A Medical System Refined Over Thousands of Years
This article includes firsthand reflections from Dr. W. Lee Cowden, shared exclusively as part of this project. He contributed insights from his decades of experience in both conventional and integrative medicine. His perspective helps illuminate principles refined across generations of clinical practice.
Integrative Medicine, Nervous System Balance, and the Foundations of Health
Modern medicine in the United States is often associated with advanced technology, emergency interventions, and rapid innovation. These strengths have saved countless lives and continue to shape the future of healthcare.
But there is another medical tradition—one that developed not over decades, but over millennia.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is one of the oldest continuously practiced medical systems in the world. Its origins date back more than 2,000 years, with written medical texts such as the Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic), compiled between approximately 300 BCE and 100 BCE.
This text laid the foundation for a comprehensive medical philosophy—one that viewed health not simply as the absence of disease, but as the result of balance within the body and harmony between the individual and their environment.
A Physician Standing on the Shoulders of Generations
Dr. W. Lee Cowden, whose career has spanned both conventional and integrative medicine, has spoken directly about the importance of learning from medical systems refined across generations:
“When I taught in Beijing in 1999, I stood there in front of a couple of hundred Chinese doctors, and I said, ‘I stand here on the shoulders of your fathers’. Each traditional Chinese doctor learns as much as he can from his physician-father, then learns through years of his own experience, and then passes along what he has learned to his son(s) who are becoming physicians. I then told those doctors in 1999 that if I had not learned some Chinese acupuncture (figuratively ‘from their fathers’), which was the foundation of the type of electrodermal screening that I was teaching them that day, I would not have PROFOUND information to share with them.”
This generational continuity allowed medical knowledge to be tested, refined, and preserved across centuries—not simply through theory, but through direct observation of patient outcomes over time.
A Different Model of Medical Accountability
The structure of traditional medical practice also reflected a fundamentally different model of accountability and responsibility:
“I was once told (I believe by Russell Jaffe MD, PhD) that Chinese physicians were paid regularly by a family as long as everyone in the family remained well. But if anyone in the family became ill, the payments from that family to the physician stopped until their family member became well again. The physician had to pay out of his own pocket to take care of the sick family member until they became well again. If the family member died prematurely, the physician had to hang a lantern on the porch of his office. Once he accumulated too many lanterns there, he went out of business.”
This model aligned the physician’s success with the patient’s sustained health—not simply intervention after the disease had appeared.
Observation Before Intervention
Early Chinese physicians lacked modern imaging, laboratory testing, or pharmaceutical manufacturing. Instead, their medical system developed through careful, long-term observation.
They studied patterns.
They observed how stress affected physical health.
They documented how emotions influenced organ function.
They tracked how breathing, environment, nutrition, and lifestyle affected resilience and recovery.
Over generations, these observations were refined, recorded, and passed forward.
Rather than focusing primarily on intervening after disease emerged, Chinese medicine emphasized maintaining balance before illness developed.
The Central Role of Nervous System Balance
One of the core principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine is that the body exists in a dynamic state of balance.
When the body is in balance, systems function efficiently. Recovery processes operate normally. The nervous system regulates itself appropriately.
When the body is under prolonged stress, this balance can be disrupted.
Modern physiology describes this disruption in terms of nervous system imbalance—particularly prolonged activation of the sympathetic “fight or flight” response.
Traditional Chinese Medicine described similar patterns centuries earlier, emphasizing the importance of restoring equilibrium through breathing, calming the mind, regulating lifestyle, and supporting the body’s natural regulatory processes.
While the terminology differs, the underlying observation is consistent: the body functions best when it is not dominated by chronic stress.
The Integrative Medicine Perspective
Integrative medicine represents an effort to draw from the full spectrum of medical knowledge developed across cultures and generations.
As defined:
“Integrative medicine includes every tool used in U.S. allopathic medicine plus all other types of medical evaluations & treatments used worldwide. Integrative medicine does not suffer from the NIH Syndrome (the Not-Invented-Here syndrome).”
This includes a wide range of approaches developed across global medical traditions:
“Integrative medicine includes functional medicine, homeopathic medicine, herbal medicine, magnets, electromagnetic therapies, photonic (light) therapies, subconscious-emotional-conflict-resolution, oxidative therapies, detoxification therapies, lymphatic therapies, orthomolecular therapies, acupuncture, osteopathic & chiropractic care, earth-grounding, electro-dermal screening, muscle-testing, Chinese pulse-taking, meditation, prayer…”
Rather than rejecting modern medicine, integrative medicine incorporates its strengths while also recognizing the value of systems refined through long-term clinical observation.
Integrating Historical Wisdom With Modern Understanding
Modern medicine excels in acute intervention.
Emergency care, surgical techniques, and pharmaceutical therapies have saved countless lives.
At the same time, long-standing medical systems have focused extensively on maintaining long-term stability, resilience, and regulatory balance within the body.
These perspectives address different but complementary aspects of health.
Understanding how the nervous system responds to stress—and how it can be guided back toward stability—is one of the key areas where ancient observations and modern physiology intersect.
Why This Matters Today
The nervous system constantly responds to the environment, thoughts, and breathing patterns.
When stress remains elevated for prolonged periods, the body’s regulatory processes become less efficient.
When the nervous system returns to a more balanced state, those processes can function more effectively.
This principle—recognized in various forms across different medical traditions—reinforces a simple but powerful idea:
Preparation for health does not begin during a crisis.
It begins with the daily practices that help the nervous system remain stable, adaptable, and resilient.
Educational Note
This article is provided for educational purposes to unpack historical medical frameworks and clinical observations. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and does not replace consultation with licensed medical professionals.