 thumb|240px|moxibustion in michael bernhard valentini's museum museorum (frankfurt am main, 1714) thumb|240px|samples of japanese moxa. left to right: processed mugwort (1st stage); processed mugwort (2nd stage); coarse moxa for indirect moxibustion; usual quality for indirect and direct moxibustion; superior quality for direct moxibustion. thumb|240px|traditional moxibustion set from ibuki (japan) thumb|240px|stickâon moxa (left) and moxa rolls (right) used for indirect moxa heat treatment. the stick-on moxa is a modern product sold in japan, korea, and china. usually the base is self-adhesive to the treatment point.  moxibustion () is a traditional chinese medicine therapy using moxa made from dried mugwort (artemisia argyi). available scientific evidence does not support claims that moxibustion is effective in preventing or treating cancer or any other disease, but it plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of china (including tibet), japan, korea, vietnam, and mongolia. suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a cigar-shaped stick. they can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or burn it on the patient's skin. == terminology == the first western remarks on moxibustion can be found in letters and reports written by portuguese missionaries in 16th-century japan. they called it âbotÃ£o de fogoâ (fire button), a term originally used for round-headed western cautery irons. hermann buschoff who published the first western book on this matter in 1674 (english edition 1676) used the japanese word mogusa. as the u is not very strongly enunciated, he spelled it âmoxaâ. later authors blended âmoxaâ with the latin word combustio (burning).{{cite journal |title=english translation of traditional chinese medicine: theory and practice |author=li zhaoguo |publisher=ä¸æµ·ä¸èä
Alternative_medicine Traditional_Chinese_medicine