Mindset - Making a Diagnosis - was habitual miscarriage

[Guest guest]

Hi everybody...

I'd like to sound off on this as well because this is not only a problem with

practitioners but with patients as well.

It seems to me that we have had our materialism so ingrained into us that we

really truly believe that " things " really are just " things " . We don't have a

view of a process (for example) as being real, we only have a view of The

Processed ( " things " ) as being real. Processes are viewed merely as a description

of things - we have touble seeing things as an outcome of a " real " process. This

mental viewpoint is a huge impairment to the practice of real CM - and yet it is

the viewpoint which has been forcefully instilled into the people of the modern

world from an early age.

I cannot believe that all these very intelligent and sincere practitioners who

seem to have trouble stating a diagnosis / pattern differentiation do so

because of lack of courses or intelligence. I believe that many teachers have

not been clear enough on the programming which we are all subject to, and I

believe the students do not get enough of a sense of what the roots of CM are -

it is all still too cerebral. From my p.o.v., make Tai Chi / Qi Gong practice

(not medical application, but self-mastery) an important part of CM schooling,

get everybody out of their heads, give them a chance to let go and feel the

realities of qi movement, and that, by itself, will weaken this silly reliance

on physiology that we often exhibit.

There are so many /major/ phenomena in the body which are so poorly explained

by physiology that I sometimes wonder at our motivations to seek physiological

explanations when it is so obviously an incomplete paradigm.

 

1. Qi tends to rise. Physiological explanation?

2. Qi drops during shock. Physiological explanation? (let's not talk about the

laughable ideas about voiding urine and stool as a survival mechanism.)

3. Intentional focus, Qi follows, Blood follows. Physiological explanation?

( " Placebo effect " hahaha)

 

Of course there is a lot of potential argument back and forth that can result

from these points, but I would hope that we can see the meaning of these

questions. I have yet to hear or read of a physiological explanation for why we

get a fever in the head versus the feet (unless there's damp involved, and we

should all know the dynamics of that). How about a phys. explanation of why GV

14 is so hot compared to CV 22? Why it is that " 99% " of heat phenomena rise to

the head (fever, hot flashes, embarrassment and anger flushes etc)? Answers that

involve " cervical sympathetic outflow " are nothing but details in the branches

and do not touch the roots of this issue.

 

So what's my point? At this time, I believe that this problem is largely about

the mind clouding the heart, and has nothing to do with " what " the " physiology "

or " physics " of the human body are. There are no answers in physiology and

physics, everyone, just details.

 

Hugo

 

 

 

sharon weizenbaum <sweiz

Chinese Medicine

Thursday, 3 May, 2007 9:03:50 AM

Re: habitual miscarriage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I agree with Z'ev. It seemed clear to me in AJ's query that

 

she (he?) probably didn't have a solid diagnosis. Did you? If AJ is

 

wanting help, then isn't it expedient to give more information? I

 

think so. We are pretty limited as responders without that

 

information and our answers are vague. I appreciate that several

 

responders (Yehuda and Thomas) reiterate that a diagnosis is key.

 

 

 

Anne says that perhaps our answers will " trigger a diagnosis " . I

 

don't get this. Does this mean that we take for granted that AJ

 

can't diagnose this woman and needs triggers? Wouldn't having the

 

rest of the information regarding this patient be more helpful for

 

coming to a diagnosis then offering triggers? If AJ can't diagnose,

 

then wouldn't we do better to help AJ diagnose this patient with the

 

additional aspects of the case.

 

 

 

I know that in 5 element style acupuncture being with the patient is

 

key to diagnosis. But, on a list like this, we can't be in front of

 

the patient so we need the information the practitioner has

 

gathered. Perhaps in Anne's tradition, diagnosing through " triggers "

 

is also common?

 

 

 

As an educator I see practitioners jumping from diseases (like

 

habitual miscarriage) to treatment without knowing how to come to and

 

articulate a comprehensive diagnosis. We are pretty much taught to

 

go from the disease to look for the disease in a book. We skip

 

diagnosis and go straight to a book like Obstetrics and Gynecology

 

TCM book AJ referred to. We look up habitual miscarriage and try to

 

find our patient. When we see that our patient doesn't fit any of

 

the patterns listed, or fits several, sort of.....we are at a loss.

 

But we have skipped the step of diagnosing our patient. Looking in a

 

book for the right pattern for habitual miscarriage is not the same

 

as coming to a diagnosis.

 

 

 

I'd love to see the standards of this list be raised. If we put

 

forward a case, let's actually do , which involves

 

diagnosing based on our looking, touching, asking, and listening/

 

smelling. Let's share our experience of, not just try this or that,

 

but of in depth diagnosis and treatment. If we don't know how to

 

diagnose, then ask for help with that.

 

 

 

So, AJ, could you give us more information? Could you let us know

 

what you gathered in your intake and perhaps how you diagnosed the

 

woman. I have had a lot of experience with habitual miscarriage and

 

would be happy to help.

 

 

 

Best

 

 

 

Sharon

 

 

 

Z'ev wrote

 

Anne,

 

There is certainly no problem in helping our fellow practitioners

 

in reaching a more comprehensive diagnosis. It is our obligation to

 

do so. However, I think what Sharon is suggesting is very

 

important. If we look at the inquiries on this e-mail list and

 

others that serve our profession, there seems to be a glaring

 

inability for a high percentage of practitioners to diagnose

 

comprehensively using the tools of our profession. Somehow, we are

 

not getting it in our training. This is a serious state of affairs

 

indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharon Weizenbaum

 

86 Henry Street

 

Amherst, MA 01002

 

413-549-4021

 

sweiz

 

www.whitepinehealin garts.com