A  critical examination of the main premises of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

This article therefore provides an overview of the evidence underlying the basic TCM concepts, such as Qi, meridians, acupuncture, pulse and tongue diagnostics as well as traditional herbal treatments. Moreover, it discusses whether scientific literature on TCM reflects the current standard for evidence-based research, as described in good scientific practice and good clinical practice guidelines. Importantly, misinformation regarding the therapeutic efficacy of animal-derived substances has lead and currently leads to problems with wildlife preservation and animal ethics. Nevertheless, the (re-)discovery of artemisinin more than 50 years ago introduced a novel development in TCM: the commingling of Eastern and Western medicine, the appreciation of both systems. The need for more rigorous approaches, fulfilment of and agreement to current guidelines to achieve high-quality research are of utmost relevance. Thereby, ancient knowledge of herbal species and concoctions may serve as a possible treasure box rather than Pandora's box. PMID: 32198544 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Wien Klin Wochenschr Source Type: research