Traditional medicine in rural China and the southern United States: an exploratory study, 1989
Sun, Qi
1980-1989
This study compared the differences and similarities of the traditional remedies, the biochemical values of traditional remedies for hypertension, and the characteristics of the theories of traditional medicine between rural China and the rural southern United States. The data for rural China were collected from three popular medical books published by Chinese government and a periodical of Henan Province, China. The data for the rural southern United States were previously collected through Life History Interviews on 234 older blacks living in six southern states of the United States during 1978-1980. The original study of older blacks in the southern United States was carried out by The National Center on Black Aged under a grant from the Administration on Aging for a study of ways of meeting the needs of older blacks. The comparison of traditional remedies for hypertension was focused on the differences and similarities of the action principles. Some traditional remedies used in rural China have action principles similar to those of traditional remedies used in the rural southern United States. Through analyzing the data previously collected by The Navel Treatment Research Group of The Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute in Henan 1979, the significant biochemical values of traditional remedies for hypertension were found. The comparison of the theories of traditional medicine between rural China and the rural southern United States was based on reviews of previous studies. This study provides an initial exploration of comparisons of traditional medicine between rural China and the rural southern United States. However, due to the fact that in the southern United states, data on the therapeutic effects of traditional remedies for hypertension were not explicit, the findings reported in this study are tentative. Secondly, because the comparison of the theories of traditional medicine between rural China and the rural southern United States was based on the literature reviews, the findings lack a foundation in primary data. Further research should include studies of data on the therapeutic effects multiple traditional remedies. Finally, theories of traditional medicine of China and the southern United States should be compared in detail, including their different histories, cultures, and ecological-botanical contexts. In this thesis, eating medicine means taking medicine.
text
application/pdf
1989-07-01
thesis
Master of Arts (MA)
Clark Atlanta University
Sociology
Watson, Wilbur H.
Georgia--Atlanta
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12322/cau.td:1989_sun_qi
