by Edna Alcantara, Wu Hao
MEXICO CITY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been growing in popularity in Latin America in recent years, especially in Mexico.
Lying on a bed in a clinic in the Mexico City, 66-year-old retiree Sergio Dominguez has been receiving acupuncture treatment twice a week for more than a month, with doctors applying some 20-centimeter-long needles to his knees, elbows and feet.
Suffering from hypertension and gouty arthritis, the old man could not come to the clinic by himself before the treatment. "But now, I can get around by myself," he said.
Doctor Tomas Alcocer Gonzalez and his team attended to about 100 patients like Dominguez every month in his Alcocer Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture founded two decades ago in Mexico City's Coyoacan neighborhood.
The bustling clinic proves people's growing interest in the Chinese culture, including its time-tested traditional medicine, in Mexico.
Alcocer first saw acupuncture treatment during his internship in a small community in the southeastern state of Campeche after he graduated from Mexico's National Autonomous University in 1980, and immediately became fascinated with the healing technique that has thousands of years of history.
"That was enough for me to try to find a way to get to China," Alcocer told Xinhua.
"I went to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to see if they could help me and that's how my story (in acupuncture) began," he said.
After finishing his undergraduate courses on traditional medicine in China, he continued postgraduate studies in acupuncture before he returned to Mexico and opened his clinic.
"Since the ancient time, based on this method, they (the Chinese people) achieved very precise knowledge in the field of medicine, which has helped me and many others apply a system of treatment such as acupuncture," Alcocer said.
Meanwhile, Alcocer, who also teaches traditional Chinese medicine in Mexico, has taken on the laborious work of translating Huang Di Nei Jing, literally the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, which dates back to more than 2,200 years ago and is considered the definitive work on traditional Chinese medicine.
China continues to make important contributions to the field of medicine, as well as technology, innovation and other areas, Alcocer said.
"China's contribution can be seen in the Chinese and global economy. But, for me, the contribution to scientific knowledge has been outstanding, and not only that, but also in philosophy," he said.
At the Specialized Center for Comprehensive Medicine (CEMI) in Mexico City, nearly 30,000 patients last year received TCM treatments, such as acupuncture and herbal medicine, according to its director, Leticia Martinez Gonzalez.
Today, acupuncture is used to treat a wide range of illnesses in Mexico. Studying acupuncture "is endless and my intention is to keep making progress and perfecting" its practice, he added.
