Print

[YanTing]

A Bridge of Light: Toward Chinese and Western Medicine Perspectives Through Ultraweak Photon Emissions

Meina Yang, PhD, Eduard Van Wijk, PhD, Jingxiang Pang, PhD, Yu Yan, PhD, Jan van der Greef, PhD, Roeland Van Wijk, PhD, Jinxiang Han, PhD

(authors are from institutions in China and The Netherlands)

Abstract

The gap between Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (CM) is closely related to the diversity in culture, philosophy, and scientific developments. Although numerous studies have evaluated the efficacy of acupuncture, the gap in explanatory disease models has not been bridged so far. Developments in research of ultraweak photon emission (UPE) and organized dynamics of metabolism and its relationship with technological advances in metabolomics have created the conditions to bring the basics of the medicines of the West and East together which might open the avenue for a scientific dialogue. The paper discusses (1) the UPE in relation to Qi energy, meridians and acupuncture points in CM, (2) the biochemical explanation of photon emission of living systems in Western biomedicine, and (3) the progress in research on the large-scale organization and dynamics of the metabolic network including photon metabolism.

Free full text:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2164956119855930


Excerpts:

"The purpose of this article is to stimulate the dialogue between traditional Chinese medicine (CM) and Western medicine (WM) by discussing some recent developments in the field of ultraweak photon emission (UPE), and to suggest that this field of science may offer a perspective to bridge the divergent scientific explanatory models underlying these two medicines."

"WM generally prescribes treatment for specific diseases, often on the basis of typical perceived physiological and molecular causes of metabolic derailments. CM, on the other hand, focuses on symptoms as typical disruptions in the body’s dynamic energy balance. Acupuncture meridians are thought to represent 'channels' through which flows 'meridian qi.' Measuring the distribution of Qi energy, and hence the interruption in this flow, provides important diagnostic information.2,3 Needling of acupuncture points is used to access and influence the interrupted flow and help the ailing body to reestablish its dynamic homeostasis.

"Despite considerable efforts to understand the anatomy and physiology of the acupuncture points and meridians, the characterization of these structures has remained elusive in a Western biomedical model. But how sure can we be about the perfectness of the Western scientific model, in particular with respect to its absence of critical appraisal of life’s capacity to direct energy to sustain and repair itself?"

"However, both credulous acceptance and uninformed rejection of the CM tradition represent flawed positions, and only through rational investigation of the fundamental ideas of CM may it claim validity in the future practice of global medicine."

"In the 1950s, photomultipliers became available worldwide, and by the 1970s, the technical advances in sensitivity of these phototubes had reached the state where they were able to record from living organisms in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Researchers in China were the first to study a possible relationship between the UPE from acupuncture points and the Qi (energy) balance as established by CM diagnostics."

"Qi represents the idea that the body is impacted by subtle material and dynamic influences which initiate most physiological functions that maintain the health and vitality of the individual. It is often used synonymously with the term 'life' energy, but this conceals its material attributes. Energy is defined as the capacity of a system to do work, while the concept of Qi embraces much more. There are many different types of Qi in the body. In general, the features that characterize each type of Qi derive from its source, location, and function. When the flow of Qi is unimpeded, the body is in a state of health and the flow depends on a dynamic balance between one’s internal physiological state and the surrounding environment (e.g., season) as well as on age and gender. All illness (as defined by CM) is an imbalance of Qi within the body, and signs and symptoms reflect the anatomical location of the disturbance or obstruction of Qi."

"Yan Zhiqiang and colleagues of the Shandong College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Zheng Rongrong and colleagues of the Shanghai Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine were the first to make descriptive studies of UPE from the acupuncture points at the meridian ends, preferentially the fingertips and toes, utilizing photomultiplier tubes with approximately 1 cm opening which were placed in a dark chamber in close proximity to the acupuncture point of interest...More than 30 studies were published between 1979 and 1998, mostly in Chinese scientific journals. These studies have been evaluated recently by the Sino-Dutch Centre for Preventive and Personalized Medicine of Leiden University, the Netherlands...To summarize the results of these studies, the overall fingertip emissions of men and women in different age groups demonstrated that emissions were not statistically different till the age of 30 years, but then UPE began to increase; UPE of aging men increased more than the UPE of aging women in the same age-group. A seasonal pattern in UPE was observed: emissions in summer were significantly higher than in winter...The a-symmetry in UPE was not only observed for Chinese syndromes but also for typical 'Western' diseases, including hypertension, facial nerve paralysis, constipation, and cancer.7–10 A final topic to be mentioned was the effect of acupuncture treatment on the UPE of all patients participating in all studies, independent of type of pathology, as compared to all control subjects. Before treatment, the overall patient group (N?=?279) had increased UPE of 70% compared the to the control group (N?=?315). After treatment with acupuncture, the UPE of the patient group was reduced to 11% higher than the control group."

"The photon emission of the different finger points was more recently confirmed using UPE imaging techniques.13,14 These images demonstrated that intensity of the emissions decreased from the finger tips along the fingers to the central area of the hand with a high degree of left–right symmetry...UPE dynamics measured from hands was related to diurnal and annual rhythms.16–19 In other UPE studies, the left–right symmetry measured from the hands of diseased subjects was shown to be broken17,18,21,22 and reestablished after acupuncture treatment...The main results arising from these studies is that human photon emission increases with age as well as with disease. It depends on gender and it is reduced by acupuncture."

"Around 1980, it was concluded that all organisms emit photons and that the intensity was related to stress and was derived from oxygen radicals...In cells, mitochondria are the main source of photon emission; the luminescence was associated with the respiratory chain when the reduction of O2 is incomplete, and superoxide anion and other ROS are formed."

"When metabolism is perturbed, excessive amounts of ROS are formed which not only increase UPE but also cause damage to lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins, and even loss of mitochondrial and cellular functions, ultimately leading to cell death."

"A targeted metabolomics approach with capillary electrophoresis—mass spectrometry was used to profile intracellular metabolites in HL-60 cells and to compare metabolic patterns with UPE after inducing respiratory burst. The results demonstrate the potential of UPE to monitor overall metabolic changes in oxidative stress without being correlated with single regulators in the reduction/oxidation balance.64

"We hope to illustrate by this discussion that, in our opinion, there is a way to converge the medicine of the East and West and bring them together through the currently developing biochemical (dynamic connected metabolic network) and biophysical (subtler photon energy mitochondrial network) perspectives."

"Research on whether conditions such as 'excess heat' or 'deficient lung Qi' from traditional CM have measurable bioenergetic (UPE) correlates has begun with evaluating the molecular and UPE aspects of 'energetically' defined disease states. This kind of systematic comparison could possibly promote dialogue among researchers and practitioners with a common interest to assess usefulness of integrative medicine therapies.

"The advent of the noninvasive ultraweak photon counting technology has provided evidence for the existence of ubiquitous photon energy that may be related with Qi energy in CM."