Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Hospitals—How have General Hospitals Changed after Introducing Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Routine Care?

Abstract

Although it is not yet common, certified Kampo (traditional Japanese medicine) doctors and acupuncturists are cooperating with each other to provide traditional medical treatment for patients in some general hospitals in Japan. In other hospitals, however, Kampo and acupuncture-moxibustion have not been introduced, and doctors only treat patients using modern Western medicine. Many doctors must already be aware that modern Western medicine is not the only approach for the treatment of patients, but they do not make any efforts to improve the situation by adopting traditional medicine. Here, we give some examples of hospitals in which acupuncture treatments are routinely provided, having a favorable effect on both patients as well as the hospitals themselves. We believe that these examples give us a good opportunity to consider the future of an ideal medical system in which modern Western medicine and traditional Japanese medicine are successfully integrated.