medicine to a modern disease

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a wealth of experience in treating autoimmune diseases, such as autoimmune thyroiditis (AT), for which it thoroughly explains its pathogenesis. TCM also expounds on the mechanism of acupuncture sanogeneticaly from the standpoint of the ancient natural philosophy. Chinese medicine treats the human body holistically, taking into consideration the unity of body and spirit and their relationship to the environment. Chinese Medicine appears as a proto-scientific system of health observations and practices based on a syndromatic classification of disease, using two elemental dynamic-processes pattern categorization schemes: a non-hierarchical and combinatorial inhibiting–activating model (Yin-Yang), and a hierarchical and associative five-parameter semantic network (5-Elements/Agents).[1] By challenging the classic theories of western medicine, of which the ultimate goal is to combat symptoms and diseases, new options for thought may be found. For Chinese Medicine, a symptom or disease is a sign of imbalance derived from and affecting the whole body and indicates that other aspects of the patient’s life need evaluation as well, not just the apparent organ or system affected [2]. Traditional Chinese medicine treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis has a long history. Treating both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, it is important to notice that in literature hyperthyroidism is mentioned more often. Before reviewing the latest studies, let’s try to track the disease and its symptoms back to the first records. There are no exact name records of this disease to be found in ancient medical recordings. But in the 3rd century BC, the ancient book “General Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms ” of Disease describes a diffuse painless thyroid enlargement, with hard texture on the neck as the clinical manifestation, that can be classified under autoimmune thyroiditis. Chinese medicine names it “gall disease”, yingbing. The relation to emotional state was also described in ancient China. The book “Recipe