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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Jun Wang, PhD, Rick Harvey, PhD, MS, and Adam Burke, PhD, MPH, LAc. Health Education, Institute for Holistic Healing Studies, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway, Health Education, HSS 326, san francisco, CA 94132, 415-338-3478, rharvey@sfsu.edu

Written between 700 B.C. to 100 A.C, Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon laid the foundation for traditional Chinese medicine. Canon, jing in Chinese, refers to the classical works that have been testified true in life and passed down for thousands of generations. Inner Canon is certainly one of the most endurable canons in Chinese science and civilization. Treat before sick, (zhi wei bing), is a highlight concept and is emphasized repeatedly throughout the Inner Canon. However, like many ancient ideas, its profound meaning is simplified by modern health categories. For example, treat before sick is often treated as a counterpart with disease prevention or maintain wellbeing in general. In this paper, I will elaborate the idea of treat before sick in its original context. And by doing so, I want to answer two questions: why treat before sick becomes the highest aspiration of traditional Chinese medicine? And what does it mean in today's public health development? The objectives of this session are twofold: 1. Understand the implications of treat before sick in Chinese medicine. 2. identify the difference between treat before sick and disease prevention.

Learning Objectives:

• This poster describes the highest aspiration of traditional Chinese medicine; to ‘treat before sick.’ Readers will learn about this basic principle.

Keywords: Alternative Medicine/Therapies, Treatment System

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered