Here’s a word salad for you, from an “advance course” taught through the Chi-Akra Center for Ageless Aging:
Five Element Intergenerational Patterns and GeneAstrology is a vibrational protocol that utilizes Acutonics tuning forks on acupuncture points and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, to address imbalances in our genetic code and ancestral lineage. This advance course includes an in-depth journey into sound healing, an overview of the qualities, resonance and usage of the Earth, Moon, Sun, 8 planets, the 3 suprapersonal planets, the 4 asteroids, and the Fibonacci tuning forks, integrated with GeneAstrological chart dynamics, Qi, and Chinese medicine. This interactive seminar focuses on transformation, freedom, and the ability to manifest our Ming, our unique destiny in life.
This is quite obviously nonsense. It was also, until recently, a state-approved continuing education course for licensed acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioners, and is still listed on the website of the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine. (More about them in a moment).
I bring this up as a reality check in response to the deceptively benign descriptions of acupuncture and TCM served up in three recent hagiographies published by supposedly reputable outlets: the New York Times, National Geographic, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. All were ably deconstructed here on SBM by Drs. Steve Novella (also here), David Gorski (also here), and Mark Crislip.
Focused mostly on acupuncture’s putative effectiveness for pain, with a lot of handwaving about a hypothesized basis in real science, they wholly failed to convey the rank pseudoscience and dangerous overreaching that comprises actual practice.
If you want to see how acupuncture and TCM operate in real life, a good place to start is the continuing education courses practitioners are required, by law, to take. After all, what better exemplar of up-to-date practice than courses specifically intended to keep you, well, up to date in your field?
But first, a bit of background: Why are these courses required in the first place?
Legislative Alchemy
Via the magic of Legislative Alchemy, 47 states and D.C. have passed practice acts to define and regulate the practice of acupuncture. Some jurisdictions also specifically include what is variously called Traditional Chinese Medicine (the term we’ll use here), Oriental Medicine, or East Asian Medicine.
While people may envision acupuncture as a procedure (sticking needles into elusive acupuncture points), it is important to remember that it encompasses an entire system of disease classification, diagnosis, and treatment that, in the U.S., according to the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine,
incorporates medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries.
This system assumes that a “pattern of disharmony” is responsible for human (and animal) ailments, that the practitioner can accurately diagnose this pattern via “palpation, visual inspection, and olfactory-auditory data collection” and, via treatment with acupuncture and other implausible, unproven and potentially dangerous methods like Chinese herbs, gua sha, moxibustion, and even homeopathy, the practitioner can “prompt the patient back to functional harmony”.
In other words, a system unknown to medicine or science.
It is this magical system of human functioning in its entirety that state legislatures have incorporated into law, not just the needle sticks.
State governments have farmed out crucial aspects of practice regulation to a private organization, run by acupuncturists and TCM practitioners, the aforementioned National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (NCBAHB) (until recently known as the National Certification Commission on Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, or NCCAOM).
This organization administers state licensing exams in acupuncture and herbal medicine. It also approves continuing education courses that practitioners must take to renew their state licenses. (The NCBAHB uses the term “Professional Development Activity”, or “PDA”, for continuing education, but we’ll use the latter here.)
Thus, today we will again take a look at continuing education courses for acupuncturists and TCM practitioners as a window into what they’re up to in their practices. (I looked only at course descriptions, not the actual courses, taking them at their word that they accurately describe what is taught.)
Based on my review of dozens of course descriptions, some basic characteristics of acupuncture and TCM practice emerge:
- True to the NCBAHB’s vision, TCM is presented as a complete, stand-alone diagnostic and treatment system that encompasses all diseases and conditions; therefore, nothing is beyond the reach of its putative benefits. It is not meant to be “integrative” or “complementary”, although lip service is sometimes given to those concepts.
- Any ailment can be “explained” by the pseudoscientific concepts of TCM, and this “explanation” informs the appropriate TCM treatment plan. (You can see how the Chinese government did this with COVID here.)
- No evidence, as a scientist would understand the term, is required to support a diagnosis or treatment.
- Because they are based on pseudoscience, TCM and acupuncture are infinitely malleable. Both new paradigms of TCM (see “GeneAstology”, above) as well as other, totally unrelated, pseudosciences, like homeopathy, are readily absorbed into practice.
- “Biomedical” diagnosis is easily taught, making acupuncturists and TCM practitioners competent to see the undifferentiated patient, translate the patient’s “biomedical” condition into TCM pseudoscience, and treat accordingly. (“Biomedicine” and “Western medicine” are commonly used in TCM to describe what we would simply call “medicine”, that is, reality-based medicine.)
With that, let’s turn to the continuing education course descriptions, where you’ll see these characteristics play out again and again. Most of them are currently available for credit. Some have expired but are recent enough that a current practitioner could still be incorporating their lessons into practice.
Heart disease, neurological conditions and, well, everything
Exploration and Discovery of Acupuncture for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Offers both the “theoretical basis” and “clinical efficacy” of abdominal acupuncture in treating heart attacks as well as other cardiac conditions.
