Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2003; 8: 157–8
The past two decades have observed a globalisation of Chinese and, to a lesser degree, of Indian medicine. By this process, the Eastern medical conceptions are adopted to Western traditions. ‘TCM is… developing as a complex hybrid at the interface of tradition, modernity, and postmodernity’, wrote the anthropologist Volker Scheid (1999).
In a current research project, Robert Frank and I looked for forms of hybridisation of Asian medical knowledge and practices in Germany. There are some 15 000 German physicians that practise acupuncture. Their number is equal to more than one-tenth of all physicians working in their own offices. There are only some 100 physicians practising Ayurveda. In contrast to the UK, the number of non-medically qualified practitioners practising Asian medicine is much lower than that of physicians.
Our results can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. Forms of hybridisation of Asian medical knowledge and practices in Germany
| Gravitational centre/degree of hybridisation | Biomedicine | Heterodox medicine |
|---|---|---|
| Weak | Complementing biomedical practice with Asian medicine Criteria: biomedical disease Category: patients’ demands No further meta-theory Acupuncture: n = 6 Ayurveda: n = 4 | Complementing heterodox medical practice with biomedical procedures (at least diagnostics) No further meta-theory Loose combination Acupuncture: n = 4 Ayurveda: n = 8 |
| Strong | Inclusion of Asian medicine into biomedical paradigms Use of Asian medicine in predominantly biomedical practice Acupuncture: n = 1 Ayurveda: n = 0 | Fusion of all conceptual ingredients into universal model of medical theoryand practice Acupuncture: n = 4 Ayurveda: n = 3 |
Both these Asian medicines were mostly used in complementary and not in alternative ways. Acupuncture was often shaped by biomedical practices, while Ayurveda was more often put into the centre of individual medical conceptions.
