TCM pseudoscience

OppositeDay

Senior Member
Registered Member
There is a movement in China called '废医验药' ('abolish medicine, test medication'), which is basically what a lot of people are suggesting: getting rid of the theory and test the drugs. But there are just too much vested interests in TCM nothing much can be done about it.
 

broadsword

Brigadier
My personal experience.

Two years ago, I had pain in my elbow region and tingling in my fingers. A TCM doctor administered acupuncture, massage with medicated oil and prescribed some medication. Did not work. The acupuncture was only a temporary relief.

So I went to the hospital and a specialist diagnosed the condition as tennis elbow. Wow, I never knew tennis elbow could be so painful and crippling. Tennis elbow has a number of causes so they performed a battery of test to get to the root of the problem. Specifically, the nerve test found out it was my C6 and C7 nerves in my lower neck that were the source of the problem. Surgery might be needed.

I looked up the internet for self-help therapy. The chin tuck routine sorted for me and I'm now back to normal.
 

ahho

Junior Member
Please state what TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is in the beginning of the post. Was wondering what that acronym stand for. C

Chinese medicine works, but what therapy or medicine works is subject of debate, and also what condition would make the medicine work. Province of BC in Canada have regulated the industry and people are happy to use Chinese Medicine, as it is now insurable from the additional corporate health benefits. If you look at China, they are using modern medical technology that you see in western medicine to detect or identify the types of illness and applied the Chinese Medicine for the patients. The Chinese government isn't using TCM as a mean to lower cost, that is a really bias view. Chinese Medicine actually works it many cases when helping patient recover from surgery or certain illness that western medicine cannot do. Great example was pain, CBC in Canada did a documentary years ago that doctors were prescribing pain killers for patient suffering from pain, and did not take a further dive into what is causing it. You would be surprise that doctors don't even refer patients to Chiropractors. A lot of non Chinese in Vancouver, go to Chinese Medical practices to cure their pain and also their illness. In Canada Opium (prior to using Fentanyl) then Fentanyl was prescribed in large doses. Before the whole Fentanyl crisis, people were addicted to other pain killers.

If you are talking about exotic remedies, yes some of them might sound suspicious. If you hear what "researchers" have always said, they would say that certain ingredients have no "DIRECT" effect on the illness. The reason I highlight "DIRECT" is because a lot of western medication would target certain disease, but also have side effects if you take it long term. Researcher tend to conclude and not further investigate if a certain ingredient would cause the body to produce antigens or improve other parts of the body, like the immune system to take care of the illness. Currently, I myself (not sure others) have heard quite a few research are starting to research how to boost the immune system to cure certain illness, since the body itself knows better which cells are bad cells.

Also if you look at Korea and Japan (maybe Taiwan also) they also practice TCM and they have really popular products and well known brands that are sold in China and HK. Main reason is because the market intervention years really stifled research and development of Chinese medicine,.

I think for researcher and medical industry is to investigate further, what it does. Understand Chinese, or at least the meaning of the words to see what certain ingredients does. Don't take a term like 热气 as a supernatural phenomenon, they should look at this term just like any Latinized medical term (don't know why modern science still need a latin name).
 

hashtagpls

Senior Member
Registered Member
TCM works so well that the West has sought to steal aspects of it and claim it as their own, eg 'dry needling' from acupuncture and 'whatever branded breathing technique' from QiGong breathing. And that's not even getting into the mass pillaging of TCM pharmacopoeia by western drug makers. At least Chinese pharmaceuticals take care to recognise the origins of many effective drugs eg non quinine based antimalarials from QingHaosu, artemisinin a Chinese herb.
Or the TCM used with great efficacy when combined with modern medical treatment protocols as we saw in SARS, H1N1 and even now with COVID-19.
One of the biggest secrets to China, Taiwan and even Korea's success in beating back COVID-19 has been the use of TCM as well as modern medicine in combating the virus and treating patients.
 
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