Experience and Insights into the Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture in Regulating Blood Sugar and Peripheral [Neuropathy]: In a 2-hour online course, “participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of diabetes” and its treatment, learning how to use acupuncture and TCM “ to effectively address diabetes and its associated neuropathic complications”.
Treating Thyroid Conditions with Chinese Medicine: In a mere 2 hours, participants will understand thyroid conditions “from a biomedical perspective”, apply both Chinese and biomedical diagnostics to those conditions, and treat them with acupuncture and herbs.
Treating Alzheimer’s and other Dementias with Chinese Medicine: Again, in a mere 2 hours, students learn both the biomedical and Chinese perspectives on dementias of all kinds, and “discuss Chinese medical diagnostics and therapeutics” because “Chinese medicine can help treat and support patients with dementia.”
Cognition Health: Mold and Microbes. The #1 Cause of Cognitive Decline: Two Doctors of Oriental Medicine discuss “the main cause of cognition issues”, “biotoxin illness”, and teach how to screen patients for “Chronic Inflammatory Responses Syndrome”. Course is sponsored by Standard Process, a dietary supplement company and approved continuing education provider.
Treating Acid Reflux with TCM: “The western diagnosis of acid reflux or GERD needs to be categorized as hot or cold, as the wrong herbal formula will cause a worsening of symptoms.”
Simplified Pulse and Tongue Diagnosis for GI Disorders: Pulse diagnosis “that allows accurate differentiation of . . . patterns leading to . . . acid reflux, nausea, irritable bowel syndrome” and other GI disorders. “The key is understanding the energetic relationships of liver, stomach and spleen.” [You can read Dr. Harriet Hall’s analysis of TCM tongue and pulse diagnosis here, and Dr. Crislip’s take on pulse diagnosis here.]
Acupuncture and Herbs for Migraines, Tremors, and Insomnia: Learn acupuncture, herbs, and “other modalities” for treatment of movement disorders, including dystonia, essential tremors, trigeminal neuralgia, and Bell’s palsy. Promises “quick and effective results”.
Ear Acupuncture for Eczema: Protocol “for treating active reflex points on the ear for eczema.”
Ear Acupuncture for Allergies: Protocol “for treating active reflex points on the ear for allergies.”
Difficult Cases: Eye Health Series: Learn “the direct connections of the eyes to our organs and emotional expression. You will understand how Qigong, herbs, and acupuncture can restore harmony and create better eye health.” Covers the “root causes and treatment” for cataracts, macular degeneration, floaters, and glaucoma.
Difficult Cases: Common Conditions: “[I]ntegrates meridian theory and Five Element principles to create comprehensive healing plans” for “conditions such as” headaches, food allergies, immune disorders, Type 1 diabetes, autoimmune disease, and sleep issues “that often appear unsolvable from a Western medical perspective”.
Treating Bell’s Palsy with Chinese Medicine: Discusses “diagnosing and treating” Bell’s Palsy, for which acupuncture and herbs “can be very useful”.
Guide to Identifying Atopic Eczema on Under Represented [sic] Skin Tones: Teaches participants to diagnose atopic eczema and rashes. Taught by a TCM practitioner who sells herbal teas to treat skin conditions, including those in children.
Alleviating Genital Lichen Sclerosis with Chinese Herbs, Supplements and Topical Skin Care: Teaches diagnosis of genital lichen sclerosis using both TCM and biomedical approaches and “personalized herbal treatment plans based on TCM principles”. Taught by “dermatology expert” TCM practitioner.
Gynecology Pearls: Teaches assessment of “key facial features to help you accurately diagnose and treat a range of menstrual conditions: Irregular and painful menses, PCOS, PMS, breast disorders, beng-luo [whatever that is], menopause and more”, including abnormal uterine bleeding, abdominal masses, abnormal vaginal discharge, and breast distention and lumps.
Cancer
TCM Approach to Cancer: Not a course, but a truly alarming “explanation” of TCM cancer diagnosis and treatment posted on the website of an approved continuing education provider.
Tongue Diagnosis in Cancer Care: Teaches “specialty maps and key regions of the tongue” to “clarify the common features diagnostic of cancer and key concerns of cancer care”, as well as “a method for tracking the course of treatment through the keen observation of subtle changes on the tongue.”
TCVM [Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine] Cancer Therapy: “Learn what common veterinary cancers can be treated with Chinese medicine alone.”
Treating Ovarian Cancer with Western and Chinese Medicine: Practitioners learn to “identify the western and TCM diagnosis for ovarian cancer” and “herbal alternative treatments”.
Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Quantum View of Breast Cancer: Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Acupuncturist explains the “development and progression of disease . . . based on quantum principles such as Five Element Consciousness, meridians . . . and the interconnectedness apparent in Yin-Yang theories”. Course teaches “breast health and cancer suppression”.
