Many of the difficulties in communication between Western populations and practitioners of Chinese medicine lie in the lack of a shared vocabulary. Westerners speak of diseases as being caused by viruses and bacteria, while the Chinese speak of conformational disorders and yin-yang imbalances. It is to these problems that this book is addressed. Dr. Hsu presents a list of disease names used in Chinese medicine, as well as a compendium of equivalent Western disease terms. During the book's compilation, the author consulted widely with scholars and practitioners of both Western and Oriental medicine. International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries And Causes of Death (1975 edition), thrice revised by the World Health Organization, served as the authoritative reference for the Western disease terms discussed in Western Names for Chinese Disease Classes, while Chinese terms were gleaned from a classic series of 23 books and articles.
Bisher 17,20
Some 1,200 diseases, arranged in 16 categories, are discussed in this work. While sporadic attempts have been made to develop a common disease terminology to bridge the realms of Chinese and Western medicine, Dr. Hsu's book is the broad and most comprehensive effort to date - a book which provides the much-needed communicaton link between Chinese and Western practitioners. Western Names for Chinese Disease Classes is sure to rank as a resource of key importance to anyone with an interest in the growing acceptance of Chinese medicine in Western societies.
133 pg.