Biophysics and Chinese Medicine
Biophysics and Traditional Chinese Medicine:
My inquiry into this question first requires that I understand the meaning of the term biophysics and that which it encompasses. It is a multi-disciplinary field with a broad reach that investigates the underpinnings of biological systems. I have included below some quotes from various websites to help me better understand what differentiates biophysics from other disciplines that investigate our physical and biological world. My initial thought about biophysics and TCM was that any study of our physical world will contribute, even if only indirectly, to my understanding of TCM, which like biophysics is one lens through which to view and understand natural phenomena. That being said, in a more direct sense, I am less certain about the approach of biophysics as the most effective method for understanding the natural world in a way that is applicable to our medicine.
From what I have gathered thus far, it sounds like biophysics is about breaking things down to a molecular level and applying mathematical models that seek to understand the rules that always apply to natural phenomena. In TCM we generally do the opposite in that we prefer not to get lost in the weeds, but rather look to the broad strokes that are common to phenomena. While a pattern may be complicated in its presentation we like to simplify the underlying process down to the 8 principles. Is it yin or yang or a combination of both? We don’t need to know the molecular or chemical structure of blood. We simply need to know if it is deficient and stagnant or whether it is moving freely and well nourished. Is it hot or is it cold? We are also reluctant in Chinese medicine to suggest that any rule always applies, because every circumstance and every relationship is different. Heat may generally rise, except when it doesn’t because of other forces at play. Is it important to understand in great detail the how and why of every force at play or do we simply need to know by looking at signs and symptoms whether the heat is rising or not. It is interesting to explore how things work on every level, but I am not sure it makes us better practitioners.
On the flip side, Chinese Medicine is very much about understanding the forces of nature. Heat rises, cold congeals, stagnation creates heat… We like to say in Chinese medicine that we mostly look to functional relationships while western medicine tends to focus more on structure. It seems biophysics falls somewhere in the middle investigating both matter and force and the ways in which each effects the other. Biophysics looks to a systems understanding, which is in effect the study of relationships, which is at the core of TCM. However, by focusing on behaviors at the molecular level I wonder whether the biophysical approach tends to isolate phenomena thereby ignoring relationships as a primary driving force.
I am especially curious to explore this quote from the About Science website: “Biophysics can trace its roots back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who first developed hypotheses about the physical basis for consciousness and perception.” I am not sure from what I have read thus far how biophysics applies to consciousness and perception per se, but I plan to look into it further. This sounds like an exploration of the mind-body connection, which is at a the root of Chinese Medicine.
Some quotes to think about:
“….understand the detailed physical mechanisms underlying the behavior of complex biological systems”
“Biophysicists are driven primarily by their curiosity about how biological systems work at the molecular level.”
“Biophysicists as a group most often develop the novel, sophisticated experimental methods that reveal molecular level details with unprecedented clarity.”
“Biology studies life in its variety and complexity. It describes how organisms go about getting food, communicating, sensing the environment, and reproducing. On the other hand, physics looks for mathematical laws of nature and makes detailed predictions about the forces that drive idealized systems. Spanning the distance between the complexity of life and the simplicity of physical laws is the challenge of biophysics. Looking for the patterns in life and analyzing them with math and physics is a powerful way to gain insights.”
“Biophysics, also known as biological physics, is an interdisciplinary science that applies the principles of physics and chemistry and the methods of mathematical analysis and computer modeling to understand how the mechanisms of biological systems work.
Biophysics is a molecular science that seeks to explain biological function in terms of the molecular structures and properties of specific molecules.”
“Biophysics can trace its roots back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who first developed hypotheses about the physical basis for consciousness and perception”
“Today, biophysics seeks to answer diverse biological questions, such as “How are tiny molecules in our environment detected by a sense organ and converted into electrical impulses that provide the brain with information about the external world?” Biophysicists use the techniques of chemical, physical and biological analysis to answer such questions. Plus, they can investigate the relationship between biological function and molecular structure using highly precise and sensitive physical instruments and techniques able to monitor the properties or movement of specific groups of molecules.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics
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