Pediatrics
Chinese Medicine Pediatrics: Normal physiology and childhood development “according to Chinese medicine”. Participants learn “diagnosis for pediatric conditions” and the “Chinese medical patho-physiology unique to children”. Acupuncture, moxa, cupping, tui-nua, electrostimulation, and herbs for children.
Treating Chronic and Acute Otitis Media: Chinese herbal medicine course, offering “detailed diagnosis and treatments for both acute and chronic otitis media.” Offered, along with other courses on pediatric conditions by a TCM practitioner who owns a mail-order Chinese herb business.
Diagnosing and [sic] Conjunctivitis, Styes and Eye Trauma: Diagnosis and Chinese herbal medicine treatments for adult and pediatric eye conditions.
Treating Pediatric Colds and Fevers: Chinese herbal medicine course teaching “the nature progression and resolution of exterior pathogens” and “master of mixed excessive and deficient patterns concerning these diseases”, the latter apparently a reference to pseudoscientific TCM diagnostic methods.
Treating Childhood Digestive Disorders: Chinese herbal medicine course discussing “patterns, strategies and topical and internal formulas”, along with “common western medical diagnosis”.
Fake diagnoses, fake diseases, and fake treatments
Face Reading Mastery: A series of courses teaching how to see “the face as a map of the body’s meridians and organ systems” and how to recognize “imbalances” via changes in “colors and structures of the face”, including how specific conditions and disorders present on the face. Can be used for facial rejuvenation as well as bipolar disorder, among other conditions.
Treatment of Leaky Gut Syndrome: “Chinese herbal treatments within zang-fu organization to effectively navigate through and treat this common but complex syndrome.” Also, how to use “lab testing (stool, saliva, urine, blood) to focus treatment and the use of effective nutritional medicines”. [Here’s an excellent article on why “leaky gut syndrome” is a bogus diagnosis and why testing for it isn’t valid.]
Integrating Functional Medicine with TCM: Adrenal Fatigue: Examines “the causes, its consequences on the endocrine system in Western physiology, diagnosis with lab saliva testing, and various Oriental medicine approaches to diagnosis and differentiation.” Includes “therapeutic use of Chinese herbal products” and “acupuncture approaches”. [“Adrenal fatigue” is a fake condition, “saliva testing” for “adrenal fatigue” is not clinically validated, and “functional medicine” remains unproven.]
Moxibustion Therapy: Mugwort (the substance burned in moxibustion) “is able to pass through all of the channels / meridians and regulate the qi and blood. The acrid flavor governs scattering cold and the bitter flavor governs drying dampness.”
Therapeutic Cupping of the Face: “For cosmetic and therapeutic purposes”. Cutting right to the chase: “This straightforward technique is easy to integrate into your practice and can attract a broader client base.”
Treating Phlegm with Acupuncture and Herbs: “Phlegm emerges when the body’s internal equilibrium is disrupted, forming a stagnant and murky substance that hinders the harmonious circulation of Qi and blood.” Phlegm includes “cholesterol, lipids, kidney stones, etc.”
Treating Stagnation with Acupuncture and Herbs: “The Five Stagnations are Qi, Blood, Fluid, Cold and Food. Is Stagnation the Root of all Disease?” [No.]
Homeopathic Dental Remedies: “Homeopathic treatment can be ideal to prepare patients for surgery, to help them recover from the trauma of surgery, and will be of great assistance to diminish pain and enhance healing.”
Sound Healing for Animals: “[T]eaches you how to use tuning forks, singing bowls, and other sound healing tools to reduce anxiety, relieve pain, and promote emotional balance. You’ll learn how to safely approach animals, read their energetic cues, and offer both in-person and distance healing sessions.”
Chinese Medicine Dreamwork for Chronic Lyme Disease: Because the “Projective Dreamwork methodology of Jeremy Taylor” is “remarkably consistent with Chinese classical sources”, participants learn “how to unravel the medical information that is hidden in patient dreams”, which is “particularly helpful in cases of complex diseases such as Chronic Lyme Disease” and can “deliver important insights into diagnosis and treatment”. [Links added.]
Exercise and Death
As if exercise and death weren’t hard enough already.
Motion Acupuncture Protocols: A “unique” acupuncture protocol, during which the patient performs exercises with needles inserted, combining “channels and meridians theories”, anatomy, and kinematics, among other things.
Finally, even in dying one cannot be assured of freedom from the assaults of TCM. In a course titled Hospice and Palliative Care Acupuncture students are taught “specific acupuncture protocols to help patients and their circle of care move through the grieving process”, “insights into signs and symptoms of active dying as they relate to Oriental medicine and patient examinations, including tongue and pulse diagnosis”.
The scientific community is rightfully outraged at the mangled science and medical hucksterism that permeates the current administration’s approach to the nation’s health. Yet, for decades, a state-sponsored system of outrageous pseudoscience known as Traditional Chinese Medicine has been welcomed into mainstream healthcare in the form of “integrative medicine” and touted in credulous media reports and medical journals. It’s a double standard that defies rational explanation.
