A Historical Milestone in Evidence-based Acupuncture Medicine

Contemporary Medical Acupuncture - A Systems Approach by the Jin’s is a record of 40 years’ pursuit of the truth in acupuncture medicine. Their achievement represents a milestone in acupuncture history: A birth of the truly integrative contemporary acupuncture that will be a specialty in mainstream medicine.

As the title of the book indicates, this book presents modern medical concepts of acupuncture therapy with systems approach. Systems approach is one of the most remarkable and valuable wisdoms in Traditional Chinese Medicine. This book successfully demonstrates that traditional wisdom can be modernized.

Their 40 years’ joint efforts in medical research and clinical practice have not confined the authors to conventional dogma. The Jin’s mentality is creative and their methods are scientific. Their clinical experiences laid a solid foundation for the laboratory researches. Scientific understanding and practice of acupuncture medicine have been called for since 1920’s in China. Researches on acupuncture mechanisms have become popular in China and Western countries as well since 1950’s. Enormous human powers and funding invested have produced enormous scientific data to justify the medical value of these ancient healing arts. However, regardless of these convincing scientific data, worldwide students and clinicians of acupuncture medicine still follow the ancient approach to proceed with the training and practice because no one has produced a modern acupuncture textbook. Healthcare professionals around the world have to study acupuncture in ancient way which is alien to a modern mind. The detachment of basic researches from clinical acupuncture and acupuncture clinicians lacking scientific training are supposedly responsible for the unfortunate situation that we do not have a textbook of contemporary medical acupuncture. Fortunately, as both research scientists and clinical practitioners, authors of the book are well aware of the detachment situation and are able to fill the gap between the knowledge obtained from laboratory research and clinical application of scientific data to acupuncture medicine. Thus, this book pioneers as new integrative acupuncture medicine and is written for both medical scientists and clinicians.

There is no need for me to repeat how much I have been benefited by this book as readers will see the shining gems whenever they open the book. As a neuroscientist, I appreciate the scientific approach in processing both laboratory and clinical data by the Jin’s in documenting an evidence-based acupuncture medicine. As a clinician, I found the book indispensable for helping clinical practice due to its enormous practical experiences and clinical guidance. As a teacher who teaches medical professionals to use acupuncture worldwide, I regard this book as the best textbook for healthcare professionals. As an author of two acupuncture textbooks, I have to say that this book is the most comprehensive and encyclopedic in terms of its academic quality.

Contemporary Medical Acupuncture - A Systems Approach is an invaluable textbook, clinical manual and research guidance for every acupuncture practitioner and acupuncture scientist as well. The Jin’s book marks that the classical acupuncture finally have acquired a new global life in 21^st century.

Yun-tao, Ma, Ph.D.

Director, Biomedical Acupuncture Institute, Boulder, Colorado

Faculty member of Residential Pain Fellowship, GCPS, University of Florida Medical School, Pensacola, Florida

Faculty member of Continuing Education Program, National University of Health Sciences, Chicago, Illinois