Product Description

This is the most complete discussion of Chinese medicine on this subject available in English. It includes the TCM treatment for various Western diseases associated with infertility, such as female immunologic infertility, fallopian tube blockage, endocrine imbalances, polycystic ovarian syndrome, uterine myoma, luteal phase defect, anovulation, and endometriosis.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #914096 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 290 pages

From the Author
For several years I specialized almost entirely in the treatment of female infertility. Because of this, I found myself constantly digging out answers for my Western patients from the Chinese journal literature. Huge strides have been made in the People's Republic of China in the treatment of this particular disease. It's modern treatment is considerably different from its traditional treatment, since modern Chinese doctors typically coordinate their prescriptions with each woman's menstrual cycle and use Western laboratory tests and physical exams to assess and modify treatment. Therefore, there is a huge body of specialized literature and outcome studies available on the latest advances in the treatment of female infertility. As a practitioner, I knew I could not do a professionally adequate job for my patients without access to this literature. Therefore, I felt it was my obligation to share this information with other Western practitioners. Female infertility can be a heart-wrenching condition for everyone involved. If this book helps even one family have a baby when previously they were not able, then all the time and energy I put into its creation will have been well worthwhile.

About the Author
Bob Flaws is one of the most famous practitioners, teachers, and authors on Chinese medicine in the world today. He has written, edited, and/or translated more than 100 books and scores of articles on all aspects of Chinese medicine. Within one year of entering private practice, Bob Flaws decided to specialize in TCM gynecology which he has continued do for the last 20 years. Based on this decision, Bob Flaws wrote and translated the first books on Chinese gynecology available in English. In fact, it is fair to say that Bob Flaws has written 90% or more of all English language books on TCM gynecology. There simply is no more educated and experienced Western practitioner of TCM gynecology in the world today.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
This book began, as so many of my other publications, as my own research. Treating women suffering from infertility on a regular basis, I have met with many difficult cases which have caused me to translate all the Chinese language literature available to me on this subject and pour over everything else available in English. This research has, in large part, been spurred by the paucity and incompleteness of the existing English language tcm literature on this subject. Often when treating patients, I have felt I was working with only fragments of what is necessary to do a professionally competent job. This is especially so since the treatment of infertility is emotionally unlike the treatment of any other disease.

In the treatment of infertility, there are no partial cures as is so often the case in other areas of medicine. In general clinical practice, complete and total cures of chronic diseases are the exception rather than the rule. Nonetheless, we can almost always alleviate some measure of the patient's discomfort or cure a portion of their complaints. But in infertility, the patient's goal is to get pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby. Nothing less than that is truly acceptable. And, not only is complete fulfillment of this goal the only measure of success, often treatment must span 615 months with a monthly report card in the form of the menses and an insistently ticking biological clock. Thus the treatment of female infertility is fraught with great emotional stress for both the patient and her tcm practitioner.

However, there are few things in clinical practice as gratifying as being responsible, at least in part, for the birth of a child. Once I visited the office of a lao yi sheng or old Chinese doctor in Oakland, CA, Henry Wong. In his waiting room were scrapbooks of testimonials from satisfied and grateful patients. Most of these, it seemed, included pictures of healthy, happy children whom the loving parents credited to the skill of Dr. Wong. What a wonderful record of a physician's life work!

More women seek treatment from tcm practitioners in general than men. Surveys have shown that the age group making the most use of tcm in the United States is the baby boom generation, the oldest of whom have reached their mid40s. Members of this generation have often postponed marriage until their 30s and begin trying to have children relatively late. In addition, this same group's diet has been mostly quite poor, our levels of work and emotional stress are generally quite high, and we have been exposed to a great deal of iatrogenesis, pollutants, and toxins. Therefore, it is no wonder that many women seeking tcm treatment in the West complain of infertility.

When tcm successfully treats female infertility, it does so comparatively inexpensively and without iatrogenesis. Since tcm is a holistic medicine, its treatments result in improving the patient's entire state of being. However, both technically and emotionally, treating infertility is no easy matter and Western tcm practitioners need all the help we can get. Because of differences in our societies, Western women seeking treatment for infertility tend to be older than Chinese women seeking treatment for the same problem. Since age is directly related to fertility in women, our patient population is more difficult to treat for that reason alone. Therefore, I have decided to share with the profession the fruits of my research in this field to date. Although I am sure there is much, much more to this subject, I hope this small addition to the English language literature helps both practitioners and patients alike achieve the miraculous goal of bringing a new life into the world.

As we all know, it takes two to tango. When a couple complains of infertility, both partners must be tested to identify where the problem lies. According to The Merck Manual, in 40% of couples seeking treatment for infertility, the problem lies with the man. As a specialist in tcm gynecology, my own expertise is limited to treating infertility in females and this book only deals with that half of the equation. A Handbook of Traditional Chinese Urology & Male Sexual Dysfunction written by Anna Lin and published by Blue Poppy Press discusses the treatment of male infertility by tcm. Those practitioners wishing to treat both male and female infertility patients should refer to that book when treating men.

Traditional Chinese Medicine in China these days is undergoing many changes due to the influence of modern Western medicine. As the reader will see, this is especially apparent in the field of infertility. This book covers both the traditional theory and treatment of infertility and also describes the most modern advances in Chinese tcm treatment utilizing Western disease categories and biological knowledge. Because of this amalgamation of traditional Chinese and modern Western knowledge, the practitioner is advised to become conversant with Western reproductive anatomy and physiology. Personally, I find this union of Eastern and Western medicine exciting, and, when approached cautiously and systematically, my experience is that it can result in hybrid vigor. In any case, there is much for contemporary practitioners to learn when they choose to treat infertility. Hopefully this book will help in that learning.

Customer Reviews

Mediocre book
Definitly not worth the money. I thought it was poorly written and really did not have any new informatin in it that was not in any of my basic text books. Quite disappointed.