by Dan Jiang, Fanyi Meng, Kerry Webster
The
COVID-19 pandemic dominated the globe for at least three years, and
infected a large proportion of the worldwide population. After the acute
infection, many stay in poor health for months. The nature of this
aftermath is not yet fully understood, therefore the management of this
syndrome through biomedical therapy is not ideal. Health services are
struggling to help those who are still suffering. The condition has now
been recognised as post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) — providing a common
platform for academic exchange.
Traditional Chinese
Medicine (TCM) has been applied to similar conditions for over 2,000
years, including in the aftermath of previous pandemics, and this
understanding of such conditions has been validated in clinical
practice. In TCM, patterns are established to group the weakness, the
residue of pathogens or interaction between pathogens and the defence
system. Those patterns form the framework for understanding the illness
after acute infections. The authors use this ancient understanding in
their own contemporary practice, which is particularly rewarding when
the illness within PCS is treated with acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and
other therapies in tandem. This is the holistic TCM approach strongly
recommended by the authors as they demonstrate great outcomes. The
whole-system TCM approach for PCS is now presented in this book to
health professions for PCS.
Readership: Practitioners of integrated medicine, acupuncturist, herbalist, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in health science, researchers and practitioners in the fields of Post-COVID-19 service, TCM.
