| The strange circle
| |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
For years I interrogated skilled practitioners and scholars of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to know why the acupuncture meridian system (AMS) presents a circle precisely in the kidney channel, precisely in the inner aspect of the ankle, and not elsewhere. When there was an answer, it was always the same: "Because books depict it like that". Lateral and oblique deviation, inverted direction, bends and crossings are common alterations of the channels' path, but the circle in the ankle is the only circular line, out of the many metres the acupuncture system consists of. This is why I defined it as strange. After comparing the acupuncture channel charts with western anatomical and embryological knowledge, according to the findings reported in these pages, I have formulated some working hypotheses:
| |||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
The observation |
|||||||||||
| | | ||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||
| | | ||||||||||
|
The urinary path is almost identical both in males and females, being different only in regard to the urethral length. |
The shape drawn by the seminal path (penis erection is required) is the most similar to the "strange" circle in the acupuncture kidney channel, to which it is strictly connected during the time of embryological development. | ||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Comparative
anatomy |
|||||||||||
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
"The penis of the dolphin originates from the rear pelvic bones and from the pelvic region, the penis extends to the penis slit, just to the back of the umbilicus. The penis is coiled or curved within the sheath (prepuce) except when erect; it is held in this position by a pair of strap-like retractor muscles. The penis slit exposes a part of the penis and the rest of the penis is firmly attached to the retractor muscles. This part of the penis which is covered with skin, is called the terminal cones, similar to the "glans penis" of most mammals. When the penis is erected, the folded skin (penis sac) can be stretched and the dolphin can protrude approximately two-thirds of its penis from the slit. Just to the rear of the terminal cone, the retracted penis shows a loop. Since during erection, the skin does not allow stretching to occur easily, this loop enables the dolphin to protrude the penis." (Dolphins, the Oracles of the Sea - http://library.thinkquest.org/17963/reproductive-system.html) | |||||||||||
|
|
"The body of fibroelastic penis of the dolphin
[Norris, 1966] and sheep [May 1964] forms an s-shaped curve in the
retracted state (Fig. 3 and below). Erection involves straightening of
the s-curve and protrusion of the penis through a slit in the abdomen.
As there is no thickening or lengthening of the penis during erection,
rigidity depends more on the properties of the tunica albuginea
and trabeculae of the corpora cavernosa than on the
blood-filled cavernous spaces [Norris, 1966]. |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
 |
Insect Reproductive System The female reproductive system is shown on the left. The male is on the right. Variation among insect reproductive systems is great. Closely related species are often isolated from one another via small variations in the morphology of reproductive organs that prohibit interspecies mating. However, a generalized system can be constructed that closely represents all sexually reproducing insects. Be familiar with differences in male and female genitalia and be able to identify structures when given a diagram. Taken from "Insect Morphology": University of Minnesota USA, Department of Entomology. |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Embryology
In the human embryo the proximity of the circle in the kidney channel to the genital organs is remarkable. See also the picture at the title's right side (The Multi-Dimensional Human Embryo). The inner aspect of the ankle, where the circle is drawn, faces exactly the site where some time later testes (and not ovaries) will emerge. My principal question is: do the buds of the lower extremities also contain the strange circle in the kidney channel? | |||||||||||
| a) © Professor Kohei Shiota, Kyoto University Human embryo at approx. 33th day, 14 mm. Characteristic signs: Lens vesicle covered with the ectoderm. Auditory primordium. Genesis of the hand plate. 1 Umbilical cord 2 Cardiac prominence 3 Nasal placode 4 Ocular primordium 5 Bud of the upper extremity 6 Bud of the lower extremity
|  | ||||||||||
|
b) © Professor Kohei Shiota, Kyoto University Human embryo at approx. 51st day, 22-24 mm. Characteristic signs: Subcutaneous vessel network of the head spreads out. Hands and feet come closer and touch each other. 1 Umbilical cord with physiologic hernia 2 Nose 3 Subcutaneous vessel network of the head 4 Ear 5 Elbow 6 Pronation of the hands (pink arrow) 7 Knee 8 Supination of the feet (blue arrow) 9 Toes |  | ||||||||||
| c) and d) © MouseWorks, Inc. The forming external genitalia are not visible in this view of an 8 week human embryo on the left due to the prominent tail. The human tail regresses, as is evident in the 10 week embryo on the right. At the same time the lower limbs grow, the feet form, the external genital organs appears, and in males the testes travel along the inguinal channel toward the scrotum, their final destination. |  | ||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
| |  | ||||||||||
|
Consequently, the path of the female Kidney Acupuncture Channel in the foot and ankle should not be shaped like a circle, but rather like an open bend or a gulf, because the ovum path has exactly this shape and is totally internal (see picture on right). Moreover, unlike the seminal path, the final segments of the ovum path and the urinary path are separated from each other by the anterior vaginal wall. |
The ovum path with fecundation and implantation or, if they fail, menstruation. See urinary and ovum paths on sagittal plane. | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
|
References There are a few works on the relation between acupuncture and embryology that corroborates with and are corroborated by my findings. | |||||||||||
|
1.
In 1989 Shang C. wrote the first article that hypothesizes a
relationship between acupuncture meridians and embryonic morphogenesis.
