Tibetan medicine is a rarified field with few publications in English; it is also one of the most comprehensive of alternative therapies, addressing body, mind, and spirit. Written for intermediate-level practitioners, Essentials of Tibetan Traditional Medicine brings this important healing tradition to Western practitioners. The book begins by summarizing the basics behind Tibetan medical theory and its methods of diagnosis. The second part of the book presents the core concepts of wind, bile, phlegm, dark phlegm, epidemic fever, heat, and cold, along with their corresponding nosologies, differential diagnoses, and treatments. The third section covers therapeutics, with an emphasis on medicinals�the mainstay of contemporary practice. A chapter on therapeutic strategies discusses unclear diagnosis and other challenging clinical situations. Other chapters explore the crucial components of lifestyle and diet. Each herb and animal product used in Tibetan medicine is profiled on its own page, with its Tibetan, common, and botanical names; its key properties and clinical uses; its known pharmacological properties; and a simple illustration. This useful handbook concludes with a description and in depth analysis of some 60 frequently used formulas.

Thinley Gyatso has been practicing Tibetan medicine since 2002. Chris Hakim is the co-author of Handbook of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Chinese Medicine: An Integrated Approach.

	Contents: Essentials of Tibetan Traditional Medicine
	Introduction	xv
	Part I: Review of Selected Topics	1
	Being a Worthy Student	3
	The Healthy Body	5
	The Internal Organs	5
	The Process of Digestion	5
	The Seven Bodily Constituents	6
	The Three Excretions	7
	The Humors as Normal Bodily Functions	7
	Two Flowers and Three Fruits	9
	Illness and its Investigation	10
	Causes of Disease	10
	Interrogation and Examination	11
	Pulse Diagnosis	12
	Urine Diagnosis	14
	Tongue Diagnosis	16
	Miscellaneous Diagnostic Techniques	17
	Prognosis: Nine Factors of Fatal Outcome	17
	Part II: The Humors	19
	Disorders Caused byWind	21
	General Diagnosis of Wind Disorders	22
	General Treatment of Wind Disorders	22
	Classification and Treatment by Type of Illness	25
	Classification and Treatment by Location	27
	Classification and Treatment by Subdivision of Wind	33
	Wind Combined with Other Humors	34
	Disorders Caused by Bile	35
	General Diagnosis of Bile Disorders	35
	General Treatment of Hot Bile Disorders	36
	General Treatment of Cold Bile Disorders	37
	Classification and Treatment by Type of Illness	37
	Classification and Treatment by Location	41
	Classification and Treatment by Subdivision of Bile	45
	Bile Combined with Other Humors	46
	Treatment of Persistent or Residual Bile Disorder	46
	Disorders Caused by Phlegm	47
	General Diagnosis of Phlegm Disorders	47
	General Treatment of Phlegm Disorders	48
	Classification and Treatment by Type of Illness	50
	Classification and Treatment by Location	52
	Classification and Treatment by Subdivision of Phlegm	57
	Phlegm Combined with Other Humors	59
	Disorders Caused by Dark Phlegm	61
	General Diagnosis of Dark-Phlegm Disorders	61
	General Treatment of Dark-Phlegm Disorders	62
	Classification and Treatment by Location	66
	Classification and treatment on the Basis of Phase	68
	Varieties of Dark Phlegm and Follow-up	70
	Fever Disorders	77
	General Diagnosis of Fever Disorders	77
	General Treatment of Fever Disorders	78
	Phases of Manifestation	81
	Treatment Regimens for Heat Conditions	87
	At the Threshold between and Heat and Cold	92
	Epidemic Fever	95
	General Treatment of Epidemic Fever	96
	Treatment Based on Location	98
	Treatment Based on the Stage of Illness	100
	Treatment of Complex Epidemic Fever	103
	Conclusion and Summary	105
	Critical Differentiation between Hot and Cold Disorders	106
	Distinguishing Hot and Cold Disorders	106
	Sources of Error	108
	Conclusion	109
	Part III: Therapeutics	111
	Therapeutic Strategies	113
	General Methods	113
	Specific Methods	114
	Invigoration	119
	Weight Loss and Fasting	120
	Summary	121
	Lifestyle	122
	Diet	124
	Properties of Common Foods	124
	Dietary Habits	128
	Materia Medica	130
	Introduction	130
	Herbs That Treat Wind	133
	Herbs That Treat Fever Associated with Wind	141
	Herbs That Treat Bile Disorders	151
	Herbs That Treat Blood and Lymph Disorders	163
	Herbs That Treat Fever	176
	Herbs That Treat Contagious Diseases	197
	Herbs That Treat Phlegm	201
	Herbs That Treat Phlegm and Wind	222
	Herbs That Treat Phlegm Disorders Associated with Heat	227
	Emetics and Purgatives	237
	Herbs That Treat Poisoning	240
	Herbs That Treat Disorders of the Channels and Blood Vessels	246
	Herbs That Benefit the Urinary System	249
	Herbs That Benefit the Lungs	261
	Panaceas	270
	Less Commonly Used Herbs	278
	Principles of Herb Compounding	282
	Choice of Herbs	282
	Formula Composition	282
	Building-Block Herb Combinations	283
	The Excellent Drug Combinations	283
	The Pungent Drug Combinations	285
	The Three Fruits ('bras bu gsum)	285
	The Three Salts (tshwa sna gsum)	286
	The Five Roots (rtsa ba lnga)	286
	The Three Seeds ('bras sna gsum)	286
	Lymph Three (chu ser sman gsum)	287
	The Three Bitters (tig ta gsum)	287
	The Three Reds and the Four Reds	287
	The Two Sandalwoods and the Three Precious Woods	288
	The Three Eaglewoods (a gar rigs gsum)	288
	Indra Four (indra bzhi)	288
	Balancing Four (cha mnyam bzhi)	289
	The Two Myrrhs (gu gul gnyis	289
	The Two Cumins (zi ra gnyis)	289
	Elecampane Four (ma nu gnyis)	290
	Pomegranate Combinations	290
	Commonly Used Herbal Formulas	292
	Formulas That Treat Wind Disorders	292
	Formulas That Treat Bile Disorders	299
	Formulas That Treat Blood and Lymph Disorders	304
	Formulas That Treat Phlegm Disorders and Impaired Digestion	306
	Formulas That Treat Dark-Phlegm Disorders	310
	Formulas That Treat Contagious Disorders, Fever, and Inflammation	317
	Formulas That Treat Disorders of the Internal Organs	328
	Formulas That Treat Microbes and Parasites	331
	Formulas That Treat Musculoskeletal and Parlytic Disorders	332
	Formulas That Treat Genitourinary and Degenerative Disorders	337
	Miscellaneous Formulas	342
	Bloodletting	344
	Benefits of Bloodletting	344
	Indications and Contraindications	344
	Technique	346
	Complications	347
	Iatrogenic Problems	349
	Moxibustion	350
	Indications and Contrindications	350
	Method	351
	Additional Modalities	354
	Enema	354
	Fumigation	354
	Inhalation Therapy	354
	Massage	354
	Poultice	354
	Fomentation	354
	Afterword	357
	Appendices	359
	Extended Wylie Transliteration Reference	361
	Sample Tibetan Medicine Curricula	363
	Bibliography	365
	Indexes	369
	Herb Index by Tibetan Drug Name	371
	Herb Index by Latin Name	375
	Herb Index by English Drug Name	379
	Formula Index by Tibetan Name	384
	Formula Index by English Name	386
	General Index	388