Comparison Of Traditional Iranian Medical Diagnosis And Traditional Chinese Medical Diagnosis

BACKGROUND:The methods of diagnosis are general term used by the practitioners of the medicine.The common methods for diagnosis in both conventional and traditional medicines are observation,percussion,interrogation and palpation.However in traditional medicines there are some methods that are discussed and practiced more.In other words,traditional medicines have their own unique methods that make them different from others.Few studies have been conducted to compare the diagnostic methods.OBJECTIVES:The purpose of this thesis is to compare the diagnostic aspects of traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Iranian medicine according to data derived from a systematic review of the Chinese,English,and Persian Language database and also some books published in this field without language restriction.DESIGN:We searched Iranian databases and 30 years review articles of Chinese scholar data base(CNKI,VIP...)and relevant articles published in Journals inside and outside of China.We searched English scholar data base(PubMed,springer...).Also,we investigated Iranian text book and as well as text books written in Arabic language relevant to this research.RESULTS:In Iranian medicine the practitioners tries to distinguish the patient's temperament based on observation,interrogation,palpation,and smelling and urine analysis,while in Chinese medicine practitioners tries to make syndrome differentiation based on observation,interrogation,palpation,hearing and smelling.In these two medicines there are similarity in palpation and interrogation,while there are differences in observation and smelling.There are some unique aspects in Iranian medicine regarding diagnosing the temperament,smelling and urine analysis,while in Chinese medicine tongue observation and pulse taking are more emphasized.CONCLUSION:Both traditional Chinese medicine and Iranian medicine have been evolved through thousands of years and there are unique diagnostic aspects for each of them.We believe that making a diagnosis in both medicines is like approaching the hill of a mountain from two different directions.The hill of the mountain can be considered as a health of an individual.