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This study aimed to determine the efficacy of Integrated Rehabilitation Techniques of Traditional Chinese Medicine (IRT-TCM) on patients with ischemic stroke as an alternative therapy to conventional rehabilitation techniques. Sixty-nine patients with ischemic stroke were randomly assigned to receive either IRT-TCM (intervention group, n = 46) or conventional rehabilitation techniques (control group, n = 23). The IRT-TCM consisted of a sequential combination of acupuncture and massage techniques. The Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Barthel index (BI) and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were measured on day 0 (baseline, before treatment), day 21, and day 90. We observed that the scores in FMA and BI were increased, and NIHSS were decreased in both groups on day 21 and 90, compared with the baseline (day 0). Furthermore, significantly better scores in FMA of lower limbs and NIHSS were found in patients treated with IRT-TCM on day 21 and 90. For mRS, the percentage of patients ranking 0 and 1 in the intervention group presented a striking contrast to the control group on day 90 but with no significant difference. The results indicated that, as a feasible alternative therapy, IRT-TCM is beneficial for patients with ischemic stroke. Further research with larger sample size, long-term observation, and strict blinding are still in need to confirm the efficacy of IRT-TCM.

This is the first report of a lumbar plexus injury as a result of spinal manipulation. The 39-year-old female patient reported right lower limb pain after receiving a deep massage and spinal manipulation. The manipulation including back hyperextension had been done in a prone position 4 months before our visit. At that time she felt sudden onset pain in the low back radiating to the posteromedial side of right knee. The patient had numbness in the medial side of the knee and leg. Muscle force of hip flexion and knee extension as well as the muscle stretch reflex of right patella were reduced. Lumbosacral X-ray and MRI were normal. However, electrodiagnostic study revealed unobtainable sensory response of right sapheneus and lateral femoral cutaneous nerve as well as decreased amplitude of right quadriceps motor response. Needle electromyography revealed denervation potential in the vastus medialis, adductor longus and illiopsoas muscles compatible with severe partial axonal type right lumbar plexus injury. Considering potentially serious complications of manipulation and massage, these techniques should be performed only by expert hands.

This article is an overview of traditional chinese medicine. It discusses the general situation of TCM in China and the value of China TCM export market.

The rapidly globalising field of Chinese medicine is becoming known to a wide audience. Less understood are the historical and philosophical underpinnings of this field of therapy, based as they are on theories such as qi, yin yang and the five phases. The central and canonical text, the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, compiled some thousands of years ago, remains the basis for this unique way of understanding this type of contextual thinking, in which everything that exists in the world and its phenomena are connected as a totality. This way of thought can be described as correlative and also applies to the human body, shaping an approach that seeks to diagnose and treat the whole person rather than a disease. Contemporary practitioners receive training in university degree courses, while being trained in basic biomedical principles for at least 4 years. Practitioners are normally trained to administer Chinese herbal therapy, acupuncture and medical techniques such as massage. These therapies are normally gentle in effect yet profound in healing strength. The rationale in classical Chinese medicine is to strengthen the capacity of the patient to heal, repair and invigorate. This is in line with the principle of seeking balance and harmony, key tenets of Confucian thought. In China and Korea, Chinese medicine is very much a part of these respective countries' national health systems. Moving outside its heartland in East Asia, Chinese medicine is likely to play a more significant role in health systems across the world.

Now growing at a rate of over 5% per annum, the $3 billion ‘alternative health therapies’ business is now positioned in the top ten growth industries in Australia. With poor regulation of both therapeutic goods and the unregistered therapists who promote them, cancer patients may well be putting their health at risk when they place their faith in many so-called ‘natural’ or ‘traditional’ treatments. With a focus on what complementary therapists refer to as ‘energy medicine’ and ‘nutritional medicine’, this chapter explores the risks and benefits of some of the more popular alternative health-care choices. While investigating their histories, it outlines what influences cancer patients to try these unproven therapies, and the conflict and contrast in information relating to the claims made for them and the conclusions of evidence-based research. Although there are a number of complementary therapies that are of benefit to some patients, both during and after their cancer treatments, ‘natural’ does not always equal ‘safe’, may be expensive and may even compromise their health. More patients now want a greater say in their choices of treatment, and selecting complementary therapies that may help is another of the many challenges faced in trying to make informed choices, as we navigate along our individual roads on our journeys to recovery.