Xue)

“This book provides a wealth of information in a style that avoids jargon and remains accessible to the non-specialist at all times ... It provides a unique insight into the enduring intellectual currents that drive the modernization of Chinese medicine within the overseas Chinese community.”