Western interest in Eastern forms of medicine such as acupuncture is widespread and growing-yet little attention has so far been given to Tibetan medicine. Tom Dummer describes its concepts and practice in a non-traditional way, thus making it more readily accessible to the Western mind. He writes from first-hand experience of observing notable Tibetan doctors at work in their practices and receiving instruction from them, to give a comprehensive account of their country’s medicine. This he assesses both in terms of the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism of which he is a follower and with the clinical insight of a practicing osteopath of many years standing. Beginning with an explanation of the basic elements of Tibetan medicine he describes the relevance of certain Buddhist concepts; the Tibetan analysis of bodily functions; concepts of health and susceptibility to disease and methods of diagnosis and treatment. In the second part of the book he analyses the similarities between Tibetan and Western holistic medicine and shows how they may be practiced in conjunction with each other. He considers different,. Specific areas of medicine, including the use of occidental herbal medicine and homoeopathy within a context of Tibetan medicine; the similarities between contemporary osteopathy and Tibetan massage, based on theories of spinal centres and reflexes; and the use of Tibetan medical philosophy and Buddhadharma as a basic for counseling therapy. Tom Dummer makes a unique contribution towards bridging the gap between Tibetan and other natural therapeutics-and towards communicating this medicine of ancient origin to the western world.
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