He proposed the involvement of the meridian system in the growth
regulation. "Both organizing centers and acupuncture points have low
electric resistance. The low electric resistance is related to the
distribution of gap junction and thus intercellular communication. Some
acupuncture points may be organizing centers. The meridian system is
important in coordination and regulation of morphogenesis. The
properties of organizing centers and acupuncture points can be explained
in view of singular point. Coupling and oscillation may underlie the
mechanism of acupuncture as well as growth regulation." | |||||||||||
2. Since 2001 to 2008, J. Li-Ling, a Chinese medical doctor and
geneticist, in four articles (one with Y. Wu) explains some congenital
malformations in term of TCM, providing a remarkable suspect that
acupuncture meridians system exists.
| |||||||||||
|
3. In 2002, TN. Lee, an American general practitioner and researcher, hypothesizes that "the genetic information contained in the one-dimensional genome may be converted into a three-dimensional body plan for development. Prior to mitosis of the fertilized egg, the chromatids, after being unpackaged from the chromosomes, link up to form a giant circular loop which is then folded upon itself into a wired-frame structure that embodies the architectural embryological developmental scheme."
Thalamic neuron theory: meridians=DNA. The genetic and embryological basis of traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture. Lee TN. Med Hypotheses. 2002 Nov;59(5):504-21. PMID: 12376072 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] | |||||||||||
|
4. In
2004-2005 KT. Yung, a PhD and researcher of Magnetic Resonance
Research Center, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
developed an original model to explain Qi and acupuncture
channel system: "The concept of Qi and the concept of channel
are so closely related that they must be defined and
comprehended simultaneously in a coordinated fashion. Once the
nature of Qi is established in terms of physics, we may be able
to explain the functional role that the channels play, as well
as explain other Chinese medical terminology with a language of
modem science. Based on the low electrical impedance
characteristics of acupoints, we propose that the meridian
channel is equivalent to an electromagnetic transmission line
and the Qi is the electromagnetic (EM) standing wave riding on
the line, with acupoints as its nodes."
A
birdcage model for the Chinese Meridian System: part I.
A channel as a transmission line. (Abstract) KT.
Yung The American journal of Chinese medicine.
01/02/2004; 32(5):815-28.
|
|||||||||||
| 5. In 2004, F. Abad-Alegria and C. Pomaran, Spanish medical doctors, describe how the points with cardio-therapeutic activity according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), have the same embryologic origin as the hearth itself. | |||||||||||
| | Acupuncture points with activity to cardiovascular pathology according to classic books, in adult (A), in a 6 weeks embryo (B): lateral (l) dorsal (d) and frontal view (f), and in a 4 weeks lateral view embryo (C). For a better comprehension in the embriological phases the cloud of localized points of the adult is represented as a black compact whole. | ||||||||||
|
6. A very interesting work, corroborated by my findings and following theory, is the review of "Bonghan Channel System" by KS. Soh, physicist and researcher at Biomedical Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. Bonghan Circulatory System as an Extension of Acupuncture Meridians (abstract). The full text pdf, with terrific pictures can be downloaded here. K. Soh Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies, Volume 2, Issue 2, Pages 93-106 An excellent summary overview is: Bonghan Channels in Acupuncture D. Milbradt Acupuncture Today April, 2009, Vol. 10, Issue 04 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Appendix: the consequent theory Despite my western medical knowledge, since my first studies of TCM I have strongly felt that Acupuncture Channels must be real and not abstract entities. For many years I have supposed that the ancient doctors and also the common people, not only in old China but everywhere, could see the acupuncture channels. They perceived the Qi, the times and the shapes of its distribution and organization in all natural kingdoms. I mean that they actually saw the internal organs and the internal paths of the channels. If not, could they have described how the Governor Vessel Dumai penetrated the heart, and the Kidney Channel terminated at the root of the tongue? We know these are only two among many possible examples. I cannot date the time when ancient humans saw these things, which today are invisible, maybe it was in the time that some religions call "Eden", "Heaven" or "Paradise", when people could see the causes (among them the Qi) together with the effects (among them the bodies). At a certain point, when our more distant ancestors could see the pericardium and its connected finger, the liver and its connected toe, the yin-yang and the five elements in animals, herbs and metals, something happened: something which made everyone blind enough not to see the causes, but still able to see matter as an effect of the Qi. I have a hypothesis, far from being demonstrated, too raw and incomplete to be exposed and discussed in scientific rooms. I imagine that what happened was a physical change related to light. An inexorable but neither drastic nor definitive blindness. I suspect it was a specific blindness which came from the continual use of fire, so important for survival and progress, and for these reasons held closer and closer to the eyes. Thus, the light of the fire illuminated the surface of the bodies and at the same time obscured the Qi. However, I’m now cultivating the idea that it is still possible to rescue that primordial vision, which is nevertheless an ocular, physiological vision (like a cat's infrared vision), and not a spiritual vision, as some TCM practitioners believe.
That is all for the moment. My project's aim is to succeed in seeing again the acupuncture channels in a scientific, technological and repeatable way. | |||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
| Contact
Dr Stefano Marcelli, MD
| |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
