Conclusion

J. R. Worsley, an English professor of acupuncture, a leading exponent of five element acupuncture came up with the concept that is important in today's medical practice that is the level of illness. The levels reflect the depth of the illness within the person physical, mental, or spiritual.

In our society today there are many people with chronic illnesses on what could be called a spiritual level. These patients appear unwilling to change, seem empty of purpose or commitment, and create a deep drain on the physicians and the medical system. Patients with mental level illness are constantly trying to figure out their problems and often are obsessed with the needs to understand what is happening. A physical level illness actually represents the smallest percentage of the patients seen in today's modern medical practice.

Once the causative factors are established, the level of illness is understood, the laws of acupuncture are fully comprehended then treatment will proceed in a very effective manner.

For example, in a case of a wood element for what might be expected to be improved is judgment, healthier decision making, less hostility, less need for control, clearer vision of future needs. From these changes a myriad of physiological and psychological pathologies can improve as the wood element returns to normal functioning on all these levels.

The improvement and function of one official of an element will lead to a dramatic changes in the individuals overall well being. When the twelve officials are all in a state of balance then one is well suited to deal with the challenges of human control.

When a physician is dealing with a complex patient with a multifaceted problem, it is a challenge to place the information in context that can lead to effective treatment. It is in this aspect that the five element acupuncture is most persuasive. The current ideas of spsycho-neural immunology are seen within the five element concepts of causative factor officials in level of illness. Both physical and emotional symptoms can be placed within the diagnostic framework and the most significant of all aspects of the five element approach is that it allows us to treat the patient/person who has the disease as well as the symptoms themselves.