Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Molecular Basis of Meridians

One of the most puzzling questions in Chinese medicine for 8000 years is that nobody has yet found any trace of meridians, despite the incredible usefulness of meridians in diagnosis and treatment of diseases. A current theory describes meridians as being made up of aligned stable water clusters that have an electric dipole, with a positive charge on one end and a negative charge on the other. Since these stable water clusters are made up of only water molecules, it is impossible to find them among ordinary water in the tissue.

If meridians are made up of water clusters, they will conduct electricity better because water conducts electricity better than ordinary tissues in the human body. Hence, body-surface conductivity is found to be higher on acupoints than on other points of the skin. At our clinic we can confirm this through electro-dermal screening. Therefore, meridians will also act like tubes or channels with water in them. Furthermore, the negative and positive characteristics of stable water clusters agree with the concept of yin and yang.

Since the majority of the mass of a water molecule comprises the element oxygen (oxygen is 16 times heaver than hydrogen), it could be said that oxygen is the determining factor of the state of the meridians. Therefore, when a person’s body lacks sufficient oxygen levels it affects the integrity of the stable water clusters, which, in turn affect the meridian systems and their associated organs. The lack of sufficient oxygen in the body first appears in the blood, which the body uses to supply nutrition and oxygen to every cell in the body. Any lack of nutrition and oxygen in the blood eventually affects the health of the entire body.

Treating acupoints along the course of the acupuncture meridians influences the health of the body and its internal organs. In essence, acupuncture stimulates these stable water clusters to:

1) strongly conduct the body’s own bioelectric current along the course of the meridian
2) strengthens the integrity of these stable water clusters
3) drains pathogenic influences from the meridian and its associated organ
4) boost the health of the internal organs
5) increase blood flow to various regions and tissues along the course of the meridian.

How can we use this information? Stable water clusters are formed from normal water in the body. When a person consumes insufficient amounts of water it affects the formation of adequate stable water clusters, which, in turn, affects the integrity of the meridian system and their associated organs. Also, when a person consumes food, prescription drugs or fluids that dries out the body’s inherent moisture it creates a significant imbalance in the body that can be difficult for the body to compensate for, on it’s own. When this happens it is necessary to intervene with acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine to restore balance to body.

Meridian Harmonics