The Foundations of Chinese Medicine: A Comprehensive Text [With CD]

Must to have if you like Chinese Medicine or going to a Chinese doctor and you don't understand what he is talking about.

I found this book to be very beneficial to me in my studies to become an acupuncturist and oriental medcine practioner. Giovanni MacIocias' book has long been considered THE standard text book for anyone involved in the modality of Oriental Theory and Medicine. This book is definately not for the beginner, it is a very in depth well detailed study of a Centuries old art. I gave it 5 out of 5 stars becuase it has become invaluable to me in my studies...you will not be dissapointed with this book. If you want the BEST, this is it.This book is meant to be read over a lifetime and referred to again and again, it is not a leisurely read. Chris

The sheer depth and breadth of the clarity and insight about Traditional Chinese Medicine that comes through this book with such ease for a reader is a wonder. Strong praise, yes; but all too often these subjects are obscure...and even good books usually only *start* to give people new to the subject insight as well as good, foundational knowledge. Don't be put off by the size of the book or it's price - in this case, it's well worth it. This book makes it easy to understand paradigms that are new and unusual to most westerners, with greater depth than is usually found -- in addition to providing LOTS of foundation and background knowledge. I highly recommend this book.

For the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Students:Before writing a review I want to say that the Acupuncture Boards require this book as their main diagnostic book, but also; they require, "The Web that Has No Weaver," by Kapchuk and Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustiion (Rev. Ed.)(CAM) by Cheng Xinnong. I would also like to recommend - but not required - Foundations in Chinese Acupuncture (Rev. Ed.) by Ellis, Wiseman and Boss. This book is great for channel theory and has excellent detail throughout. For Everyone else:The above also applies to everyone else but mostly to TCM students. In review of Giovanni's book I must say that from a Western Medical science point of view it was easier to understand than "The Web" and I found that it presented the material in a logical systematic fashion with better and more complete explanations. It is better to start with this book, than with some of the others because once you have a good background with this one, you can understand the different wording in the other books (CAM, Web, etc.). Overall written well and highly recommended. Five Stars!

This is a great book to begin with if you are a acupuncture-student. It is easy to understand, it explains WHY certain combinations of points is better than another. It is also very good in explaining the way of thinking in TCM.